Is there such thing as a mild form of asperger's syndrome?
leejosepho
Veteran
Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,011
Location: 200 miles south of Little Rock
Kind of like with pregnancy, eh?! Some people just show more than others?
_________________
I began looking for someone like me when I was five ...
My search ended at 59 ... right here on WrongPlanet.
==================================
It is an spectrum, so the answer is yes. Do notice though that the DSM is clear that AS should have caused you a real impairment in some part of your life. Else it is not AS, it is something else.
_________________
.
Kind of like with pregnancy, eh?! Some people just show more than others?
Yeah but all women show as the baby grows inside them. There are very few who never show simply because they are fat. Some show later than others but the thinner you are, the sooner you start showing. But every pregnancy is different. Some start showing sooner than others, some tummies are bigger than others when they are at seven months. Some even start showing in their first month.
the spectrum is an ASD spectrum autistic spectrum disorders, of which AS is included.
it goes LFA, MFA, HFA, AS, PDD-NOS
not LFA MFA, HFA, AS, MILD AS, PDD-NOS
i do think AS should have it's own spectrum away from the ASD spectrum to cater to the extreme diversity within asperger.
Hmmm... I don't see why it would be so black and white. Isn't the whole point of a 'spectrum' that there should be a continuum? And therefore, whatever cutoffs you choose, they'll be somewhat arbitrary?
Anyway, I'd say it's possible to have a 'mild version' - however you decide to define AS, there will always be someone near the border.
Anyway, I'd say it's possible to have a 'mild version' - however you decide to define AS, there will always be someone near the border.
but then...wouldn't everyone be autistic, because everyone on the planet has at least one autistic trait. a person who is completely NT in every way except he does not like eye contact, is he a super-ultra-mild-very-high-functioning-aspie?? nah. he's an NT who doesn't like to look people in the eyes.. i mean EVERYONE stims, it's not autistic, it's human. just autistic stims are different. i see people here calling normal human behavior 'stims' it's very funny!! ! "OH OH I STIM MY FOOT TAPS ALOT" yeh? well so does alot of my friends who aren't even close to being on the spectrum.
sure it's a spectrum, but lines need to be drawn on hard far it can be stretched. mild AS is a stretch and a half with the spectrum being the way it currently is.
Well, drawing clear boundaries leads to silliness as well: there will inevitably be someone classified as AS who is practically indistinguishable from someone barely less autistic on the other side of the boundary. That's the problem with boundaries and spectrums: however you define things, if you stick rigidly to the definition, you'll inevitably get something vaguely absurd.
So no, 'mild AS' is not a diagnosis: more of a name for people who are technically on the spectrum but are very close to being NT. I suppose we can call them 'well-adjusted AS' but that seems to be quibbling over terminology.
Also, what do you do with people when it's not clear whether they'd get diagnosed? For myself, I know I'm close-ish to the boundary, but have no idea which side of it I'm on.
Anyway, I'd say it's possible to have a 'mild version' - however you decide to define AS, there will always be someone near the border.
but then...wouldn't everyone be autistic, because everyone on the planet has at least one autistic trait. a person who is completely NT in every way except he does not like eye contact, is he a super-ultra-mild-very-high-functioning-aspie?? nah. he's an NT who doesn't like to look people in the eyes.. i mean EVERYONE stims, it's not autistic, it's human. just autistic stims are different. i see people here calling normal human behavior 'stims' it's very funny!! ! "OH OH I STIM MY FOOT TAPS ALOT" yeh? well so does alot of my friends who aren't even close to being on the spectrum.
sure it's a spectrum, but lines need to be drawn on hard far it can be stretched. mild AS is a stretch and a half with the spectrum being the way it currently is.
The line does get drawn. Having a few traits doesn't make someone on the spectrum. That's just a myth. You have to have so much to be on it.
No more so than having variations of functioning within the kanner category would make everyone Autistic.
Obviously not since the criteria very clearly establish that a minimum number of criteria items must be met for a diagnosis of AS and one single trait is not sufficient to meet this standard. I have no idea how you get from "variation in severity of instances of AS" to "anyone with only a single trait who therefore absolutely cannot be diagnosed with or classed as having AS might have some varient of AS". That makes absolutely no sense at all. It is like suggesting if there can be various strengths of flavours in raspberry drinks, that all drinks must be raspberry, or any drink that shares a single feature with a raspberry drink must then be raspberry. In reality the severity of Asperger Syndrome can and does vary so that some people are more severe than the majority with the DX, some are more mild than the majority with the DX, with a group of people who fall closer to group average in respect of severity. None of this means that people who do not meet the minimum number of items could be reasonably construed as having AS.
There are lines (aka diagnostic criteria), and within the scope that lies between those lines are varying degrees of severity of clinically significant impairment and/or distress.
So no, 'mild AS' is not a diagnosis: more of a name for people who are technically on the spectrum but are very close to being NT. I suppose we can call them 'well-adjusted AS' but that seems to be quibbling over terminology.
Also, what do you do with people when it's not clear whether they'd get diagnosed? For myself, I know I'm close-ish to the boundary, but have no idea which side of it I'm on.
Same here. I see this topic the same way you do. I think many who disagree are visualizing a brain which is either autistic or isn't, but I don't see why there can't be degrees of autistic brains as a cause of the traits. A mildly autistic brain could cause mild traits, for example. We still don't know about these things yet do we?
_________________
"Reality is not made of if. Reality is made of is."
-Author prefers to be anonymous.
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
Question about Asperger Syndrome and tem "Severe Asperger" |
29 Jan 2024, 11:37 pm |
Savant syndrome |
26 Mar 2024, 3:42 am |
Savant syndrome |
16 Mar 2024, 6:31 am |
Downs Syndrome question |
30 Mar 2024, 11:49 am |