The term "Aspie" --is it offensive? What do you call yourself?

[SusanLR]

It was what I was diagnosed as: Asperger's.
I found many using the term Aspie on this forum and identified with it as a quick way of say High Functioning Autism. I think the powers that be decided to drop the term because they thought it might be
offensive to what's now level 2 or 3.
Not politically correct now.
Yes, we're all on the same spectrum, but, do to so many ingrained ideas of what the word autism
brings to most uniformed people's minds I will keep it.
Now if I refer to it when talking with a psych or doctor I deliberately say: "What used to be called Asperger's autism."

 

[Fino]

I think I read that doctor's have the option of keeping the diagnosis of Asperger's for any diagnosed patients, and that the updated DSM only applies to newly diagnosed patients. I don't think it was meant to be suddenly erased from the face of the Earth, I understood the goal to be more of a phasing out. I refer to Asperger's just as if nothing had changed, and that's how I interpreted their intentions.

I also didn't look into it extensively, so maybe I made all of that up in a dream or something.

 

[Major Tom]

I didn't answer the poll. I find that aspie is just a label and it doesn't really offend me any more that if someone would call me autistic. It's just a truth. Aspie does have some kind of cutsie effect as far as the name lable goes, so I can see where some poeple wouldn't like a cutsie lable to something that is a HUGE aspect of their lives. For me personally, I don't care. I'm not an aspie. I was diagnosed after the change to the DSMV. I am autistic and it's the only way I know to be.

 

[dhl02]

This is a complicated issue.
A lot of people have been exposed to people on the spectrum, but a lot of NTs don't really understand. I have done my best to educate my parents, whom I still live with. The most difficult thing to grasp for NTs is that all people on the spectrum aren't the same or similar. Everyone has their own version of autism, which is why it is a spectrum condition.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm pretty intelligent, but my autistic qualities make it difficult to hold a regular job. I have a BS in Chemical Engineering. I doubt I'm ever going to do anything with it, not because I don't want to, but because I burn out and lose cognitive ability due to stress and anxiety. It is a pretty common theme in here. I don't have really bad sensory problems. Most everyday sensory experiences aren't overwhelming, except where NTs get mildly irritated, my head wants to explode. It would have to be something like fingernails on a blackboard to get me really upset due to sensory issues.
Everyone here is different. This is me.
There are pros and cons to both terms.
The main pro for referring to yourself as an Aspie is:
Differentiating that you don't have an intellectual disability

The main cons are:
NTs will assume you're just socially awkward and not socially impaired.
Socially awkward=/= socially impaired. Huge difference.
NTs will assume that you don't deal with other issues associated with autism.

 

[Progster]

No, I don't think it is offensive, though it is becoming increasingly more outdated. I'm not so keen on the word 'disorder', I would prefer 'condition' to be used, and definitely object to anyone describing it as a 'disease'.

I refer to myself as having Asperger's, simply because that is what I was diagnosed with, or as being 'on the spectrum', whilst being mindful of the fact that if I had been diagnosed today as opposed to 7 years ago, I probably would have received a diagnosis of ASD level 1.

 

[Starfire]

@Autistamatic
You didn’t post a link to the video in question and I for one would be interested to see what the fuss is about. Is this the one you’re referring to? -

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Err. I don't find it offensive at all. Is it outdated? I suppose. But I can't really vote since that's not an option in the poll.

Honestly, I think this community gets offended at too much. You know, "with autism, autistic", "Aspie", is the jigsaw puzzle piece offensive?, etc, etc.

I'm mostly for political correctness but there's a stage where it becomes stupid.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

It's not really outdated either, Americans seem to have a tendency to forget that their diagnostic criteria don't apply to the entire world. The UK tends to use the ICD which, as far as I am aware, still has aspergers as a diagnosis.

 

[Starfire]

It's not really outdated either, Americans seem to have a tendency to forget that their diagnostic criteria don't apply to the entire world. The UK tends to use the ICD which, as far as I am aware, still has aspergers as a diagnosis.

I don’t think that is accurate, according to this article-

New global diagnostic manual mirrors U.S. autism criteria

“Starting next year, clinicians worldwide may be using a new, streamlined set of criteria to diagnose autism.

The criteria are part of a highly anticipated update to the “International Classification of Diseases,” a diagnostic manual produced by the World Health Organization (WHO). The latest draft of the manual, dubbed ICD-11, collapses autism, Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) into a single diagnosis of ‘autism spectrum disorder.“

I was diagnosed with ASD two or three years ago, and my daughter was also diagnosed with ASD around a year later by a completely different diagnostic team. I was told the UK NHS diagnostic teams no longer use Aspergers and only use ASD as its more inclusive. Had I been diagnosed a year or so earlier it would have been Aspergers.

Personally, I couldn’t care less it doesn’t make any difference to me one way or the other. As for the term ‘Aspie’, I prefer it to the alternatives and don’t find it at all offensive. However, it takes a lot to offend me, I was brought up in a different era and I’m a ‘sticks and stones’ guy not an easily offended cry baby looking for something to be offended by then kicking off when I find it.

