Adults don't have Asperger's Syndrome

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Janissy
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08 Jul 2010, 8:04 am

If you look at the resources for children, they are almost entirely educational or about how to raise a child with AS. The government is required to provide children with an education until they are adults. So the government pays for some of the educational interventions. Parents pay for the educational interventions that they can't get onto an IEP and also for any aditional resources for raising the child (like specialty summer camps). Since AS isn't defined as a mental illness, insurance companies won't pay for resources although they may pay for therapy for co-morbid problems like depression or anxiety.

So there are three ways that resources get paid for.

government

insurance

individuals

Since the government is not required to educate adults- as they are required to educate children- that means they will not be paying for any educational resources. They aren't going to pay for social skills training or any other sort of training an adult may benefit from because that is not their mandate.

Insurance companies pay for medical resources. If a problem isn't medical it doesn't concern them.

That leaves individuals. When people are children, (many)parents will spend as much money as they possibly can to mold their children into the sort of adults they envision. Parents are the ones paying for many of the resources you see advertised. But once you are an adult, few parents are willing or able to continue spending thousands and thousands of dollars on interventions. That sort of parental spending is only possible when there is an end in sight. Parents aren't money machines. That leaves the individual with AS to pay for the resources out of pocket. Individuals with AS who have the money to spend on interventions just aren't a large enough group for there to be lots of things available.



MONIQUEIJ
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08 Jul 2010, 8:10 am

B.S :roll:



Celoneth
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08 Jul 2010, 8:43 am

Of course adults don't have it, neither do children - it's something parents of children get that ruins their lives. /sarcasm
Less resources for adults because it's only been recognised for like 15 years or so, and the diagnostic criteria was designed for childhood diagnosis. Also, adorable, broken kids bring in the donation money. Hopefully it will change once the kids start getting older.



kate123A
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08 Jul 2010, 8:45 am

here where I live I was told to begin social skills classes, tested for a bunch of things by my doctor, and given information about OT.

It might help that I'm the primary caregiver of two small children that copy my behaviors though....and this is being fully addressed. My son's ABA therapists have made several suggestions to me.......



agmoie
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08 Jul 2010, 10:23 am

It is because only Aspies born since 1990 have been diagnosed in significant numbers-those like me born before the nineties remain undiagnosed unless we have a life changing event which leads to us seeking diagnosis.We have had much harder lives not knowing that we were Aspies or that there were others like ourselves out there.



Last edited by agmoie on 08 Jul 2010, 10:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

Asp-Z
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08 Jul 2010, 10:26 am

agmoie wrote:
It is because only Aspies born since 1990 have been diagnosed in significant numbers-those like me born before the nineties remain undiagnosed unless we have a life changing event which leads to us seeking diagnosis.We have had much lives not knowing that we were Aspies or that there were others like ourselves out there.


1994, not 1990.



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08 Jul 2010, 10:30 am

Those born since 1990 have availed of the 1994 addition to the DSM.



samtoo
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08 Jul 2010, 10:35 am

Chronos wrote:
Or at least this is what one might assume after a not so brief look around with the search engines.

There are little, if any resources for adults with AS. The world of AS treatment It is a "desert" devoid of all but children.

So I'm curious...

Why are there so few resources for adults with AS?

If a child has AS and receives some type of treatment, what about this treatment would not be applicable to an adult with AS who never received treatment?

If there is no reason to treat an adult with AS who had never previously received any treatment, or AS is "grown out of", then why bother treating children?

I'm confused. I cannot come up with any logical reason for the absence of resources for adults in light of the abundance of resources for children.


Probably ignorance, badly run services, lack of understanding, laziness on the part of politicians...
It is my belief that adults with Asperger Syndrome often have a harder time than children with it... for me, in some ways, that is true.
There are people though, pushing for something to be done about this and they are getting somewhere with it. :)


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Last edited by samtoo on 08 Jul 2010, 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

azurecrayon
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08 Jul 2010, 10:35 am

Asp-Z wrote:
Asperger's has only existed as a formal diagnosis since 1994, so few adults are diagnosed at the moment.


i think this is the key. as was only added to the DSM-IV 16 years ago. the majority of diagnosed children arent even adults yet. i'd bet that the vast majority of adults with aspergers dont even know they have it. they grew up at a time when it wasnt a recognised disorder. they werent severe enough to be thought classically autistic, and were probably just labeled as other things (weird, nerdy, difficult, etc). and since its diagnosed based on developmental delays, which adults are presumably passed already, and observed behavior, which a lot of adults have learned to compensate for, the likelihood of being diagnosed as an adult is lower than as a child.

over time im sure we will see more services coming out for adults, but really, as its a typically seen as a social disorder, i dont think you are ever going to see that much assistance for adults.



cyberscan
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08 Jul 2010, 10:52 am

American society of recent decades have changed so that people like us are excluded more and more. Our quirks and behavior were once more widely accepted and our contributions and inventions were more appreciated. In his time, Einstein was famous and many people lined up to greet him at airports and other gatherings. Today, outside the scientific community, he would very likely be ignored. Now days, it is "interpersonal skills" (mindless social chitchat) that rules the roost. Inventiveness has very little room in modern social circles.

