In message
Mizter T wrote:


On Aug 12, 6:08*pm, Graeme wrote:

1506 wrote:
[snip]
Decent people do not mock the afflicted. *In point of fact asperger's
is a gift as much as it=92s an affliction. *The ability to focus in a
very narrow to the exclusion of outside data can at times be very
useful.

Aspergers is not Autism, though they are in the same spectrum of mental
conditions.

You haven't come across the recent debate about a proposed change in a
new edition some very influential American medical or mental health
text book - AIUI the notion is that Asperger's would no longer be
separately classified, instead it would just be at one end of the
autism spectrum.

Yes I have, I've also had my ear bashed comprehensively by various interested
parties about why that shouldn't hasppen.


Interesting debate ensues - one school of thought in the medico-mental
health world seem to consider this to be logical, honest and in line
with the evidence that it's all just a spectrum of the same thing,
whilst others - some campaigners and the like - were/are wary of
reclassification, the thinking being that the term Asperger's has
broadly been successfully de-stigmatised in the mind of society at
large (which in turn has encouraged people to seek help who otherwise
wouldn't have done so), and that 'abolishing' Asperger's and lumping
it all in with autism would be a backward step in this. At least,
that's my understanding of the debate.

That's the meat of it.

--
Graeme Wall

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Transport Miscellany at www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail
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