Can we change the name of Asperger's?

[Zuliac]

With all of the press lately about how Dr. Asperger helped the Nazis, experimented on children, and thought that people with autism were subnormal, can we somehow petition to change the name? Who do we go to for this?

From a marketing perspective (and marketing is my jam), it would benefit us to use a more effective and familiar way of communicating our strengths and weaknesses so that we seem less foreign to those around us. I was thinking of something that the general population could relate to so that we seem more approachable, more endearing, less clinical.

Vulcan Syndrome. Or better yet, the less clinical Vulcanism.

We could call ourselves Vulcans.

Not only does it sound cool (an adjective I imagine few of us have used to describe ourselves), but in a word communicates some of the major traits that set us apart from neurotypicals. Not anti-social, but extra-social. Literal with a dry sense of humour. Seemingly unemotional but actually struggling internally with extreme emotional conflict. Asexual, until we are not (think of the Pon Farr). Poor understanding of why humans (NTs) often act with a total disregard of logic.

I know it sounds silly, but I think this is a viable way of seeming less "weird" to the people around us. In Star Trek, humans often find it difficult to adjust to co-existing with Vulcans, but ultimately find them endearing and even critical in decision-making. We need to find a way to fit into society like that so that we can come out of the margins and be proud, not self-conscious, of our gifts.

I am sure there are more parallels, but these are the ones off the top of my head. You guys have any more Vulcan associations? What do you think of the name change? I know there is a Mr. Spock on this forum somewhere...

 

[Judge]

I'm afraid the DSM-V got there first some time ago. In 2013 the DSM-V reclassified Aspergers Syndrome as an "Autism Spectrum Disorder". Frankly I don't think they were the least bit concerned about Dr. Asperger's actual motivations for his research whether he was a Nazi or not.

As for considering co-opting a word that amounts to the intellectual property of the CBS Corporation, I wouldn't recommend it legally speaking. Not to mention that CBS writers and network programmers seem to prefer avoiding even mentioning the term autism when it comes to various television shows they broadcast such as "Scorpion or The Big Bang Theory".

Besides, I'm a real person. A human being, every bit as any Neurotypical.

I don't want to be marketed as a fictional character or from a fictional race any more than I want to be identified as a puzzle piece. I'm just looking for some degree of tolerance and acceptance.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I don't want to be marketed as a fictional character or from a fictional race any more than I want to be identified as a puzzle piece

Spoilsport.

 

[Judge]

Spoilsport.

LOL. Guilty as charged. Well, I suppose you can change your avatar to a puzzle piece with a smirk on it with pointed ears. Your choice- just not mine.

I don't think the wrath of CBS' legal department would go as far as an avatar alone. But Disney? That may be another matter.

 

[Zuliac]

I hear ya. I have never felt that relating to a fictional character (or species) makes me less of a real person. People make these associations all the time by referring to their spirit animals, relating to superheroes, or even sporting their favorite brands. These relationships help us encapsulate complex thoughts about ourselves and others into simple icons to communicate a lot of information quickly. I never meant to offend your sense of humanity.

On the other hand, I have the opposite feeling in relation to the change in the DSM than you do. It seems inaccurate to bundle all autism spectrum disorders into one label. It may be accurate enough for insurance billing purposes, but in popular discourse, it falls flat. Frankly, I am not concerned what the medical community calls it, or how CBS feels, but rather what the name signals to NTs I come into contact with every day. When I have to explain that Asperger's is a form of autism, it freaks people out and confuses them even more, reducing the chances of approaching that tolerance and acceptance you are looking for.

One may be able to make the argument that appealing to popular culture icons can be an effective way to garner tolerance and acceptance from society at large--speaking to them on terms that we are both familiar with. We can not force NTs to understand us any more than we are able to understand them without some assistance. We need to meet them halfway and create bridges that help us relate to each other.

 

[Judge]

I never meant to offend your sense of humanity.

No worries. You didn't.

Besides, "Autism Speaks" got there first.

Though it does somewhat irk me how CBS dances around the issue of autism while exploiting it for their own purpose. It seems each time broadcast media approaches autism, more often than not it goes sideways, good intentions or not.

 

[Progster]

I don't think that it will help the public's perception of us if the name of our condition is derived from a fictional TV series. I think that it won't be taken seriously and we will become the subject of jokes and ridicule, even more so than we were with the name 'Asperger's'.

