Why Are Aspies Suspicious Everyone Is Lying About Autism?

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Where do I sign to 'subscribe' to this theory... That is a joke. Though I should subscribe to this theory they are a lot of people who say they are autistic on the internet.. Though they aren't.

But who are the people who read these blogs? Other than autistic people? That's what I don't get.

Regarding social media like vlogs and blogs to do with autism, and also Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram or any of those -- I'm oblivious to what goes on at those places because I'm not on any of them, save a recently opened Twitter account which I only began in order to participate in a BBC tv show that asks for input only via social media.

I don't know what goes on on Facebook; I've heard of their "groups" but I wouldn't know how to look at the activities there.

If someone who is familiar and active on those social media sites says that autism fakers -- or accusers of fakers -- are rampant, I would have to take their word for it because I don't know personally.

I agree with the comment someone made here, that said if someone posts about that stuff here on WP without first clarifying that they're referring not to possible WP fakers but to people they've encountered on Facebook or Tumblr, then what tends to happen is WP people get the mistaken impression that the person is accusing or talking about WP members, and by dint of that, indirectly, them.

And that it would be helpful if they clarified something like "Not so much here on WP, but I've just come from Tumblr" or something.

I certainly have thought that, because yes, I'm oblivious of what's going on on social media. When someone posts here talking about doubting diagnoses or even complaining about self-diagnosers, but rather than a WP problem they mean things they've seen happening on social media, it would be clearer to specify that.

When I myself first joined WP, I was not yet formally diagnosed at that time. I was in my 50s and of necessity had to spend a period of my life "self diagnosed" in order to even get to the next station on the railroad, that of pursuing the professional evaluation, which I eventually did. I came here to try to get the COURAGE to pursue the formal evaluation.

Instead, I actually felt like the community was running me off the road!

This is one of the inherent problems that arise from the fact that there is a lost generation of older people. Today, if you are a child or a teen, you have not fallen through any radar -- if you're on the spectrum you are likely to have been spotted and diagnosed without too much delay. Thus younger people never had to "self diagnose" at any point in their lives -- it was "caught" for them by others qualified to see it, because that's all set in place these days.

In my childhood and youth, only severe autism "existed" and now that there is greater awareness of other levels in autism, some of us have had to "catch it on our own radar," as we were not surrounded by the early help that would do that for us before we even knew it, the way children are today.

I'm NOW diagnosed by a clinician but when I first came here I was very clear that I was not yet, I called myself "self [i]suspecting" (suspecting I was ON the spectrum), but my profile's choice of what to pick only included "self diagnosed" as a term.

I was also greeted by one or two of WP's most notorious skeptics and made to feel that I too was one of the fakers and "took one test and now I know I'm an aspie!" people. For me it was very much more than that which drove my coming here at all. And when I was treated like a faker and wannabe, I very nearly didn't want to stay here. I was shocked and hurt because my journey with this was quite the opposite of bandwagon jumping and trying to be trendy. I had been journeying through this possibility for decade in which I was actually in a lot of denial, a lot of shame-based feelings, rather than "wanting" to be this.

That's why it hurts to hear people express that they are suspicion of everyone's diagnosis or self-diagnosis, almost automatically, and sometimes even after years of being here.

And as kraftie mentioned, there was a member here who should never have had her diagnosis of severe autism questioned, and yet someone tried to accuse her of faking, and I don't blame her one bit for being so deeply upset by that, that she left here. It's a horrible phenomenon.

I had no idea the suspicion is driven by things perceived to behappening on all other social media. I didn't know anything about that because I'm not on them. I'm on only on WP regarding autism.

That's a tragic story about the woman you mentioned. It seems to me that WP ought to be a safe haven for anyone, any age, who suspects they may be on the spectrum. In due time, some of them may conclude that they actually are not autistic, but there's no excuse to run someone off who has come here looking for answers.

I think you did an excellent job describing the key differences between those of us who grew up in an era where a diagnosis was relatively uncommon for most people on the spectrum.

I'm glad society is able to screen kids routinely, and from a very young age, so that help is available to them. But it's important for people to bear in mind that autism was part of the human experience for ages before it was ever diagnosed. Just because it went unnamed and/or resulted in being institutionalized doesn't make it something else. The life experiences of us who were "missed" decades ago are no less valid for lack of a dx.

