Losing the Aspergers/Autism explination?

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Thanks Waterfalls.

About the suicide article, that's very interesting to me. I can see how it could be related to not having a diagnosis. I know with my husband who was just diagnosed, all of his life he was told " just do it like everyone else, you're so smart why can't you do it, etc." and it has deeply affected him because he internalized it. People don't really understand, it's not just uncomfortable for him to talk to people (like just shy), he actually doesn't know what to do...and nobody ever bothered to explain, they just told him to GET OVER IT. I can definitely see how not having an understanding of it can impact the person.

It's ridiculous to me also how limited the adult services are. It's a bit like dropping off a cliff... My eldest son is 15 so we are starting to get into panic mode because there's little for him at 18 and he's SEVERELY autistic. Services for less severe are even more scarce. That has to change.

Yeah, it definitely can be related to not having a diagnosis (even though we can only hypothesize why it's related, due to correlation not equaling causation). Persistent feelings of being overwhelmed, guilty, lonely, misunderstood, etc... (combined with internalization for some) can certainly get to anyone mentally and emotionally; but neurobiologically speaking, it's still the depression (though technically I suppose it could be low neurotransmitter levels) causing the irrational beliefs that often lead to suicidal ideation (and it's likely also the cause of self-confidence issues). You (generally) cannot be suicidal without also being depressed, and we know how depression causes irrational thoughts. It's very sad how those who go without a diagnosis tend to be depressed, but it's totally understandable because of having to try to cope with being different in this world. Your post actually made me wonder if autistic people are likely to have lower serotonin levels and are perhaps more sensitive to depression (and other conditions associated with neurotransmitters). Perhaps that might explain some of the conditions that are comorbid with autism?

I do know that some aspies have been told to get over situations (not necessarily ones related to social communication though, more like getting upset over little things, as some aspies have said) and after introspection, realized the advice they were given was right. It seems like many autistic people don't tend to have the ability to understand "tough love" (due to the sensitive nature brought up earlier) and/or the ability to use context to understand communication. In your husband's case though, it's sad more people didn't realize he was unable to socialize due to not knowing how (like many of us). His situation actually sounds pretty similar to something my father may have experienced. Can I ask approximately how old he is/what decade he grew up in? I want to compare those raised in certain decades to see how society has changed their opinion of those who were thought to be "eccentric", but were really autistic.

I don't know much about the services for kids and adults though. Could you explain what's lost when someone turns 18? I would love to learn more about that. I always hear about other countries having better resources, but then people seem to have had drastically different experiences with it and end up disagreeing over it.

The people studied were diagnosed, that is the scary part. I can definitely relate what your husband had to deal with. I was always told I was "book smart". I took me awhile but I finally figured out it is what is known as a "left handed complement" http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pay+someone+a+left-handed+compliment. I am a left handed person so it is a double stigma.

. For a long time Aspergers was not in the ICD=11 beta but now it is back in.. I don't have the links in front of me but I have read several articles noting the British clinicians are not diagnosing Aspergers in anticipation of the ICD dropping Aspergers.

As for shift or set-shifting it seems to be the clinical term.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2683039/
http://www.psych-it.com.au/theses/article.asp?page=71
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001002859990734X

Oh right. For some reason I thought it was talking about adults who were diagnosed as adults so they were undiagnosed for a long period of time (I guess because it said they were diagnosed starting in 2004 and I was in adult in 2004 so I was thinking they were all adults in 2004- showing off my intelligence here, haha).

No, you're right. Both studies referenced only involved those who were diagnosed as adults.