Our Differences

Pigeon-hole labels

Isn't it odd how labels change from decade to decade and year to year?

Take Autism, now described as 'Neurodiversity'. As medicine and science began to understand disorders such as Autism, ADD, ADHD and Terrets Syndrome to name a few, labels changes occurred as understanding of these conditions evolved and grew.

Early Labels (Pre-1940s):
Autism was often conflated, or grouped together, with other conditions like schizophrenia, mental retardation, or developmental delay.

Later, Leo Kanner's work in the 1940s focused on "early infantile autism," highlighting social and communication challenges.

Then, Hans Asperger described a related condition in the 1940s, which became known as Asperger syndrome. This was officially recognized in diagnostic manuals like the DSM-IV in 1994.

Later, the understanding of autism as a spectrum, rather than a single condition, grew, leading to the unified diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the DSM-5 (2013). This change also included the merging of Asperger syndrome into the broader ASD category.

Currently, Neurodiversity refers to the concept that neurological differences, such as those seen in autism or ADHD, are normal variations in human brain development, rather than deficits.