Thank you for posting this article. It is a worthwhile read.
I think this young man is 100% correct in thinking that removing the individual labels will only lead to better care for all those with autism.
“My identity is attached to being on the autism spectrum, not some superior Asperger’s identity,” said Ari Ne’eman, 21, an activist who founded the
Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, a 15-chapter organization he has built while in college, adding, “I think the consolidation to one category of autism spectrum diagnosis will lead to better services.”
Now, if we could only get doctors to listen to us when we tell them we think our child might be autistic. I asked often if my (then) 4 year old had autism because he was not doing normal 4 year old things. There were things he did that surpassed his age and then the things that should have been learned at an earlier age still alluded him. Every doctor I asked shrugged me off as a worry-wart mother. I grew weary of asking the doctors and just loved my son for who he is (not what he can and cannot do).
He's an adult now and still living with me. We are currently working with his doctor to get him the diagnosis that he needs to get the help that he needs. Whether that diagnosis be Asperger's or just "somewhere on the autism spectrum" we will find the help we need.
I think a LOT of people today are thinking that Asperger's is the "disease of the decade". I know my own brother (who lives with me and my son) thinks Asperger's is like the flu...something you should be able to recover from. Maybe if people hear the word AUTISM it might sink in that Asperger's IS Autism and as such should be treated as a permanent disorder and not something one can get over.
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