Doc says i dont have AS this is what he said about ASpergers

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Corp900
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18 Aug 2010, 6:31 pm

He said they can keep talking about one thing non stop,

they get hyper focused on one subject that they are intrested in, and have literally no clue socially.

How much fact is in this AS ppl?



grendel
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18 Aug 2010, 6:42 pm

I think these can be factors but I'm not sure how he could consider this alone as evidence. People who bump into me randomly certainly don't know that I can blather on about stuff nobody else cares about becuase I don't do it in front of everyone (and, I don't think this is necessarily typical of all Aspies anyway. Most people think I am shy and untalkative when they first meet me... then after they know me a bit, they discover they cannot get me to shut up---I've had so many people tell me this exactly).

And in terms of having "no clue" I think most of us who have been in the world long enough have learned some degree of "faking normal". Some are better at it than others. We learn rules to live by to imitate what other peopel seem to do unconsciously. Most people's first impression of me is not that I talk incessantly or am completely clueless, they just think I'm weird. The other stuff starts to dawn later, if they have any reason to interact with me much (which sometimes can be avoided, since I'm not somebody that gets invited to a lot of social activities).

Of course, I was initially unaware of the blathering on apparently uninteresting topics or being clueless socially until this was pointed out to me numerous times and eventually I got hit over the head with it enough that I realized it was in fact a problem.

I think there are numerous other factors which would be more reliable than how much you talked to him about your sticker collecting habit, for instance. There is a chart someone posted somewhere on here with common Asperger's traits which is really helpful, if I could find it again.



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18 Aug 2010, 6:51 pm

We can learn to not do those things. So he is wrong is that sens.


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18 Aug 2010, 7:10 pm

Corp900 wrote:
He said they can keep talking about one thing non stop,

they get hyper focused on one subject that they are intrested in, and have literally no clue socially.

How much fact is in this AS ppl?


I had an experience like this about a two years after being diagnosed. I had to change an appointment and was seen by a different doctor to my usual GP. About 3 minutes into the appointment he announced that 'I see you have been diagnosed with Asperger's. In my opinion you do not have it.'. When I asked him what he based this on he told me that I was 'nothing like another patient he sees who has AS'. Needless to say, I did not see him again.

'Can' keep talking about one thing non-stop. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? Part of the process of learning the 'rules of social engagement' in adults with AS includes learning how to, frankly, shut the hell up about your current main obsession. I still find myself waffling about my own obsessions with some people because I feel more relaxed around them, or because they're more inclined to understand. For instance, my mother will happily let me talk her ear off when I visit her without interrupting me or trying to change the subject. She has learned that it is better to let it run its course, and claims to enjoy my blather anyway.

Suggesting all Aspies are socially 'clueless' is an over-generalisation that may ring true in childhood, but definitely not in adulthood. I still struggle socially, especially around new people, but I can usually cope well-enough to avoid pitfalls with familiar faces. I also feel more free to be myself and let my quirky behaviours shine through now, whereas I was far more insecure about being misunderstood when I was younger.

In short, no two people with AS are exactly the same. Some learn to cope better, some find better environments that are easier to cope with, some find better support and so adapt more quickly, etc, etc. If you can find examples of typical AS behaviour for which you have learned coping mechanisms and discuss them with your doctor he should at least be willing to listen to your reasoning. If not, find yourself another doctor.



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18 Aug 2010, 7:13 pm

Monologuing seems rather easy to learn not to do. I've learned to gauge a listener's interest somewhat, although I'll still indulge sometimes. However, the underlying cause is a tendency to hyperfocus on something. That does not go away; you just learn to shut up. Your interest may change, and you may go without one for a while (right now the inside of my brain looks like an NT's in terms of division of space, though the things I'm thinking about are probably atypical; however, more often, I have one overarching interest that everything gets related to and about which I think at every chance), but the trait does not go away. (Or if it does, it takes your quality of life and ability to function with it.)

The second part is incorrect. We lack some or all of NTs' inborn knowledge of social matters, and instinctively use a different (but internally consistent) set of social skills. We can learn social skills just as NTs can learn to drive a car (which they're not wired for either). They can even become automatic. There will usually be little giveaways, though. You wouldn't drive a car when tired (or if you did, you'd probably crash); it's the same with us and social skills. As such, the deficits are generally extremely pronounced in childhood, and become progressively less obvious. (This is not always the case. Sometimes the Aspie fails to learn, and behavior that's mildly odd and cute at six becomes a signal that something's really wrong at sixteen.)


