Faking autism and Faking aspergers

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They are taught by OTHER people that graduated. That could be MILLIONS! That means they can't be expected to present the same ideas. Obviously, they DON'T! So the arguement that they all go to a place that is named the same really means NOTHING in this regard. Just look at gilberg and the dsm, and even aspergers! HECK, the very fact that the DSM changes at all, or that there are huge meetings to do so, supports my assertion.

Just so you know, I was earlier(until 3 years ago), on a board that had NOTHING to do with any disorders, etc... NOW, I am on THIS one well over 99% of the time(That I am on any boards). I'm ADDICTED, what can I say. Outside of that, I was on a general board, that never spoke of any disorders, around 1980-1983. So, Even I don't really match your idea of an autism faker. I guess that is good, because I am not faking anything. As for AS or autism, I told 2 people besides people here, and met only 2 people from this site. Only one of them is still on this site.

ok im not sure what people have said to you... and no, no tallying goin on... figure of speech i guess. i didnt mean to bring it to functioning lvl... i just couldnt think of a way to say (still can't) what i was thinking lol

i can respect your opinion cause as a self-dx i know my limitations of what i can say and i try to take it in stride.

edit: and i guess i thought you were referring to people's success in life vs perhaps diagnostic stuff that these people can do. anyway....... no worries

Right. I think it's a mistake to assume that the current medical "paradigm" of ASDs is the best or last way to conceive of it. All sciences are constantly changing and revising themselves.

autism0/autismandz, I see that you have suddenly changed genders and lost your dx, according to your profile. It seems rather ironic that you would do this even as you attack some unnamed (but clearly very specific) person's credibility. How credible are you?

Well, if it were THIS easy to diagnose, there wouldn't be so many instances of misdiagnosis. Right now, I have a textbook on developmental disorders (which I forgot to return to a friend) lying around on my shelf, which states that, if AS was not diagnosed in a child, it will most likely be missed in an adult - instead, it is typically misdiagnosed as other conditions, including schizophrenia, schizoid personality disorder (in those whose personality pattern is different), atypical depression (in those who do not have it as a comorbid), OCD (in those who do not have it as a comorbid), etc. Or, in case there really are comorbids, those are usually far more evident and mask the ASD itself. This is not the only source which states that, either.

While I definitely agree that a professional opinion is far more valid than that of a non-professional, and necessary for assessing whether one really has the condition (that's why professionals are there in the first place), I think it is still worth remembering that professionals do make mistakes. Not all of them are competent - if only because, being human, we all have flaws, and there are going to be incompetent workers in any field, not only medicine or psychiatry. Hence the misdiagnoses, people repeatedly receiving the wrong medications despite having serious side-effects, people being denied treatment when they are close to suicidal, simply because the therapist in question is fresh out of college and believes "a depressed person cannot look like this" since it wasn't mentioned in a textbook, etc. Much as I respect professionals, I can't make myself automatically think of them as absolute authority.

And it is professionals that are responsible for all the confusion regarding autism equated to schizophrenia and AS being equated to schizoid personality disorder (in Russia and over here this is still quite relevant); it is also professionals who may have profound disagreements regarding one and the same condition.

For instance, in Russia there has been significant debate as to whether oneiroid catatonia should be classed as an affective disorder, or as a type of schizophrenia. Different schools of psychiatry refer to it differently - it may be called 1) recurring schizophrenia, 2) atypical bipolar disorder, and, more rarely, 3) schizoaffective disorder (one of the many types). The proponents of each classification give their own reasons for it, and propose different treatment. Those who want it classed as bipolar disorder argue that it has a significant affective component; one may have a single catatonic episode, which is then followed by episodes of what looks like classic bipolar disorder, perhaps with mild cyclothymia-level episodes inbetween them. Also, like bipolar disorder and unlike most forms of schizophrenia, the episodes either end with complete recovery, or cause very mild personality changes, such as slight apathy, increased sensitivity and fragility, and/or limiting oneself to a close-knit circle of family and friends without difficulties in establishing emotional contact. Those who want it classed as schizophrenia argue that the catatonic element belongs to the schizophrenic spectrum of symptoms, and merits a diagnosis of schizophrenia, even if it is manifested just once throughout a lifetime. Those who want it classed as schizoaffective disorder also have their reasons. Still, it is one and the same condition; it's just that nobody quite knows what to call it, or what to do with it.

Zonder, I actually liked your post, but wanted to point out that Temple Grandin IS NOT severly Autistic. She is high-functioning and that has been the way she's defined herself for years and at some conferences, she's told people hers is closer to Aspergers. I've read everything's she written and there is no way she considers herself severly Autistic. Maybe as a child before intervention, but not now. She got lots of intervention and has been on medication for the past 20 years to help her cope with daily life.



