Adults with Aspergers Seem 'Normal' to Me

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Well I suppose many people here shall have to look that up to determine what it is you're talking about.

I've read it from the start and you've been hostile the entire time....if you're trying to 'help' people you could start by not insulting us all. How do you expect people to respectfully and open mindedly see your perspective when you're in attack mode, it makes people kind of defensive you know.

I can see some of your points, but the way your going about it is insulting for one.....not to mention as much as your complaining about people not thinking for themselves and just trying to follow the herd. The same could be said of you you get aggressive even insulting if anyone disagrees with your perspective and go on about how close minded they are, well to be honest that is a better example of you being close minded and refusing to consider any other perspectives besides your own apparently infalliable ones.

Also it is a pretty common veiw of society in general that we just exaggerate our difficulties, aren't actually struggling ect...so why agree with that conformist herd?

Have you read the board lately?

Several posters are going after DXes for a "sense of belonging" or to "explain why they don't fit in." I keep seeing posts popping up that are describing garden-variety introversion, but it's being regarded as "autism." I think that's a bad thing.

This is the attitude I'm specifically addressing. "Autism" is not a "personality type."



An unfortunate reality of life, but DXes of actual disorders should be reserved for people who are specifically experiencing impairments.

I don't see the value in DXing someone with a mental disorder because they "might" experience impairments in the future and because "medical care is expensive." It makes about as much sense as diagnosing someone with cancer who hasn't been shown to have cancer, but who MIGHT get cancer and who MIGHT need treatment.

Technically, everyone MIGHT experience mental dysfunction in the future; however, everyone probably shouldn't be DXed with a mental disorder as a preventative measure.

Logical argument is futile on this forum

Two minutes ago we had 'if you have no actual support needs there doesn't seem any point in getting a diganosis' - now we have 'get a diagnosis anyway just to be on the safe side'

Can't you see they just like to contradict for the sake of it? - regardless of the rationality of their argument

They all seem to want to agree with each other, while wildly contradicting each other at the same time! It's like being in 'Alice in Wonderland'!

Once you grasp this basic premise, everything else falls into place

Not trying to be rude, but if your family is taking care of you, then you have "support," which is why I mentioned that "support" doesn't necessarily involve government welfare (which I absolutely don't have a problem with----my mother and I were on foodstamps for a time).

I occasionally volunteer at a soup kitchen for the homeless. It's obvious that many of the homeless people I see have cognitive impairments. That's where people end-up who have absolutely no support in life.



Based on what I know about you from your posting history, I think you fall into the category that you pretty obviously need support and thereby SHOULD receive a DX.

To reiterate, I'm mainly addressing the attitude that AS/ASDs are just "introversion" or that people should seek a DX of a mental disorder in order to "explain why they feel different."

My own experiences are probably coloring my view because my DX didn't happen because I decided to stroll down to the local shrink's office on a Sunday afternoon for the purposes of "self-discovery." Being DXed is kind of a big deal.

Last edited by XFilesGeek on 29 Apr 2012, 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think I have mental disorders, because I am experiancing impairments right now in this part of my life. Still can't afford an official diagnoses probably, though I found a place that might be able to help for little or no cost, which I am considering. I think most people that go after a diagnoses are experiancing impairments, not worried about experiancing them in the future but actually currently experiancing them.

And we all know they can be experiencend on and off from minute to minute right?

Last edited by nessa238 on 29 Apr 2012, 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well, I think it'd be pretty hard to find out how many people going for official DXes are really experiencing "impairments" and how many are just going for "self-discovery," which is why I'm largely limiting my observations to what I see here on WP.

In any case, good luck with your appointment. Yes, the U.S. healthcare system is messed-up.

Yeah that could be, and I can kind of see your point I mean it seems like some people think its just a personality type or whatever that doesn't cause anyone problems so I can understand your frustration with that...because I also actually struggle with things and so the idea that its just a personality type and my issues are just due to being too lazy or whatever does bother me as its horribly inaccurate.

