I and lots of my friends have that or equivalent diagnoses. It doesn't make you unhinged.

If you've met one person with Aspbergers, you've met one person with Aspbergers?

What does this even mean? Meeting one person with Asperger's who is not unhinged is sufficient to show that not all people with Asperger's are unhinged.

>He said that he has Aspergers.

People are often looking for explanations for their personalities or interests. Look at how many people claim to be "on the spectrum" on HN underneath any article on the topic.

I've known many people with spectrum disorders. Some were difficult to work with and you make accommodations. A few were assholes.

Universally, the assholes with spectrum disorders used their diagnosis to get away with abusive behaviour and, in two cases, sexual harassment.

Most people go to some lengths to ensure that their health doesn't present in such a way that it needs to be an excuse for their behaviour. Especially in autistic communities. A certain amount of masking seems to be a requirement to function as a responsible adult.

I wish people would stop excusing bad behavior with "oh they're autistic". It just makes us autistic people look bad by association.

That is not a clinically recognised term.

To be fair, it was a distinct diagnosis from autism until relatively recently. It was "absorbed" into autism in DSM 4 or 5.

So if he was diagnosed with Asperger's in the past, he would now be considered to be on the autism spectrum.

That is quite misleading as it has been. It is part of the ASD in these days [1, 2].

[1]: https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/5855/asperger-syn...

[2]: Mirkovic B, Gérardin P (April 2019). "Asperger's syndrome: What to consider?". L'Encéphale. 45 (2): 169–174. doi:10.1016/j.encep.2018.11.005. PMID 30736970. S2CID 73452546. "Asperger's syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is part of the large family of autism spectrum disorders."

It's now considered a autism spectrum disorder, but you could literally have received an "Asperger's Syndrome" diagnosis in the past 10 years.

It IS a "clinically recognized term" in the sense that if you went to a mental health professional and said "I have Asperger's Syndrome" they might say politely "we don't call it that anymore" but it is very unlikely they would rudely say "I don't know what that is, it is not a clinically recognized term."

Some doctors do give that diagnostic.

anymore.