Published: February 11, 2010 11:08 am      

Proposed autism diagnosis changes anger ’Aspies’

CHICAGO (AP) — Some people with Asperger’s syndrome are upset about proposed changes in how their form of autism is diagnosed.

U.S. psychiatrists are revising the manual they use to diagnose mental illness. One proposal would eliminate Asperger’s as a separate diagnosis and group it in a single autism spectrum disorders category.

Many people with Asperger’s call themselves Aspies and view their condition as their identity. They don’t think of themselves as autistic.

The revisions are based on recent research showing little difference between mild autism and Asperger’s. The American Psychiatric Association is taking public comment before adopting the revisions.