Aspergers or Autism?

House said:

are we now supposed to tell others we're autistic as opposed to having Aspergers?

Aspergers is just no longer being used by the medical community. It describes a sub-group of autism and as such was considered divisive.

In essence people with an Aspergers diagnosis are autistic with fairly limited need of support and adaptations to live their lives. This is sometimes referred to as "high functioning" although the term is not used in the medical guides and is also considered by some to be divisive.

By contrast, autistic people with significant need of support to live their lives are considered "low functioning" in the same context - you can see why this may cause some to see it as divisive.

There is a good article explaining the differences here:

https://www.healthline.com/health/aspergers-vs-autism#aspergers-vs-autism

The medical community (ie defined in the DSM5) use terms of levels 1-3 to desribe the support needs of autists. Level 1 is equivelant to the high functioning and level 3 to low functioning - changing words to numbers doesn't seem to make it any less divisive, but it is at least formal medical talk.

House said:

I am concerned I will make a mistake.

Then just call yourself or the person in question autistic. Problem solved. No need to define your subgroup or needs unless you feel there is a stigma for it.

I just call myself autistic although I have been able to live a relatively normal life at extereme effort and cost to myself. By doing this I hope it helps destigmatise the condition a bit to others and encourage them to ask questions about it knowing I can give them an informed answer.

If stating the diagnosis I will often put ASD(Asperger's). To be given theAsperger's  dx you had to have one of social communication or social interaction at Asperger's level or both at Asperger's level. In my case I had social interaction at Asperger's level, and social communication at classical autism level. ' Is there a difference functioning/support needs wise  having one at Asperger's level or both at Asperger's level?' is a question I've asked myself several times.

I find it very difficult to work out whether I have support needs, or substantial support needs. My daughter has been officially recognised as my carer by social services. She arranges medical appointments re any health problems that I have, and it's usually her that takes me to hospital appointments(occasionally a granddaughter does).She deals with ordering my medication, She'll talk to the council/housing association/electricity provider on my behalf. I order grocery shopping online, and she collects it for me. My granddaughters clean my flat, for which they get paid. I have either ready meals or other fairly simple meals. My daughter will also make meals for me from time to time. I handle my finances myself. It's the one ADL I'm reasonably good at. My daughter deals with any basic DIY tasks that crop up.

When I lived in Essex I basically self neglected, although it didn't register with me till I moved to where I live now, and things were put in place to make sure I wasn't living in squalor.

If stating the diagnosis I will often put ASD(Asperger's). To be given theAsperger's  dx you had to have one of social communication or social interaction at Asperger's level or both at Asperger's level. In my case I had social interaction at Asperger's level, and social communication at classical autism level. ' Is there a difference functioning/support needs wise  having one at Asperger's level or both at Asperger's level?' is a question I've asked myself several times.

I find it very difficult to work out whether I have support needs, or substantial support needs. My daughter has been officially recognised as my carer by social services. She arranges medical appointments re any health problems that I have, and it's usually her that takes me to hospital appointments(occasionally a granddaughter does).She deals with ordering my medication, She'll talk to the council/housing association/electricity provider on my behalf. I order grocery shopping online, and she collects it for me. My granddaughters clean my flat, for which they get paid. I have either ready meals or other fairly simple meals. My daughter will also make meals for me from time to time. I handle my finances myself. It's the one ADL I'm reasonably good at. My daughter deals with any basic DIY tasks that crop up.

When I lived in Essex I basically self neglected, although it didn't register with me till I moved to where I live now, and things were put in place to make sure I wasn't living in squalor.