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Earlier this month, the New York Times covered a proposed changed to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which would eliminate Asperger‘s as a separate diagnosis making it, instead, part of a category of autistic spectrum disorders. To me, the categories used by psychiatrists are of little interest. (I do, however, realize that there are some for whom it matters very much, and I in no way wish to denigrate them or their needs). The DSM, by its very nature, reflects reality as seen by psychiatrists not as seen by the people it’s supposed to categorize. That is to say, I have very little use for it myself, though I recognize that this proposed change would make it much harder for curebies to tell Aspies that they don’t really count as autistic, and that’s certainly something to be happy about.

Still, I’m not going to dodge the questions this proposed change raises about the difference between Asperger’s and autism. Ultimately, I see the former as a subset of the latter and will identify as one or the other or both depending on the context. Certainly, my response to stress is recognizably autistic, but my approach to and use of language seems to have more things in common with other Aspies’ than with non-Aspie autistics. It’s not either/or. It’s not both/and. And wanting to preserve the Asperger’s identity is not necessarily about wanting to maintain privilege or subscribing to some sort of notion of superiority-through-higher-functioning.

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• Psychiatrists debate Asperger’s label (cbc.ca)
• Bye Bye Asperger’s Syndrome? (psychcentral.com)
• Remove Aspergers as a Diagnosis? (blisstree.com)

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1. “it’s not a bug”
2. I Am Autism
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4. Blogging Against Disablism Day 2010: Fear & Othering

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