It Doesn't Make Sense...

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I remember one part in Tony Attwood's book about parents of Aspie children finding themselves entrapped in neverending arguments with the children. This was so true for me. I used to argue with my father all the time, and back in the pre-Internet '80s, we had to go to the library very very very frequently to check and see who had the facts right.

Edit: My father might be on the spectrum too. I don't know why we were constantly arguing about the exact lengths of rivers and the exact heights of mountains.

Okay, we can talk about contentiousness. There might be something in that. There is a pathologised cluster of traits called ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) that might be spectrum. They might be seperate things, they might be related. I don't think anyone knows much for sure, including the experts who basically get to decide where to put some provisional fence posts around certain things.

Perhaps the logic that gives rise to the NT construct just runs too counter to aspergian perceptions of reality, and that causes conflict, for obvious reasons. It did for me. Not that I know whether I'm an aspie or not.

I think some people (especially if they're on the spectrum) have a really hard time dealing with imperfect/imprecise/fuzzy conclusions. They want a mathematically certain answer when sometimes that isn't possible (especially with things involving psychiatry).

Some will deal with that by choosing some criterion (like having attended medical school) and deciding that that effectively guarantees a mathematically certain answer, or at least one that is guaranteed to be more certain than that one reached by a person who does not meet the criterion. But while sometimes that assumption will be correct, sometimes it won't be.

So, some diagnosed people may notice the subjectivity that is unavoidable in assessments, and feel uncomfortable. Maybe the look for some other criteria to try to see if they are "really" ASD or not. Or maybe they get assessed 3 more times (and end up still feeling uncomfortable).

And some not-diagnosed (non-assessed) people may notice the subjectivity in assessments, can accept their own best-reasonable-guess and their ability to do some research, and aren't overly-intimidated by doctors. (I suspect that especially includes those (like me) who've had lots of experience with doctors for other conditions, and have a more experience-based picture of the kinds of mistakes they can make.) Sometimes that will lead to an accurate conclusion, and sometimes it won't.

And to make all this even fuzzier, there is no standard for PDD assessments, at least for adults. So, one professional might base his/her conclusion on one interview, and another might do days of neuropsych testing and require multiple third parties to be interviewed. So, someone saying they're diagnosed doesn't necessarily tell you much. OTOH, I would not want to see boards like this one devolve to where people feel like they have to attach a 10-page neuropsych report to their .sig in order to be considered "valid."

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A question just occurred to me: how much training in PDD's do medical students actually receive (especially w.r.t. adults)? Is it an entire course, one lecture, half of one lecture? What kind and how much exposure do interns and residents get? (I once spoke to professional whose experience came solely through her employment with the criminal justice system. She was of the opinion that ASD people almost always have other conditions, such a ODD and anti-social PD. )

I was diagnosed with ODD when i was younger, and still have the traits.

Does that mean i'm a sociopath and not an aspie?


OT; I'm definitely stubborn + argumentative.

It really varies. Most get little enough that I've been actively told to ask about how much they've studied ASDs in adults or not see them. On the other hand, some take long courses in precisely that. It's why finding a specialist matters so much.

One guy who is studying to be a therapist said, I presume based on his studies:

"Autistic people don't realize people are people."

I don't know if that's representative or not, however.

You dont need to be an aspie to be wary of DX errors.

You dont need to be an aspie to be a hypochondriac and always have some medical condition going on....

Oh, wait, I thought I can't relate to this topic but I can.

I doubt my F84.5 diagnosis because it should say F84.0.

I can't get over something being not true and not according to the rules when there are people claiming and truly believing it is true and it is according to the rules.

Supposedly, I can't re-name continents when I feel like it so why do random individuals - medical health professional or not - think they can decide things are different from how people decided they should be?

I think that grief is one possible manifestation of autistic thinking.