14 Aug 2010, 12:45 pm
14 Aug 2010, 1:13 pm
14 Aug 2010, 1:23 pm
15 Aug 2010, 10:04 am
Friskeygirl wrote:
CockneyRebel wrote:
I must say that Asperger's is not a fad. It's a real disorder.
I sometimes worry that its portrayal on tv show sends out alot of misinformation, like its the flavor of the month, I cringe when I hear it used for a character on tv, such as degrassi the next generation
or on last nights episode of Sanctuary, I think it really does a disservice to people on the spectrum by giving a false impression of what its actually like living with ASD, There must to be an upsurge in
worried people wanting a diagnosis after such shows.
The major problem is that NT is a concept that doesn't really exists since most people have a mental or psychological disorder as they grow up. I mean, almost every human behaviour is listed as being a disorder because it has a negative impact on life, even collecting thing is a disorder for some psychologists.
The other problem is that you can have many disorders and thus end up being diagnosed for another one (I have been diagnosed with dyspraxia, it shares a lot of characteristics with Autism or Non-Verbal Learning Disorder and ADHD, thus it's hard to tell whether my other Aspie characteristics are linked to dyspraxia or another disorder which has nothing to do with Asperger for example).
Plus, most disorders were unknown before or were not diagnosed because of the lack of knowledge, it also depends on where you live and all, thus it seems normal to see "more and more" people diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, etc. I could also be caused by the environment in which we live, I'm not saying that things are worst than they used to be because it's not true but education as changed a lot.
TV Shows and movie use the disorders to seem more interesting, it's also easy to make stereotypes with Autism, Depression, etc. Weird people are more interesting on TV than they are in real life. It's also quite annoying because people may either think "that's so me" when the character doesn't display the most important characteristics of the disorder (I'm thinking of Dr. Brennan in Bones who seems to be in between the typical nerd and the typical Aspie) or think that everyone who has this disorder is like that (and though my best friend calls me Sheldon, I'm not a gifted scientist and I'm pretty messy for example).
I have no idea who this Heather is but I really don't think you can diagnosed someone according to videos. Photographs and videos of me makes me look a totally normal yet stubborn and angry little girl, you couldn't even tell I have dyspraxia or had trouble having friends (because most of them were made during the summer when I met children in camp with my parents and my brother and that was the only time I really could find friends
)
15 Aug 2010, 10:29 am
16 Aug 2010, 5:00 am
16 Aug 2010, 6:08 pm
sartresue
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16 Aug 2010, 6:29 pm
tangerine12 wrote:
Do you think Heather Kuzmich have Asperger's? Do you think she might be misdiagnosed?
Is she too social and high functioning to disqualify for AS?
An clinical psych thought so. This person wrote that not only does Heather Kuzmich not have diagnosis, but that s/he uses clips to show how Heather is an example of someone who is wrongly diagnosed as AS. This individual goes so far as to show in professional presentations to other health care workers how Heather does not have AS based on her superiorer understanding of nonverbals and use of social language and is even putting together a DVD to show clinicians how NOT to diagnosis someone with Asperger's using Heather as an example of wrong diagnosis.
And DSM-V in all its wisdom wants to eliminate Asperger's, probably funded by big pharma.
I'm reading televisionwithoutpity and one "expert wrote"
http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com ... 556&st=345
I can do everything Heather can do that Nan.. says no person with AS can do, so should I not be diagnosed as AS?
There's a psych who says Einstein does not have AS since AS folks do not have a sense of humor. Maybe I should sue my psych for giving me the wrong diagnosis then discriminating against me for this wrong diagnosis.
Obviously I think Asperger should be kept at least as a subtype or severity designation in DSM-V
Is she too social and high functioning to disqualify for AS?
An clinical psych thought so. This person wrote that not only does Heather Kuzmich not have diagnosis, but that s/he uses clips to show how Heather is an example of someone who is wrongly diagnosed as AS. This individual goes so far as to show in professional presentations to other health care workers how Heather does not have AS based on her superiorer understanding of nonverbals and use of social language and is even putting together a DVD to show clinicians how NOT to diagnosis someone with Asperger's using Heather as an example of wrong diagnosis.
