Is Aspergers or HFA too frequently diagnosed?

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One person on a parent group who was trying to dispel the "notion" that AS runs in families claimed that family members often take on the behaviors of the person with the ASD. I guess because they are having to deal with the behaviors and make accomodations or whatever. There may be a LITTLE bit of truth in that - I know my OCD behaviors have rubbed off on my husband but he recognizes that it is not HIS natural inclination to check packages in the store - he just knows I will reject something that looks odd so it has become part of his routine. So I agree the key with adults is have these behaviors been an issue since childhood.

exactly.... i'm almost done with school... (we'll see how the job thing goes) and am always trying to improve myself (especially moreso now that i know what i'm workin with--if that makes sense) in other areas...

so i doubt i'll ever get a DX...

one thing that really helped me, was watching the movie "A Beautiful Mind".... I just thought it was so great how he taught himself to cope with his own problems. he was kinda my hero a few years back (and still is)... before I had ever even heard of AS or anything.

In my later life I was totally oblivious to the fact I was already diagnosed autistic when I was 8, but I had big issues in being shy about eye to eye contact and socializing as well as speech problems also I raised the issue with fetishes fixations and obsessions with my psychiatrist and behaviours like breaking into laughter for no apparent reason as well as stereotypical behaviours like jaw clamping and leg swinging. Without my childhood taken into consideration my psychiatrist believed he could only diagnose me with chronic social anxiety disorder. It wasn’t until a dual consultation with myself and my mother to help reconstruct my childhood a diagnosis of HFA was again reinstated.

"Well... I do agree that the individual would have to have the characteristics all their life, in childhood as well as adulthood"

Often people well in my case anyway it was just dismissed that I was a shy kid and nothing more was thought of it. I was a kid so didnt think to much about it. Now that I am older and display most of the symptoms I cant honestly say how long I have had the symptoms but I cant remember specifly not having them. Because I was never diagnosed with any syndrome in my youth does that automaticly mean I dont have as?
Im not certin I do but reading about the condition has made more sence to me than anything in a long time.

I think that's a bunch of crap. All of those other "labels" are no less stigmatizing than AS/HFA (in my opinion), and giving them the wrong label will only cause them to get inappropriate treatment.

Me too. I was diagnosed bipolar once also.

I have a diagnosis of BPD, which I feel was only ever a rough fit. I would like to shed that diagnosis. AS or similar accounts for so much more about me and my life.

You don't need a "clinical" diagnosis of anything as a kid - especially if you are older lots of kids did not get labeled as anything unless their behavior was extreme. There was a big stigma attached to that kind of stuff in the 70's (especially before) and into the early 80's for the whole family and not just for the kid so people tended to try and make excuses for lack of social skills, lack of eye contact, being very sensitive. People used to be considered very anxious children or neurotic - not official labels just observations. I had lots of noticeable behaviors but was officially held off being labeled until it became very apparent when I had a little nervous breakdown in a classroom. Some people however seem to develop tendencies in late teenage years or early adulthood and if you had not noticed anything before that then it would seem like AS would not be the likely reason.

I think it's been under-diagnosed for a very long time, but I do think that right now it is becoming a very "trendy" diagnosis, and that it is starting to become over-diagnosed. Over-diagnosed might be a misleading word, because there are still going to be lots of adults who were never diagnosed because of their age, but I think with children, they're overdiagnosing. I think it's only going to get worse in the future.

Some school systems have even come up with their own diagnostic criteria for ASDs and use it instead of what's in the DSM. Now what's in the DSM isn't very good, I admit, but really, how can you have doctors all across the country using their own non-matching criteria to diagnose the same disorder.

I am a woman and was recently diagnosed with AS at age 24. The first diagnosis was autism around age 3-4 or so, but that was forgotten by about age 5 due to a sudden increase in reading and verbal/social skills development. In my late teen years I was taken to many doctors and I started getting labels like OCD, bipolar, major depression, social phobia, avoidant personality disorder, and schizoid personality disorder.

