How do you prove to someone that you have AS??? ! !! !

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Today I had an idea. I thought why not try to connect to other Aspies in my country, maybe it'll make me feel less alone. So I tried to join the local Aspies community forums on the internet, but was rejected saying that I have to prove that I have AS first in order to be let in. How the hell does one prove that??? ! !! ! And isn't this the most ridiculous requisite you ever heard of?

Yes.... though it is the same thing as going into a psych's office as an adult and being asked to prove your self Dx to them...

"I am sorry... I thought I was here to get a Dx... not provide one"

and Yes that is the most ridiculous thing I have heard from a group... unless they are saying you have to be formally Diagnosed....

hahahaha!!

No, they don't demand an official diagnosis. In the end, I was accepted because the owner knows me from my intensive and extensive participation on WP. But still, it's the most impossible situation in the world.

It's the most idiotic and horrible requirement I know.

I was welcomed in AS communities a couple of times with 'oh, people with AS aren't like you are'.

That was over a year ago and now I do take it with some humour. Or cynicism...

Oh please, if those people don't actually mean a formal dx on paper, then what exactly do they believe AS is?

There are about as many forms of AS(Ds) as blades of grass in my lawn...

Eh, I guess: good luck in that group. Hope they're nice despite this... 'strangeness'.

Luckily Roger Meyers here allows self DX's in his group and you don't have to be an aspie either, you can have autism or PDD-NOS. Sadly I am unable to attend because of my job. My shift doesn't end till 5PM on the weekends.

well me i got a paper of it put what community is that?:O thats just off an mind..but if u really want that whitout needing to pay i can scan my dx..its writed in finish but u can replace that whith english..and it really looks like white piece of paper writed :98.8 aspergers syndrome lol

There are only two Polish communities for people with AS, one of them is very young, founded recently by a teen girl for other teens. Visiting the forum for adults I saw something that's the exact opposite of what you are describing - newcomers are welcomed and nobody expects any evidence they really have an autistic spectrum disorder (anyway in many cases it's their life partners or members of family who are diagnosed with it or are at least suspected of having it or said people come there to ask if it's possible they themselves could have AS).

This is one of the things that, ironically, I am ambivalent about!! !!

On the one hand I have no proof, and proof isn't proof anyway! It isn't like there is a third party objective test that can be performed ON the claimant. So I say LET THEM IN!

On the other hand, every tom dick and marry(Have to add the women folk ) might want in, and disrupt things.

If I were the person running the forum, I would have a little test. It would be like Rdos' but shorter and more precise. The goal wouldn't be so much to prove they had AS but to determine if they knew what to expect, had similar problems, and weed out people incompatible with a properly run group.

That test should be done by EVERYONE, Pro DX or not, with the possible exception of referrals made by members in the group with good standing for more than 3 months, or their entire term, whatever is longer.

but how come no such test is needed on the WP forums?

Because it's open to everybody. Administration didn't want to make an exclusively secret Asperger's club out of it.

Probably something along the lines of: inform many people, be open towards everybody, be curious about everybody and respect diversity by giving every single person a voice. (They just have to respect the rules right?)

In an exclusive AS-club people want to talk to aspies only, have the opinion on aspies, not be bothered, annoyed or feel threatened by everybody non-aspie.
It can be used as a safe-area that protects aspies from wanna-be aspies and disruptive people, but it can also be used to built up a distance towards everybody non-aspie to feel like an elite. Depends on the forums and users.

Both options, open and closed forum, involves a possible risk and a gain.

So it's hard to say WP is better or worse than a closed AS forum.

Both just follow (slightly) different goals.

Thank you, Sora. I hadn't thought about it that way, you're right. They're different kinds of forums with slightly different goals. I'm glad now, because I'll be enjoying both worlds.

And I can see why, in our tiny country, aspies need more privacy in a forum than on WP. The chances of your NT boss participating in the forum as a curiosity, recognizing you and firing you or denying promotion, are not that small in a small community.

Alex is obviously trying to be VERY inclusive, and we are not meeting in person. If I was some crazy guy that was out to kill you all, and had a machine gun ready to go and often had wild outbursts, etc.... What would you care? I can't hurt, or even really upset you as it is. That would be DIFFERENT for a support group.

For the record, I have given you more dirt on my character than anyone ever suspected. The above was just me trying to make a point. I am generally shy, pacifistic, etc... Some of you might actually like me BETTER if you actually met me.

I have a little card from the Natinal Autistic Society to prove mine, don't know if ya can get them in every country though?

not at least in here

No cards here either, especially if you're not formally diagnosed...

It sounds pretty ridiculous to me, but if you're officially diagnosed can you just say "I've been diagnosed by Dr. X, who can be contacted...." They can call themselves to confirm, perhaps, which strikes me as a waste of time.