dsm criteria are culturally biased

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I do believe that the dsm criteria for AS are not well developed at this point in time. I have concluded that NTs often suffer from all the stereotypical deficits, such as difficulty with communication, body language, and empathy that aspies are alleged to suffer from. I think the AS criteria at this point in time are based predominantly on cultural bias, not objective observation. The label of AS is useful to signify difference, but the details of that difference are misrepresented by the DSM.

For example, here is a case in point.

We have bugs in our apartment. When we first moved in to this apartment, several months ago, the problem was not too bad. But in the last few days we've seen bugs crawling on the damn walls. The kitchen floor is covered in them at night. This disturbing new increase in bugs has occurred over the last two or three days. I asked my aspie partner to take a sample of the bugs to the landlord. When we showed the landlord these bugs she got very angry. The landlord told my aspie partner that we should have told her at the first instance that we ever saw such a bug in our apartment. Then she told him that we would be receiving our notice because of our failure to notify her about the bugs.

My aspie partner came upstairs and told me that the landlord was very angry that we had not told her about the bugs at the first instance of ever seeing a bug. He said that she was so angry that she was going to give us our notice to be evicted. I asked him to tell me her exact words.

He said, "She said we should have told her about the bugs. She said that she is going to have to give us our notice now because we didn't tell her about the bugs."

I gasped in outrage. How dare she?! I went down to the rental office. I was a bit nervous as the landlord is a very large woman with a face as hard as a Devil's Island prison guard.

I was a bit breathless. I expected a confrontation.

The landlord was seated at her desk. I went into the office and said, "(My partner) says you're upset about the bugs. And that now we're getting our notice."

She looks at me with her cold, hard, contemptuous eyes, and says, "Yea." She looked at me as though I were a bug myself. Then she looked away.

So I said, "Well look, we don't have alot of experience with bugs. We vacuumed them up, and that seemed to solve the problem for awhile, but now they're back worse than ever. That's why we've sent a sample to you."

She turned her face toward her assistant and spoke to me without looking at me. She sounded very angry and said, "You'll get your notice for when the exterminator comes. Ya gotta be outta there for eight to nine hours."

I then realized that my aspie partner was mistaken. He had misunderstood. The landlord had not meant that we were getting our notice for eviction, but that we were getting our notice for when the exterminator would come and we would have to vacate for hours while the fumigation took place.

I asked her, "Are they...are they.are the bugs...."

And without looking at me she said, "They're a kind of cockroach."

And then she began speaking to her assistant so I left her office without saying anything more.

Afterward I felt a feeling of humiliation.

First of all, she did not communicate well with my partner. She assumed we knew the routine for dealing with cockroaches so that she did not have to explain about fumigation. Far from it, we have never lived in a place that has bugs before. Her underlying assumption was that we knew the routine for living in a cockroach infested dump. This assumption, in itself, is an insult. Just because we are on disability doesn't mean we've lived with cockroaches before or that we would know what to do about the bugs.

Secondly, her cold and hardnosed demeanor was degrading to me. She looked at me in a contemptuous way, did not make any empathic eye contact, and spoke angrily. She clearly has far more power in this situation, as she has a choice of whether or not to call an exterminator in order to maintain the basic standards of our quality of life. What she effectively did was to force me to accept her contemptuous behavior in order to get the services to exterminate the bugs. If people behave so brutishly toward each other when dealing with matters of basic human needs it can lead to all sorts of conflict and misunderstanding, as it obviously did in this case. What she effectively did was to force me to accept her contemptuous gaze, rude body language, and angry tone, in order to get the services required to exterminate the bugs, services basic to my quality of life.

I think that a person would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb, not to notice the subtle and/or implied brutish behavior that my landlord imposed on our interaction.

I left her office feeling humiliated. I don't know what I could have done or said to make things different.

What I do know is that I often have these sorts of interactions with NTs, and it is their often brutish and cruel attempts at dominance that cause me to avoid social interaction with NTs, not a lack of social skills on my part.

I believe that dsm criteria are culturally biased, in favor of NTs. In my experience aspies are generally more sensitive to social interaction than NTs. I think that the dominant society works against people who are sensitive and compassionate, and rewards those who act like a**holes. The DSM criteria functions to enforce that status quo so that NTs social deficits get projected onto aspies, but that in reality NTs are the ones who lack the very skills that aspies are alleged to lack.

I get mad as hell at people who treat people like that woman did. I hope her karma catches up with her.

Nor to overanalyze the incident. The landlady is a jerk. She is also probably not too bright.

