Did you know? There is Controversy Over The Asperger's Diagnosis

Before the revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 5, Asperger's was recognized as a formal diagnosis for individuals exhibiting certain autistic characteristics. People with Asperger's typically demonstrated specialized and thorough knowledge on particular subjects, and although social interactions posed challenges, their sentence structure and language use were generally similar to that of the neuro-majority.

A lot of individuals continue to strongly associate themselves with Asperger's rather than the broader Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. An Asperger's diagnosis cannot be revoked, but individuals since 2013 are no longer officially diagnosed with it.

Leo Kanner identified a group of children under his care as having Autism, while around the same time in 1944, Asperger identified a group of children under his care with Asperger Syndrome. It was in the 1980s that Lorna Wing contributed to raising awareness of the profile, leading to its official diagnosis in the 1990s.

The Controversy:

Extensive research has been conducted on the identity of Hans Aspergers and his association with the neo-Nazi movement during the 1930s and 40s. He worked as a pediatrician responsible for assessing children exhibiting various cognitive and medical issues. Initially believed to have opposed certain aspects of ethnic cleansing euthanasia, it is now believed that his role may have been more significant than previously assumed.

Some individuals consider Asperger's association with Nazism to be extremely abhorrent, leading them to advocate for the removal of his name and research from historical records. In a discussion with my friend and colleague, Blake Baxter, we contemplate the challenges of completely eliminating Asperger's research and the wealth of information that has emerged from his work, acknowledging the complexity of a man who may have been "a decent individual navigating through a challenging era."

You can listen to our podcast here, if you'd like to hear more about the history, research, and the controversy.