 

[Autistamatic]

@Autistamatic
You didn’t post a link to the video in question and I for one would be interested to see what the fuss is about. Is this the one you’re referring to? -

That's not the one but it shows it's a topic he's quite keen on which may contribute to the bad feeling I'm seeing. Personally I don't enjoy his content, so I don't watch him. My reason for starting this thread was because it sparked an upsurge in outrage at the use of the word Aspie, and I wanted to see what the generally mature and level headed members of our community thought on the matter. I haven't even watched it myself yet, but the furore it's sparked off over what I thought of as a pretty innocuous word is what intrigues me.

I didn't post the link because I thought there may be a slim possibility it may offend people here. Having read the responses so far I feel that's not so much of a risk so I've linked it below:

To be clear, the only significant difference between ASD1 and Asperger's Syndrome relates to language development. An Asperger's diagnosis requires that the individual had little or no delay in displaying linguistic ability (particularly speech) or may even have been advanced. That's it. It's such a subtle difference it's no wonder if was dropped.

I was engaged with the autistic community online at the time "Aspie" started gaining traction. The reasons suggested above are exactly why it became popular. First it was "ours" and avoided saying "Syndrome" and it's friendlier sounding than the medical designation. It's informal sounding, maybe even a touch cute.

 

[Nihil]

I have far bigger things in my life to be concerned about than whether someone uses the word "Aspie". Like for example the fact that I keep accidentally waking up in the middle of the night instead of getting a full 7-8 hours of sleep like I should. I'm offended by that. And it actually has far greater health consequences than if someone uses the word "Aspie".

 

[Starfire]

That's not the one but it shows it's a topic he's quite keen on which may contribute to the bad feeling I'm seeing. Personally I don't enjoy his content, so I don't watch him. My reason for starting this thread was because it sparked an upsurge in outrage at the use of the word Aspie, and I wanted to see what the generally mature and level headed members of our community thought on the matter. I haven't even watched it myself yet, but the furore it's sparked off over what I thought of as a pretty innocuous word is what intrigues me.

I didn't post the link because I thought there may be a slim possibility it may offend people here. Having read the responses so far I feel that's not so much of a risk so I've linked it below:

To be clear, the only significant difference between ASD1 and Asperger's Syndrome relates to language development. An Asperger's diagnosis requires that the individual had little or no delay in displaying linguistic ability (particularly speech) or may even have been advanced. That's it. It's such a subtle difference it's no wonder if was dropped.

I was engaged with the autistic community online at the time "Aspie" started gaining traction. The reasons suggested above are exactly why it became popular. First it was "ours" and avoided saying "Syndrome" and it's friendlier sounding than the medical designation. It's informal sounding, maybe even a touch cute.

Thanks for posting the link to the correct video.

I’ve seen his videos on YouTube and I’m not keen on his content, although he seems a decent bloke. I find a lot of his videos have inaccuracies such as the one I posted a link to where he says for example, “people with Aspergers excel at mathematics” this clearly is nonsense. Some do without doubt, some like me are a fair average and others will be very poor.

Having watched both videos I’m amazed anything he said could be seen to “spark an upsurge in outrage.” There are so many things in the world to be genuinely outraged about such as children starving, or people having no access to clean water for example, the most offence or outrage he got from me was a tut, and a shake of my head. As for being offended by the word ‘Aspie’ come on, life is too short and as a community we have far more important and pressing issues.

Ultimately though, he is entitled to his views and opinions whether people agree with him or not and to be fair he does preface his video with a disclaimer about not everyone fitting into a set of rules.

I’ve seen far worse than his videos on YouTube such as ‘this Aspies wife’ which has no only very inaccurate information but is quite nasty to the point that she no longer allows comments on her videos as some are so unpleasant.

 

[Autistamatic]

Well I've watched it myself now and I've mixed feelings.
I'm not very keen on any "vlog" style videos, no matter what the subject matter so I'll only watch them if I'm very interested in the subject matter or the opinion of the creator. I want to learn something from them. I won't pass comment on that aspect because I have a presupposed bias.

I am a little concerned both by the outdated information and the "straight line" impression given of the spectrum. The straight line is something both clinicians and advocates are trying very hard to correct. He gives an impression that Asperger's is "more normal" than "classic autism". It entrenches the idea of them being 2 separate entities rather than part of a whole, despite the disclaimer. Whilst he acknowledges the outdated IQ discriminator, he cites differences in such broad, sweeping terms I can see why some people would take exception. The suggestion that Asperger's is characterised by Mathematical, Engineering and Tech skills and that we have extensive vocabularies is certainly true of many of us with that diagnosis, but it is far from being uniform. He does, however detail the one relevant discriminator of speech/language delays.

I have to say that finding the right words and tone for talking about autism in any media format is not an easy task. Many of us (even some of those who appear quite spontaneous) script our output very carefully so as to acknowledge diversity of experience and take ownership of purely personal experience. I'm sure I have, and will slip up occasionally but I'm always ready to have it pointed out to me. I don't get the impression that this offering was well researched or well prepared.