You didn't know. That has nothing to do with Asperger's, it has to do with inexperience. But you don't have to think she was assuming that people on disability know about cockroaches. I think it's a lot simpler. She knows all about cockroaches, therefore everybody does, therefore you do. Somewhat lacking in theory of mind, isn's she?

She didn't explain. No need to get upset over that, just irritated.

Her loud harsh voice and cold manner - have you moved from one part of the country to another? Could this be a regional difference? I just imagined one of my South Carolina suppliers (first job) trying to talk to a New York lawyer. Or maybe it's just her. She probably talks that way to everyone. Except maybe the health inspector or the cops.

At least you know what to do with cockroaches now! When I moved out to the Southwest from San Francisco I didn't know what they looked like and screamed when I saw a huge bug crawling across the dorm living room floor! Got teased for it, too.

Thanks for the responses. Lae, I'm glad you empathize with the situation. I felt very uncomfortable speaking to the landlord, and her behavior was offensive.

Badger. I can articulate what was going on there now because my aspie mind has finally figured out what bothers me soooo much about this landlords behavior. I can do a meta analysis of any situation, it's one of my talents. I might be right, I might be wrong, but this is the way my mind works. If I was a better writer my meta analysis of this problem could form the basis of a re-write of Kafka's "The Cockroach", but I will try to present the problem as succinctly as possible.

First of all, in BC we don't normally get cockroaches. The climate is too cold for cockroaches. The bugs that we have in our apartment are quite small compared to the cockroaches you might see down south. That is why I didn't recognize that these bugs were cockroaches right away.

The only reason that this apartment has cockroaches is because the wealthy owner of the building has obviously failed to pay for the entire building to be properly fumigated. The landlord said she is going to fumigate only our unit. Management can fumigate the bugs in our unit but the cockroaches will only run to the next apartment and eventually come back.

A meta analysis tells me that the existence of these cockroaches, the landlord's intimidation tactics, and the owner's failure to fumigate properly have an effect on the entire city. If people see or learn that there are cockroaches in these buildings they will be reluctant to move in to this area. It follows that the only people who will move in to a cockroach infested building in a geographical climate where cockroaches don't normally exist are people who don't mind living in a bug infested slum. The very existence of these cockroaches in this building can change the entire demographic of the people who rent in this area. Decent renters will be reluctant to move in, and only people who have low standards will move in.

In fact, this change in demographics based on the existence of cockroaches or other failures to adequately maintain rental property has already happened. This area I live in is very crime ridden. Crack hoes hang out in the park, there are shootings in the park, there has been a shooting in the nearby school yard. The city newspapers are always full of stories about how crime has risen, the costs of policing that crime, and a new police station has been built a block away to try to deal with the rising crime rate.

And yet all these problems could all be the result of the failure of the owners of these buildings to manage their properties in a way that is healthful and respectful of the people who rent here. It seems clear to me that the very existence of the cockroaches, and the nasty manner of the landlord in dealing with the problem of cockroaches has repercussions for an entire city.

And worst of all, the media reports on the rise in crime without any analysis of why this crime occurs, and never reports that the crime exists in a particular area, or why it so obviously does. The media never reports that there are particular landlords who fail to maintain their property in an adequate manner so that crime does not move into the area.

And worst of all, the newspapers present the problem of crime in this area as an issue that can only be solved by an increase in police presence, and stricter laws to govern the daily activities of the people who live here. This increases the cost to the taxpayer and comprises people's rights and freedoms.

A meta analysis can show that the reason a new police station has been built a block away, at great cost, to deal with the rising crime in the area, is because of "The Cockroach".

And it is quite possible that the problem of crime, the compromise of human rights, the heavy police presence, the call for stricter laws, and the decline of an entire neighborhood could be greatly reduced if the owner's of these properties were required to properly deal with the problem of "The Cockroach."

As I stood before the landlord with her nasty demeanor meant to humiliate me and intimidate me from dealing with the problem effectively, I was truly horrified. Bottom line, some rich bugger is making money off these buildings while the whole city feels the repercussions of his greed.

And I failed to stand up to the landlord because she intimidated me to the point where I couldn't think straight to express to her the fact that this entire building needs to be fumigated, not just our apartment, if the problem of "The Cockroach" is to be properly dealt with so that the bugs are exterminated. I was afraid of her, and I am humiliated because I felt that fear to the point where I couldn't even think straight.

I am going to call the Health Inspector. Maybe there are some regulations that will force the owner to deal with the problem in an adequate way that does not effect an entire neighborhood.

