Asperger's or Autism?

The full video premieres tomorrow at 8:30am Melbourne

#aspergerssyndrome

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I'm Paul Micallef, and I discovered my own autism at age 30.

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Peace,

~ Paul

#autism #asd #autismawareness

[pullcheck]

I learned 2 months ago that I was diagnosed with Asperger. I've never realised that I lived with this disorder for 16 years. I always used to struggle meeting with new people or communicating with others. I thought they were the problem, but I was wrong, I was the problem all this time. My parents kept it away from me and my environment(I don't know if they did a good thing by telling this to me this late) . But now, things are getting better. I can communicate better with the others. I can express my emotions to the people around me and start conversations with them. I sometimes struggle making eye contact though, but I'll figure it out.

[jennifererin]

This is why when I told my mom and brother my diagnosis of autism/aspergers syndrome was met with "you are so selfish to compare yourself to those with real problems, shame on you." Then disowned after diagnosis at 41 .

[phatzerer]

Anybody else really dislike the term, ‘disorder’ given it carries a lot of negative weight? I suspect in time, it will fall out of favour too for terms like ‘condition’.

[jeaninefohl]

My son with adhd and alcohol abuse in hospital. Very scared.

[REBEKAHJOHNSON-lhxh]

Yeah, I believe I am AuDHD, but I follow more with Asperger’s. I started talking at 10 months, and always been good with school, relatively high IQ, etc. and I live alone, but I can definitely tell I have ADHD and I believe autism.

[m_rceleen]

my brother was diagnosed with aspergers as a kid! its always been weird to me that they seperated “low” functioning and “high” functioning autistics because theyre all autistic at the end of the day and i feel like it just incites more ableism towards those with higher needs as theyre more othered, even by other autistics, with the seperate label of aspergers for lower needs autistics

[ArtsyMegz_On_Etsy]

When I get a new counselor in hopes that he can assess me for autism, because I learned that Asperger's isn't a term used anymore. Counselor: I don't think that I would quite say that you have low-functioning autism, more like Asperger's!" 🤦‍♀️ It seems like whenever I used the term Asperger's to explain to my family that I am sure that I am on the spectrum, my knowledge of it got invalidated because I used the term "Asperger's" when the term is no longer used. So then I use the word "Autism" instead of Asperger's (when I would consider myself to have high-functioning Autism, and would prefer to refer to myself more accurately as having Asperger's) I get invalidated by my knowledge once again by my counselor, because he uses the term Asperger's when I was told months ago that nobody uses that term. It just seems like a way for people to make you feel like they know more than me by switching to one term or the other (because us autistic/Asperger's individuals are often used to not being believed, and people question our knowledge, treat us like we have the mental capacity of a kid, but yet they want to tell us that we aren't on the autism spectrum (I am referring to how hard it's been trying to demonstrate to close family members that I have autistic traits, and then having them say, "But everybody has that problem sometimes"; because I never got assessed for autism growing up, and so they never looked at me as being autistic or having Asperger's). But when I go to tell an acquaintance who I have talked to here and there for years, or people I don't feel close to, they say to me, "Oh, I could see that you had Autism/Asperger's, but I didn't want to say anything." Even my best friend didn't question it when I told her about it. It's the really close family members who don't even want to consider the possibility, and just keep saying, "Well sometimes I have days where I want to be alone after working all day too". Then later on, those same people find it baffling when I don't reach out to them for 3 or 4 weeks. If for example, I decided to try and catch up with an old friend, it would feel like plenty enough to see them once a month, or even 2 months! It sounds crazy to them, but for me I feel fine, and I have the memories. Telling a neurotypical person this feels so taboo though, because I feel like they don't understand it. But yet, they want to say that my needing a lot of time to myself is a common thing.

[keir]

yeah I found out at the age of 38 that the reason I'm the way I am is down to my ASD and most people are very reluctant to except that I've got autism but if I use the term ashburgers they'll usually agree and say that's why I'm so annoying to socialise with but never understand that feeling frustrated with people who don't think and act in the ways we want them to do is a 2 way street and we all have to give eachother a little time, respect and patience if we expect it from other people

[hazmathaver]

I feel like a lot of autistic people are uncle tomming themselves when they strictly stick to the aspergers label. Not always the case, there's nuance- but I feel this is a huge part of the reasoning for holding onto something that makes you feel a bit less singled out, and even celebrated.

[llareia]

The problem (IN MY EXPERIENCE) is that for those of us in the Aspie category, it's damn near impossible to be diagnosed with ASD because we generally "don't have enough social impairment". You can be in the most impaired group in other categories, but if you talk to other people voluntarily, you can't get diagnosed with ASD. Great.

[Laneline]

The term Asperger's is terrible to begin with. So many people I have said that word to over the years hear 'Ass Burgers'. It's an immediate joke and I always found it irritating, so much so that I quit even talking about it. Glad it is defuncted terminology.

[ShaCaro]

Asperger's did not fall out of favour. A handful of allistic Americans in a room just decided to remove it from the dsmv. They thought the standards for the diagnosis too vague so decided to make it all even more vague.

Loads of people still call themselves that. It is also very much still the diagnosis I have.


I can get behind removing the Nazi name, but autism is an umbrella term and just does not work to replace it fully.

[gianellacerriteno]

If you have ever seen DoctorWho.. You'll know who this man looks like. Look alike! Thank you for teaching us! 🎉

[vg]

I find the term "aspie" to be more specific and concise than simply being under the dsm5 ASD umbrella diagnosis. I wish there was an inoffensive way to keep that specificity and conciseness.

Just as an example, you have the umbrella term Cancer. A of things are diagnosed as cancer. But there's a huge difference between melanoma, and s4 MBC. While it's both absolutely diagnosed as Cancer, the terms are far more concise and descriptive without having to ennumerate an entire list of how it affects that specific individual.

I am autistic with low support needs, with no language delay, but moderate social and sensory difficulties. But i wish there was one word i could say to cover all that.

[johnfsenpai]

Thanks for talking about this, too many people believe the term "Asperger's" was only dropped because we don't like the guy for being a Nazi.

[christophersantos]

and now there is the dsm5 tr updated back in apr of 2020

[GeenieCherrybomb]

Ooohhhh theres a lot of internalised ableism in the comments so far 😮

[i-have-a-dream-without-media]

Everyone should use the term they‘re comfortable with

[nobodysperfect]

"Due to gender roles in heterosexual relationships, in our society, life, the world, culture, reality, nature, whatever you want to call it, men are usually expected to take the lead, pursue, and escalate, court women, initiate romantic/sexual relationships.

This requires a certain amount of confidence and social skills, social dynamics and social intelligence, conversation ability and human interaction ability, certain social behaviors, which can be very difficult to develop for those who've faced a lot of social isolation and rejection for many years, or have a condition that affects their ability to socialize, such as autism, etc.

People who fail to develop these traits due to lack of positive experiences, are much less able to compete with their peers for romantic/sexual relationships.

As said before, men being generally expected to pursue, take the lead, initiate and escalate, the lack of these traits affects their ability to find and attract a romantic/sexual partner, or to get into a relationship, to a much larger degree than it does for women."

i thought that was a very powerful and valid post, perfectly worded.

That is a powerful mindset I've had for several years now or longer and I've always felt that men with autism will have it much harder than women do when it comes to dating

[shortyylu]

My old friend told me he had Asperger syndrome and I literally did not know that meant he was autistic, but he was super super smart, but it’s a shame because he got into drugs just like all of us did smh