Now whilst I can see how some people might take offence at the content of his video, I fail to see how/why it has translated into a mini-crusade against "Aspie" as a word. So far it seems that most people in this community consider it at least acceptable.

 

[the_tortoise]

I don't call myself an aspie because I was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder rather than Asperger's.

The terms "aspie" and "autie" are both fine by me, though.

 

[Nitro]

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I don’t think that is accurate, according to this article-

New global diagnostic manual mirrors U.S. autism criteria

“Starting next year, clinicians worldwide may be using a new, streamlined set of criteria to diagnose autism.

The criteria are part of a highly anticipated update to the “International Classification of Diseases,” a diagnostic manual produced by the World Health Organization (WHO). The latest draft of the manual, dubbed ICD-11, collapses autism, Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) into a single diagnosis of ‘autism spectrum disorder.“

I was diagnosed with ASD two or three years ago, and my daughter was also diagnosed with ASD around a year later by a completely different diagnostic team. I was told the UK NHS diagnostic teams no longer use Aspergers and only use ASD as its more inclusive. Had I been diagnosed a year or so earlier it would have been Aspergers.

Personally, I couldn’t care less it doesn’t make any difference to me one way or the other. As for the term ‘Aspie’, I prefer it to the alternatives and don’t find it at all offensive. However, it takes a lot to offend me, I was brought up in a different era and I’m a ‘sticks and stones’ guy not an easily offended cry baby looking for something to be offended by then kicking off when I find it.

I stand corrected, ICD-11 was released June of last year, I completely missed it! Last time I was in one of these discussions we were still using ICD-10.

When I was diagnosed 4 years ago my diagnosis was "Autism Spectrum Disorder, specifically Aspergers Syndrome"

 

[Nitro]

As far as I'm concerned, I see no difference in the use of Asperger's syndrome or autism because all of the diagnostic criteria are determined in a subjective manner.

There are no cut and dried rules as to how the label is applied, because for one, the clinical setting often does not cover all aspects of an individual's life.

I have seen some claim they got their status in one sitting, sometimes even inside of one hour by one psychiatrist, while others gained theirs requiring many visits to various psych pros.

A few years ago, I cornered a psych pro in our chat room and asked her how much her "school" of psychology effects the outcome as well as those that her colleagues used as well and got exactly the answer I was looking for. She said it had a profound effect on it, something I was already aware of but wanted to hear from one.

Aspie, short for an Asperger's syndrome diagnosis has little to no bearing on what each individual experiences, because in the bigger scheme of things we are all unique to ourselves.

In the DSM 5, the manual used as a guideline to determine the psychological status for an individual in the USA, an attempt was made to divide autism to three levels in order to first identify those levels of support needed then to narrow them down in another attempt to make it easier to give the clinicians guidelines for placement of their clients in the system.

I'm guessing this was an attempt to streamline the diagnostic procedure, not hinder it, and I'm fairly adamant that is was fiscally driven, not an effort to eliminate an identity.

While viewed by some as a failure because they eliminated AS as a diagnosis. IMHO, Asperger's Syndrome is too broad of a term to cover the necessary support needed in individual cases.

I have personally worked beside an AS man who was fairly impaired, and have met another in the flesh person who has their act together on the outside, yet they both carried an Asperger's label.
Talk about being invisible vs, visible, huh?

That strikes me, diagnosed under DSM IV guidelines as autistic, not aspie, very odd, yet makes a perfect case for the DSM 5's move to their change in how they approach it.

I often correct those that claim "If you meet one aspie, then you have met one Aspie" as their "go to" when they are trying to argue their individual case.

Newsflash kids that haven't already seen me post it, "If you have met one human being, then you have met one human being".

With that, I rest my case for the changes in the DSM 5

 

[Bolletje]

I think people will grasp at any excuse to be offended these days.

 

[Autistamatic]

I think people will grasp at any excuse to be offended these days.

I think that is very true, and likely what the case is here.

As an amusing aside....

 

[Judge]

Interesting to see how this thread meanders considering the complexities of it all.

It's also interesting to consider the reality of medical protocols like the DSM-V and the ICD-11 which appear to be "merging" somewhat given their similarities rather than their differences. Where the global medical community may appear closer to being on the same page.

Though to my knowledge the ICD-11 will not be an official medical protocol until it is formally endorsed by member states as presented to them in May of 2019. And that the ICD-11 will be essentially "etched in stone" for member states in January, 2020. At least according to the World Health Organization's own website.

However in spite of all this potential standardization of global medical protocols, there's one thing to consider that can run contrary to it all. The continuing possibility of individual medical professionals who for whatever reason have chosen to deviate from such protocols in whole or in part. Where one's diagnosis may be the result of some kind of "freelance" effort. Something over the years that seems to pop up when on occasion when someone posts their diagnostic process here in this forum.

ICD-11 Timeline

I'm also reminded of earlier debates of this subject in other threads in this forum. Some which reflect a sentiment of dislike of the term "Aspie" largely because it sounded "childlike" to them. Though again, personally it makes little difference to me what we are called, short of something that is overtly used to insult people. That's something I doubt much of anyone here would want.