My rule is landlords and real estate agents are often intimidating, wherever you are in the world. I know it is based around money and getting a good return for their investment.

I am very lucky though, I live in Queensland, where we reportedly have the best legislation which covers tenants in Australia.

We also have tenants advocacy services, maybe you have those where you live?

On the topic of DSM criteria, they are out of date for most of the disorders. The DSM III came out in 1975, and IV came out in 1994. It's early days yet for working out what goes on in the brain, and how it affects people. It's not like something that has been around for centuries or anything.

We have tenants advocacy services. I've left a message with the health inspector first. I'm waiting to see what comes of that before I leave a message with the tenancy office.

I didn't know the DSM was so out of date! Thanks for the information.

Cockroaches don't discriminate at all.

They happily move into rich people's places too. Lots of fumigation is bad for everybody, not just the cockroaches. If I see a bug in the building (or my food), I figure it hasn't been over sprayed with toxic chemicals. As soon as the spray wears off, ie in about a year, the cockroaches move right back in.

The way I usually deal with an excess of bugs, is get a pyrethrum (daisy extract) based "surface spray". And I spray that where walls meet the floors, along the hallways. I try not to spray in the kitchen because that's where I keep food. If there are holes, I try to block them up. Ideally you stuff steel wool into the crack and then tape it over or fill it. The steel wool discourages mice from chewing their way back in. I live in a garden suburb with lots of parks and creeks and chook yards etc. We've got loads of critters. No big deal, cool I think. But I don't like them in my house. This is not a slum/low rent suburb.

I'd much rather apply a cheap fix myself than get agents/landlords in. I had experience of being a landlord myself for a while. The tenants didn't do the right thing by me. They avoided paying the rent, and they damaged the house without reporting it, or if they did, they wouldn't allow any tradespeople in to fix it. Their excuse was they had small dogs that would bite. They should have found somewhere else for the dogs to be while maintenance was done. However I was a bit naive. So eventually I let the agents deal with everything. And they were alot tougher and meaner than I am and I got all my rent, though the house was pretty sad when the tenants left. I think this is why agents and landlords traditionally treat all their tenants like scum. I personally was on the receiving end by the utility companies when I moved interstate. It didn't matter that I owned my own place, the fact that I was now also renting, meant that I had to pay deposits on everything which I had never needed to do before.

I don't think landlords lack of maintenance has much to do with the quality of tenants. I think the number of bad tenants might have more to do with it. You get bad landlords and you get bad tenants. The more stuff you can sort out yourself as a tenant, the better.

And Aspies do not have any monopoly on being rude. Anyone in any position of power often is. They say "power corrupts" for a reason.

I think anandamide might need to train the new landlord. Ask them to explain everything in detail step by step, what they're going to do and what they need you to do because you're a bit inexperienced with how they do things. If they think you're a bit thick because you need everything explained clearly, that's fine so long as they do explain. They won't care that you're thick or not so long as you pay the rent reliably and let them know in advance if you need to be late with the rent for any reason.

Studies have shown that cockroache infestations are more predominant in low income housing. In one study entitled, "Deteriorated Housing Contributes to High Cockroach Allergen levels in Inner-City Households", by Virginia A. Rauh, et al, this phenomenon was well documented.

Cockroaches thrive in environments where there is alot of disrepair and lack of professional services to exertminate them.



Thanks for the tips, we will go out tomorrow (when I get paid) to buy the material we need to start holing up the small cracks and crevices around the apartment.



I wouldn't want to be a landlord on my own. I know there are alot of people who must be really hard to deal with as tenants. But we are good tenants here. I was a good tenant in my last rental, where I lived for six or seven years with no complaints whatsoever.



I still think that my analysis of the situation is true. I am tired of always playing the thicko to get by in my interactions with NTs. I am not the stupid one, THEY are. If the apartments here are allowed to fall into disrepair to the point where there are heavy infestations of cockroach then that will, to some extent, determine the type of people who are willing to live here. In BC there is a renter's market, more or less, and because of the cooler climate people do not normally have to live with cockroaches. This is a health issue with wide ranging repercussions. The property owner's failure to maintain this property can effect the neighborhood and the entire city.

In fact, one study I saw online showed that even on the microlevel infestations of cockroach have a psychological effect upon families. People stop interacting in the kitchen and start to avoid the rooms in the home where the cockroaches are commonly seen. This has an effect on quality of life over time and in one study has been shown to contribute to a lower quality of family life.


