Revelations About Hans Asperger: Are We Now Going to Get Rid of the Asperger Label?
Carol Povey is the Director of the Centre for Autism at the National Autistic Society. The Centre aims to raise the standard of support and services for autistic people, while providing a supportive community for those with autism and their families. In light of recent news about Hans Asperger, she discusses how these discoveries may impact on people with Asperger’s and the service user communities.
In the late 70s, Lorna Wing sat down with Hans Asperger
in the tea room of the Maudsley Hospital in South London. They discussed
whether the condition she had named “Asperger syndrome” was part of an autism
spectrum, or was distinct enough to be thought of as a separate syndrome, with
Wing believing the former. They agreed to disagree, but by all accounts had an
amiable conversation. Little did she know that 50 years on, not only would the
term have been put into and taken out of the diagnostic classification, but
that autistic people would be discussing whether they wish to be identified
with someone tainted by connection with the Nazi regime.
A recent paper by Herwig Czech, and forthcoming book by
Edith Sheffer, have uncovered that rather than protecting the children in his
care from the murderous regime, Asperger prioritized his career, and was part
of the machinery that sent some children to their deaths at Am Spiegelgrund. Those
children who were killed were identified as those who were deemed to be
uneducatable, having “severe retardation”, or otherwise unable to contribute
towards the new society envisioned by the Third Reich.
This revelation has started a vibrant discussion within
the autism community, and amongst professionals who use the term. Whilst
recognizing the context in which Hans Asperger worked, many people feel that
this new revelation should cause us to reconsider whether the term Asperger
syndrome should be used at all. As one autistic commentator puts it: “with this scandal no one
should be celebrating a person that has committed such evil acts.”
At the National Autistic Society, we want to listen to
the community we serve to ensure we are reflecting the language people want to use about themselves. To this end, we
asked people their thoughts on this through our social media channels. The responses we received overwhelmingly
expressed discomfort at using the term Asperger syndrome, and that they wanted
the term to no longer be used.
reflecting the language people want to
use about themselves.
"Knowing what I know now of
Hans' background I would not feel comfortable with my son receiving a diagnosis
named after a person with these evil acts associated with him"
I have had other
conversations with people who haven’t contributed to the social media
discussions about this, who have said that, whilst despising his collusion, they
are unconcerned about using the term Asperger syndrome. They feel that the
discussion about language deflects from the really important topics of ensuring
autistic people experience better opportunities in areas such as employment,
education and fairness in the criminal justice system.
However, I believe language is powerful. It frames our thinking, and is always
changing. Words which were commonplace
in my childhood are now effectively unused, and new words and concepts have
come into use.
The charity has been asked: Are we now going to get rid of the Asperger
label?
We will be continuing our
dialogue with autistic people, and their families, to ensure we reflect the
conversations which are taking place across the country on this, and that this spurs
us on to better support and appreciate the challenges and gifts of people
across the whole autistic spectrum.
Chris Pike, one of the autistic professionals who works at the National
Autistic Society, sums it up perfectly in the following statement:
“Recent revelations about Hans Asperger teach us
yet more terrifying things from a very terrifying period of our history – when
disabled people, along with so many other marginalised people, were so
horrendously mistreated, attacked and killed. Our responsibility is to learn
from this history, and to ensure that today, we ensure we treat all autistic
people with the respect and value we deserve."
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