I never said people were being lazy - I said they needed to be aware that ALL people struggle with varying difficulties and focusing on the solution rather than the problem is more constructive

You dont need a diagnosis to develop coping strategies - you say 'what is my problem and how can I try and deal with it?'

Well not quite sure what you are implying, but more or less.....I mean I am not constantly in the midst of a panic attack 24/7 I might be my general anxious/depressed self and then all the sudden a panic attack can come on un-expectedly. Or if I hear a sudden loud noise it will freak me out and it can take quite some time for me to recover....there are however some things that are more consistant like I struggle with eye contact in general, I process things more slow in general my sensory issues are pretty consistant. But to put it simply it is true some days are worse than others.

But no its not as though I have symptoms of mental illness/disorders one minute and then not the next.....the severity of the symptoms can vary at times but I am never without symptoms/impairments. I have found some ways to help reduce some of the symptoms but that is about it.

Last edited by Sweetleaf on 29 Apr 2012, 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That was not even directed at you, I was just saying people assume that....if you don't then that is a good thing. But I know all people struggle with varying difficulties, but for one the solutions are not always apparent...not to mention there might not even be a great solution. I do try to figure out what my problems are and how to deal with it or cope with it...for the depression, anxiety and PTSD there isa drug that works quite nicely so the solution is to use it.

Now of course not everyone would agree with that solution......some people might think it's the worst possible solution(even though doctors prescribe people drugs all the time). But its a coping stragedy none the less.

Last edited by Sweetleaf on 29 Apr 2012, 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Which drug is it?

cannabis, so obviously there are a few issues with that considering its legal status.

You're right, not all coping strategies require diagnosis.

What you're wrong about is that some help does require a diagnosis.

I knew about my Asperger's, worked on coping skills with on and off identification with a label for 9 years before I was diagnosed. I was told at age 13 by a professional that I probably had Asperger's, yet she'd not be capable of diagnosing me. Even before that point I'd been developing coping strategies, though that had been a turning point (for other reasons, like swapping me into a school where I dealt with far less bullying).

However those coping skills, all that work, wasn't enough for the situation I ended up in in the past few years. In the past few years things have gotten to the point where I needed professional therapy. We tried me with a few different counselors, and none of them worked at all, one even made things worse because of the assumptions she made about me (which would be true for most NTs). I needed my diagnosis, because my diagnosis is what finally allowed me to see a therapist who can actually help.

I'm still in really bad shape now, and in some ways in worse shape now than when I started this process, but this is finally giving me a method of improvement where I'm actually seeing improvement. Seeing someone who knows about the autistic spectrum, which required a diagnosis, has helped me work on things I need to, and while I don't have many solutions yet, that was professional help was necessary for me to identify some of the internal problems. One of the most recent things I've figured out is through conversations on here, and then work with my therapist, is how the guilt from being dependent on people affects me.

That's one of the things you seem to be overlooking. I don't want to be getting the help I am; I don't want to need the help I'm getting from people. I actually have huge problems with guilt because of needing the help you're accusing me of taking advantage of people to get despite not needing.

There are other things I've gotten that are allowing me to work on things in ways I couldn't have before my diagnosis. The insurance industry has put me in the situation of now that I've gotten a diagnosis they will cover Occupational Therapy for me, which is something that actually could help my severe sensory issues. Reduced fare public transit is the only thing that lets me get to some places that I go in order to work on issues (both with professionals and not), because I'm not employed, despite that being something I'm working on and trying for. My diagnosis has completely changed how my dad interacts with me, into a way that is far more functional and allows me to work on issues around him (because before that point he had been projecting his mental health problems onto me and claiming I was dealing with things I wasn't, and should be medicated for things that I've been evaluated for and don't have.)


You're right, you can absolutely develop coping strategies without a diagnosis, and everyone should do so. But the diagnosis can allow someone far more coping strategies as well as professional help that is really a game changer when it comes to us working on the situations we're in.

Interesting

I tried it once but it didn't suit me