ASD or NVSD or SPLD or PPOH-NO or who cares??

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Why do people on here care so much if what they have is called this or that by the (semi-ignorant) medical profession?

Know your limitations, know your strengths - and do the most with what you have.

To hell with what THEY call you or would call you if you had enough money to ask them. You'll get as many diagnoses as professionals there are in the world or you can afford to consult, anyway. And today they call you this, tomorrow they discover that and call you that. In 10 years' time they'll call you something else entirely. You remain you, whatever they say. And only you know what your weak and strong areas are, which is the only thing that counts for your life.

(unless you're concerned with how much gov't assistance you can get. In that case, of course how THEY label you is decisive).

Yep--I agree on a philosophical level. On a more practical plane, life, school, I will argue the finer points because professionals like to categorize---it's simply easier. As a teacher myself, if I glance at a student's records and see autism, I know this student will have a unique set of challenges. If it's OHI, I wonder what exactly it migth be--could be ED, ID, ADHD, ADD--who knows! ADHD connotes one thing. OCD connotes another. ODD connotes yet another. Teachers/staff like to itemize rather than see the big picture.

The big picture for my son is autism spectrum disorder--it is the root from which all else sprouts and the root needs to be recognized for what it is.

jmofwiw--equinn

It matters as far as treatment. For example the difference between autism and schizophrenia - autism lifelong, schizophrenia something you can recover from. Used to all be called schizophrenia (schizophrenia doesn't always involve psychosis). Or if you've got a learning disorder then that's something you've got to tackle. The different diagnoses are still in flux but eventually they'll settle down into something practical.

Besides, how are you supposed to know your strengths and limitations without some sort of basis for comparison?

Do those terms mean anything or are they specious terms: PPOH-NO?

It's important to have a shorthand way to communicate what your limitations are. Would you want society to completely generalize, just describing you as "off in the head", assuming you're dangerous?

No, the abbreviations I wrote don't mean anything, I invented them. I guess PP-OHNO could mean pipi, oh no! or something

I suppose it has to do with having a name - or at least how I'd see it from my own perspective.
What makes total loneliness even worse - or maybe that is in itself the essence total loneliness - is to not exist. I, for one, do not exist. I am not a person. There is nothing in the paradigm held by others or the society at large that can make sense of me in a just way.

Depending on their level of chagrin people might refer to me "a loser" or a very shy person - AS is an option amongst many. Others might bring up the stereotype of a rich person and hate me claiming "everything in life has always undeservedly been a piece of cake"; that's not true as I'm not even a rich person but some people, like my uncle, have that approach. Others like to say I'm a nerd with absolutely no idea what "the real world" and "the real life" are and at the same time others might say I'm "a shallow person that lives in the gym and that I judge people based on their looks".
In every case the label is so partial it is futile - nothing is really being said. I am nothing. I fulfill no purpose. Unlike others, I am not known. I have no part.

Once in kindergarden there was this small pretend game I had to play in a small group - I didn't like it; I think preferred blocks. It was called the "family". An aggressive fat girl that didn't like me chose the family roles for everyone. Usually popular kids who belonged to a clique would play that game - they would be "dad", the buddy of the most popular guy would be "the uncle",etc. . . Since I had been thence forced to play it and I knew I wasn't popular I tried to cope by allowing them to lead and eventually asked "Well, who am I then?". "You are just a kid!" was the reply meaning I wasn't even part of the game.
As far as I see social groups and society - the basics have not changed. Especially as far as I'm concerned. . .

The mental impairment label might seem cozy but IMO it has a high price - and not just a purely economic one.
Makes me think of the Soviet Union.
Makes me think of The Crucible.
Leave me my name. . .

I see the having a name, such as AS, as extremely positive. God knows it has given me a place to feel I belong, at last. It's wonderful.

What I think is useless and often negative is trying to fit into the (hardly educated) definitions of the so-called professionals. I'd say give a damn what Dr. X or Dr. Y think you are. You know yourself better - especially because all the knowledge about "disorders" is so unreliable and unstable still.

I see people here celebrating that their doctor AT LAST agreed they have AS or PAS or NPS or whatever. Why do you need your doctor to agree? What do you need to convince them for (other than for gov't benefits of course)??? Even if he finally agreed with you, or gave you / didn't give you the diagnosis you wanted - he'll probably change his mind in any direction in 1-2 years, when a new research paper is published that happens to cross his desk.

Ha yeah, really.. so many labels! It's like they don't know what they're doing sometimes! The FINAL and BEST diagnosis I got was ADHD and NLD (they call it mild Asperger's also) I went to one of the best places in the country to get that last diagnosis and got thorough neuropsycho testing FINALLY! and I absolutely do NOT have bi-polar or any of the other things! YAY! (except occassional depression but who wouldn't!)

Here's some of the labels I have gotten:

ADD
ADHD (pretty severe)
NLD
AS (mild)
Depression (moderate)
PSTD
PDD-NOS (general term that could encompass several autistic spectrum disorders)
STPD
Bi-Polar
SPD

Hey Equinn,

I just edited my post a bit to show more specific levels of the diagnosis before I saw you had replied. YES! Ha! I think it is! "the new combo"

You can see where if you were to combine ADHD + NLD with a dash of OCD and you could end up with Mild Asperger's! How God-awful confusing they have to make it! HA! I guess they are just beginning to understand this stuff..

I don't happen to have the OCD.. not yet anyway.. with enough stress.. who knows! ha! No, but I can totally see where they could get mild Asperger's from ADHD + NLD.. especially when theirs a bit of OCD too.. A lot of "normal" people have OCD issues also..

L

There a just a lot of clinicians out there that do almost no continuing educations on spectrum issues but still feel they are qualified to give out (miss) diagnosises They should have to take some type of basic “I get it “ certification before they can make diagnosis in this area.


bookwormde