Datura
Well-Known Member
I don't accept the spectrum idea, so no, it's not on the autism spectrum. The belief that it is a spectrum may be useful to some extent, for various reasons, but I don't think it furthers our understanding of either autism or Asperger's Syndrome, the main issue as I see it being its amorphous nature. At what point is one no longer considered to be "on the spectrum"? Is it when one has all of the other symptoms of autism, with the exception of just one or two (ex. 'stimming', sensory sensitivity)? Is everyone on the spectrum to some extent, as some like to claim? If a concept is not clearly defined, then how can one ever say anything truthful about it?
One either has autism or not. One either has Asperger's Syndrome, or one does not. Life really is black and white, but too many of us complicate things unnecessarily.
Biology seldom conforms to our desire for clean delineation. Even concepts such as "species" are more constructs than they are precise reflections of reality. One could always define specific thresholds at which one either does or does not fit the criteria for Asperger's (indeed, they have) but such delimiters will always be, to an extent, arbitrary - a neat and ordered model to make sense of the chaotic and messy universe.