Every year on February 18 is the World Asperger Syndrome Day. Asperger’s Syndrome is a condition that is at the mildest end of the autism spectrum. It is characterized by difficulties in social interactions and making friends, problems in controlling, understanding and communicating emotions, some awkwardness in movements, restricted and stereotyped patterns of behavior, and interests that are unusual in subject and intensity (see the full report of the National Institute of Health for a more exhaustive description of the symptoms).
From the publication of DSM-5 (the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in 2013, Asperger’s Syndrome is no longer considered a diagnostic category in itself: it is not “labeled” as a particular and specific form of autism, but is instead incorporated in the one large family of autism spectrum disorders. Because?
Needs, not labels. At the basis of the reclassification is the fact that autism is characterized by a set of clinical and behavioral conditions which, although different, are expressed along a continuous line, in a range of shades that varies from person to person and also in a single individual in a lifetime. «The idea is to make sure individuals are described for their specific needs rather than making them fall into narrow categories, ”Francesca Happé, professor of cognitive neuroscience at King’s College London, wrote in Spectrum News.
Years of studies have underlined the similarity between Asperger’s Syndrome and autism, distinguishing the fact that in the former there are no language disorders and cognitive retardation – traits which, however, are not always present in autism. The redefinition of 2013 was therefore also designed to avoid confusion in the diagnosis. However, the decision to standardize diagnostic codes has generally not been well received by people with Asperger’s Syndrome who received the diagnosis before the new definition, and who continue to recognize the specific features of this facet of the condition.
Today the term Asperger’s Syndrome remains in clinical and common parlance and has been replaced, in the DSM-5, by the longer definition Level 1 autism spectrum disorder, with no associated intellectual and language impairment.
Dangerous stereotypes. The diagnostic code thus modified could contribute to undermine a commonplace associated with Asperger’s, that of being a form of autism often defined. high functioning. A label that is based on how a person looks and not on how easy or difficult it is for that person to orient themselves in everyday life, having to manage group situations or interruptions in the routine.
Invisible suffering. As demonstrated in a study conducted by the Telethon Kids Institute and the University of Western Australia on 2,000 people on the autism spectrum, individuals defined as “highly functioning” because they lack intellectual disability, however, can present difficulties in adaptive behavior, that is to say in tasks newspapers considered automatic such as brushing your teeth, tying your shoes or taking a bus.
In short, there is a large gap between the IQ and the ability to “function” in the practical tasks of everyday life. The problem is that the expression high functioning, often associated with Asperger’s, it describes an apparent absence of difficulty, thus becoming an incorrect criterion for deciding who is in need of assistance and who is not: in this sense, the extension of the definition of autism to people with Asperger’s characteristics has broadened the ” access to care, support therapies, educational interventions for those who, before the publication of the DSM-5 in 2013, did not benefit from it.
Forget. The term Asperger’s Syndrome is also controversial due to its affiliation with the Austrian pediatrician from which the condition takes its name. Hans Asperger (1906-1980), took part in the eugenics program of Nazism, in a historical period, under the Hitler regime, in which psychiatry was a pretext for classifying people as “genetically suitable” or “unsuitable”. It was in this context that Asperger’s operated, supporting children he considered to be on the favorable end of the spectrum, therefore deserving of social integration, even gifted with special abilities, and sending those he considered severely autistic to the Spiegelgrund child euthanasia center in Vienna, where they were killed. (to know more). We therefore understand the discomfort in recognizing Asperger’s work in the knowledge of this condition.
Be seen. Even if we still haven’t found an adequate vocabulary to describe the many nuances of autism, receiving a diagnosis – as Angelica Mereu wrote in The Vision – can help to scratch a perennial sense of inadequacy and to find one’s place in the world. whatever name you decide to attribute to things: “Of course, I don’t shake my hands, I understand the idioms and I even know how to be sarcastic, but the fact is that we are not an army of clones, there are no boxes to tick to re-enter the perfect autistic manual, but characteristics personal and diagnostic criteria to be met. Finally, this year, I got my diagnosis of level 1 autism spectrum disorder with characteristics that can be traced back to Asperger’s syndrome by clinical convention “.