How many on WP do you think really have some form of autism?

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This.

People could think there's nothing wrong with me, because on the outside I'm just a slightly clumsy and shy person that constantly says the wrong thing.
But years before I even knew of Asperger's I could come up with Shanti(my name) syndrome and it would match all the most common AS symptoms.
My life is pretty screwed up at the moment so I don't need to convince myself I have AS. It's annoyingly there.

Indeed. I can speak! My Autism must be a sham!

I am sometimes concerned that many who self-diagnose and seek no further confirmation are perhaps looking for a justification for giving in to traits that they might work through if they didn't let the self-DX become a recipe for defeatist surrender. But, I am not a professional Psychologist and I originally was a self-DXer, so it's not for me to judge.

I can say that the more I've learned about the disorder, the more self-revelatory the knowledge has become. One of the weirdest parts of the experience has been recognizing internal actions, reactions and behaviors as actual aspects of the fact that my brain is firing neurons differently than those around me. Things that have always been frustrating, disappointing and upsetting are no less so, but I see them for what they are now.

My internal isolation has become a snow-globe, that I watch in continual preoccupation as people and events disturb the enclosed system and send it swirling in specific motifs, that were once merely chaotic and now clearly have a strange symmetry. I still have no real control over it, but I can recognize the sequences as patterns and they are at once fascinating and wistfully existential. A comforting and disturbing melancholy.

Autistic people can do all those things. I have friends, and since AS is not a disease or condition that is in addition to the core self, people with Autism feel normal as themselves. Many with Autism are very gifted writers and/or artists. I know nothing of what you are "like" as relevant to the discussion, so cannot comment on your cousin's input.

Mental health services are becomming more aware of Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and more and more practitioners are acquiring awareness of ASDs. It could be that the speech therapist suggested the possibility, or that your psychologist has newly acquired some awareness in this area, or it might be that your service provider reviews returning consumers for possible Autistic Spectrum Disorders because of the evidence that many instances of "treatment resistent" diagnosed "mental illness/psychiatric disorders" are actually instances of misdiagnosed Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

If this is a psychologist you have worked with before, who also has access to your case history, and interviewed you with your mother when they gave the diagnosis, then this would all constitute assessment and would be adequate for diagnostic purposes in many instances.


"What is the clinical rational for Autism and for the Autistic Disorder diagnosis in particular?"
To reach a diagnosis, physicians consider the possible conditions that could match the presenting symptoms (as the physician understands them), and then attempt to rule out conditions untill one particular answer is left. The reasons why the symptoms are considered to indicate the particular condition being diagnosed and why other conditions are considered to not be better or equally good explanations (for the presenting symptoms/complaints) constitutes the "clinical rational" for the diagnosis.

If you are not going to see the psychologist again or feel more comfortable approaching this in a letter, then this might be a good idea. For instance you seem unclear as to whether or not an actual assessment took place and if so what precisely constituted this, so you might want to ask when and why Autism came to be suspected, what clinical assessment or other methods were used, and about the particular expertise in respect of diagnosing Autism of the person who diagnosed you. You also seem to be concerned that if you do have Autism that you have the Asperger type rather than the Kanner varient that you have been diagnosed with, so you might want to ask how this particular decision was arrived at.


It's not entirely clear whether there is a clinically significant difference (whether the criteria that separates the two actually indicates anything about prognosis, best treatment/intervention practice, functioning level, or anything of clinical utility). It is currently an area of much controversy.

[quote="Laney2005"]The only contribution I am going to allow myself to make is that autism is a spectrum. The people you're going to see on here will by their very nature be on the higher-functioning end of that spectrum. And the written word is coded differently in the brain than speech. Most people with ASDs tend to have better writing skills than speaking skills. I know I have always found it (emotionally) easier to write than to speak.

The same counts for me.

I believe that most people here who state they are Aspie, Autie, etc. have some form of autism. Birds of a feather tend to flock together. This is what I see here. I know one Aspie adult who has social functioning skills actually superior to that of an NT. He has read a book about how to pick up women. I have seen him in action, and it is quite scary how well the pickup techniques work. I have also talked to people here who are very intelligent but are also low to medium functioning. It is hard to judge people online. I am friends with one person online who is a genius, but in real life, she is completely nonverbal. You have to actually meet people in their environment and see how they interact. While I believe that there are a few people here who have misdiagnosed themselves, I think that is a rare exception to the rule. I myself am a medium to high functioning adult Autie. However, at times, I can completely blend in as a NT. I think that many of the online autism tests are generally accurate. An official diagnosis (at least here in the Police States of America) is very expensive to get and is very detrimental to a person once they reach adulthood. It is in most cases completely unnecessary in order to access what little support is out there. I'm sure glad that it is not required here.