And DSM-V in all its wisdom wants to eliminate Asperger's, probably funded by big pharma.
I'm reading televisionwithoutpity and one "expert wrote"
http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com ... 556&st=345
Quote:
nanasez
The thing that frustrates me is that Heather isn't Asperger's at all. As a psychologist, my specialty is assessment and differential diagnosis. I trained under someone who specializes in Asperger's. I've worked with many of his Asperger's patients. I'm very adept at identifying Asperger's Syndrome. In fact, I was testing a teen for clearance to get his pilot's license, and during the session some very subtle things had me suspecting Asperger's. I sent for his records, which included neuropsychological testing that he'd had as a young child, and that report documented perfectly a textbook case of Asperger's. His current psychiatrist, however, had him misdiagnosed as OCD.
Anyway, Heather is in no way Asperger's. Asperger's Syndrome is the "fad" diagnosis of the day, taking its place beside ADHD and Bipolar Disorder. People with little to no training in psychological diagnosis and assessment (i.e. teachers, general practitioners, even many psychiatrists) are quick to be swayed by the pop-psychology watered down interpretation of Asperger's that is perpetuated by "Aspie" web sites and people who like to claim the diagnosis because they think "high functioning" (as in high functioning autism) means superior intelligence and cognitively gifted. Heather's case (which isn't Heather's fault at all - she's not the one who misdiagnosed her) just perpetuates the misunderstanding of another psychological condition.
Because she doesn't have Asperger's. I know all about the continuum. I work with people all along the continuum. Even on the "mild" end of the continuum for Aperger's (which may or may not be considered a form of autism, depending on the school of thought one accepts), the signs are pretty unmistakable. The problem is that the diagnosis has gotten so watered down that "introversion" is pretty much getting diagnosed as Asperger's (as that bogus "test" demonstrates).
There are so many things that Heather does that no one with Aperger's, even on the mild end, would be able to do. There's a lack of the kinds of socially inappropriate behaviors that Asperger's people demonstrate. There's the ease with which she understands and uses nonverbals - definitely not Asperger's. Just something as simple as making eye contact remains something that an Apserger's person has to do consciously. It's a social rule that they're taught to use, and for them it's like someone learning to drive a car - only the various behaviors never become automatic. There'd be no understanding and use of something like an eyeroll. Or the way she automatically reacted on a recent show when someone was insulted and she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. There's the focus on eyes in her art. An Asperger's person wouldn't be noticing and understanding emotional expression in eyes, and would never talk about "dead eyes." People with Asperger's are very concrete. Ask what "two heads are better than one" means and you'll be told that someone with two brains could think twice as much. "Dead eyes" to someone with Asperger's would mean someone went blind because their eyes died. Then the whole idea of living in a new situation, with a ton of strangers, outside of one's routine (which gets somewhat ritualistic with an Asperger's person) would be a huge trigger for anxiety and complete panic-like meltdowns for someone with Asperger's.
I was presenting at a psych hospital last week and merely mentioned Heather from ANTM, and it immediately triggered a discussion among clinicians experienced with Asperger's about how grossly misdiagnosed she is.
If took every kid in our Asperger's group, or every Asperger's indvidual in our practice, and filmed them all for 24/7 for a week, there'd not be any scenes (outside of sleeping) where viewers would see "normal."
But more than that, they can't "edit in" abilities that a person with Asperger's absolutely would not demonstrate. It's not just the absence of signs of Asperger's, it's also the presence of abilities that are at odds with an Asperger's diagnosis. Heather has natural affect. Heather understands non-verbals and effortlessly uses them. Heather has normal voice tone and modulation. Heather has normal vocal inflection. Heather understands emotion, can read it in others, and responds to it appropriately. Heather demonstrates ease of empathy.
