"Self diagnosis" trends...source of ridicule

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Yes I agree with this completely. I just didn't want to say cause I thought I might get in trouble again (you know someone might say "who are you to say that nobody should give advice? this is a help forum, you are wrong you must be an NT or a troll"), I'm slowly learning to censor myself on this forum because people are very defensive when someone does not think and say exactly what they do.

You are correct, and neither does the presence or absence of any "professional" diagnosis.

One either has it or one does not, and no human being has any lasting authority or right to say I either do, or do not. The only thing a man can demand of me is submission to him if I first demand something from him.

If this is true, then AS does not exist, it should be taken out of the DSM and this forum should be shut down.

Ah, now think about that for a moment:

Was AS real and "legitimate" 50 years ago? How about 100? 1000?

Or, is it only "legitimate" because some mere human being says so?

Sure, some people might have it and insist they do not, but who has any right to force them to agree otherwise?

And yes, I just intentionally turned the question around to make the point.

Now, earlier today I did come across a web site somewhere promoting some kind of special snake-oil bath as an effective spiritual-warfare tool for curing autism, and there was even a hand-written testimonial as to its effectiveness. So yes, there certainly are charlatans and all other kinds of goofy leeches that might try to ride along on our wagon, but there are enough people here who really do know what is up to quietly show those kinds of folks to the door.

I have only been here on WP for a few weeks, but it did not take me very long to figure out nobody here was going to diagnose me ... and for that I am actually grateful. But either way, I still am what I am ... and even this very conversation helps to prove each of our individual cases!

What point? I don't see a point. That didn't relate to what I was saying at all....



neither did this....

1) Autism either exists or it does not, you and/or I either have it or not, and no diagnosis or lack of one can change that either way.
2) Charlatans and/or wannabes are far less likely to harm the autistic people the rest of us do our very best to protect within our community.

No no, I'm still not seeing it. I was never arguing the existence of AS, just the legitimacy of SD.

You make it sound a lot easier than it actually is. First, you have to find a doctor who knows about ASDs. Then you have to go through the whole business of getting a referral, making an appointment, and attending the appointment, which, if you have difficulty in communicating with people and trouble breaking your routine, is very difficult. Besides that, diagnosis costs money, and, even if it is possible to get it relatively inexpensively, if your executive functioning is poor, you may not be able to have enough spare money for a diagnosis at any one time.

I was referred for a diagnosis by my GP to someone (who specialises in mood disorders, not ASDs) who dismisses my struggles with people, my lack of organisation, the fact that normal environments are painful, my need for routine, my difficulty getting started on anything, and the trouble I have with transitions, as "avoidant behaviour", despite the fact that I've told him that the only time I avoid things is if they leave me in so much physical pain that I'm risking my health by continuing with them. (Aside: this is why I, and probably most of the self-diagnosed, suspect an ASD- not because I want to feel validated or special, but because I have all these problems that make life REALLY, REALLY, DIFFICULT, and an ASD is the thing that best explains things, even after doing extensive research into other possibilities. The implication that all self-diagnosed people must have looked up Asperger's on Wikipedia and decided that it was a cool new thing to have is really quite insulting.)

There are ASD specialists quite near to where I live. The biggest reason why I haven't seen them is because I can't change more than one large thing in my routine per week without getting horribly stressed and prone to meltdowns (as in, if a page on my web browser doesn't load fast enough, within 3 seconds I'm hitting my head against the desk repeatedly). Even one change per week is pushing things, and I haven't been able to find a week where I didn't have things to do.
That reason also applies to getting a referral, ringing to make an appointment, and so forth.
Another big reason is that whenever I have enough money, it's needed for something else, and also, saving is difficult.
The final major reason is that it would take a lot of communication, which is difficult, as, unless I'm speaking about my special interest, I can barely get a sentence out unless I've planned every word of it beforehand and rehearsed it multiple times in my head. Even with this effort, if something unexpected happens, my communication breaks down.

Of course, if I'd been diagnosed as a child, my parents would have paid for it and arranged everything, but apparently if children are academically bright and not disrupting the classroom, there can't possibly be anything wrong with them.

So...because it is hard you can do/say/decide whatever you want?? umm ok. Gotta say I disagree.

Okay, I got off-track a bit.

SD is legitimate when it is accurate, and a professional diagnosis is illegitimate when it is inaccurate. The actual presense or absence of autism determines the legitimacy of a diagnosis, not merely who either did or did not make a diagnosis.

