Why I would have liked Asperger diagnosis gone as a kid
Written on 5th Jan 2024 by Alex Lowery
I would have liked the DSM-V with no Asperger as a kid. As many of you will know, in 2013 the diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome (along with PDD NOS) was removed from the DSM-V, so instead of diagnosing Asperger and PDD NOS: it’s all been brought under the one diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. I have already spoken about my thoughts on this change back in 2014 which you can view here. I think my thoughts on it are more or less the same now. What I’d like to talk about today is how I would have actually really liked the difference a lot back in my teens and pre-teens.
When I was 11 I was told (by my mum) that I had autism and I met with one of my brother’s friends who was diagnosed with Asperger. This friend was very intelligent and articulate. I never would have guessed he had a disability. Knowing he also was autistic did encourage me to feel more positive about it. However, I also did know his diagnosis was Asperger, which to me kind of meant he wasn’t quite the same.
Knowing he had Asperger felt he was at a higher level than myself and was less “Special Needs” than having having just regular autism if you know what I mean. Of course a diagnosis is just a label and which label you’re given shouldn’t make a big difference. However, I still felt like most people I knew with regular autism (and not Asperger) were typically more severe. So for these reasons as a child I would have liked it much more if the diagnosis of Asperger was already classed as the same diagnosis as autism because then I would feel it was less separate from me.
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