 

[Lady Lucifer]

At first I wanted something cute or funny like Dilbert Syndrome (i find that name hysterical for some reason) but then I thought, why not Intuitive Creativity Disorder?

 

[Bolletje]

I don’t like the idea of changing the name at all, but making it a pop culture reference just feels like a step backward for me. Plus, not all people with Aspergers share the Vulcan traits OP mentions.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I don't think that it will help the public's perception of us if the name of our condition is derived from a fictional TV series. I think that it won't be taken seriously and we will become the subject of jokes and ridicule, even more so than we were with the name 'Asperger's'.

Perhaps we go the whole hog and change to

Hitler's babes.

Or leave it at losers, to make it easier for everyone.

These awkward definitions making it hard for poor NT delicate dispositions to manage.

Sarcasm alert.

Ok - delayed sarcasm alert. That should have gone first

 

[Progster]

Perhaps we go the whole hog and change to

Hitler's babes.

Or leave it at losers, to make it easier for everyone.

These awkward definitions making it hard for poor NT delicate dispositions to manage.

Sarcasm alert.

Ok - delayed sarcasm alert. That should have gone first

Yes, I got the sarcasm

Other possible alternative names taken from TV Series or literature:

Uncapped Syndrome, from John Christopher's series 'The Tripods'.

 

[DesertRose]

I don't think that it will help the public's perception of us if the name of our condition is derived from a fictional TV series. I think that it won't be taken seriously and we will become the subject of jokes and ridicule, even more so than we were with the name 'Asperger's'.

I don't want to be vulcanized!!

 

[MrSpock]

I don't think too many people have a problem with NASA, and Werner von Braun is a much more famous Nazi figure. Although Walter White is a rather dark figure I don't really think that that was the point of his street name, rather it was an enigmatic name (uncertainty principle) primarily regarded as a famous scientist, although again Heisenberg was a much more famous Nazi than Asperger. They were scientists who happened to be born in a particular time and place.

Although it may have been changed in the United States the term Asperger's is used in other places. Americans do seem to disregard everyone else occasionally. Granted it is an unusually important country, but what applies to you is not always universal. I don't imagine that you think that it is necessarily universal, but sometimes the impression is given that something applies to all on this site when it does not. I believe that many people even in the US continue to use the term whether medically correct or not.

It seems to me that changing the name is a poor way to go about enlightening people. Two years ago I did not even know what Asperger's was, and many people I talk to about it don't know either. Although there are definitely misconceptions out there I think that in many cases we are beginning with blank slates, and in most other cases there is relatively little damage to be undone. We would be better to simply broadcast correct information about ourselves using the term that does at least carry some recognition for many people. Some people will be prejudiced anyway, whatever we call it. When I was a child it was PC to call very stupid people retarded. We would run around the schoolyard calling others retarded. That changed, it became PC to call those people 'mentally challenged'. Now kids run around schoolyards calling each other mentally challenged. Changing the name does not make the condition itself any different, and when people understand what the condition is (which is our goal) the name will mean what we want it to regardless of how the letters are put together to form it.

 

[Tesseract]

Vulcan Syndrome. Or better yet, the less clinical Vulcanism.

We could call ourselves Vulcans.

God no. NO.

Not only does it sound cool...

No it doesn't. Look, I've got a far better idea. Why don't we instead call all those we now refer to as being normal, "high-functioning sociopaths". They're on the "sociopathic spectrum". After all, the vast majority of them like to:
A) Gossip, back-stab, and engage in 'office politics'.
B) Believe truth/honesty to be deleterious to a healthy, productive relationship.
C) Like sociopaths, they rely more on what is not said than what is said.
D) When caught, try to justify their dishonesty by saying stupid things like, "...but it was only a 'white lie'".
E) Are tribal, superficial, territorial, often violent, and can't handle constructive criticism.

No label. That's what we should have. Having a label just gives bigots an excuse to ostracise people, because it sets us apart as being different (i.e. alien, weird, not to be trusted, etc.).

 

[Tom]

I like Urmo-genomoids. As our name that is. The condition would be Urmo-genomoidia. In the species charts we would fall between Unicellular Fungi and Weasels.

Us