Maxine Aston and other researchers

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Yup, me to XB, I got my DX on the National Health from London! All above board! My ASC passport is deffo stamped!

Woodpecker
<<< Thanks, I have heard that great minds think alike.>>>

Again I agree peer reviewed journals are the best we have so let's stick with it. I wish though that :

<<< My understanding of clause two is that the research has to be well planned and not of a random type>>>

more thought like that. Sadly there is far too much research that when you look deeply into it, has not been carried out to the standards that maybe we would like. Many are random, often small studies over very short periods of time. If there is one thing with the Autistic Spectrum that has been shown in many research papers, interventions have to be carried out over a very long period of time. These short studies with small numbers are just not good enough! Well that is my opinion anyway!

As for the likes of Maxine Aston, my understanding of her Cassandra work is that is all made up! By her! There has been much fuss over this and the rumbles can still be heard. I am very concerned if she is diagnosing? Very concerned. makes a mockery of the system as we know it now.

It sounds to me like this woman has done an excellent job of tapping into the "it couldn't be my fault" sentiment that so many people hold. Few seem to want to examine their part in a failed relationship.

I will note, however, something I observed with my father. I am sure he was AS, never diagnosed, and I really can't say that he was easy for my mom to be married to. He did leave certain emotional scars on all of us. But I do NOT, repeat, do NOT blame AS for that. What I blame is are the difficulties he faced living a life with AS, in his generation, while being prone to depression. There were too many things he never learned properly, or never understood, and too many hurts inflicted upon him by life. It wasn't his fault, or the fault of his AS; it was the fault of the ignorance of those around him. He, himself, was an honorable man who really did the very best he could, and my mom loved him dearly despite their problems; she wasn't the type who would ever have walked out.

And, to echo a post on the first page, he would NEVER have cheated on my mom. He was a rules man, start to finish, and the rules said not to do that. My mom knew it, us kids knew it. He was so funny; he often went on business trips to Japan, and ended up making friends with some of the bar women there (not really geishas, I don't think). They gave him gifts to bring back to my mom. She was never sure what to make of it, but she did laugh about it, he never understood how odd the whole thing seemed to us. To him it wasn't akward or open to misinterpretation at all. Sigh. I miss him.

Hi there DW lovely to see you on here. I have just been reading your posts on the Childrens forum!

Yes it would appear that she is tapping into a market that obviously at min £300 a shout is very lucrative! Sad though that people have to make their money out of others differences? For that price you can get a private diagnosis from a qualified doctor!

My dad although I have never met him, is I believe like your dad was, I could feel your pain when you posted ' I miss him'. My dad is a rules man too, he would never have cheated on my mum had she not left him when I was born............he is in the US and I was brought here to England. So although he is still alive we have not met. There are still many things my father has not learned. He cannot be expected to at his age now (73) but he still doesn't see the pain he inflicts on others, how can he? ToM is limited, his empathy is pretty non existant. I know who he is but yet he does not know who I am.

My half sister who I do keep in close contact with by phone ( one day we will be able to afford to fly!) tells me horror stories of her childhood, he is a controlling man, disciplinarian by all accounts. Firm in his routine and definately the one who wore the pants/trousers. So maybe he and I would have been at loggerheads and it was best that I was not brought up with him...........who knows, but in a strange way, I have always missed him, still do. Wish I had some memories to fall back on. I was only 8wks old when we returned to the UK. Aaaah well!

Back to bottom line.........................I am not comfortable with the Maxine Aston practice. Just not happy.

Mods, my apologies if I am not allowed to post this. I am not sure? Just found this and feel the need to clear it up. If someone is diagnosing and actually has the qualifications then the record should be set straight and we can all rest! If there is a problem with my posting a link, please don't hesite to delete it and accept my apologies again. Wouldn't wish to get into any trouble, certainly not the intention.

