Spelling of Asperger's

[KarenT]

What does it make you feel when you see wrong spelling of Asperger's written in documents by people who should know better, eg SENCo, teachers, psychologists etc?

 

I have minutes from the planning group of our local 'inclusive' summer scheme where it's spelled 'Aspergus' and it irritates the hell out of me. For me personally, it says that if someone can't be bothered to spell it how much effort will they make to learning how to work with it?

 

Any other thoughts? Or am I just being pedantic?

 

Karen

x

[Tally]

It sounds like the person has been told verbally to include it in the document, but has done no research into what it actually is and the type of support a person with Asperger's is likely to need. It's possible the person writing it actually knows what it is but has poor spelling, but it is unprofessional to release a document without having it proof-read and certainly appears to demonstrate a lack of knowledge. It would concern me too.

[chris54]

Does makes you wonder, for one fing hvent thay gott a spall chucer.

[Flora]

I would find it annoying, but not as annoying as when they have the wrong name of the child which has happened on about 2 or 3 occasions with Bill. Right information: Wrong name.

 

I also get mildly irritated when I see aspergers spelled 'Aspbergers'... which seems quite common in America.

 

Flora

[Mumble]

I also get mildly irritated when I see aspergers spelled 'Aspbergers'... which seems quite common in America.

Oooh yes, me too, or with no 'p' at all - Asbergers....

 

A related question: do you pronounce Asperger with the 'ger' sound as in hamburger or Germany?

 

[peaches]

Oooh yes, me too, or with no 'p' at all - Asbergers....

 

A related question: do you pronounce Asperger with the 'ger' sound as in hamburger or Germany?

 

I always say Asperger's with the ger like hamburger. When people say it the other way I get confused and think Im wrong though. Im sure I read that it was guh sound not juh. Then I complete the rest of the conversation switching from guh sound to juh sound. Madness isnt it?

 

[Tally]

It should be a hard G like in burger. Hans Asperger was Austrian, and this is how they would pronounce it. Many people Anglicise it and pronounce it with a J sound . . . though the Americans don't tend to as much. I personally pronounce it both ways interchangeably.

[pearl]

Hard g. I'm pedantic enough that it irritates me when its pronounced "wrong" but I'd never make an issue out of it. I think its reasonable to expect it to be spelled correctly.

[stressedmumto2]

Yes it annoys the hell out of me too, and if they don't do a spell check before sending off a document and if they refer to you the parent as "SHE" repeatedly in a document. This has happened with me recently and at the mo' I have ignored it but should it happen again maybe I wont. Another thing is our CAHMS guy writes notes which are so tiny I can't even read them and his writing is pretty damn hard to read, I have pointed it out to him on numerous occasions bit it's hard to get the balance right of pointing it out to him in a way that is not completely critical but so that he understands his writing doesn't make sense, think of gp's writing and you get the picture!!

 

I should also add that some comments I may make on these boards may not make sense and I do not always spell check as i'm in a rush but for important letters/documents I always try to before sending.

[Kathryn]

It irritates the hell out of me too Karen.

 

I'll freely admit that I'm pedantic about spelling and grammar. But whilst allowances might be made for someone who makes a mistake because they are unfamiliar with a particular term, the editors of a newsletter devoted to a particular subject ought to know better - there's no excuse! For goodness sake, there are enough aids out there to enable one to double check before committing something to print.

 

On the pronunciation of Asperger - I agree it should be a hard "g in keeping with the original pronunciation, but I often catch myself pronouncing it with a soft g, which feels more natural to me. I think I'm subconsciously applying the usual rules of English pronunciation - i.e. soft "g" before "e".

 

K x

[chris54]

How do you spell "ASPERGER'S"?

[KarenT]

Thanks for your comments. I'm at their meeting tomorrow so will say it's not just me who finds it irritating!

 

Karen

x

[billabong]

On the pronunciation of Asperger - I agree it should be a hard "g in keeping with the original pronunciation, but I often catch myself pronouncing it with a soft g, which feels more natural to me. I think I'm subconsciously applying the usual rules of English pronunciation - i.e. soft "g" before "e".

 

K x

 

I'm glad someone's raised the subject of pronunciation of 'Asperger'. I'm sure it should be with a hard 'g' to comply with its original pronunciation but I use both pronunciations, mostly 'j'. I think this is because most people use the 'j' sound and I feel as if I'm being a bit 'precious' by using 'g'. There are plenty of foreign words (usually common nouns) which get assimilated into the English language with an anglicised pronunciation and are recognised as correct with that pronunciation; I'm not sure if the same follows for proper nouns. I've got a horrible feeling that 'its' for 'it's' and vice-versa is going to become acceptable. Ooh, it brings out the pedant in me!

[GreatZapper]

Good old Hans A was of course Germanic and I'm a German teacher, so I always pronounce it Ass-p/ber-gerss; the closest approximation I think I can get to in English is Ass-burgers. The p is kind of halfway between a p and a b in English.

 

I'll be honest and say when my school's SENCO and even Senior Management say Ass-purjers I get a bit riled but then that's my own Aspie tendecies getting in the way...