is the autism spectrum the best place for aspergers?

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You are very welcome It helps me to read it from time to time aswell, the social part can become overwhelming at times.

By this time next year, if I'm still around next year, i won't have Asperger's Syndrome anymore. I'll more likely be reclassified, if I choose to get reclassified, as Autism Class I per DSM V rules. I don't know if ICD will drop the terminology, though.

By the looks of things ICD 11 will still have asperges
But we won't know the final desession for 3 more years

*sigh* It's frustrating. I only hope they won't shove all the Aspies into "social communication disorder" or something like that--many of us really don't have primarily-social issues.

for many of us, it is more than social stuff, and more than being introverted loners. Sensitivities (sound for me), various degrees of attention deficit, metabolic issues . . . . .

Well considering it is an autism spectrum disorder, I would imagine it wouldn't fit very well in any of the other categorizes.

I am on more than one spectrum that is badly stereotyped. It's a big deal, but not a reason to avoid the spectrum itself.

Also, Asperger's is not mostly about social things. It is mostly diagnosed through social things, but it impacts every part of how I think and perceive. I have no issues with identifying myself as autistic, nor do I have any issues with the premise of creating one diagnosis labeled "autism spectrum."

Hmmm... I thought ADHD people also suffered from social issues related to their inability to determine when someone is interested or not. (If this is true then it only confirms my AS self diagnosis more.)

ADHD does have social impairments. For example, a difficulty in appraising social consequences of displaying particular emotions, which leads to social impulsivity. But ADHD is not a matter of not knowing what to do, it's not being able to do what you no. It doesn't have any direct social impairments as autism does.

I think the OP's question is one of social identity "labels" rather than one of biological significance.

The genetic relationship between AS and Autism has pretty well established there is continuum of genetically determined traits that "significantly" overlap between ASD and high functioning AS in a phylogenetic cluster relationship (this includes social traits as well as speech, motor neuron and other conditions).

I consistently see that many higher functioning AS people on this forum who would "socially" like to distance themselves from lower functioning autistic individuals to better fit into NT society. Many probably can cope socially and so may feel justified in not wanting to be lumped with people who are non-verbal and behave ways that compromise their ability to live independently or to socially interact with NTs.

To those who want to leave the ASD paradigm, you could have left anytime, its not like you had to wait for DSMV!!

No.
I don't think that Aspergers is a form of autism. I think they are two seperate ways of being. There may be some overlap in outward physical behaviors in extreme Aspergers and autism, but still, that doesn't mean they are the same---I think Aspergers Syndrome should have it's own category separate from the autism category. NT doctors have lumped both together in the same category. I bet an Aspie scientist./doc wouldn't do that.
NT doctors and scientists can't crawl inside our skin and know what aspergers are really like---so they look at some outward beahviors and slap the label "autistic spectrum" on us.

I think you are beating a dead horse (so to speak), Hans Asperger made his observations in an era where manifest outward traits purely defined diagnosis. Certainly the ability to have speech does change the ability of individuals with AS to integrate into NT society but that simply does not equate to having different genetic loci of control.

"Behaviorism" was becoming prominent in the field of psychiatry during Asperger's time and through research by Watson and Skinner where behavior in humans could be trained through operant conditioning. This is the fundemental basis of Lovaas's ABA therapy which indicate children with mild forms of autism and average IQ have the same prognosis as children diagnosed with Aspergers. Infact research by Atwood suggest there is no way to seperate adults with HFA and AS who have IQ > 100.

Autism has always been about "social things" (even though there's a lot more to it), as that's the most recognizable trait.

It's diagnosed mostly by social things, and discussed mostly in terms of social things, but there's enough more to it (at least for me, and it looks like for many others) that I think it's fair to say it's not strictly about social things.

Of course, it's just that the social symptoms are what the parents will often notice first (people aren't fans of aloof children for some reason; quiet kids who can sit down and amuse themselves seem like the best type to me).

Asperger's is the same way.

Yeah, I do not disagree with this.