If you didn't have Asperger's, do you think you could...

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...trick a mental health professional into believing that you have Asperger's? And if so, how?

Well, I know how to behave as someone with a severe neurological condition because I so happen to have said condition, but yeah, I could tell someone how to appear like an individual with a severe neurological condition by copying everything I do. Said copying would "fool" a less than stellar professional; it's easy to trick the tricksters however--autism is ingrained, and there's certain things one can do to achieve an autistic response no matter what (you cannot "train" for this).

I'm not going to tell you or anyone how to appear like me; it's despicable even asking such a question if one's intentions aren't sound.

No, I don't know what it's like to not have it, so all I can say is I'd be myself.

I mean, just do asperger related stuff. You know, no eye contact, rock back and forth, etc.

no. Because we don't have the same body language. Which is something they look at as well. You may be able to fake one real good, but don't forget they see many people with Asperger. Sometimes they have years of experience. It's like when you work 10 years with a certain car, you will probably be able to roll out a fake because you know each and every corner of it.

I am a 42 year old man with AS. My ability to act normal is staggering. I learned this skill by growing up in a home where if I did not look my parents in the eyes I would get beaten. Also I would be daily abused for my odd quarks and funny noises.

Subsequently, I mastered the art of concealment and yes deception as if my life depended on it.........which it did. So after 42 years of depression, and many of those years spent in therapy which gave me even more skills to greet the world on the world's terms, I hit a rock bottom, severely depressed I end up being led to my formal dx.

However, on the day of my dx, I thought **** if I give her my 42 years worth of acting ability there is no point me even turning up to fail this test. However, she was one step ahead of the game & understood this in me.

O dear.......I think I did not read the question, which was if I did NOT have aspergers could I fool a professional........YES, I think an NT could do that very well, most professionals have a tick list, and all an NT has to do is study the part.

I say all this because over the years when I have gone to my medical review, I have made out I am worse that I am to get benefits, only to then get ill 'AS' style due to my supreme acting skills, that masked my triad of impairments, social anxiety and sensory handicaps.

Yes, I can fool anyone, but I can never fool myself.........depression has taught me that.

Last edited by criss on 26 Jan 2008, 3:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Before I knew about AS, I knew there was something wrong with me (or "different", if you prefer). I'd read about another condition that sounded similar to what I was experiencing but not quite. I was so desperate for help, I made slight adjustments to some of the data I'd kept on myself and I got a diagnosis. Several months later it became very obvious to me that I did not have the condition at all. (Though many of the symptoms are so similar as to be indistinguishable for many. I have a relative who was misdiagnosed with the same condition and he was not trying to get that diagnosis--the doctor simply made the mistake.)

With AS it would be harder though... the doctor wants to observe your behavior directly, not just hear about your symptoms.

Like criss, I am afraid that if I ever tried to get a diagnosis, I'd have to drop all of my coping skills or else the professional would not understand. But I am getting worse at fooling people now, because I have become so isolated.

Why do you ask, Mw?

No. Further, I find this 'idea' disturbing. Why would you want to 'trick' a psycholgist/neurologist into a false Dx? This is 1) highly unethical 2) counterproductive for both you and 'Professional.'
Remember, they are there (ideally) to help you. A false Dx could be potentially devastating!

Why would one contemplate this sort of deception anyway? What's the motive? I just do not understand.

RE: coping.

If you have an ASD, no matter how well you've adapted/coped; it'll show to the right people. There's just too many facets affected to be able to "conceal" them all; many of which that cannot be concealed (peculiar voice characteristics in the presence of strangers for example).

Not to...sound condescending in any form: I'm as good as one can get for someone who has "blended" in unknowingly (I've been told such by the "experts").

I saw like a billion professionals at a mental hospital, and the closest I got to an ASD was social anxiety because I didn't eat in the cafeteria; a year of seeing a "generic" psychiatrist revealed that I had an ASD. 8 minutes with seeing a diagnostician at an autism clinic gave me a label....