My point in my meta analysis above was to show that how a cockroach can have profound repercussions for an entire city. And I think my analysis is logical and true.

I have had to live in a slum apartment at one point. They would spray for roaches, and the spray aggravated my daughter's asthma. If they spray your place and you have breathing problems, try to air the place out very well. I hated those sprays, but roaches do try to come back.

When a very bad batch came in, I took all the appliances (unplugged) and cleaned them inside and out. Took loose the baseboards and did the same. I basically took everything apart that I could and cleaned it. They like to lay eggs in hidden places. Then I got lots of sticky traps and put them everywhere. All food went into airtight jars. All this actually did help. Roaches hate light and fresh air, and they will eat almost anything. I hope some of this helps.

We had mice come in, and saw rats outside. If this happens, be careful, because I complained about them and they came in and put poison without telling me. The poison sifted down onto the floor and that's how I found it. My neighbor's toddler used to play on my floor, and could have gotten sick. I still think my dog ingested some because he died a few days later. So if you have children or pets, make sure they tell you what they are using and where they put it.

Bugs can come into the cleanest houses, I've cleaned for rich people and found them, too. I think the best thing is to use the chemicals wisely and get rid of the eggs they lay.

I spoke to the health inspector. I expected him to be a racist, classist jerk and he was. He said that where I live is prone to cockroach infestations because people who live in low income neighborhoods and who are of certain ethnicities have lower standards for hygiene. I told him that my complex is predominantly white people. He had to agree, but then said that it is the low income people with low hygiene standards that cause the problem. I told him that studies show that cockroach infestations are corrolated with low income housing in desrepair with low maintenance standards, but that no such reports ever correlate cockroaches and low standards for hygiene with low income housing. I told him that rich people who have cockroaches can afford to fumigate their houses, but that low income people in apartments cannot afford to fumigate their entire building, and that only the separate units get fumigated one at a time, so that cockroaches aren't properly dealt with.

I guess he got tired of arguing with an aspie really quick. I'm sure he is not used to the experience.

At the end of our discussion he said that he would check in with the landlords and review the records they are required to keep on pesticide use and their extermination program.

Strangely, the cockroaches did not come out last night and I have seen no sign of them this morning. Maybe they know somethings up, heehee.

Yes, people make some really strange judgements on others. I'd love to show that health inspector some rich peoples' houses I have cleaned where they have NASTY hygiene habits. They exist, people just don't hear about it. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with a person's race or how much money they make. The reason I don't feel bad about talking about these folks is because often they were also the ones who don't treat "the help" so good. In fact, you would not believe the bathroom habits of some of the most well-groomed, affluent looking people. Slobs come from all walks of life.

Those little roachies are smart, no? It's said they can survive a nuclear attack, too.

I agree that most roaches are pretty bad, and they carry more diseases than some other kinds of bugs.

You're probably right, that there are more of them where people fumigate less and are less well educated about hygiene, ie they leave food out for the insects and rodents. And this would likely correlate well with low income areas.

However where I live - there are many cockroaches living outside, and I'm not going to spray the council parks, and creeks and my neighbour's chook yards or all the trees. So while this house might get fumigated, the cockroaches are still out there and will try to move back in.

Actually I get invaded by ants, spiders and crickets more often. Crickets are so dumb, and they come straight under the front door. Ants I get rid of most of the time by treating them to a borax and honey mixture. They carry it back to their nest and it kills the queen, and all the eggs they feed it to. Apparently something similar (like borax and catfood) works on european wasps, but I haven't tried that. Mice, I get rid of with ratsack. Supermarket and council ratsack is not nearly as strong as the pest company ratsack. Apparently if is your job you can handle a stronger variety, but supermarket customers cannot be trusted not to eat the ratsack themselves. So it's slow acting enough that a person who eats it will feel ill and hopefully go see a doctor. Mice have to eat rather a lot of it to die, where as the high strength stuff, they only need one serve. Much quicker. I don't get mice too often. But my neighbour has them bad. She's not any richer or poorer than me, but she's not very good at housekeeping or looking after herself. You can get rat/mice killer in a wax lump. If you've got rats, they will carry the wax lump back to their nest and the whole family dies. The other advantage of the wax lump is there is no toxic dust. I don't know why they like it. They like soap too. Something to do with the fat content.

Hmmm. Still no sign of cockroaches, although I did spot a "nymph" in the bathroom. The cockroaches must have heard me talking on the phone to the health inspector and fled to another suite.

Really, I'm just kidding. Sort of. I think.