Anyone shed any light on this..........PhD? Thanks in advance. Maybe she is a doctor after all?????

http://www.faaas.org/doc.php?30,0,14908 ... aston.html


FAAAS, Inc.
...
Maxine C. Aston, B. Sc
...
Maxine Aston, B. Sc., has a first class honours degree in Psychology, and is preparing for a Ph.D. in Psychology, researching deeper into the affects of Asperger's Syndrome on the family...now recognized as Cassandra Affective Disorder.

Maxine Aston is a Relate trained counselor and qualified AS couples counselor...and has her own Counselling Centre in Coventry, England.She specializes in couples when one or both are affected by Asperger's Syndrome...and/or Cassandra Affective Disorder.

Maxine is the author of two books, The Other Half of Asperger's Syndrome (2001, National Autistic Society) and, Asperger's in Love: Couple Relationships and Family Affairs (2003) Jessica Kinglsey Publisher, http://www.jkp.com
...
Maxine Aston speaks internationally regarding Cassandra Affective Disorder, an aspect of AS within partnered relationships, which have been ignored until recently.Her research in this area is recognized as ground-breaking.

Online Resources:

Asperger Syndrome in the Counselling Room"The Healing of Cassandra" by Maxine Aston, B.Sc.

I think it's fine that you exposer her for the quack she is. She has no qualifications. Calling yourself a "qualified AS couples counselor" does not make you qualified.

Indeed we find even some who do have degrees can be quacks. Just look at the disgraced Dr. Andrew Wakefield. At least he had the balls enough to try and post his studies in peer-reviewed journals so they could be publicly criticized, while Ms. Aston has not even done that.

What is a B. Sc. anyway? A bachelor's of science? I have one of those but I don't go around putting letters behind my name, only someone who is seriously full of themselves would try that.

I just submitted a paper (on the autism spectrum, giftedness, and the difficulty of diagnosis) to a peer-reviewed journal. I guess that makes me a researcher, but my M.A. degree is no where near the psychology or psychiatry fields.

A lot of researchers publish papers exploring some part of the hugely complex autism spectrum. I think a problem arises when the author tries to apply their theory or research results too broadly. But the journals provide the opportunity for some other researcher to refute overreaching theories and misinterpreted research. The initial peer-review of an article isn't the end of the story - related articles that are published later are the ones that either support or refute the initial article.

Z

I thought one needed a doctorate in psychology to practice psychology. That is the case in the U.S. There are counselors who can practice with a Master's, but they cannot call themselves a psychologist.

We don't have that rule in the UK. Not sure if it has changed very recently but here ANYONE can call themselves a Pyschologist in the UK. There has been a load of flack about it so it could have recently changed.

Only Clinical Pyschologist and Educational Pyschologist can diagnose here but have to be accredited with diagnostic credentials. You can't just go around diagnosing everyone? You cannot MAKE up a disorder without the research, WHERE IS THE BASIS FOR HER 'DISORDER'. Anyone see it in DSM1V or ICD 10?? Duh!! Am I missing something. If you classify something a DISORDER surely it has to be clinical?

Maybe I am just brain weary, someone help me out, what is going on?

Oh well maybe the lack of replies means no one does know quite what is going on? Or maybe no one around at the moment.

It is bedtime here in the UK so I will bid you all goodnight, maybe whilst I am asleep someone else will shed some light on this puzzle!

If Zonder is not living openly as an Aspie and is thus unwilling to give us the reference to his paper, then I think we will manage to get by without reading it. But if Zonder is out of the AS closet then it might be an interesting paper to read.

My main complaint about Maxine is that she appears to be inventing new disorders without proper research; she then has the potential to be making money out of the treatment for her AS related disorder.

If Maxine was to do decent research and prove that her new disorder does exist then I would accept that it exists and have more respect for her. I think that the burden of proof should be on Maxine to prove that she did take all reasonable care when she did the work which lead to her new disorder.

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Why is it called DISCO, it should be DISCD.

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Good question Woodpecker!! Maybe the CO short for Communication?

I actually love the term! I think of YMCA and Village people everytime!
Would love to do it myself.............maybe one day! The training I mean NOT THE DANCING!!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k

"Living with an autistic man can give you cancer" - Maxine Aston

From the New Republic Blog