Zonder, you have Aspergers. Your Aspergers allowed you to "tough it out," but this is not the case with Autism at all. Without intervention, what happens is that many of the kids end up in an institution as an adult because the parents can't possibly care for them forever. Even the high-functioning ones because they cannot live independently. Last night we saw a program called "Autism: The Musical" on HBO. If you have a chance, look at this program. All of these kids are at the highest end of the Autism spectrum, articulate and verbal. But this much I can tell you and everyone can take this to the bank...most of these kids will never see the light of day in mainstream school or classes, the job market, living independently or the other things in life many of us take for granted like relationships. And, this is high-end! This is the difference between Autism and Aspergers. Many Aspies, despite their challenges, can succeed like normal people. However, the vast majority of Autistics will need assistance of some form. EI can help reduce the amount of assistance and hopefully eliminate it with a small minority.



Edited to fix the quotes.

Well, I have to tell you. There are many parents out there who don't even know what Aspergesr is, let alone Autism. If they're going to self-diagnose and help their kid, they better conquer that learning curve and hook up with groups where parents know what they're doing because it's important not just that they're giving the kid care, but appropriate care that will help the kid make it in school, society, home and everywhere else.

Sounds like your relatives were on top of the game. But, can you imagine the number of Aspies in years past who ended up in mental institutions, drug addicted, alcoholics or even worse because the parents didn't know what was going on? That's what scares me.

Impressive speculation. Based on what I've learned, it appears that a main claim/defense of this person is the brain injury part, in response to the widespread criticism this person has been receiving. As for high-functioning Aspergers, this person appears to report they were "always autistic" and appears to consider Aspergers synonymous autism and does not differentiate between them to many inquiring, and strategically so. It is proven that they were not "autistic" but more likely high-functioning Aspergers.

A few points however:

(1) Regarding "regression", it would seem that 'regression' means reverting or going-back to one's previous state, and in this person, there was no previous state of profound autism. As you mention, there was, likely high-functioning Aspergers (I wouldn't dispute this HF Aspergers diagnosis because it is so readily self-adopted by many people and so readily ascribed to many people).

(2) It is unclear when and how this person suffered mental illness/brain injury (which led to this person's current state as of about 7 years now). There are reports that some or all of the following contributed to this possible brain injury: (a) Three months of daily and intensive LSD and psilocybin mushroom use twelve years ago, then later, (b) the use of many psychiatric drugs over considerable time (such as the anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, etc, though not the usually more likely damaging anti-psychotics such as Haldol, Oral, etc, but instead, the atypical anti-psychotics that have considerably less side effects, less sedation, etc, such as Risperdal, Zyprexa, Clozaril, etc.

This person and others defending them seem to claim at times that their current state was caused by this psychiatric drug use over time.

Regardless of the cause, it would seem that this is not autism. The cause is something else. And most importantly, there was no regression, because there was no prior state of profound autism in this person's life to regress to. The new state of this person is new. This person had never experienced this state in their earlier life.

So again I'm fairly surprised that this matter hasn't been inquired before. It appears, and surprisingly, that this person put together a rather creative and strategic presentation (video, blogs, writing, including her own public presentation of what appears to be limited and selected medical records) to many public individuals, who then took her accounts as true. It is like a self-oriented public relations and advertising and promotional campaign.

Again I've emailed with Tito and others extensively and these are wonderful non-verbal autistic individuals who have made immense improvement including being able to communicate very well through typed communication. I am very impressed at their accomplishments and they are models of hope for many parents, doctors, scientists, and others.

Forum members, please be aware that "autism0" is a sock puppet who has posted on WP under other names in the past. This thread is part of a concerted effort (here and elsewhere, including Wikipedia and the AS forums) to attack a long-time member of this community.

I think it would be important - publically important - to have one or more 3rd party doctor and scientific thorough inquiries into this person I've been discussing. This has not been done, to any extent. I think the public who's interested in this would be benefited by such a thorough and careful inquiry.

I will say, though, that I do not think the person I'm discussing will ever agree to such an inquiry.

Remember, also, that I mentioned that this person provides their own medical case history very publically on the Internet and uses this as a reference for anyone inquiring. And I mentioned that the medical case history this person provides is very limited and selective.

I wonder why supporters of this person aren't amendable to having 3rd party doctor and science inquiries into this. This could be important to everyone, and maybe the 3rd party inquiries would support her, and maybe not. I'm tending to think not.

I'm tending to think that you are on a witch hunt.

I'm tending to think autism0 has misled everyone that has posted in this thread. Did you know this person since birth,did they confide in you what they were feeling, how do you know that they never experienced any autistic symptoms? Why would they tell you if they did or did not suffer any traumatic brain injury,illness,mental breakdown, etc?

Additionally if you have any data or studies pertaining to the long term effects of LSD use on the brain i would be interested in them.

I think this topic is very interesting but I think we should leave other WP members out of it since I think it is doubtful that anything could be proven either way anyway.

Autism0, I'm fairly certain that I have figured out who you are talking about, and I think your obsession with this particular person is unhealthy, whether your accusations are true, or not. I couldn't fathom wasting hours of my time dedicated toward calling someone out. Why would anyone care so much about what someone else is doing?

I pretty much came to the same conclusions too.

This topic might still have some interesting avenue to go down though if we leave out anything personal that is.