In addition, this is the age where every little quirk, tick, facial expression, method of ambulating, and body difference has a label. People are used to hearing about things such as A.D.D. A.D.H.D. Asperger's, Bipolar, etc. so Asperger's has just become another fancy label and along with classic autism, is considered the latest diagnostic fad. This is one reason why there will never be any services for adult autistic people unless we and our families provide them ourselves. The exception to this rule will be disability benefits for the "very low functioning."

However, with the negative image of autism and the high cost of available treatment, insurance companies will use this as an excuse to not accept us as policy holders. With organizations such as Autism Speaks showing autistic children as being profoundly disabled, employers associate the same subconsciously with adults who are looking for work, or they see us as a "little off" and automatically exclude us from consideration for a job. I believe that as time passes, we will be more isolated and excluded from society instead of being less isolated. In fact, as "mental health professionals and medical professionals get better at spotting autistic people, we will have fewer opportunities to hide and remain invisible.

For those of us who are officially diagnosed or are known to be autistic, we must develop our own society and ways of making a living. If business refuses to hire us, then we need to become their competitors. By helping ourselves and each other, we can put our heads together and take advantage of our strengths. In addition, we must reach out to our Neurotypical allies (parents, friends, etc.) and make more Neurotypical allies. At the center where I volunteer, a lady brings in a friends Neurotypical children that she cares for sometimes. These children out around autistic children and adults for many hours each week. They get to see us for who we really are. They are nice kids. These kids will likely be our allies. In some places, Neutotypical school children are taught to understand autistic children, and when autistic children excel, they are usually very popular. We have to fight for re-acceptance into society.


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08 Jul 2010, 12:52 pm

I'm not sure that there is any treatment available for anyone with AS, just some theories. The focus on children is mostly to get their parents to understand and not make things worse for an AS child.
As an adult you become responsible for yourself and make your own choices.
Thats my understanding of it.



visagrunt
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08 Jul 2010, 2:13 pm

I presented far more clinically significant traits as a child and as an adolscent than I do today. Over time I have learned coping strategies to mitigate my social deficits. I am reasonably certain that I share this in common with many adult Aspies.

It stands to reason that more resources are focussed on children, because children are in development, and it is easier to identify clinically significant presentations. Those of us who have, "muddled through," generally don't come to clinical attention until something falls apart.


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rmctagg09
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08 Jul 2010, 3:09 pm

visagrunt wrote:
I presented far more clinically significant traits as a child and as an adolscent than I do today. Over time I have learned coping strategies to mitigate my social deficits. I am reasonably certain that I share this in common with many adult Aspies.

It stands to reason that more resources are focussed on children, because children are in development, and it is easier to identify clinically significant presentations. Those of us who have, "muddled through," generally don't come to clinical attention until something falls apart.

Me too. I had far more clinically significant traits as a child.



ChangelingGirl
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08 Jul 2010, 3:49 pm

Janissy wrote:
If you look at the resources for children, they are almost entirely educational or about how to raise a child with AS. The government is required to provide children with an education until they are adults. So the government pays for some of the educational interventions. Parents pay for the educational interventions that they can't get onto an IEP and also for any aditional resources for raising the child (like specialty summer camps). Since AS isn't defined as a mental illness, insurance companies won't pay for resources although they may pay for therapy for co-morbid problems like depression or anxiety.

So there are three ways that resources get paid for.

government

insurance

individuals

Since the government is not required to educate adults- as they are required to educate children- that means they will not be paying for any educational resources. They aren't going to pay for social skills training or any other sort of training an adult may benefit from because that is not their mandate.

Insurance companies pay for medical resources. If a problem isn't medical it doesn't concern them.

That leaves individuals. When people are children, (many)parents will spend as much money as they possibly can to mold their children into the sort of adults they envision. Parents are the ones paying for many of the resources you see advertised. But once you are an adult, few parents are willing or able to continue spending thousands and thousands of dollars on interventions. That sort of parental spending is only possible when there is an end in sight. Parents aren't money machines. That leaves the individual with AS to pay for the resources out of pocket. Individuals with AS who have the money to spend on interventions just aren't a large enough group for there to be lots of things available.


You are focusing on a US-centric viewpoint I think. In the Netherlands, where we have socialized heatlchare, mental health services are paid through semi-public health insurance, and support for living independently, social skills training, etc. are paid for through a so-called "exceptional care" government program. I would understand it that most people in the U.S. and other countries without socialized healthcare, do not have the financial means of accessing adult services, but in some countries, we do, and availability is ht eproblem (although that's not even a major problem if you can cope with community services, I'm falling between the cracks myself casue I need residential care).



ProfessorX
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08 Jul 2010, 7:11 pm

I know quite well that there is a large number of people of various ages within the spectrum therefore, AS is simply not meant to be confined to any particular age group.In fact, there are 2 people in my apartment complex both along with myself have AS one in my age range the other 50yrs old.Well, AS is not something of a childhood nature..



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08 Jul 2010, 7:39 pm

Diagnosed AS an adult. Had it all my life. Didn't know I had it until I was diagnosed in college, and again a few years later, so I could get some help. Asperger's Syndrome is just NOW being more recognized, but unfortunately that recognition is still pigeonholed to children. Which makes it harder for adults to be diagnosed. Most people assume we "grow out" of our condition. That is a fallacy!