What Happened to Asperger’s Disorder?

Technically, Aspergers Disorder no longer exists. It is another diagnosis that was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Health in its 5th edition (DSM-5), published in 2013. Aspergers was a standalone diagnosis, but is now under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). As of the 2013 publication, ASD is divided into 3 levels, distinguished by the amount of support that the individual requires. Of course, people who had a diagnosis of Aspergers Disorder before 2013 did not just disappear- their diagnosis has just shifted to ASD, with a corresponding level (most likely level one).

Another relevant note- Austrian Physician Hans Asperger was the first to discover Autism and coin the phrase Asperger’s Syndrome. There is a good bit of controversy surrounding Asperger’s role in Nazi Vienna, with some scholars claiming he was a Nazi supporter advocating for eugenics and the elimination of any disabled children or adults, and others saying he used his influence to attempt to spare autistic children citing their “special talents”. Though the official understanding of the removal of the term Asperger’s Disorder was to minimize confusion and redundancy, many think a secondary benefit was to distance the term from the controversy.