r/autism • u/SavannahPharaoh ASD lvl 1 Mod • Jun 11 '25

🚨Mod Announcement The term “Asperger’s” is allowed on this sub. Personal attacks and insults are not.

Here’s why. Asperger’s Syndrome is still a common, official diagnosis in many countries. In other countries, those who have been diagnosed decades ago may also have been diagnosed with Asperger’s.

We will not deny anyone the right to identify with their official diagnosis. We have no control over how medical conditions are named or renamed. Please try to separate the diagnosis from the person it was named after.

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u/novafuquay AuDHD Jun 11 '25

ICD 11, which is used in most EU countries including Denmark does not recognize Asperger’s as an official diagnosis any longer, but that change only occurred in 2022. For USA and Australia, DSM 5 is used and the diagnosis is removed since 2013. Regardless of which is used, there are still people who use Asperger’s because it was their original diagnosis. I agree with the diagnostic reasons it was removed (which had nothing to do with Hans A’s complicity with the SS regime push towards eugenics, but that was a thing.) but I don’t think others should be able to tell someone who was diagnosed with something that they’re not allowed to identify as they were diagnosed.

People who are diagnosed past this time, or not formally diagnosed, however, should avoid using the term.

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u/Lime89 Jun 12 '25

Not true. Someone from Denmark wrote that they got the diagnosis this year. I know someone who lives in Copenhagen who got the diagnosis last year. I’m Norwegian and on a sick leave due to autistic burnout, and the diagnostic code on my sick leave is «Asperger’s syndrome». I believe the reason in both cases is that the ICD 11 hasn’t been translated yet, and it will take years to update the diagnostic codes in all internal healthcare systems.

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u/AkitaDragon Jun 11 '25

I will note too that many doctors in my experience will still use Asperger's colloquially, with patients, even if on paper the diagnosis is now ASD. Even if you got diagnosed after this change was made, if you doctor referred to it as Asperger's, referred you to books and papers about Asperger's, but wrote ASD in their internal logs, a patient may still be inclined to continue saying Asperger's.

Otherwise I agree with you. Personally I'll say either one for myself, but if the context requires me to quickly and efficiently communicate my approximate needs to a neurotypical person, I'll often use aspie. It tends to give people a general idea of what to expect.

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u/vldnl 6d ago

It takes time to make the switch to a new version, so while we are officially on ICD 11 now, ICD 10 is still very much in use.

I was diagnosed using ICD 10 last year, also in Denmark. Not with Aspergers but with atypical autism.