One day, a Chihuahua decided to call itself a wolf. Silly little
dog, you are not a wolf; are you? Well as of 1993 Canis familiaris (dog)
was reclassified as Canis lupus
familiaris; yes wolves. Perhaps the Chihuahua was feeling a little manic
and a little hyper and wanted to call himself a wolf. He wanted to feel strong
and intimidating rather than to be seen as a small harmless dog that has closer
resemblance to a rabbit the fierce hunter. He did not want to be thought of
cute but as ferocious. Except that he is not! Most would agree that a Chihuahua
is not wolf. But that is just it. Scientifically speaking, genetically
speaking, he is the jury is out! So you can go call yourself a wolf if you
like little Chihuahua. We will still laugh at you when you yelp and try to hump
my leg. Now let’s say this Chihuahua wanted to call itself a Great Dane or a
Collie; can it do that? By the same reasoning no. because there are different
breeds of dogs and they are all wolves.
I was recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder under
the DSM-V. Right after the diagnosis there is a line stating that my
presentation is well characterized by the diagnosis formerly known as Asperger’s
Syndrome. Yes; I am an aspie! “But you should not call yourself an aspie
because Asperger’s is not a diagnosis anymore,” come the nay-say-ers and the
lumpers. Lumper is a term used in taxonomy to denote people with a tendency to reclassify
a group of closely related species as once species. A classic example are those
that prefer the classification Homo sapiens neanderthalensis over the more
widely accepted Homo neanderthalensis. A Neanderthal presents a little
differently than the average human and you would likely be able to
differentiate if you saw one (they are extinct). Since the reclassification of
Asperger’s in 2013; some people have been pondering whether to keep calling
themselves aspies or if they should call themselves autistic. The answer is:
both! On top of that, Asperger’s is still recognized as a type of autism. ASD-Asperger’s
type is a classification under the DSM-V. it is listed next along with the more
classical type and cases where the child appeared to develop normally and then
lost the skills that it had gained around 27 months (or so). These ones do not
have neat little names like “Asperger’s” but they are still different types and
if someone asks, “what kind of autism do you have?” You could refer to these
three classifiers or you could refer to the levels system (mild, moderate or
severe). You could also use both if you want to get really accurate;
alternatively you could just prefer not to specify and leave it up in the air. This
is seen by some people on the spectrum who identify as this way as more
inclusive.
This new classification is also good because people were not
sure whether Asperger’s was just autism or not. Now we can say that it is! People
also used to think of Asperger’s as ‘autism-lite’, “You are not really autistic…”
This often led to aspies being written off for their experiences, that they do
not need help and that they can get by just fine. Now you can be classified as
Asperger’s type along with mild, moderate or severe on top. This can help
providers better gage how much help you need and recognize the person’s ability
to grow and adapt. A person’s needs can also change. A severely autistic child
may grow up to be only a mildly autistic adult depending on the kind of support
and therapy that they receive likewise their condition could worsen over time. But
we must stress, this person is still autistic. Just as a dog will never be not
a wolf; nor will it ever be a cat or a rabbit.
So if you want to call yourself an aspie if you were
diagnosed prior to 2013 or if you were diagnosed after and you feel familiarity
with Asperger’s then go ahead! I had a friend who I once knew often thought of
themselves as an aspie (no diagnosis) and someone said, “Asperger’s is just
autism now.” Yeah ok, that may be true. I also have a wolf at home; his name is
Spot!
