Heather Kuzmich does NOT have Asperger's (misdiangosed)

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The older people get, especially into their 20's and 30's, a lot of people learn to sort of absorb their own odd behaviors into their broader behavioral patterns, make their pauses or stops 'look' like something an NT would do, and its because of this that someone watching a video of them might conclude that they don't have AS. Obviously that's exactly the point, no one wants people to think their weak, feeble, or stupid, and generally preventing that takes hiding all signs of a disability as best you can.

Being very attractive does not automatically disqualify you from not being anywhere on the autistic spectrum. There are some very attractive girls out there on the spectrum. Some people

In Heather's case, I do notice a bit of autism in her. Am I not on the spectrum because I am a member of my college's student government (where I on fairly frequent make a slight fool of myself while doing a good job), have a girlfriend and stay an active member of the student body?

Just throwing out some things here for discussion.

here's the way I see it. Like there are many degrees of severity to Autism, Asperger's can also have different levels of severity. I myself can pass for what some may call "normal" and have the drive to function in a so-called normal enviroment. This is just the way I see Heather. The reason I think she didn't make it all the way through the top model competition (when she was on) was probably because of all the chaos that went with the show and challenges and what not.
You see, in order for some aspies to function we need a calm enviroment and that reality show world that she was in was a far cry from it. I'm sure it was nice but when the cameras were off and the doors were closed, I'm sure she just wanted to be left alone to just chill so she wouldn't accidently meltdown on camera the next day (i don't really pay much attention to Top model, Heather was featured in an old video of mine that's no longer on youtube. So, I thought I'd give my input)
Another reason is because of her gender. I know it sounds weird. But many sources I have researched say that female aspies are better at masking Asperger's than males.

Yes I completely agree with you. Sometimes the fact that people can enjoy doing things like that makes me despair.

The analysis of this person's symptoms which was posted has so many errors in it too which anyone experienced with aspergers would know aren't necessarily true.

I have aspergers and have learned to do many things by conscious thought which NTs can pick up quite effortlessly. Over time I've put together routines which I do to make points non verbally because through hard work I've come to know what they mean. It's tiring but I can do it.

To have that mistaken for a lack of difficulty by someone who purports to understand the syndrome is insulting somehow. It's taking away from my hard won personal accomplishments and those of many of the people on this forum.

And now you all know how ridiculous it is to diagnose someone based on TV appearances.

I find the mostly hostile reaction this article has received here interesting. Why the cognitive dissonance? Really, what is the worst outcome that could arise if this guy is right? What, that some of us may just be the victims of a misinformed psychiatric industry that has been misdiagnosing people at a high rate? That Asperger's Syndrome is really a severe, debilitating disorder and you do not in fact have a severe, debilitating disorder? That's good news. Would that be so bad? The only problems I could see happening are if you went around telling everyone and now have to make an about face, or if you based your entire identity around "Aspie Pride".

oh my god, I love you.

please marry me.

For me it's because he's spreading false information about aspergers, that it always presents in a very very specific way and anyone who appears different to that really doesn't have aspergers. Whereas we know it's a spectrum and some people will present some of the characteristics, while they may learn to disguise others.

I have no idea if the lady in question has aspergers or not as I don't know of her, but I think innacurate information should always be pointed out.

I not find the claims of this psychologist far too extreme but also contradictory to empirical evidence observed in the behaviour of aspies and especially aspie women.

Let us look simply at the number of people diagnosed with aspergers as adults and especially women diagnosed as adults, myself being one of them.

I find it highly improbable that so many people could live into their twenties or thirties, displaying the severity of the symptoms this psychologist describes, and not have been diagnosed as young children. These are people who have gone through the school system, acquired jobs, married, had children; all before they were diagnosed. If the psychologist's claim is correct, then must we not conclude that most, if not all, of these individuals have also been misdiagnosed?

Female aspies, it has been noted, are especially difficult to spot since we learn so well to blend in and imitate. We may pass ourselves off as simply shy or quirky. This is why AS is a "hidden disability," which it would not be if one could immediately spot an aspie by observing some brief reality footage.

A woman of Heather's age would have had more than ample time to learn appropriate behaviours, social reactions, non-verbal signals and idioms. By proposing that she would not be capable of this is to me a claim not that she was misdiagnosed, but that aspies are stupid and live under rocks.

It is difficult sometimes to interpret facial expressions, but to suggest that aspies cannot see a facial expression is to claim that aspies are blind. The nuances of emotion may escape me, but I can certainly distinguish a face that is sad because it is crying, a face that is distorted by anger, a face that is joyful and smiling. Similarly, underhanded insults may go unnoticed or leaving me confused, but I would certainly have the intelligence to recognize the social taboo in the old example of the aspie saying to a woman that, yes, she does look fat in that dress. This is because I have learned that, as a rule, one does not say such a thing no matter how true it is. What is not intuitive may be learned by rote.