Asperger's is a "hot" fad diagnosis. In the past few years, we see more and more people being given the diagnosis mistakenly. The number of referrals I get for differential diagnosis from some clinician who doesn't understand Asperger's has increased by at least 400%. One of my most recent cases was a girl who went to a psychiatrist who is a horrible diagnostician. On the basis of a few 15 minute interactions with her, he told her therapist that she was Asperger's. Why? Because she's always reading a book, and she doesn't look up from her books to make eye contact when he talks to her. That's it. The mother jumped on the diagnosis like a frog on a fly, and cannot be disabused of the notion that her daughter is Asperger's. So now she's got this inaccurate notion of Asperger's, and is out there dessiminating her misunderstanding of the disorder, thanks to a doctor who makes these snap diagnoses all the time without bothering to really study any research or professional literature. We're getting this all the time now, kids referred by general practitioners, educators, parents who read some web site or a pop psychology book, psychiatrists who haven't read more than some drug company pamphlet given out at a free lunch, etc. This is the way ADHD got so overdiagnosed, then bipolar disorder. Now, it's Asperger's.
All facets of human behavior and fucntioning occur on a continuum. Some people are more one way than others. Difference isn't a disorder. Heather is functioning normally. She's on the show, making friends, living with the other girls, winning competitions, etc. Without impairment, there is no disorder. We're actually putting together a DVD of Heather's scenes in our clinic so that we can use it to demonstrate a case of Asperger's misdiagnosis and do some diagnostic education.
The thing that frustrates me is that Heather isn't Asperger's at all. As a psychologist, my specialty is assessment and differential diagnosis. I trained under someone who specializes in Asperger's. I've worked with many of his Asperger's patients. I'm very adept at identifying Asperger's Syndrome. In fact, I was testing a teen for clearance to get his pilot's license, and during the session some very subtle things had me suspecting Asperger's. I sent for his records, which included neuropsychological testing that he'd had as a young child, and that report documented perfectly a textbook case of Asperger's. His current psychiatrist, however, had him misdiagnosed as OCD.
Anyway, Heather is in no way Asperger's. Asperger's Syndrome is the "fad" diagnosis of the day, taking its place beside ADHD and Bipolar Disorder. People with little to no training in psychological diagnosis and assessment (i.e. teachers, general practitioners, even many psychiatrists) are quick to be swayed by the pop-psychology watered down interpretation of Asperger's that is perpetuated by "Aspie" web sites and people who like to claim the diagnosis because they think "high functioning" (as in high functioning autism) means superior intelligence and cognitively gifted. Heather's case (which isn't Heather's fault at all - she's not the one who misdiagnosed her) just perpetuates the misunderstanding of another psychological condition.
Because she doesn't have Asperger's. I know all about the continuum. I work with people all along the continuum. Even on the "mild" end of the continuum for Aperger's (which may or may not be considered a form of autism, depending on the school of thought one accepts), the signs are pretty unmistakable. The problem is that the diagnosis has gotten so watered down that "introversion" is pretty much getting diagnosed as Asperger's (as that bogus "test" demonstrates).
There are so many things that Heather does that no one with Aperger's, even on the mild end, would be able to do. There's a lack of the kinds of socially inappropriate behaviors that Asperger's people demonstrate. There's the ease with which she understands and uses nonverbals - definitely not Asperger's. Just something as simple as making eye contact remains something that an Apserger's person has to do consciously. It's a social rule that they're taught to use, and for them it's like someone learning to drive a car - only the various behaviors never become automatic. There'd be no understanding and use of something like an eyeroll. Or the way she automatically reacted on a recent show when someone was insulted and she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. There's the focus on eyes in her art. An Asperger's person wouldn't be noticing and understanding emotional expression in eyes, and would never talk about "dead eyes." People with Asperger's are very concrete. Ask what "two heads are better than one" means and you'll be told that someone with two brains could think twice as much. "Dead eyes" to someone with Asperger's would mean someone went blind because their eyes died. Then the whole idea of living in a new situation, with a ton of strangers, outside of one's routine (which gets somewhat ritualistic with an Asperger's person) would be a huge trigger for anxiety and complete panic-like meltdowns for someone with Asperger's.
I was presenting at a psych hospital last week and merely mentioned Heather from ANTM, and it immediately triggered a discussion among clinicians experienced with Asperger's about how grossly misdiagnosed she is.
