Commentary: Asperger’s diagnosis no longer needed
February 11th, 2010Roy Richard Grinker, writing an op-ed in the New York Times, endorses a proposal by the American Psychiatric Association to fold Asperger’s disorder into the broader category of autism spectrum disorder. An excerpt:
The change is welcome, because careful study of people with Asperger’s has demonstrated that the diagnosis is misleading and invalid, and there are clear benefits to understanding autism as one condition that runs along a spectrum.
… We no longer need Asperger’s disorder to reduce stigma. And my daughter does not need the term Asperger’s to bolster her self-esteem. Just last week, she introduced herself to a new teacher in her high school health class. “My name is Isabel,” she said, “and my strength is that I have autism.”
Grinker, a professor of anthropology at George Washington University, is the author of “Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism.”
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February 11th, 2010 at 9:56 am
The other end of this, though, is from the perspective of the “lower functioning” end of the spectrum. Our son is 17 with severe autism (nonverbal) .. I almost never use the word when I have to tell people about his condition because perception has already changed to a point that I say “autism” and they think “quirky” and “gifted,” not of the profound challenges he faces and conquers each day.