Page 1 of 3 [ 48 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

Mirror
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 24 Oct 2006
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 289
Location: Dallas, Texas

11 Apr 2009, 12:23 pm

I don't have autism!

I just have...

-sensory processing disorder
-autistic traits of:
1. Speech delay and dificulty
2. Inerested in parts of objects
3. Low emotional maturity and understanding
-mild dyslexia
-learning problems
-trypanophobia

I don't have autism because I can interact with people.

But this diagnosis just ruled out autism not aspergers.

So the more I see the therapist the more we'll understand me.

But as off now its not autism! :3


_________________
I'm Ragtime's wife! :V


11 Apr 2009, 12:40 pm

AS is a form of autism.



Callista
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2006
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,775
Location: Ohio, USA

11 Apr 2009, 1:08 pm

Yup. Asperger's is definitely on the spectrum. Why's autism such a horrible thing to have, anyway?

If you don't qualify exactly for autism, but you had speech delay, most likely your diagnosis will be PDD-NOS... that is, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. That's also known as "atypical autism".


_________________
Reports from a Resident Alien:
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com

Autism Memorial:
http://autism-memorial.livejournal.com


shulamith
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 34
Location: Wall Street, in spirit

11 Apr 2009, 1:15 pm

First of all, I have Asperger Condition and yes, it is and should be on the spectrum. So you might need to talk to your therapist, because if s/he said it wasn't, s/he is misinformed. Also, no offense, but if you don't identify with autism-which you clearly don't, because you insist you don't have it- why be on this site? Just curious.



Callista
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2006
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,775
Location: Ohio, USA

11 Apr 2009, 1:18 pm

It would be correct to say "I do not have Autistic Disorder", but not correct to say, "I am not on the autism spectrum".


_________________
Reports from a Resident Alien:
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com

Autism Memorial:
http://autism-memorial.livejournal.com


2ukenkerl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,231

11 Apr 2009, 1:36 pm

Mirror wrote:
I don't have autism!

I just have...

-sensory processing disorder
-autistic traits of:
1. Speech delay and dificulty
2. Inerested in parts of objects
3. Low emotional maturity and understanding
-mild dyslexia
-learning problems
-trypanophobia

I don't have autism because I can interact with people.

But this diagnosis just ruled out autism not aspergers.

So the more I see the therapist the more we'll understand me.

But as off now its not autism! :3


Speech delay/difficulty is only a trait that CAN be autistic.(BTW I DON'T have that) It is generally not true of AS. Interested in parts of objects is only a trait that CAN be autistic.(I have that.) Same with low maturity.(I really don't have that) Mild dyslexia is not an autistic trait.(I don't have that) Learning problems are ALSO not necessarily autistic.(I don't really have that) What does trypanophobia have to do with anything?(I really don't have THIS. ONE group of idiots would say otherwise, but I had like 5 shots before I told them to STOP!! !! !! !! They eventually gave up. I wanted to keep my arm past my 8th birthday, and didn't want some idiots to fill it with holes. I HAVE had many others use needles on me without so much as a wimper or flinching though.)

Actually, people with autism CAN generally interact with people. Even some saying they are LFA here obviously can. I certainly can. Actually, it sounds like it is less likely that you have AS than autism in general.

And HOW did they exclude autism? You never really did say!

BTW the others are right. Autism in itself is NOT that bad. Frankly, I WOULD like it if I had an easier time getting/keeping friends, but how many have REAL friends anyway? Not really all that many.



Last edited by 2ukenkerl on 11 Apr 2009, 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

millie
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Oct 2008
Age: 61
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,154

11 Apr 2009, 1:42 pm

wow - seems like you are really concerned about labels.
AS is a form of autism.

We need to promote the healthy destigmatisation of the word "autism," in my view.
That means using it as much as possible so that it is more fully understood as a spectrum and as a cluster/manifestation of traits that varies in intensity and severity and expression from individual to individual.


THE BIG A



equinn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 649

11 Apr 2009, 1:43 pm

Technically, you don't have Asperger's either if referring to the DSM (due to your speech delay), then if you are on the spectrum it would be pdd-nos (atypical autism) as one poster suggested.