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18 Aug 2010, 7:16 pm

KINKS KINKS KINKS KINKS KINKS :lol:


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LadybugQ
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18 Aug 2010, 7:38 pm

IMHO your doctor is a twit and a nimrod.


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18 Aug 2010, 7:54 pm

Tell your doctor to do some REAL research.

Those are only POSSIBLE symptoms.

ANYONE saying "this" or "that" is missing, therefore it isn't AS or Autism, is WRONG. Period.

Look up DSM-IV, and/or DSM-V, with the terms Autism, and Asperger's separately on Google. There is NO single symptom, without which you don't have it.


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18 Aug 2010, 8:00 pm

Corp900 wrote:
He said they can keep talking about one thing non stop,

they get hyper focused on one subject that they are intrested in, and have literally no clue socially.

How much fact is in this AS ppl?

See a new doctor, your doctor can't follow the simple DSM criteria. I have been told I couldn't have Asperger's because I wouldn't talk to the person that said that. I will be so glad when Asperger's is gone, there's a lot of stupid misconceptions about it.

Doctors like seem also incapable of reasoning. If this is their perception of Asperger's, then why aren't they considering classic autism or PDD-NOS in its place? Oh right, you probably don't act like Rainman either, so that excludes those.



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18 Aug 2010, 8:13 pm

Don't worry about this doctor. There are a lot of doctors who jip people out of getting a diagnosis necessary for help. People with bipolar, OCD, tourrettes, all walks of lives, even people who had cancer. This is common, and YOU should take a hold of your health. The docs are just as stubborn as we are.


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18 Aug 2010, 8:30 pm

DandelionFireworks wrote:
The second part is incorrect. We lack some or all of NTs' inborn knowledge of social matters, and instinctively use a different (but internally consistent) set of social skills. We can learn social skills just as NTs can learn to drive a car (which they're not wired for either). They can even become automatic. There will usually be little giveaways, though. You wouldn't drive a car when tired (or if you did, you'd probably crash); it's the same with us and social skills. As such, the deficits are generally extremely pronounced in childhood, and become progressively less obvious. (This is not always the case. Sometimes the Aspie fails to learn, and behavior that's mildly odd and cute at six becomes a signal that something's really wrong at sixteen.)


This is a brilliant analogy which I intend to recycle.



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18 Aug 2010, 8:33 pm

Is this doc a general practitioner?



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18 Aug 2010, 8:52 pm

If that doctor didn't give you a full assessment, and is making that pronoucement, then he's a dumbass. Would he un-diagnose someone of diabetes without doing a proper work up?

Doctors, like most people, reason by gut feeling. They'll see a few cases and decide "that's what they (all) look like." And if those first few cases are clueless 8 year-olds who "look ret*d," then they'll think you need to "look ret*d", too.

And once that has set in, they won't check the criteria and refine their understanding. They won't even bother to scrutinize a positively diagnosed person in order to learn anything -- they'll just, though broken logic, assume that it's a misdiagnosis.

You can't underestimate the power of surface appearance. People are very impressed by it, and are given all kinds of ideas and feelings from it. -- Like how people with MS or CP or whatever who have trouble speaking get assumed to be mentally impaired. So if you look basically normal (or can fake it enough), you're going to need a doctor who knows his stuff. Any random GP or shrink won't cut it.



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18 Aug 2010, 8:53 pm

Corp900 wrote:
He said they can keep talking about one thing non stop,

they get hyper focused on one subject that they are intrested in, and have literally no clue socially.

An analogy:

A 1984 Ferrari Testarossa can do 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, and has a top speed of 275 mph. A Ferrari Testarossa is a car.

My 2005 Hyundai Accent cannot accelerate so quickly, nor go so fast. Therefore, by this alleged doctor's reasoning, my 2005 Hyundai Accent is not a car.


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18 Aug 2010, 8:55 pm

Corp900 wrote:
He said they can keep talking about one thing non stop,

they get hyper focused on one subject that they are intrested in, and have literally no clue socially.

How much fact is in this AS ppl?


Not all of them do it. I sure don't but I used to when I was little but not anymore. Sure I still get stuck on something sometimes and can go on and on about it rather it's a problem I am having or just something I found interesting.



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18 Aug 2010, 9:12 pm

I talk on a variety of subjects.


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