Trey Smith
According to an article from the Associated Press, Asperger's Syndrome or Disorder will be dropped from the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) that is used by professionals to diagnosis mental disorders. Instead of a separate entry, those with the syndrome will be rolled into the category "autism spectrum disorder."
Personally, I don't think it really matters all that much what professionals want to call this condition. The more I have learned about what I live with, I'm not even sure I would call it a mental disorder at all. It's more like a mental differentiation. If the researchers who believe it is a neurologically-based difference are correct, then all it means is that some of us have atypical -- not negative or diseased -- brain wiring.
For me, the saddest part of this change is that Dr. Hans Asperger will soon be forgotten! That's one of the grand benefits of having a medical condition named after you. For generations after your death, your name lives on...but not for poor Hans!
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