Variations of the term “Asperger’s syndrome” topped Google searches Wednesday, following the second episode of an NBC show featuring a character with the disorder.
“Asperger s disease” and “assburgers syndrome” were the first and third most popular search terms on the internet search engine Wednesday morning.
The popularity of Asperger’s syndrome on the Web comes after the second episode of the NBC show “Parenthood” aired Tuesday night. The show features parents Adam and Kristina Braverman learning that their son, Max, has Asperger’s syndrome.
The storyline reportedly hearkens from the personal experiences of Jason Katims, the show’s executive producer, who has a 13-year-old son with the high functioning form of autism.
I haven’t seen the show, but I’m a little concerned that the general public might not appreciate the devastating effects of autism if they only see Asperger’s protrayed in television and movies. I think that’s also one of the problems with calling Asperger’s autism. Having said that, most people today don’t appreciate the “devastating effects of autism.” That’s why we have to keep at it. April is just three weeks away.
On the other hand, some people refuse to see anything but the most devastating, ignoring or sublimating the experiences of those who, brought up in supportive and even- GASP- accepting households who then grow up to have a better quality of life. Or even outright denying the experiences of those who have better life skills as adults than elementary age children with the same diagnosis.
Aspergers IS a part of Autism, but without the VERBAL communication impairment being severe enough to be seen as a clinical symptom. That is the biggest diagnostic difference, but that has been ignored in favor of depicting “super Aspies” or even by the depictions as just being “a little socially awkward” as the only indicator. Media depiction of the lives of those with Aspergers leads to the sort of mis-comprehensions that the previous poster has made, and also makes life difficult for those with the diagnosis who AREN’T able to function as highly as the media depicts them.
I think this story, though, shows how even though so many cling to the idea that they’ve made a name for the Aspergers diagnosis, the misspelling of so many demonstrates the on going ignorance of the general population.
nicocoer,
Asperger’s is not a part of autism. The DSM IV does not have a category called “Autism Spectrum Disorders”. DSM IV has a “Pervasive developmental disorders” category which includes Autism, Asperger’s Disorder, Rett’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and PDD-NOS. Interestingly, Rett’s, Asperger’s and PDD-NOS are all coded as 299.80 and autism is coded as 299.00.
Saying that Asperger’s is a form of autism is like saying that the flu is part of emphysema because they are both respiratory disorders.
My oldest son has Aspergers…..We had been waiting for ten years for the diagnosis.
It is unusual to people on the streets to identify it, they just see strange children. So it is nice to see it in the screens of hollywood.
Rainman was the first time people saw autism as an actual thing….and it was very stereotypical….I know, I have met Kim Peek ( the inspiration) but we have tp start somewhere.
I was diagnosed with Aspergers 2 1/2 years ago at the age of 57. I had a pretty good career as an IT manager, but I can attest to the fact that while we have good language use, the communication arts do have a deficiency making it more difficult to interact with the “rest of the world”.
While I am “high functioning”, I really do see the linkage of Aspergers to the autistic spectrum and can see within myself the seeds of Kanners. In fact, I am more apt to describe myself as autistic rather than Aspergers. It seems that the DSM-V will reclassify Aspergers as autism spectrum (and eliminate both Aspergers and PDD-NOS).
The difference between the ends of the spectrum (Aspergers vs Kanners) can be pretty large. But people develop (at our own speeds) and some progress along the spectrum, adding coping skills for our deficiencies.
The problems (or challenges) with autism (Kanners and Aspergers) are real and shouldn’t be diminished. But overall, we need to move past the “high functioning” vs “low functioning” debate and concentrate on how we can help overcome the challenges.
Mr Wonderful,
It is generally accepted today in the medical community that there is no difference between high functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
The American Psychiatric Association has released its draft of DSM-V in which Pervasive Development Disorder will be renamed Autistic Spectrum Disrorders. There will be no separate entry for Asperger’s as it will be included on the Autism spectrum.
http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=97#
Hope you find this helpful.
I watched this show and I think it’s terrific! I’m the mother of a 17 year old boy dx’d with Asperger’s 9 years ago. It is a clear representation of what a family experiences. I also have the honor of working with many ASD teens and I learn so much from them.
I am so grateful for these folks for spreading awareness.
I’ve heard several parents of ASD children comment favorably on the shows depiction of the Aspergers diagnosis.
I was recently diagnosed on the spectrum. The scene where the kid hits a baseball and starts to run the wrong way around the bases was a painful but accurate reminder of my youth.
I think exposure to Asperger’s on this television programme is useful and the fact that the most common search was “Assburger’s” then I would say adding this character on the show is hopefully educating a few on the spectrum. In having such a character it is important to recognize that not all people with Asperger’s have the same traits or idiosyncracies as depicted on the show Parenthood. The show needs to be careful with this. The movie – Rainman for example casted a huge stereotype of autism in that people felt they were all syvants and mathematical wizards and this is not the case. So a sticker system on this show is working for the character and he has a fascination with insects but this does not mean that all children will respond to a sticker system or have the same behaviours(fascination with bugs) and the show needs to pass on this message to its viewers…