I think that was put very eloquently. It sums up what I was trying to say, but couldn't: You shouldn't count adult diagnoses in the "overdiagnosed" category because us recently-diagnosed adult Aspies couldn't help the fact that Asperger's simply wasn't known about when we were children.
-OddDuckNash99-

Well, I was diagnosed with Depression, then ADHD (very wrongly), and now it's Generalized anxiety disorder with OCD and a bit of agoraphobia. Right now I'm eying AS, as it seems to fit me quite well. But I have this fear: I do not want to be over-diagnosed. I acknowledge it is a genuine illness, but I can accept if I don't really have it. How can I know the truth? I can handle being AS or not AS, but I'd rather not be a hypochondriac.

I think some people may be quick to self-diagnose themselves with "very mild" Asperger's or something, as a way to label themselves and find a reason for their "problems". However, Asperger's really isn't a "very mild" thing; it's a very big and very difficult thing to have, and I am really not looking forward to the day when every geek and social misfit is given the diagnosis. All the "awareness" might make people more sympathetic, but also less like to understand the gravity of the situation for those of us who are really struggling. Anyway, it does make it a bit easier for new people in my life to have an idea of my quirks and moods... but I think I'll always prefer my family's final word on the subject: "Nic is weird, but that just proves she's part of our family". lol

Based on the symptoms and behaviour they exhibit now. Only two criteria refer to childhood development, and that in a negation:

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).
E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.



The DX hasn't been around for that long, it was introduced in DSM-IV, in the early 90's, there's plenty of people who've been born long before that. Symptoms are only considered symptoms when there is a need to do so, for instance when someone seeks help for problems, but that doesn;t mean they weren't there before.

Speaking as someone who was misdiagnosed as hyperactive as a child, I think AD(H)D is still overdiagnosed, and AS underdiagnosed, but that will probably change with identification. The girl who is quiet, bookish and knows everything about cats is likely to be identified as having AS, when those may just be her traits. The boy who keeps to himself, has unusual interests, is not good at rough sports and has interests in medicine and running might be regarded as having AS. One such boy grew up to be a physician and the first to break the four-minute mile. A young Roger Bannister might today be diagnosed with AS.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bannister, sit down. We need to talk about Roger."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing really. In fact, your son is quite intelligent. We do notice, however, he is not like other English boys. He is not good at rugby or rowing, and prefers to run. He is an excellent student. I think he will be a doctor or scientist, but I don't see him getting married or having friends. He's far too shy."

"But Roger is a sweet boy."

"Yes, but he's different. We think he may have Asperger's."

"What is that?"

"Roger could probably tell you. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of medical issues."

"Is there any help for it?"

"There is no cure, but he will learn to live with it."

I would hate to see a young Roger Bannister growing up today. He would have to learn to live in a special world, and expectations of him would be considerably lower. He would likely be a patient rather than a physician in today's world.

with adhd,the over diagnosis claim is usually always based in america,where the medical model is relied on from the start, its a lot easier to get access to people who can diagnose and have all the latest drugs and information.
in countries like england it can be impossible for adults to get assessment and medication because of the ignorance about adhd,and adults can be accused of trying to get stimulants for non medication use,when they have reverse effect on adhders anyway.
if anything,it's probably under diagnosed here,for those who have grown up with it at least.
children get the diagnosis far to easy,many of them are being fed additives from non fresh food which can cause adhd like symptoms,they should have their diet changed to include less of the bad things,give it a while and see if that reverses the problems before being given official diagnosis.

am agree cameo about aspergers.
mild aspergers shouldnt be included in the diagnosis as official,they don't need it,it makes no sense to officially label them most of all with a disability and to include them with autism,when they are not autistic,if they really need a label,wouldn't social dyslexia be better? they would still be able to get any help with socialising with a label like that,if needed.
the mild aspergans tend to be the most vocal with campaigning against AS as a label and disability,and overall stereotypes are often formed on that level of as,it would be better for both mild aspergans,and aspergans whom are worse off to not include them for official AS diagnosis,this could eventually help those who need support of some sort [eg,res/group home,support to help them live independantly/away from family] but don't get it due to the 'mild' 'just social dyslexia' stereotypes.