Why I Don’t Use the Term Asperger’s Syndrome (Even Though It Was What I Was Diagnosed With)

Originally posted to Facebook on April 10th.

Why I Don’t Use the Term Asperger’s Syndrome (Even Though It Was What I Was Diagnosed With)

Hello all, many autistic people were diagnosed with, for want of a better word, a specific type of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. And this is what I was diagnosed with. However, I consciously stopped using the term and refer to myself only as autistic. This is a brief explanation as to why. (Note, this not an attempt to encourage others with Asperger syndrome, or Aspies, to stop using the term, it is simply an explanation as to why I choose not to use it.)

First of all, a brief history of the term. Asperger’s Syndrome is named after the Austrian physician, Hans Asperger. But the term was actually coined by English psychiatrist Lorna Wing in 1976, whose work led to the discovery that autism, rather than affecting 5 in 10,000 children, affected a number closer to 1 in 100 children. Her work also led to the understanding that autism is a spectrum (I will do a post later in the month how many people don’t know what is meant by “autistic spectrum”.

So, why do I choose not to use the term? I think the main reason is that the more we learn about autism the more we learn that it is pointless to distinguish autistic individuals as having different “types” of autism. I went into this idea when I talked in another post about how it is pointless to divide autistic people into “low functioning” and “high functioning”. This understanding of autism was reflected in the DSM-5, which re categorized Asperger’s Syndrome from a distinct disorder to an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Hence if I was to be diagnosed today, I would be diagnosed with autism, not Asperger’s.

My decision not to use the term is also a reflection of my rejection of functioning labels. Asperger’s Syndrome is thought of as a type of “high functioning autism”, and I don’t agree that autistic people can be categorized in this way.

Lastly, my rejection of the term has a lot to do with the man Hans Asperger himself. Hans Asperger, born in 1906, worked in Austria during the time of the Third Reich. The Nazis murdered disabled people (including autistic people) and serious questions have been raised about to what extent Hans Asperger was involved in this. I have read arguments both for and against the idea that he was complicit, and I have not been able to make up my mind, but I’m not comfortable with the idea of my neurotype being named after a man who may have been responsible for the murder of disabled people.

So I hope this serves as a good explanation as to why I don’t use the term Asperger’s Syndrome. As well as the questions around the guilt of Hans Asperger, I don’t feel the term reflects my understanding of what autism is. The autism spectrum is so complex that I don’t believe it is possible to categorize autistic individuals as having different “types” of autism. I think autistic individuals need to be categorized by support needs eg “high support needs”, so that they get proper assistance, but I think that is as far as it should go.