It seems unlikely that an adult aspie could have lived his or her entire life without hearing the expression, "dead eyes," and without using intellect to learn that it does not mean "blind eyes." New expressions may stump, but old ones such as this one are easy by now. I am an artist and always start with the eyes, but when I say that the eyes look alive, it means that they look real, something I observe using my vision. If I say they look dead it is probably because the picture is flat, two dimensional, and not executed to realistically depict the eyes of a live person. It is important not to project the connotations commonly associated with expressions onto the words of an aspie, because the intention and meaning may not be the same.

Finally, to suggest that a person correctly diagnosed with AS is incapable of Heather's achievements is a huge discredit to the autistic community. We are a vibrant, diverse, talented, and determined group of people. As someone commented before, why not erase Temple Grandin's name from the ASD list? After all, no autistic person could ever earn a doctorate, write books, address crowds of people, and follow her passions with such determination.

And that is an example of aspie sarcasm.

I watched the Youtube video and she seems like an acceptable Aspergers diagnosis.

I see no reason for her not to have it.

Yet i dont think we can diagnose anyone based on a bit of TV. Nor can any serious doctor claim to un-diagnose anyone based on the same.

I know selfmade, wealthy people with AS. Models too. I can do anything she did on this show, socially, and im totally AS.

What if your self interest is to fit in? Yeah I totally disagree with this doctor guy. It is possible to become comfortable going on stage and being in front of camera. It only takes some mental preparation.

This doctor's article is absolutely absurd. To imply that nobody with Asperger's is capable of understand art, emotions or anything remotely conceptual is downright ignorant. Asperger's affects everyone differently. There is no formula that can predict exactly what an Aspie will or won't be able to comprehend (like "dead eyes" is an idiom, so therefore anyone who understands what that means obviously doesn't have Asperger's). An Aspie may have difficulty directly identifying with emotions and recognizing emotional nuances in a social situation but that doesn't mean that they can't recognize the emotional nuances at all. It makes perfect sense that Heather would have no trouble noticing facial expressions within the context of her art.

The fact that this doctor is saying that Heather doesn't seem to have "any impairment" shows that obviously (s)he didn't follow the show very closely. The fact that Heather was barely capable of speaking in a Covergirl ad despite having a guy there feeding her the words line by line shows that she clearly has considerable executive functioning challenges.

Also, just because Heather doesn't have trouble making eye contact and recognizing non-verbal cues now doesn't mean that she never did at any point in her life. As a child, Temple Grandin was an undeniable autistic but if you look at her today she is perfectly capable of coming across as normal in a conversation. This "doctor" says that learning things like eye contact are as difficult for an Aspie as learning to drive a car and they have to consciously think about it, but after lots of practice and experience, driving becomes second nature, right? How can they know that Heather didn't struggle with many autistic issues as a child and has since made progress? For anyone to claim that no person with Asperger's is capable of making improvements is, as one poster said above, a huge discredit to the autistic community.

Last edited by EternalSunshine on 20 Apr 2011, 1:18 am, edited 5 times in total.

Not this f*cking BS again about anyone who doesn't look like crap or is successful not having aspergers.

I watched a couple interviews with Heather on youtube... you definitely cannot judge anything from a tv show. At least in an interview, you get more of a sense of the 'real' person. In the interview she walked into it with a flat face, eyes intense and focused elsewhere - as soon as the interviewer addressed her, she switched 'on' with a very obvious jolt. She made extremely fleeting eye contact through the interview, glancing all over between brief, and probably off target eye contacts. She answered the questions but there were obvious and distinct pauses in her replies, a few times looking up (as if rehearsing the reply first or maybe, digging into the 'stock answer' file for her response) from what I saw, I saw a beautiful girl that acts extremely well.

That so called doctors opinion is useless. Who makes a dx from a tv show? The most laughable - his assertion that all Aspies are incapable of anything but literal language. Children may take language literally. Those much more affected may struggle with it as well. This man's opinion seems to be that there is no spectrum on the autistic spectrum... All autistics must display the most outward and obvious clinical definitions in order to fit his mold. I feel bad for all the people this man is going to crush with his attitude.

I really think people, in general, are terrified to learn that Aspie's are an integral part of society. That there ARE alot of us. That all the bias and bigotry those with As have been subjected to reaches into everyone's life. Laughing at the geeky kid in the computer club isn't just bullying anymore, it's discrimination against the 'disabled'. (I severely question this label in some cases...) It forces people to think twice before 'picking' on someone. People do not like to be told that they are wrong and acknowledging Asperger's as a wide spread, almsot common, personality difference is as good as a mass cultural slap on the wrist. It's too big of a change in assumptions and thinking for most people to wrap their brains around. Denial is on of the first symptoms.

Who is it that has trouble with change, again? All those freaks, losers, geeks, and spazzes now have a single common unifying banner. It's 'Revenge of the Nerds' on a terrifying scale... I don't blame them for being nervous.

This is one of my pet peeves... using "diagnosis" to mean the disorder named by the diagnosis.

If you've been diagnosed with Asperger's (and the diagnosis hasn't been retracted) then you have the diagnosis, whether or not you really have the traits. Even if it's a misdiagnosis, you still have the diagnosis.

Last edited by Mysty on 22 Apr 2011, 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.