Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, was a diagnostic label that was historically used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. The term was retired as a formal diagnosis when it was merged into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the WHO's ICD-11 and the APA's DSM-5-TR These organizations no longer recognize Asperger syndrome as a distinct clinical diagnosis. AS was considered milder than other diagnoses. This change reflected a shift toward a unified understanding of autism-related conditions rather than a judgment about individuals previously diagnosed with AS. Despite its removal from contemporary medical classification systems, many people continued to identify with the term Asperger's because of its long-standing use, personal relevance, and the way it shaped their diagnostic history and community identity.
The syndrome was named in 1976 by English psychiatrist Lorna Wing after the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger, who in 1944 described children in his care who struggled to form friendships, did not understand others' gestures or feelings, engaged in one-sided conversations about their favorite interests, and were clumsy. In 1990 (coming into effect in 1993), the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome was included in the tenth edition (ICD-10) of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, and in 1994 it was also included in the fourth edition (DSM-4) of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. With the publication of DSM-5 in 2013, the syndrome was removed, and the symptoms are now included within autism spectrum disorder along with classic autism and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). It was similarly merged into autism spectrum disorder in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018 (published, coming into effect in 2022).