Asperger-4-Life: What's in a name?
Self reference seems to be an issue with people who have Asperger Syndrome, and rightly so...it's a bit of a mouthful. Personally I use the universally accepted standard of abbreviation, loved the world over by organizations such as NATO, NASA and the USA. To keep in such illustrious company I refer to Asperger Syndrome as "AS" and I refer to myself as "someone with AS".
Alas I am seemingly alone in this practice. The preferred language on the internet is to use the term "aspie". To me that's just a cutsie name and you give cutsie names to dogs and cats, not to mental disorders. It's like calling AIDS "aidsie" or referring to a heart attack as a "harkey". It seems to be another facet of people with AS (do you see what I did there?) to dress up something negative as something positive. The only thing more apt of the phrase "you can't polish a turd" is actually attempting to polish a turd.
AS is a disorder, it is an impairment, it excludes you from the large section of society that is called "normal", it forbids you from interacting with the world on the world's own terms. Why give it a cutsie name like it's a good thing, or a positive thing? Like it's something you should be proud to have, something you want to have curled up at your feet.
I just posted a comment on your recent entry using the term "Aspie". After reading this, I get what you're saying and will not be using that again. It is a cutsie term and raising a child and dealing with it... there's nothing cute about it.