Last edited by cyberscan on 01 Dec 2009, 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'd say, most. I can tell by the way people on here interact. There are subtle differences.

Hey, Daniel, has anyone ever told you how awesome you are? 'Cause you are very awesome. Just wanted to say that.




You mean Strapples?






Trying to undiagnose (or what have you) people over the internet: not recommended.

I don't understand all the doubt and whatever such as this. I really don't.

Well, i can't say i actually have it. I know i have some sort of social issues, BUT that isn't the only reason i am here. My son has a dx of ASD. I am mostly here to better understand the thoughts and feelings of people on the spectrum so i can understand my son more.

Willard wrote:

Imagine that! topic

Great imagery, excellent grammar and profound language!!

QFT

well i am the person with the "b9" robot from lost in space avatar, and when i first joined here, i thought i would find people at my own level of social capacity, and i thought i would not encounter personality struggles or vanity or jealousy or political passion or religious passion. i thought i would encounter a site full of "me's".

i was wrong, and at first i was annoyed that even here there is no one who is similar to me, but after a while, i saw that some people that are here are very smart and i have much to learn by reading their words.
it really does not matter whether a person has an affliction the same as mine i realize.

the correctness of their reasoning, and the validity of their concepts is the same.

but i do think that the more severe autistic people here are a bit trodden under by the more charismatic members a bit.

A very salient issue regarding being identified with a mental disorder is the formidable and pervasive stigma still attached thereto. And although most here understand that AS is not a disorder but a neurological difference, it is included in the Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM) as such. It stands to reason that few people would wish to be associated with a mental disability without a very good reason, such as it accurately describing their condition.

To the contrary, common sense would suggest that many more would have a strong desire to deny their AS. I would speculate that for every person without AS wishing to identify with the condition, there are many dozens with AS who are in a state of denial, or who have difficulty accepting their different neurology.

It appears to me that many of these threads questioning AS diagnoses are started by people who have great difficulty accepting there own AS. If AS were a sham, and people who say they have AS are shams, this would reinforce their state of denial.

Heh. I know a person who has convinced himself that he has Asperger's from reading the Wikipedia page and has even told a few people at work that he has it. And he clearly does not have it, although he has some other issues.

This is irritating to me because it helps project the wrong image of Asperger's. No wonder people then start saying that AS is a fake disorder.

Have you tried to talk him into taking the online Aspie test. I know that it is not a "professional" diagnosis, but it is least objective. To tell you the truth, I believe that these test are more inclined to err on the side of diagnosing someone as NT.

A few thoughts:

1) I am diagnosed--for what that's worth. There are differences of opinion about diagnostic criteria, level of impairment, and how different presentations should be categorized. But at age 37, I was given the Aspie label, and it is one that I am content to wear.

2) I have a job, I have a 'life' (mortgage, volunteer activities), I perform in community theatre, I have a social circle. Do these factor contraindicate my diagnosis? Not to the people that made it, apparently. And not to me, either.

The simple fact is that I grew up in ignorance of my psychological difference. I attributed my alienation from my peers (I went to an all-boys school) to my sexual orientation. I knew I was socially clueless--I assumed it was because I had no opportunity to socialize with women and I had nothing in common with the straight teens around me. I credited my development of the skills that I have to coming out, and reconciling myself to my orientation. With the clarity of hindsight, I was developing skills, but those skills were compensating for deficits that I had misattributed.

So, today, am I still on the autism spectrum? I believe I am. My skills are just that, skills. They are learned behaviours. And when I am tired, or stressed, or otherwise incapable of exercising them, they do not work well, and all of my underlying deficits are still there.

A diabetic with an insulin pump might be able to eat an ice-cream sundae, but he is still a diabetic. An Aspie who has learned to stop interrupting conversations (well, I'm still working on this one.... ) is still an Aspie.

^^Horse manure. Absolute, pure, unadulterated balderdash.^^

I have refuted this claim over and over again.

It does not have to be expensive to get diagnosed (didn't cost me a dime).

It is in no way detrimental to any adult (no one has to know you've been diagnosed if you choose not to tell them), and

Access to the public services it makes available can literally mean the difference between life and death, shelter and homelessness.

Please stop spreading this defeatist MALARKY. You may keep someone in need from seeking the help that will save their life.

While I do believe some people mistake shyness, or anti-social tendencies for Aspergers/Autism, I tend to avoid judging people. I am only slightly upset when someone who is self-diagnosed says, "It's not so bad; look at all I've done.", and belittles what some of us are enduring.

I don't know who does, and doesn't, have AS. I just assume that if they say they do, they're affected in some way,and need support.