And this is why I am involving myself in this debate at all. I don't doubt that a lot of lonely and insecure people have been driven off by the toxicity. The thing is, nobody ever presents any facts or statistics to back up their claims of fakers. It all seems very emotion driven.

There are two reasons why I'm not so easily scared: firstly I'm old enough to know my own mind. Secondly, I have some real life experience with spectrumites where I recognize the basic similarity of thinking, even when the other person is oblivious to a lot of things and I am oversensitive. I recognize the rage - when I was younger I had no idea how aggressive I seemed to others.



I think this is the crux of the matter. The world is a chaotic and scary place, and quite a lot of people are in pain. Yes, I did see some research article about this, basically saying that there is no cutoff point. So in this case you'd have to go by a psychologist's definition of a mental problem, which is to what extent it interferes with normal life.

The way I see it, the milder people have a duty speak up for those who can't communicate well. They have a unique insight that should be shared with carers of those too afflicted to communicate their needs. Also, a lot of the milder people can make a lot of changes on their own if they at least know what they are dealing with. I would have been seeing a psychologist in any case, at least now I won't waste years barking up the wrong tree. Even if it turns out it's ADD or BAP or a combo, at least now I know what executive functioning is, and I can take steps to deal with it.

I just think anyone speaking out about autism should repeat ad nauseam that people on the spectrum are very different. It seems there are a lot of misconceptions out there because people think all autistics are the same.

Regarding the woman I and kraftiekortie mentioned -- what's even more tragic is that she was actually a long-time member here and not even new around here. The new ones can feel run-off (as I almost allowed myself to be) but this person was a staple of this community. She had a formal diagnosis, posted about her life in a care facility, even posted pictures. This lady was severely affected to the point of needing head protection pretty much at all times, and she was also non-verbal in "real life".

She was as about the most trustworthy case of being autistic as you could possibly find. Someone on here thought she must be faking her autism simply because her posts here were intelligent, informed, articulate aside from occasional unusual syntax, and because she was an autism advocate and had extraordinary knowledge of rights, laws, etc regarding autism. There was a big scene about it and the woman in question apparently suffered severe stress and meltdown that had consequences for her, and stopped posting. This was a severely affected person and it's a terrible thing that someone put that on her. She is very much missed around here although I can understand completely why she wouldn't want to open herself to the stress again.

The moral of the tale is, if someone so profoundly autistic about whom there should be no doubt of her diagnosis, felt attacked and had to prove her official right to claim autism, imagine what a scary place that make WP for new members coming here in pain and seeking answers, often older members, and often people who have pondered and researched carefully, rather than be some faker who just took one test and got all excited, declaring themselves aspie?

When I defend against the cynical people, it's because I truly don't think I've seen half as much of the latter on here anyway, as I've noticed of the former. But then again, it's emerged that this other stuff is seen more on other social media of which I know nothing.

But when someone complains about it here, they don't clarify that -- it seems like they are saying it about WP members (again).

Last edited by BirdInFlight on 10 Aug 2016, 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

I hadn't thought of it this way before, but I can see the sense in why some people may feel that way. Again, I've never encountered it in real life whenever I have had to disclose - no one has ever accused me of using autism as a crutch or an excuse, or accused me of not being impaired. The most people have ever said is the "you don't look autistic!" thing, when they see me at my most polished in a very brief and controlled situation, but I understand they mean this as a compliment, albeit a misguided one - "you seem normal, not ret*d!"
@ BirdInFlight - I'm glad you weren't run off. I stopped posting/reading for a while when that was going on on WP because it reminded me so much of all the same behaviour in the queer community that can have disastrous effects for people who are already only in with a 50/50 chance.
In both groups of people, I'd say people "faking" are a tiny minority anyway.

Aw thank you C2V, although I'm sure there are some who feel the opposite, hahaha!

I've certainly dropped out from coming here a few times though, due to those waves of people being hostile even in the case of the diagnosed and "well maybe your clinician isn't properly qualified"..... ....the hostility here comes and goes and sometimes I've just felt too much stress here at times.

Examples?

