I'd argue that that kind of answers your own question, though. In my struggle to understand my issues, I've read plenty of books that offered some help or insig

I'd argue that that kind of answers your own question, though. In my struggle to understand my issues, I've read plenty of books that offered some help or insight, but frustratingly seemed to somehow miss 'the point', however vague. The moment I was diagnosed with Asperger's, and started searching for resources about that, I remember being astounded at how all the stories and descriptions were either exactly on point, or at least much more so than what I'd read before. I've had the same experience with friendships. Most of my close friends, historically, suffered from various disorders, ranging from BPD, narcissism, ADD, chronic depression, bipolar disorder, etc. A big part of what made us 'click' was the different-ness, and yet there was always something lost in translation that wasn't so with most others I know with autism/asperger's. Clearly, there's a lot we don't understand about ASD. And maybe we'll one day have various ways of labelling subtypes better. But in my experience and those of many people I know, there is something specific enough about ASD (even as a much vaguer label than Asperger's) to warrant a specific label. I don't have as strong an opinion on this as I thought initially, because I do see that the label can be rather 'heavy', perhaps enough so that the benefits don't outweigh the cost. But at least right now, despite the pretty serious negative effects I've felt 'taking on' the label, I feel I'm better off with it. Maybe that's just something that some of us need to go through...