So a lot of people are talking about Elon Musk having Aspergers. And as a person who once had that diagnosis(I’m autistic) I want to use this opportunity to try and educate a lot of you on why that term is no longer use when diagnosing autism.

Aspergers syndrome is no longer on the the DSM-V. It’s just autism spectrum disorder. Why you ask? Well here’s why. Asperger’s is synonymous with eugenics and it is incredibly problematic.

It’s named after Hans Asperger who was a nazi doctor during WW2. Why does this matter? Asperger used to decide whether or not disabled children got to live or die based on how they “functioned.”

Disabled children deemed not desirable saw an immediate death. Asperger’s for most of my life was synonymous with “high functioning” autism. For me it meant I didn’t need as much support because I was/am semi independent.

Functioning labels are harmful because they tell us autism is a linear spectrum. It is not. Yes some autistic people have much higher support needs than either. But we are all autistic. No matter what our level of functioning is. We all Uber support needs

Similarly, function labels are harmful because they make it seem as if someone who has higher support needs is not as desirable in a neurotypical society.

I have so much more I can say and I’m always willing to educate you all, but I’ll end this thread with a summary of why Aspergers is no longer used as a diagnosis. https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/new-evidence-ties-hans-asperger-nazi-eugenics-program/