I now reject my diagnosis

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I now decided to reject my diagnosis of ASD, period. I don't want to be included in the stigma. I don't want to socially identify as autistic. I will refuse to risk being treated like the Jews in WWII. I am now compelled to call myself a neurotypical. I can't sacrifice success by embracing my label. I am really proud of the benefits aspergers give me, but I just don't want to accept it as a label to live with.

That's it.

Denial will change nothing. Your behavior alone will indicate that you are somehow 'different'. Good luck with trying to pass as one of those NTs you seem to hate.

Sometimes I feel like I'm given exclusive treatment, like I am a member of a cult or something.

How so?

Hello K_Kelly,

I think you are probably making the right decision here. Getting an official diagnosis won't do you any good anyway. Psychology is not there to help individuals, psychology is there to control and manipulate individuals. It is an instrument to make individuals fit well into society to make them normal.

I don't see why you feel the need to reject your diagnosis. Just don't go around telling people that you have ASD and they won't have that explicit reason to mistreat you.

Refusing to acknowledge the fact that you have Asperger's will not change the fact that you have Asperger's. The stigmatisation comes only partly from the label; the rest comes from peoples' reactions to our autistic behaviour, which we cannot hide at all times, no matter how hard we try.

I am curious, how have the symptoms (that led to the diagnosis in the first place) changed since you rejected your diagnosis?

I tried doing that in the past but I always know I will be this way, it practically lurks on me so even when I try to get away from it, it crawls back.

Actually psychology is more the study of the mind and/or mental disorders...

If I understand K_Kelly correctly this person is not rejecting that he or she has the condition but is rejecting the label given to the condition due to the stigmas.

Yes, but what makes a disorder?

Let's say the entire world was autistic aside from say a 2% NT minority, who do you think would need to see a therapist for their "disorder"? The entire directive of mental health services is to "get you better" so you can "integrate" and "be productive" in "normal" society. Our brains are different, they aren't inherently broken, or bad, or any other negative concept pumped out by society. The fact that we don't fit the norm is the only reason it's a disorder (notice how negative the connotation of the word is).

Lol, I hate to inject philosophy here but autistics really, really need to read up on how hierarchies operate-- it will explain just about everything in your life.

Last edited by Aristophanes on 21 May 2015, 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Extremes of human behavior that cause distress to the person who has them, usually...or in the case of something like Anti-Social PD causes others more distress but not so much the person with it. But that is somewhat simplifying since all disorders are different and there is some debate as to what is a disorder and whats not, as well as what degree symptoms have to exist for something to be a disorder....not to mention figuring out what are even actually symptoms. I suppose I find the best way not to have psychology used against me is by studying it myself I did that in college, but dropped out but I still keep up on reading about it. Sociology is helpful as well, also just generally knowing your rights in any context. I feel like I use my diagnoses more than they get used against me...but it could easily be the other way if I was ignorant about how it works.

Some people with severe autism smear feces on the walls and make animal noises. How is that not a disorder? You seem to neglect the fact that it was once (not sure if it still is) a majority of autistics that had severe LFA rather than HFA.



Defining disorders based entirely upon a hypothetical population makes no sense, as it has no basis in our reality. A planet full of schizophrenics would still be dysfunctional. The fact that NTs may also have negative traits isn't an argument for 'neurotypical disorder'.

Alternatively, take every word in the dictionary and apply it any other imagined scenario.

Lol, in said world there wouldn't be obnoxiously annoying sounds, lights, etc. Everyone would be autistic, why would autistics make tons of junk that annoy them and make them stim and cause them stress that creates breakdowns, meltdowns, mutism, acting out by making animal sounds and smearing feces, etc? You're still applying the current NT world to the hypothetical autistic world. I don't have schizophrenia, but I assume the same would apply to them: they would construct a world in which things fit for them. It's only a delusion if everyone else doesn't share it, or likewise if everyone shares the delusion it's reality. It's based purely on the power of numbers. Hell, let's throw in manic-depressives, if everyone was manic-depressive they wouldn't be sent to a psychiatrist to work it out because it would be the reality for everyone and thus acceptable.

Are we in that world? No, obviously. But the fact that mental disorders are viewed as broken is a direct result of not fitting into societal norms-- if it's different by de facto it's broken and thus inferior. This is a societal construct, not necessarily a hard "truth". Why do you think the diagnostic criteria for having autism requires "significant impairment in social functioning"? All other symptoms are a grab bag for the diagnosis, but significant impairment in social functioning is a requirement. If it functions in society it's by default not broken and thus not a disorder.

I forgot: On these forums I've read more than one claim that NT's are sociopaths. Well, that's because they are, but if the world is full of sociopaths then it is by default normal and not a disorder.