# People aren't Aspergers! They HAVE Asperger's! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288 "2011-06-13T04:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/1 "2011-06-13T04:27:00Z")
I don’t know what it is about these mental disorders that makes otherwise-normal people butcher the grammar so badly. > [@](#): > > I think John might be Asperger’s. You think John might be Asperger’s _what_? > [@](#): > > Sarah is Asperger’s. His what? His fuck buddy? > [@](#): > > Michael said he is Asperger. Michael is clearly nuts if he thinks he’s a long-dead German pediatrician. > [@](#): > > She’s autism. Oh god, run for your lives, it’s autism! > [@](#): > > He has bipolar. He has bipolar what? Magnets? You think John might _have_ Asperger’s Syndrome. Sarah _has_ Asperger’s. Michael said he _has_ Asperger’s. She _has_ autism, or she _is autistic_. He _is bipolar_, or he has _bipolar disorder_. It’s not that hard. Get it right. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/2 "2011-06-13T04:29:37Z")
Ass Burgers? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/3 "2011-06-13T04:32:36Z")
He might be an Aspergers Elemental. Literally made of Aspergers. In that case, you’ll need to find out how to banish him back to the Plane of Autism Spectrum Disorders. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/4 "2011-06-13T04:36:28Z")
> [@](#): > > People aren’t Aspergers! They HAVE Asperger’s! At least until the DSM V comes out, the way things were looking last I heard. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/5 "2011-06-13T04:48:13Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > He might be an Aspergers Elemental. Literally made of Aspergers. In that case, you’ll need to find out how to banish him back to the Plane of Autism Spectrum Disorders. The problem is that they are immune to most banishing spells because they simply don’t notice them. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/6 "2011-06-13T05:42:59Z")
[Dr. Hans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Asperger)’ whole family are Aspergers! ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/7 "2011-06-13T05:46:39Z")
I also often hear/read people saying/posting “he’s ADD.” I agree, the usage doesn’t make logical sense. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/8 "2011-06-13T06:19:40Z")
It is just shorthand language usage. It doesn’t have to make logical sense. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/9 "2011-06-13T11:34:42Z")
At my disability office, we actually send letters of denial to claimants and list bipolar disorder as “bipolar” on their list of allegations. This is in spite of countless attempts to get the adjudicators to include disorder. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/10 "2011-06-13T12:43:34Z")
That rankles me, too – both grammatically and as a disrespectful way of talking about human beings. You wouldn’t want to be identified as “a short-sighted,” or “a psoriasis,” or whatever disabilities/conditions you have. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/11 "2011-06-13T13:16:49Z")
What about assholes. People have assholes, but the can be assholes, too. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/12 "2011-06-13T13:40:29Z")
People do this with Celiac’s disease too – “I’m Celiac’s” or “I’m Celiac”. It’s very odd. You don’t say “I’m diabetes” or “I’m breast cancer”, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/13 "2011-06-13T13:42:03Z")
I have HIV Positive. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/14 "2011-06-13T13:53:05Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > That rankles me, too – both grammatically and as a disrespectful way of talking about human beings. You wouldn’t want to be identified as “a short-sighted,” or “a psoriasis,” or whatever disabilities/conditions you have. I am short-sighted. I am far-sighted. I am diabetic. Common usage. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/15 "2011-06-13T14:01:59Z")
slight hijack - my in-laws all seem to use peculiar structure when discussing illnesses. They use “the” to describe symptoms but remove it when describing an illness. My MIL will say, “I knew I had flu when I got the diarrhea.” ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/16 "2011-06-13T14:06:59Z")
I am Sparticusbergers. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/17 "2011-06-13T14:14:16Z")
It’s the ‘she’s an Aspie’ thing that grates on me. Sounds like a breed of dog. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/18 "2011-06-13T14:21:31Z")
It’s grating and I don’t like it because it certainly sounds like a suggestion that the condition defines the person. That said, I’m pretty sure you can find examples of people saying this about themselves, which probably turns it into a pride thing. And yes, “Aspie” sounds like a dog breed. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/19 "2011-06-13T14:31:56Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I am short-sighted. I am far-sighted. I am diabetic. Common usage. No, that’s it – all those things you mentioned are adjectives. You are short-sighted, not “A Short-sighted”, or worse “A myopia” or whatever. You have diabetes or you are diabetic, but you are not a diabetes. WTF does that even mean? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288/20 "2011-06-13T14:57:54Z")
Reminds me of when I was a teen, a friend tried to indicate that neighbor was boinking his sister, and he said “they’re incest”. Or perhaps he was saying “they’re in cest”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-arent-aspergers-they-have-aspergers/585288.md?page=2)