You completely missed the point of what I said. I was trying to explain why people who may qualify for a diagnosis might be unable to just go and get a diagnosis, because of problems that can be caused by having an ASD. I said nothing about be able to do/say/decide whatever I want.

That's definitely one of the main reasons I never tell anyone, or downplay it when someone finds out. I hate to do anything that stirs up drama, or makes me look like I'm trying to, because I'm not.;;; (Anyway, if you downplay it, a nice person will still notice when you're struggling, and try to help you out, especially when they know you're actually trying rather than attempting to get attention by acting like you need help.)

I guess it's unfortunate, but that's just how things work, I guess... not just with this kind of thing, but with everything. Sometimes it's just not the right time. Maybe later it will all cool down when everyone finds some other disease they think they have, hahaha.

I think you have put your finger on the crux of the matter, Aimless! Those 'diagnostic snobs' as you so aptly call them must have had no suspicions of them selves at all, no matter what those around them might have had! And in typical Aspie fashion, could not conceive of others knowing what they had to have someone else figure out for them.

"Right way" - in your opinion, at this time. Fifty years ago, there would be no context for knowing what the issue was in the first place. On what basis do you assert that you are correct, that those who reach their self-assessment (which would be more correct, since there is little that is truly quantifiable as diagnostic criteria) are somehow hindering the advancement of research (by widening awareness?) or harming those who have been seen by a doctor - who may or may not have experience, training, or even a loose grasp on the concept (based on age, severity, et al) - and been given another label that will likely evolve or be refined in the next decade? Just a few questions.


M.

Okay, hush6, let's try this one more time.

I was born in 1963. AS was added to the DSM-IV in 1994. Therefore, I was 31 years old before it even became possible to diagnose AS in anyone. Remember also that it takes a while for new information to be disseminated into the psychiatric community, and sometimes even longer for it to be accepted (there are still people who take Skinner seriously, for Pavlov's sake!). And that there has been a longstanding prejudice that ASDs affect children, to the point that even today we hear on these very fora that some psychs refuse to diagnose AS in an adult because "it's a children's disorder".

Then there's the fact that due to issues relating to AS, I can't keep a job long enough to qualify for mental-health benefits, when I'm lucky enough to get such benefits in the first place, and unless the public option in the new health-care-reform bill means I can get free care for being poor, I'm still out in the cold when it comes to seeing a doctor of any sort - much less a specialist in ASDs. (Unlike Oregon, the legislature here in Washington would sooner cut people out of the state's health-care system than raise a tax - and when they do manage it, Tim Eyman starts up another state initiative to cut the tax again. Therefore, I can't get any help from that quarter either.)

Is it not enough that before I even looked up Asperger's Syndrome, I was assured by three separate people who know me well that I am indeed an aspie? Or do I need to get the paper and learn the secret handshake before I'm allowed in the club?

1. It is not 50 years ago now.

2. The opinions on how SD hinders research is not really my own, but based on what I have read. I don't know what you mean about harming those who have seen a doctor.

I think (certain) doctors are better at deciding on a ASD Dx because they better informed. And I don't mean they have read more or have more documented information.

Psychs (especially those who specialise in ASDs) see people with ASDs more often than the general person SDing themselves over the internet. Their (doctors) diagnostic tools go well beyond reading the DSM or the most current research and making a comparison or checking off a list (though they have both these tools as well). They have the advantage of seeing and knowing people on the spectrum. They can see those subtle differences between the generalisations of the DSM and the specifics of AS, it is such a fine line alot of the time. They have experience in knowing people with AS, people who self diagnose only know themselves and compare themselves only to things they read and lists of symptoms (I'm not talking about parents of ASD kids who see traits in themselves after their kids dx)...things that alot of people, spectrum or not, could relate to. The reason you see a professional is to see whether you embody those subtle differences or not, you can not say yourself whether you do or not because there is nothing to read, or no list....it's all about the experience. This is what makes them professionals, not the years of school, the physical experiences they've had with people on the spectrum.

It's gunna sound odd, but it's like someone who lays concrete floor for a living. They look at a floor and they can see with their naked eye whether it is level or not, and exactly where it is not level. But if you or I were to look at the same floor, we would not see the inconsistencies and think it was just flat and level. This is because we have not spent days and hours training our brain to see them and looking for these inconsistencies that make a floor that seems level, a very wobly surface. Same with dxing AS.