Has this been posted yet? - Asperger's and "Asperger's&

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http://nymag.com/news/features/autism-spectrum-2012-11/

Apologies if it has, I had a look around but couldn't see it.

It's pretty depressing.

No, but it does seem to explain why so many people will self-diagnose.

I do not think that this is in any way restricted to the self-diagnosing crowd.

We have pathologized all manner of behaviours that--truth be told--are not atypical. People identify differences between themselves and the people around them, and then they head to the doctor, with an incoherent demand, "tell me what's wrong with me!" And what's a poor doctor to do? With a mere seven and a half minutes, and a patient who refuses to accept the answer, "There's nothing medically wrong with you," the doctor is left with precious few options.

The best ones will say, "If you're not happy about things, perhaps you should try talking with a counsellor." The worst ones will start writing out a prescription for anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications. But in either case, the patient's bias has been confirmed--"Aha! There is something wrong with me!"

Equally, parents may take the same approach with the diagnosis of their children. But with the even more insidious expectation that diagnosis will open up the doors to extra resources from the school system.

Then we compound these problems with the commercial interests of the health care industry. If we diagnose you, then we can justify treating you. We don't have a drug for Asperger's, but a counsellor or therapist will gladly take $150 an hour to help you with that. Meanwhile, all these comorbid conditions you have are surely worth some time with a psychiatrist and a neurologist.

And this is not limited to ASDs. We see similar patterns of behaviour in all manner of areas.

For my part, I am one of the cases on the margin. I am clinically diagnosed, but I am the first to admit that my presentations are not always clinically significant. I have learned a lot of coping skills that allow me to pursue my career, indulge in my pastimes and maintain my family and social life. Most of the time, I pass as NT. But every so often I hit the wall, and my presentations become significant again. And, of course, as many of us know--even when I pass as NT, I know the act that I am putting on for the benefit of the people around me.

So, am I part of the pathologizing problem? I don't think that I am. But I am willing to ask myself the question--and to keep asking it.

If the truth be known, after my daughter was diagnosed as autistic, I began to see autistic characteristics about myself, especially when I began reading up on autism and Asperger's. So basically, I started out self-diagnosed, got a real diagnosis from the same psychologist who diagnosed my daughter - - and it turns out I was right.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

The article admits that they are real afflictions, but goes on to say that the afflictions are being used as an excuse for bad behavior by folks self diagnosing.

Well.. i guess we are in vogue.

Everybody wants to on the spectrum, so if you really are on the spectrum (have the official dx to prove it) you're chic.

No time for it. If the diagnosis is applied properly it causes no one problems.

People have been doing stuff like this for a long time with other diagnoses too. This isn't new. AS just happens to include a lot of very subtle things that SEEM to the uneducated to include normal human imperfections. Doesn't anyone remember "arm chair psychiatry?" It's been around for decades. Including AS in the arm chair psychologist's handbook of DX abuse was inevitable.

Just because it's being abused by idiots doesn't mean it ought to be ignored.

EDIT: Not that I think that's the point of the article necessary. I didn't read it (thus the "No time for it" remark). A brief scan of it though was enough to know I've already read several articles with the same basic idea. AS is used far too much as an excuse for abhorrent behaviors, but not by properly trained professionals, or those who have bothered to research it enough to truly understand it.

As I brought up in another thread, Autism awareness just isn't where it needs to be yet.