If took every kid in our Asperger's group, or every Asperger's indvidual in our practice, and filmed them all for 24/7 for a week, there'd not be any scenes (outside of sleeping) where viewers would see "normal."
But more than that, they can't "edit in" abilities that a person with Asperger's absolutely would not demonstrate. It's not just the absence of signs of Asperger's, it's also the presence of abilities that are at odds with an Asperger's diagnosis. Heather has natural affect. Heather understands non-verbals and effortlessly uses them. Heather has normal voice tone and modulation. Heather has normal vocal inflection. Heather understands emotion, can read it in others, and responds to it appropriately. Heather demonstrates ease of empathy.
Asperger's is a "hot" fad diagnosis. In the past few years, we see more and more people being given the diagnosis mistakenly. The number of referrals I get for differential diagnosis from some clinician who doesn't understand Asperger's has increased by at least 400%. One of my most recent cases was a girl who went to a psychiatrist who is a horrible diagnostician. On the basis of a few 15 minute interactions with her, he told her therapist that she was Asperger's. Why? Because she's always reading a book, and she doesn't look up from her books to make eye contact when he talks to her. That's it. The mother jumped on the diagnosis like a frog on a fly, and cannot be disabused of the notion that her daughter is Asperger's. So now she's got this inaccurate notion of Asperger's, and is out there dessiminating her misunderstanding of the disorder, thanks to a doctor who makes these snap diagnoses all the time without bothering to really study any research or professional literature. We're getting this all the time now, kids referred by general practitioners, educators, parents who read some web site or a pop psychology book, psychiatrists who haven't read more than some drug company pamphlet given out at a free lunch, etc. This is the way ADHD got so overdiagnosed, then bipolar disorder. Now, it's Asperger's.
All facets of human behavior and fucntioning occur on a continuum. Some people are more one way than others. Difference isn't a disorder. Heather is functioning normally. She's on the show, making friends, living with the other girls, winning competitions, etc. Without impairment, there is no disorder. We're actually putting together a DVD of Heather's scenes in our clinic so that we can use it to demonstrate a case of Asperger's misdiagnosis and do some diagnostic education.
I can do everything Heather can do that Nan.. says no person with AS can do, so should I not be diagnosed as AS?
There's a psych who says Einstein does not have AS since AS folks do not have a sense of humor. Maybe I should sue my psych for giving me the wrong diagnosis then discriminating against me for this wrong diagnosis.
Obviously I think Asperger should be kept at least as a subtype or severity designation in DSM-V
TV Diagnoses topic
Must have been a Dr. Phil fan. More advice he pulled out of his ass.
16 Aug 2010, 6:50 pm
ShadesOfMe wrote:
I have never thought that she had it. She doesn't act like it at all!
I saw it in her. The way the girls talked about her, how she had difficulty relating to the other girls, and what she said about her childhood I could relate to. Also I noticed how words were fed to her so I felt she was getting special treatment because the other girls had to do it on their own while she got help.
I suppose I don't have it either huh?
Also the fact I heard she had a meltdown when she couldn't take her shower. Gee who does that sound like? Me from when I was a teen.
16 Aug 2010, 6:51 pm
CockneyRebel
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17 Aug 2010, 8:28 am
17 Aug 2010, 2:16 pm
ShadesOfMe wrote:
I have never thought that she had it. She doesn't act like it at all!
Yeah... well, my best friend does not believe I am truly dyspraxic because I'm "intelligent" and people with learning disabilities "fail at school", yet I am.
By the way, I talked with two aspies lately, one was nothing like the stereotyped Aspie and was even more NT than I am (yest he does struggle with dyspraxia and AS at the same time), the other had some obvious symptoms while she was still able to understand people's emotions by looking at them and did not stim or have routines.
As you grow up, you learn some things about life and other people, plus everyone is different.
17 Aug 2010, 2:31 pm
21 Aug 2010, 6:47 pm
22 Aug 2010, 2:45 am
Ichinin
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22 Aug 2010, 2:53 am
