This article on the the reclassification of Aspergers to an umbrella term covering Autism spectrum disorders acknowledges that the pathologising of normal human traits may have gone too far.
Arguing that the symptoms of particular ‘disorders’ are rarely clear cut, often ‘normal behaviours’ to a certain extent, as well as having positive as well as negative connotations suggests that the medicalisation of personality traits needs to be staunched. But identifying collections of behaviours and packaging them up as conditions may also have advantages and disadvantages, which these new guidelines seek to address.
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