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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is not a work usually given to irony. Yet proposed changes affecting Asperger's syndrome in the upcoming edition of this authoritative psychiatric manual seem steeped in it.

Asperger's has recently gained unlikely prominence in popular culture as a recognizable, and generally positively portrayed, form of autism. But it may soon be removed from the official list of diagnoses and replaced with a more generic label. This move may be well grounded in scientific logic, but the loss of identity it entails is lamentable.

Asperger's is a high-functioning form of autism. Those who are diagnosed with it are typically intelligent and often display superior skills in memory or focus. Yet they often fail to comprehend social subtleties or the intentions of others. It is also an increasingly common diagnosis.

This combination of intelligence, social awkwardness and frequency has led to Asperger's being often used as a literary or dramatic device.

Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of a numerical savant in the 1988 movie Rain Man was an early nod to the cultural possibilities of Asperger's syndrome. The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time caused a literary sensation in 2003 with its remarkable first-person account of life with Asperger's. And the title character Lisbeth Salander, a sullen but brilliant computer hacker, is the sole bright spot in an otherwise torpidly written, if over-hyped, mystery novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Television shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Bones and Boston Legal have all featured popular characters with Asperger's.

Yet the sheer diversity of those diagnosed with Asperger's in the real world has led editors of the upcoming fifth edition of the DSM to recommend that it be eliminated

"Asperger's means a lot of different things to different people. It's confusing and not terribly useful," an editor told the New York Times this week. The plan is to submerge Asperger's in the generic catch-all of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

There may well be a lack of consistency in the current application of Asperger's. And since the word "autism" represents a large continuum of disorders, it may seem odd to give a specific name to such a small slice.

Yet Asperger's syndrome has become a useful identity for many diagnosed with it. And while the dramatic possibilities have been overdone, the current attention has certainly raised awareness of the capabilities of everyone with autism. Developmental disorders rarely get such good press. Should we be so quick to throw that away?