So being a psychiatrist means you know more about as than...

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someone who has actually lived with it?

People can say the darndest things. Oh and if you tell someone everything you know from your life experience then it doesn't count because you have no certificate to prove it.



Why do people give so much credit to pieces of papers anyway? Time and time again, the intuitive thinker and a person who has actually had real experiences has been side swiped and told they don't know what they are talking about because it's not the version they were given by reading magazines, watching tv or the latest report?

Oh, yes, yes, yes....ditto to infinity. Neuro/psych (un)professionals are the bane of my existence. I had one who knew nothing of autism, I do mean bad/stupid nothing, but wrote a research paper (NOT published - just a school paper) in 1980 - way outdated, of course. Yet he only referred to that paper as his own only evidence, refuting given current peer-reviewed sound research. And he watched the DVD Rainman. Bonus.

Holy Christ, minus the religious aspect. I will not even go into the ensuing mess.......

He's my ex-psych. As in (written by me, to him): "I'm sorry darling, but it just won't work out between us. You're so fired. BTW, does your DSM-IV have listed 'Nuts, NOS' as a Dx? I'm assigning you this diagnostic label <insert PsyD's name here>."

It's really annoying to say the least.

My psychic knew more about Asperger's and Autism than me. I didn't even know I had an ASD, and he picked it up for certain within a few visits for another mental disorder (in other words, he knew more than me and I was and am the one with the disorder). The more I read on ASDs, the more I found out that he knew what he was talking about concerning Asperger's and Autism.

He's just a generic psychic, and he's equally as good as the couple I've seen at Attwood's (he's actually better in my opinion as he keeps HFA and AS seperate from one another).

Sorry to be a spoilsport but well... You only have 1 life and one experience and a good psych should have access to what many other people experienced.

That piece of paper means power, because with it you can make people believe you know what you're talking about and act on it as if your opinion were an absolute. That said, a degree does at least demonstrate a desire to spend a minimum of four years learning about a subject, if nothing more, and should be given consideration. In most cases, they aren't just arbitrarily handed out.
In general, pieces of paper are overvalued. Rare to find someone who'll do any kind of learning that doesn't lead to some letters after one's name or some other form of direct benefit. I have a friend who refuses to study for final exams, saying that the exams are just the paperwork and if you really cared about the learning, you would have done it out of interest and not just in the last few days in order to be able to spit it back out for a week or so before forgetting again. *respect*

Well said. This doesn't mean we should bow to the opinions of the bad ones. But a well-researched scientific opinion is better than a single first person perspective in some circumstances.

I've dealt with quite a few of the scumbags in the "mental health / social work" complex of industries.

Every one of them has done more harm than good to me and my children.

No, but I think it should be:

'As a psychiatrist (who is pleasant and knows ASDs) you have an outside view onto the AS patient that the patient is ultimately incapable of.'

No matter how self-reflecting a person is. Self-reflection has it's limits (which I personally find too bad.) Even if you're able to change your POV (put yourselves in another's shoes) quite well, you are only ever imitating and guessing, not actually being that different point of view.

And actually, few people seem to be self-reflective about their whole person (thoughts, feelings, drives, knowing about what made an impression on them).

That's why I value a doctor's opinion. To know what I appear like to others in detail. No matter that most of the time I do think 'ohh, that's not at all what I feel like /think/want to express, why'd they ever think it??'

I hate the "if they have an MD or Ph.D by their name they must be right" attitude, it is obvious when you go to a bookstore, people selling the latest fad diet or self-help book always make sure the book cover shows "Joe Shmoe, MD" on it.

To add to Sora's very valid point:

I had an AS specialist tell me that I'm actually unusual concerning my level of insight into my disorder. She told me that most she sees with AS actually refuse to acknowledge that there's anything wrong with them (i.e., 'I don't have this condition called Asperger's!'), and they blame everyone else around them for why they behave as they do (this is a psycho at Attwood's). It's actually the family members who coerce the individual to seek help.

So, on the other side of the coin, there's many adults out there who're diagnosed with AS, who don't acknowledge such. The doctor/professional knows far more than they do in these cases.

My ex-boyfriend was diagnosed with AS in childhood, but said he didn't think he actually had it. I, only the other hand, *definitely* think he had it. I agree, that sometimes people can be unaware of their own deficits.

There's another story a speech therapist told me, about a kid with AS they were working with. They wanted to add social skills/pragmatics goals to the kid's IEP, but the mom refused. She didn't see the point. The mom exhibited many traits of AS (but was undiagnosed), and since she did not understand social skills, or their value, she didn't understand the purpose of the goals.

How do you think scientists come up with their research and ponderings??? They use their intutition first and research second. I have been doing my own research my whole life. Just because I don't have the money to go to college or was never given such a chance and don't have the certificate doesn't mean that I don't know what I am talking about.

I don't just use my perspective. Thanks for loosely throwing out the term scientific opinion because it happens all the time now and yes it's rather annoying because scientific minds in general can do their own research, can learn and take the time to ponder sometimes finding solutions and sometimes not.

Some people have a scientific mind, some people don't.

I think in my case, there have been times alot when I was right about something and here comes the discrediting police to tell me to shut up because I had no piece of freaking paper to back up my "claims". So I said fine, I'll just shut up. You go about your merry way. Years later, no apology of course for ill-treatment but instead oh this certified psychiatrist is talking about this now and it was the same thing I had said years ago. Same thing with some scientific research. Of course the people I was discussing this with will never ever say "You were right, I was wrong." Instead they talk about the greatness of the certified.

A bunch of paper worshippers.

These same types of people think it's impossible for people to play music by ear. The ones that can play music by ear in their opinion are all a bunch of liars too. Anyone here play musical instruments by ear?

Im not sure about my current psych right now, whos actually an aspergers specialist. One of my previous psychs, who wasnt a AS specialist knew nothing about me, and didnt understand me at all. My friends understood me way better then that lady. It took her like 3 months after sending me the hospital to realize that I had AS. I constantly questioned her abilities. My current psych thinks I have moderate to severe AS, I dont agree with me but he's supposidly an expert. On the otherhand I've held myself back considerably from both. I will go into sessions lying on the couch. being quiet part of the time, speaking in a bland montone voice the other part of the time. Its like rarely speak that badly to people anymore. Well I just to put a huge wall upon my self expression.

I am happy that you could see an expert Someone who ha studied extensively rather than multi-purpose psychiatrist like the previous which is so much easier to find.

Some multi-purpose psychiatrists do know well depending on how many cases but over all the one with the focused area of study seems to be the right choice.

Anyways, babbling.

I'll tell you a secret. I sing by ear. Perfectly. Pitch for pitch (if it is recent... I'll change it to my own voice if not)

I can read music... but only for written tests, not functionally. If I don't hear a song at least once before trying it, then I don't know how to do it.

I got through 8 years of choir in school without anyone knowing this. I can't take singing classes in college because they require you to sight-read in order to get in.