It seems wierd to me, to have someone announce, so clearly, that "No, I don't have autism!" Do older people get diagnosed with autism?

I had thougth that this was visible at a young age. Older adolescents and older, it seems to me, if they are seeking out a diagnosis on the spetrum, it would be either Aspergers or pdd-nos or something entirely different. Autism, most times, shows up when you are young because child is nonverbal, flapping, and internally shut off from outside world.

I dont' know if I agree with HFA then, and think all these cases fall under the category of Aspergers which is more of a social disoder. Autism is autism and is clearly visible. Aspergers is more subtle.



sinsboldly
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon

11 Apr 2009, 2:08 pm

Older people get diagnosed with Autism - I was 58 when DXed with Asperger' autism.


Merle


_________________
Alis volat propriis
State Motto of Oregon


DeLoreanDude
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,562
Location: FL

11 Apr 2009, 2:25 pm

Asperger's and HFA are the same anyway... But yeah you'd probably get PDD-NOS.



Katie_WPG
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 7 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 492
Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

11 Apr 2009, 2:28 pm

sinsboldly wrote:
Older people get diagnosed with Autism - I was 58 when DXed with Asperger' autism.


Merle


Equinn was probably refering to classical autism.

I would guess that not many are actually diagnosed as being classically autistic. Most autistic adults (even if they were very obviously classically autistic in childhood) are just diagnosed as AS. It's because it's less work for the psychologists, no need to look at childhood histories. They just judge whether or not the adult fits the AS diagnostic criteria at the moment.

That's the main problem with the AS diagnostic criteria. It's meant for children, so it's not unbelievable that many HFA/MFA people were mis-diagnosed in adulthood with AS. And many people who actually did fit the AS criteria in childhood are being turned away by psychologists, due to them not being severe enough in adulthood.

For example, I know a 46 year old man who is diagnosed as AS, but functions at the level of a 10 year old with AS. I spoke to his sister, and she told me that he was diagnosed as severely autistic when he was 6. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of diagnosis 'switching' goes on.



AmberEyes
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Sep 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,438
Location: The Lands where the Jumblies live

11 Apr 2009, 2:34 pm

shulamith wrote:
Also, no offense, but if you don't identify with autism-which you clearly don't, because you insist you don't have it- why be on this site? Just curious.


Because some people (like me) are genuinely confused and aren't given enough or are given misleading information for years.

Perhaps because there is nowhere else to go and no-one else will listen properly?

Also because issues that people express on this site are similar to others who want to join this site.

Other people can insist that the person in question cannot and doesn't "have it" or that the person is deliberately labeling his/herself to attract attention. People who loved and cared about me were telling me this. They didn't want me to get hurt by the label and preferred that I denied it and didn't identify with it.

The thing is, I didn't exactly identify with autism because other people were so frightened if I did. I wasn't exactly treated with much respect when I was receiving official help either. It was a vicious cycle in my case.

Essentially I was not identifying myself with it to protect myself from harassment by other people.

I was actively encouraged to deny it by people who cared and genuinely thought that there was nothing "wrong" with me that needed "correcting".

I'm sorry, but this stigma can't be ignored.
It's crazy, mention the label and people can make all sorts of negative/harmful judgments about you. That's been my experience anyway.

It's a question of severity.
I myself don't believe I'm that severe and therefore would need different support to someone who's more severe. Different stuff would be appropriate for different individuals.

This is probably true for the opening poster too.

Some people unfortunately seem to tar everyone labeled with different forms of autism with the same brush. People are individuals whoever they are.



2ukenkerl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,231

11 Apr 2009, 3:38 pm

AmberEyes wrote:
shulamith wrote:
Also, no offense, but if you don't identify with autism-which you clearly don't, because you insist you don't have it- why be on this site? Just curious.


Because some people (like me) are genuinely confused and aren't given enough or are given misleading information for years.

Perhaps because there is nowhere else to go and no-one else will listen properly?

Also because issues that people express on this site are similar to others who want to join this site.

