Aspergers was abandoned because the autism spectrum isn&#x27;t cut-and-dry, and the difference between &quot;high-functioning&quot; autism and Aspergers was mostly arbitrary. If you have evidence citing that it was because of phony diagnoses, I&#x27;d be interested in seeing it. Anyhow, that change doesn&#x27;t bother me in the slightest.<p>As far as the scientific need for strict classification goes, I can see how high-functioning people could potentially throw a wrench in things, because milder cases can be confused with other conditions. Nevertheless, that type of confusion is hardly unique to autism, and the diagnosis many mental illnesses and neurological disorders can be problematic due to comorbidity.<p>Anyhow, saying the science is not being done is just absurd. Just because the science is difficult and results are not easy to generalize, does not mean that it&#x27;s not happening. The priority on severe autism (which is usually harder to misdiagnose) is understandable, and there&#x27;s a possibility that findings related to severe autism may end up applying to milder cases as well.<p>Either way, the label is helping many people, and I think you are over-estimating the negative impact of having a broader diagnosis spectrum.