Re:The right word : Asperger Syndrome (Score 1)

I am 44 years old, female and have an Asperger's syndrome diagnosis. Let me make this clear. I love my diagnosis. I love my "label". It has lifted a tremendous burden from me. I got put in this nicely labeled box less than a year ago. I tell everyone I dare that I have Asperger's syndrome. No, most people don't know what it means, and can scarcely believe that I am autistic, but I am. Some AS need lots of help, I am trying to get accomodations, a few small ones, at my university. I need a label in order to get those accodations. I won't be able to get something like SSI, they wont' believe that I am disabled to that point because I have used so many coping mechanisms for so long that I am perceived as normal (except that I limit my contact with people as much as possible and I can be a little strange as far as how people perceive me). If I was a kid with NVLD or AS or High functioning autism (keep in mind these labels are in a state of flux and may have all new definitions next year) I would dearly love someone to explain why I felt like an "alien" or "a machine" or why I would rather be a dog or cat... Labels can be wonderful things. What is not wonderful is for someone to say, "I know what Aspies are like...they are like this...." We are an extraordinarily heterogenous group. That is in the peer reviewed medical literature. Meet one Aspie and you have NOT met them alll. Thanks for giving me a chance to put in my 57 cents worth. oddizm -nor-cal autie