The Aspie Poseur

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It has recently come to my attention that many in the aspie community do not have Asperger's at all but are just faking it. The core symptoms identified when diagnosing Asperger's syndrome are a particular set of social deficits (lack of social/emotional reciprocity, poor nonverbal communication including eye contact, lack of developmentally appropriate relationships, etc.), preference for familiarity or routine (stimming, rigid adherence to schedule), and singularity of focus (unusual or narrow interests, perseveration of interest). Just feeling a bit different or misunderstood is hardly specific to this condition.

In this day and age, it is common for adolescents to go through what social and personality psychologists term an "identity crisis." Teens pick a stock identity off MTV, Hot Topic, BET, or Scientific American Monthly (if they be so daring)—a few bust out their copy of the DSM and pick a psychiatric condition that seems to fit their idiosyncrasies. Thus the teeny bopper alternative punk rocker tie-dyed green hair self-diagnosed neo-aspie is born. These people are trend followers; they listen to punk, grunge, emo, or metal and want to belong to an angsty subculture. To them, we aspies are such a subculture.

My idea is controversial, but I believe it has some merit. It covers only a portion of self-diagnosed aspies, and I am not naming any names.

This is often true.

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Yes, I am 14.

oh, so that means the only cure is in the Poseur. . .



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What ever floats their boats. But I don't understand how it would be cool to have AS. It did the complete opposite for me socially.

I've noticed the same thing, but my integrity lets my mouth shoot off and gets me in a slug fest on these boards often, as I will outright call fakers out in a heartbeat without a moment's hesitation. This often creates a flame war of potential fakers rallying against me.

Of coarse I might just be too blunt and honest for my own good

But it's a problem because we have false aspies representing aspies, throwing their voices in with ours, when it was never rightly THEIR voice to begin with in these matters dealing with autism/AS.

How can you tell if someone is faking AS from what they've written? I'm just curious. I, myself, have a DX, so I am not worried about being outed as a "poseur," but I am like Sherlock Holmes, I guess, and just have to figure out the puzzle. So if you can tell from writing if someone is faking, then will you tell me how you do it? I want this skill, too. It would be kind of fun, like a secret code. But then again, I am kind of weird...

I agree with you, NeantHumain.

I'm autodiagnosed, but I'm really sure I have AS. I only need a professional diagnosis as a proof for my parents.

I didn't know anything about AS before my autodiagnosis. When I read on Wikipedia the AS article, I couldn't believe I had a "disorder". Then I continue reading mor articles and webpages about AS, trying to take this theory out of my mind. Nevertheless, while I read more, I was more convinced I was an aspie. Next step was telling my family about my AS, it takes me a month for doing this.

In a certain form, AS help me understand I'm human after all (sometimes I thought I was "something more" inside a human body, because of my obvious differences). It makes me more confident and now I know I really fit, there is "a place" for me.

Mi sister confessed me months ago, when she was 13 (I was 15), she copied my appparent coldness, shyness, and she tried having my way of thinking (in only a word: my "aspieness"); time passed, she matured, and now she is very talkative, extrovert and easygoing. It's something rare, but I think she admired me because I'm the older sister.

This experience makes me think this: She was a teenager when she copied my aspieness, when she matured, she found herself, her true personality. Same happens to other people, specially teenagers, they only need time for maturing.

You can see the left bar of this site, at this moment WP has 9750 members. A great number of this members is almost all time offline. Maybe they create an account because they believe they have an ASD, they only post less than 20 posts in less than a month, and when they don't fit in this "social group", they leave their account.

Yeah, I can see what you're saying...
I learned about AS I think during this February or January while I was searching the web for autism because I was so frustrated with my social situation...and for a long time I was convinced that I stood somewhere in the autistic spectrum...somewhere in between severely autistic people and NTs...
When I first read about AS in the web, so many things clicked and it explained a lot of things in my life...that's how I ended up in WP....

I don't have an official diagnosis but I am willing to accept either a positive or negative DX...
I'm learning about myself and about AS and autism......I don't have any intention to be a poseur...also I do not pretend anything when I post here...
If I'm not an aspie, probably I belong to another autistic syndrome that doesn't have a name yet...or I haven't found out about it yet...

But the thing is I can relate to people here much better and I guess that's very meaningful to me...

I have an official DX and here's my two-cents.

I don't care. Everyone needs a group to fit in with. Maybe their not aspie in blood but they are aspie in spirit, that's all that matters to me. That they feel like they are one of us.

I agree, but it comes with the broad symptoms. I mean how many people have ever felt totally confident in social situations all the time, dont always maintain healthy eye contact, and feel they didn't explain themselves well, a sh*t ton.

I think that the normally shy and super self conscious(emo's ) people(often just a phase) might feel that it explains them perfectly and use it as an explanation.....tadah, its my AS. But i think what these people fail to recognize is that these are outcomes of the real issue, being on the autistic spectrum. Because of a few mental disabilities, these people have resulted in having poor social skills and continue to struggle throughout trying to catchup to everyone else. I think this is why many "NTs" dont like the title, because many feel it to be a copout to -pretty much everyone elses -struggle as well.

hooo..geee.

um..

I still list myself as "not sure whether or not I have it" It crossed my mind to post a thread about the ways in which I do not fit the criteria of being an Aspie...but it seems all aspies are different and some don't have the traits that others have and whatnot.....it is nice to belong to a group..As a teenager, when i found out about ADD..after suffering with developmenatal difficuties for the vast majority of my life, I was so happy to find a group of people who were like me (once I joined ADD message boards..having never before heard of Aspergers till I was 30)...ANyway..um...

It still may be that I do not have Aspergers..I don;t want to be a wannabe..But concidering all the difficulties I have had in school and with social interractions in general..and the way I stood out among my peers so long as such an oddball--- weirder-than-the-weirdos-without-ever-trying..and not in a "cool' way ..except to a small handfull of eccentric folk who managed to adopt me as a friend over time...blah blah blah...

um...

my point is...

hopefuly my point is made..

maybe one day I will be able to see a real doctor who is not trying to take advantage of their patients..who can truely tell me what they think of me..but that is hard to come by..especially when you are not oozing with money to pay for such a thing..If I am ever able to come across a doctor..then i will surely report back to you folks as to whether or not they think I have it.
But I assure you folks i promise not to lie about any of my "symptoms"...things I go through.