ABSTRACT

The high functioning portion of the autistic spectrum was what my clinic has been concerned with, as the clinic was devoted to core academic problems and was by no means an “Autism Center.” Especially when Asperger Syndrome was introduced (see later in this chapter), children with subtle school problems but many precocious academic skills began to appear in my clinic, even if they were being followed for years in “Autism Center” facilities. Recently, Asperger Syndrome is no longer a separate diagnostic category officially used in this country, although nonprofessional patients, families, and even some schools continue to find it a useful term somewhat separate from high functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Health care professionals have to concede that they are no longer allowed to write as a diagnosis Asperger Syndrome, now that there is no recognition of its distinctive course, “drummed out of the corps.” (As of DSM-5, this was decided; the Committee on ASD cited studies reporting that there wasn’t a difference between high functioning autism and Asperger significant enough to warrant there being a separate diagnosis; this was based on data on children 8–12 years old and dismissed the course in preschool years.) Publications concerning the history of Dr. Asperger, who apparently was a Nazi or at least a Nazi collaborator, have further dampened enthusiasm for the use of the term; yet, having been among the first in this country to meet Dr. Lorna Wing when she introduced the work of Dr. Asperger in English, and having seen children whose excellent language development delayed recognition of their core autistic qualities, I am not entirely convinced 55that the syndrome should be discarded. Perhaps a new name, free of the eponym “Asperger,” should be considered.