9 ms·
I still don’t get why Asperger is seen as a subgroup of Autism.
by lowdose 5y ago
I still don’t get why Asperger is seen as a subgroup of Autism.
- stared 5y agoIt's not. Now it is not considered neither a separate unit nor a subset of autism. (As there is no meaningful distinction between Asperger Syndrome and Autism without cognitive impairment.)
- denton-scratch 5y agoI didn't understand that - "not a separate unit". What is the relation between Asperger's and Autism?
- emodendroket 5y agoAsperger's has been eliminated as a diagnosis altogether.
- denton-scratch 5y agoThanks.
- dragonwriter 5y agoBecause when Asperger defined “autistic psychopathy” under the Nazi regime, there was a range between the “good” kind whose “special abilities” were sufficient in relation to their social deficiencies to be valuable to society and the “bad” kind where they weren't; the former were protected for their usefulness and the latter murdered (“euthanized”, officially), often at Asperger’s personal direction and entirely based on the social dangers he warned about from them, by the Nazis. So until quite recently, “Asperger’s Syndrome” persisted as the name for “good” autism.
- emodendroket 5y agoAll true, but there were actual diagnostic criteria that could be used to differentiate the subgroup from the larger one.
- drewcoo 5y agoAs opposed to Asperger seen as a Nazi war criminal? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-hans-aspergers-nazi-collusion/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-h... That label seriously offends some people.
- jklinger410 5y agoWe need more sub-types of such a wide-ranging disorder, not fewer. It's likely autism includes combinations of several types of distinct issues anyway.