Editing Asperger syndrome (section)

== Society and culture ==
{{See also|Societal and cultural aspects of autism|Neurodiversity movement|Disability rights movement}}
[[File:Students, families walk to support Autism Awareness Month 140404-M-ZZ999-331.jpg|thumb|Students and families walk to support Autism Awareness Month.|alt=Three children are seen holding a banner which says "Different NOT Less! We ARE UNIFIED" in brightly colored text.]]

People identifying with Asperger syndrome may refer to themselves in casual conversation as ''aspies'' (a term first used in print in the ''[[The Boston Globe|Boston Globe]]'' in 1998).<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Willey LH|title=Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger's Syndrome|url=https://archive.org/details/pretendingtobeno00will|url-access=limited|publisher=Jessica Kingsley|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pretendingtobeno00will/page/n71 71], 104|year=1999|isbn=978-1-85302-749-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite OED|term=Aspie|id=392643|access-date=29 May 2021}}</ref> Some autistic people have advocated a shift in perception of autism spectrum disorders as complex [[syndrome]]s, [[neurodivergence|neurodivergences]], and/or [[neurominority]] cognitive styles rather than diseases that must be cured. Proponents of this [[neurodiversity paradigm]] reject the notion that there is an "ideal" brain configuration and that any deviation from the norm is [[pathological]]; they promote tolerance of [[neurodiversity]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Nick |title=Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms & Definitions |url=https://neuroqueer.com/neurodiversity-terms-and-definitions/ |website=Neuroqueer: The writings of Nick Walker |access-date=22 November 2024 |date=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Nick |title=Throw Away the Master's Tools: Liberating Ourselves from the Pathology Paradigm |url=https://neuroqueer.com/throw-away-the-masters-tools/ |website=Neuroqueer: The Writings of Nick Walker |access-date=22 November 2024 |date=2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Williams CC|chapter=In search of an Asperger|veditors=Stoddart KP|title=Children, Youth and Adults with Asperger Syndrome: Integrating Multiple Perspectives|year=2005|publisher=Jessica Kingsley|isbn=978-1-84310-319-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/childrenyouthadu00kevi/page/242 242–52]|quote=The life prospects of people with AS would change if we shifted from viewing AS as a set of dysfunctions, to viewing it as a set of differences that have merit.|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/childrenyouthadu00kevi/page/242}}</ref> These views are the basis for the [[autistic rights]] and [[autistic pride]] movements, within the broader [[neurodiversity movement]].<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Dakin CJ|chapter=Life on the outside: A personal perspective of Asperger syndrome| veditors = Stoddart KP|title=Children, Youth and Adults with Asperger Syndrome: Integrating Multiple Perspectives|year=2005|publisher=Jessica Kingsley|isbn=978-1-84310-319-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/childrenyouthadu00kevi/page/352 352–61]|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/childrenyouthadu00kevi/page/352}}</ref> There is a contrast between the attitude of people with AS, who typically do not want to be cured and are proud of their identity; and parents of children with AS, who more often seek a "cure" of their children's autism.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Clarke J, van Amerom G | title = Asperger's syndrome: differences between parents' understanding and those diagnosed | journal = Social Work in Health Care | volume = 46 | issue = 3 | pages = 85–106 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18551831 | doi = 10.1300/J010v46n03_05 | s2cid = 10181053}}</ref>

Some researchers have argued that AS and other autism can be viewed as a different cognitive style, not a disorder,<ref name=Clarke>{{cite journal|journal=Disability & Society|year=2007|volume=22|issue=7|pages=761–76|title='Surplus suffering': differences between organizational understandings of Asperger's syndrome and those people who claim the 'disorder'|vauthors=Clarke J, van Amerom G|doi=10.1080/09687590701659618|s2cid=145736625}}</ref> and that it should be removed from psychiatric and medical manuals classifying diseases (''[[International Classification of Diseases|ICD]]'') or mental disorders (''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM]]''), much as [[homosexuality]] was removed.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Disability & Society|year=2009|volume=24|issue=3|pages=343–55|title=Reframing Asperger syndrome: lessons from other challenges to the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual'' and ICIDH approaches| vauthors = Allred S|doi=10.1080/09687590902789511|s2cid=144506657}}</ref>

Even some people typically associated with a [[neurodiversity paradigm|pathology paradigm]] for autism are willing to consider AS a neutral difference. For example, in 2002, [[Simon Baron-Cohen]] wrote of those with AS: "In the social world, there is no great benefit to a precise eye for detail, but in the worlds of maths, computing, cataloging, music, linguistics, engineering, and science, such an eye for detail can lead to success rather than failure." Baron-Cohen cited two reasons why it might still be useful to consider AS to be a disability: to ensure provision for legally required special support, and to recognize emotional difficulties from reduced empathy, which was commonly associated with autism during that time but [[double empathy problem|has since lost support]].<ref name=BaronCohen2002>{{cite journal|journal=Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl|year=2002|volume=17|issue=3|pages=186–91|title=Is Asperger syndrome necessarily viewed as a disability?| vauthors = Baron-Cohen S |doi=10.1177/10883576020170030801|s2cid=145629311}} A preliminary, freely readable draft, with slightly different wording in the quoted text, is in: {{cite web|url=http://autismresearchcentre.com/docs/papers/2002_BC_ASDisability.pdf|access-date=2 December 2008|year=2002| vauthors = Baron-Cohen S|title=Is Asperger's syndrome necessarily a disability?|publisher=Autism Research Centre|location=Cambridge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217140628/http://autismresearchcentre.com/docs/papers/2002_BC_ASDisability.pdf|archive-date=17 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Baron-Cohen argues that the genes for ASD's combination of abilities have operated throughout recent [[human evolution]] and have made remarkable contributions to human history.<ref>{{cite book|title=Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology|chapter=The evolution of brain mechanisms for social behavior|vauthors=Baron-Cohen S|pages=415–32| veditors = Crawford C, Krebs D |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8058-5957-7}}</ref>

By contrast, Pier Jaarsma and Welin wrote in 2011 that the "broad version of the neurodiversity claim, covering low-functioning as well as high-functioning autism, is problematic. Only a narrow conception of neurodiversity, referring exclusively to high-functioning autists, is reasonable."<ref name=Jaarsma>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jaarsma P, Welin S | url = http://www.imh.liu.se/avd_halsa_samhalle/filarkiv1/1.264263/JaarsmaWelin2011Autismasanaturalvariation.pdf | title = Autism as a natural human variation: reflections on the claims of the neurodiversity movement | journal = Health Care Analysis | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 20–30 | date = March 2012 | pmid = 21311979 | doi = 10.1007/s10728-011-0169-9 | s2cid = 18618887 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131101015957/http://www.imh.liu.se/avd_halsa_samhalle/filarkiv1/1.264263/JaarsmaWelin2011Autismasanaturalvariation.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 1 November 2013}}</ref> They say that "higher functioning" individuals with autism may "not [be] benefited with such a psychiatric defect-based diagnosis ... some of them are being harmed by it, because of the disrespect the diagnosis displays for their natural way of being", but "think that it is still reasonable to include other categories of autism in the psychiatric diagnostics. The narrow conception of the neurodiversity claim should be accepted but the broader claim should not."<ref name=Jaarsma />