I used to have Asperger’s. Now I’m autistic, according to ‘experts’. I don’t believe it

Autism is being diagnosed all over the place right now. There’s been an explosion in the number of cases, we’re told. This could be something to do with better diagnostic tools, and it’s hard to argue that more media coverage of mental health isn’t a good thing. But the scientific community still know little about this mysterious condition and how and why it affects certain people.

And that’s a problem for me, because – according to the textbooks – I have an ‘autism spectrum disorder’.

I’m not happy with that label, so I feel perfectly entitled to ask: has the definition of autism become too loose, to the point where it has so many symptoms that you can’t even define it?

First, some personal details. My life changed forever on April 11, 2002, when I was 13 years old. That warm spring night was the beginning of a massive nervous breakdown. I collapsed, crying on the floor. I was so out of control that my parents took me to the local ER room in Ottawa (I’m Canadian).