My point is, if you wish to see someone for an evaluation/interview because you're certain that you have an undiagnosed ASD (adult), it's best to go to a specialized ASD thingy if you can find one.

One thing with myself that I can see where a NT would lose out on tricking a Psych is stims. My biggest stim is picking at/biting my nails. I could see me trying not to do it, getting distracted at the psych and start picking at my nails without realising. This would be the opposite for an NT. They would have to concentrate on doing a stim and when they got distracted from it (they will, unless they totally focus on it) they will stop.

So Id say an NT can "act" the role but not "be" the role.

Because I suspect that I am one of those persons who is idiosyncratically AS but, technically, at least given the way I present myself in real life, a lot more NT than AS.

I am rocking back and forward as I am typing this... But a psychologist is never going to see that because I woudln't act this way during a therapy session. A psychologist is not going to see me pulling my hair out, or biting my nails/lips/cheeks, or talking alone, or replaying negative memories in my head from events that happened ten years ago, and it wouldn't be immediately evident to him that I've wearing the same shoes and pants everyday for the last 9 months or that I have a hard time making small talk and establishing new friendships. At best, he'll observe my lack of eye-contact, awkward postures, idiosyncratic speech patterns and not very strong communicational skills - which is not enough to diagnose a person with AS.

What I am getting at is: I want to exaggerate my less evident symptoms or at the very least suspend my acting in order to make it clear to the psychologist that I have "something." Otherwise, it's my word against their observations and they are not going to give the patient the benefit of the doubt.

Rocking doesn't make someone autistic; everyone can do it: tell him/her you do this, and why you do it
Pulling hair out is a common aside to many disorders: tell him/her you do this
Talking to yourself is a normal thing
Same shoes and pants can be for many reasons: tell him/her why you do this (some reasons are "autistic")
Lack of eye-contact, "funny" speech and not very strong communication skills are some of the hallmarks of autism: if he/she sees this, he/she will note it (however, one's perception of themselves isn't the most accurate gauge; I never knew I lacked eye-contact, or that I had funny speech; I always thought I could talk fine)

The best thing to do is write up a list of "autistic" things you do, and explain why you do them to him/her (the explanation is everything); explain their prevalence, frequency, and how long you've had them for; how all of these affect your life too.

If you feel the psychologist/whatever is wrong in an assumption for why you do something, correct him/her; there's nothing wrong with telling professionals that you think you have such a disorder--said professional will want to see you more than once, probably many times to see how you behave (to get an accurate picture). Or you could find a specialist ASD clinic and go for a simple evaluation to see what they think, I'm sure there's one in most cities.

It's difficult to fake that there are things we just don't get and that confuse us. I could never cover up that there are times that I just take things too literally. Occasionally I still have the habit of looking at someone's finger when they point and say "look" rather than looking in the direction that they are pointing.

I definitely can't act normal when I'm stressed. My son had almost fooled them into thinking he was NT and then he got stressed. He can't control the voice modulations and the ticking when he's stessed.

Why do you feel like you have to over exaggerate the less obvious symptoms to get your dx? Most of the time, my lesser symptoms tend to just pop out when I get comfortable with people. Do you do this?

I don't think you can fake us. We're too weird and our movements are too purposeful in their sensory relief.

I have an HFA son. I am NT with strong AS traits. I don't really know how I would be evaluated, and I don't care to be, because I'm managing ok in my life.
The reason you want a diagnosis is because you're not managing so well?
This is a problem, and sure, it could be AS. So I agree with the above: tell the evaluator why you think you may have AS, and give examples of how this is impacting your life in a negative way.
If you start fooling with them, no good can come of it. You may end up with a completely different diagnosis!

I don't like the way you say "I don't think you can fake us."

Who are you addressing? Me? Then I feel insulted by your implied assumption that I am not one of you.

I read it as a general "you" that is not technically grammatically correct- Liverbird, did you mean to address Mw99 personally, or do you mean that a non-ASD person in general would not be able to believably fake having an ASD?
(I'm starting to wonder how much benefit I am really getting from faking NT every day. Perhaps none at all.)