Yes on the acting more autistic if you believe in it - but won't that ease up over time? After all, placebo doesn't last forever. Trust me on this, I've been treated with homeopathic "medicine" since I was a kid. Which is why I give myself really a lot of time to figure out how I feel and what I can do.

Oh I see now, it just wasn't clear really, I didn't realize you were quoting someone who is kind of a tool.

It could possibly seem like a lot of people fake Autism on Facebook because there like a billion members on Facebook, so if even (.1%) of the people on Facebook troll Autism tags that would still be a million people. That's not very much comparatively speaking, in terms of the entire human population.

I would define autism spectrum disorder by it's impairment, not by perceived awkward or quirky traits with no deficits socially or otherwise. I think it has to have clinical significance if it cannot be clinically diagnosed because criteria is not met as opposed to simply lacking the means(big distinction here) then I don't think you should identify that way, how can one feel solidarity with usurpers? I think a lot of people crave labels for god knows what reason, I apologize if that offends some people but I'd rather be the one without a disability.

Jacoby, I don't think anyone is saying they "feel solidarity with usurpers." What some of us are saying is that there are people on the spectrum who seem overly eager to tell people they believe those people are usurpers -- even when that person has a diagnosis, or even when that person - while not having a diagnosis -- has been on a journey with their wondering if they are on the spectrum.

The scenario can go something like the following -- which I've completely made up to illustrate, it's not a real-life thing that happened, just one I've created to show you:

Newbie on WP (or anywhere): "I'm a bit socially awkward and I have quirky habits and hobbies, I think I'm an Aspie everyone! I'm going to start telling people at work so that they will understand when I act like a jerk. Wow I'm an Aspie!"

Or:

"Woah, I just watched Big Bang Theory and I think I'm just like Sheldon! I must be an Aspie -- he's basically an Aspie right?"

LongtimeDiagnosedPerson: You need to go away. That's no basis on which to claim you have this condition."

This is a pretty darn reasonable scenario. However, where things get unreasonable in my book, is this:

Newbie on WP: "I've been aware for some time that I seem to fit the criteria for spectrum issues. I'm 56 and I'm only now realizing what may be behind my various struggles. At the moment I can't afford a diagnosis but I'm trying to explore this possibility about myself."

LongtimeDiagnosedPerson: "You need to go away. You have no basis on which to claim you might have this condition."

DiagnosedAsAChild: "You think it's trendy. How come you never got diagnosed as a child? If you haven't been diagnosed yet then you can't possibly have it."

My point is, yes there must surely be the people who are might be thinking it's "trendy." And those people have caused lots of actual people with autism to get really cynical.

But the problem is, the people who have become really cynical about everyone else too, including sincere people who don't "want" ASD either, but genuinely feel they do and often go on to find out they were correct.

These people are the baby being thrown out with the bathwater.

Yes, there are people who are very likely "usurpers" and faking it. There are indeed some people who might claim to be on the spectrum via only the most shallow assumptions on their part.

But what some of us are saying is that some of us tend to feel there aren't as many of these types as some suspicious people claim, and that the suspicious people tend to unfairly start painting everyone with the same brush even if someone arrives who is sincere in their self-explorations.

In fact some of the "self diagnosers" go on to have a professional assessment and it turns out they do meet the criteria and they do obtain a formal diagnosis.

Plus, your point about impairment. Yes, you can't be diagnosed without having impairments in the opinion of your clinician.

But other autistic people's perceptions of other autistic people's impairment -- or lack of them -- can often be mistaken, and then the accusations start.

Last edited by BirdInFlight on 10 Aug 2016, 9:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

What are they usurping? Autism is not a kingdom.

(LOL....yes, I'm taking this too literally!).

Seriously...I don't think too many people want to fight for the "right" to be autistic.

I heard it was some kind of "cool" diagnosis in some circles. In my circle, you better not say that you're autistic.

Honestly it doesn't matter how you define Autism Spectrum Disorder, because you aren't a licensed Psychiatrist. Sorry, just saying.

Subscribe to the "I can tell somebody is not autistic by reading a few posts" newsletter. Hypocritical since so many that "subscribe" to this theory complain about people self diagnosing based on flimsy research and confirmation bias.