Meaning & use
Asperger's
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedical
A developmental condition once diagnosed separately, involving difficulty with social interaction and strong, narrow interests, but typical language and intelligence.
Grammar: Uncountable and usually capitalized: he was diagnosed with Asperger's.
Patterns
- be diagnosed with Asperger's
- have Asperger's
He was diagnosed with Asperger's as a child and later learned to describe it as part of the autism spectrum.
Many adults with Asperger's report that office small talk is exhausting.
Her teacher had read about Asperger's and adjusted the way group tasks were set up.
Common combinations
- Asperger's syndrome
- Asperger's syndrome was named after an Austrian doctor.
- diagnosed with Asperger's
- She was diagnosed with Asperger's at age ten.
- have Asperger's
- Some people with Asperger's prefer written communication.
- Asperger's and autism
- Doctors now group Asperger's and autism together.
Synonyms and how they differ
- autism spectrum disorder
- It is the current official term and covers a wider range, while Asperger's names an older, narrower category.
- high-functioning autism
- It is an informal label that many people dislike, whereas Asperger's was a formal diagnosis in the past.
- neurodivergence
- It is a broad umbrella term for many brain differences, much wider than Asperger's.
Opposites
Word family
- Aspergian noun
- a self-chosen label for someone with Asperger's
- autism noun
- the broader developmental condition
- neurodiverse adjective
- describing natural differences in how brains work
Commonly confused: Asperger's or autism?
Asperger's vs autism
Autism is the current broader diagnosis; Asperger's was an older label for one part of what is now called the autism spectrum.
Practice
Which term is the current official diagnosis that replaced Asperger's as a separate label?
Choose one answer.
Doctors now diagnose autism spectrum disorder, which includes what used to be called Asperger's. Social anxiety is a different condition, though the two can occur together.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Asperger's”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.