Other people can insist that the person in question cannot and doesn't "have it" or that the person is deliberately labeling his/herself to attract attention. People who loved and cared about me were telling me this. They didn't want me to get hurt by the label and preferred that I denied it and didn't identify with it.

The thing is, I didn't exactly identify with autism because other people were so frightened if I did. I wasn't exactly treated with much respect when I was receiving official help either. It was a vicious cycle in my case.

Essentially I was not identifying myself with it to protect myself from harassment by other people.

I was actively encouraged to deny it by people who cared and genuinely thought that there was nothing "wrong" with me that needed "correcting".

I'm sorry, but this stigma can't be ignored.
It's crazy, mention the label and people can make all sorts of negative/harmful judgments about you. That's been my experience anyway.

It's a question of severity.
I myself don't believe I'm that severe and therefore would need different support to someone who's more severe. Different stuff would be appropriate for different individuals.

This is probably true for the opening poster too.

Some people unfortunately seem to tar everyone labeled with different forms of autism with the same brush. People are individuals whoever they are.


For what it is worth, MOST people that are mildly HFA or AS would understand exactly where you are coming from, and agree 100%. I certainly do. THAT is why I haven't REALLY told anyone at work about it. I gave a SOMEWHAT subtle hint to one person that I think is HFA, and to two people that have kids with AS, but that is it. The person with HFA is, I think, rather smart, and the two parents obviously love their kids. I haven't even told my father, though I HAVE told my mother and my step mother.

Some people HERE have even implied that AS is WORSE than kanner's autism, even though it clearly isn't. AS and kanner's are clearly on two different paths, and the WORST AS is better than the worse HFA, though both AS and HFA could be just as downright POSITIVE, or GOOD.



sinsboldly
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 13,488
Location: Bandon-by-the-Sea, Oregon

11 Apr 2009, 3:40 pm

Katie_WPG wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
Older people get diagnosed with Autism - I was 58 when DXed with Asperger' autism.


Merle


Katie_WPG wrote:
Equinn was probably refering to classical autism.


you mean the presentation of Kanner's autism, probably

Katie_WPG wrote:
I would guess that not many are actually diagnosed as being classically autistic. Most autistic adults (even if they were very obviously classically autistic in childhood) are just diagnosed as AS. It's because it's less work for the psychologists, no need to look at childhood histories. They just judge whether or not the adult fits the AS diagnostic criteria at the moment.


this is not how the psychiatrist did it for me, perhaps they do it where you are familiar with.

Katie_WPG wrote:
That's the main problem with the AS diagnostic criteria. It's meant for children, so it's not unbelievable that many HFA/MFA people were mis-diagnosed in adulthood with AS. .


The test I took was not for children. Sorry if this has been your experience, but it is not universal.

Merle


_________________
Alis volat propriis
State Motto of Oregon


glider18
Supporting Member
Supporting Member

User avatar

Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 8,040
Location: USA

11 Apr 2009, 3:45 pm

I wouldn't worry about it Mirror---so what if you have it? There is nothing to be ashamed about it. I was diagnosed with Asperger's as an adult. It hasn't bothered me any. If anything, it has helped me. I have finally found who I am---and I am still getting to know myself. I find it quite fascinating. And as you have seen here---Asperger's is a type of autism.

You know, before I was diagnosed, I used to worry a bit because of my eccentric ways. I even thought I was the only person in the world like me. I used to be a bit self-conscious over my ways. But then, after going to Cincinnati, Ohio to be diagnosed, I came out feeling wonderful---I had received a diagnosis that showed how my life fit together sensibly---I have Asperger's. No longer do I worry about my eccentric ways---I am proud of them. I am not alone. And for this reason I have adopted my motto in this part of my life, "My journery has just begun."


_________________
"My journey has just begun."


Katie_WPG
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 7 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 492
Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada

11 Apr 2009, 3:54 pm

To sinsboldy:

It really depends on the psychologist. Some will actually examine childhood histories, some will just look you over and say "No, you don't have it".

Not all AS tests are meant for children, but the DSM criteria is.