I might not have Asperger's. Do you hate me?

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I'd hafta know ya ta hate ya...

You don't have to be AS to be here; it's welcome to relatives, and partners of all stripes of AS folks. Not to worry...

Yeah.

In part the problem is also that most psychologists (and most people) don't have much idea what autism is.

So they collect a bunch of peripheral features.

Social skills problems are generally a consequence of the interaction of two grossly dissimilar cognitive and perceptual systems.

Most of our deficits as relative to non-autistic people are a consequence of a particular cognitive/perceptual system that's just plain set up differently.

Until they realize these are just outgrowths of something deeper, they won't get it.

And, to the original poster, I think anyone who would hate you for simply not being autistic isn't worth worrying about. But I doubt the psychologist is right, either.

My situation was largely the opposite. My psychologist was convinced that I did have Asperger's, and I disagreed.

crud. it's april fools and I missed it....

For an NT, you do seem to have a lot in common with us, and certainly to spend a lot of time on here. Of course, you know more about yourself than I do, so I won't argue if you think you really are NT.

Yes, if you are NT I absolutely loathe you with every fiber of my being.
Psychologists tend to speak with more authority than they should, and don't know as much as they would like you to think they do. Misdiagnosis is fairly common, and the fact that one psychologist said you're not autistic shouldn't matter. And even if you aren't Aspie, we still like to have some NTs around here- look at Phagocyte, plus plenty of the parents/friends/significant others of Aspies. We tend to be a pretty accepting community.

Not at all... why would we?

Look, sometimes diagnosing oneself... and, in a much more general sense, self-understanding is often a long and complicated process. Like it's been said, one psychologist's opinion (who probably isn't all that informed anyway) isn't going to be definitive in any way, shape or form. On the other hand, you clearly had a strong reason to suspect you were an Aspie... and there are plenty of mental differences that overlap with/are very similar to Asperger's (ADHD, NVLD, etc). But, regardless of your ultimate self-realization - you surely are welcome here.

I know what you mean there. I was also diagnosed by a psychologist (who works with many AS kids and teens) but for a long time I sometimes had doubts that she was actually right. Looking at the diagnostic papers and talking to people about why the people who know me best think I have Asperger's helped alter my thinking, but ultimately the decision to accept or reject the diagnosis is your own. If there were some sort of blood test or truly objective way of diagnosing AS, I'd be less skeptical of the process, but there's not. Introspection and self-evaluation do inevitably play a role here.

In response to the original post, I would not "hate" anyone here if a qualified professional said they were not aspie. If someone receives benefits from this site, then far be it from me to question their right to be here.

Of course not. Only if you bagged people with AS.

I agree with Alex, most psychologists are NOT qualified to diagnose Asperger's Syndrome as I learned. The last psychologist I saw didn't know what aspergers or stims were so I had to educate him a little bit... He finally gave me the diagnosis of having "social phobia" after all I told him (Like that really meant anything since he didn't even know what the hell Aspergers was! PFFFFFF!)

I don't really agree with this. If you are a sensible person and have done enough research you can often make a better self-diagnosis than getting a "professional" diagnosis. After all, that's what psychologists did right? They did some research...

It's a theory that's right on the surface (deficits in visual and audible perceptions), but it kinda falls apart when you have someone with autism who cannot socialize with anyone [out there], whether they're autistic or not (this is if you're talking of people with ASDs being innately different to NTs). Failing to respond to one's name, failing to respond to anyone is grossly dissimilar, and that's why we have this severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction (plus some other things depending on one's particular label). The effect is enough to diagnose, some of the causes are known, and the causes aren't needed to diagnose an individual.

pat666rick,

It's more common for those who have the disorder to not know it until a professional points it out; also, those with AS are quite unique in actually denying they have a "disorder", especially adults (I had this explicitly stated by an ASD specialist).

From my observations of around here, more people end up being wrong than the professionals. Then, I tend to innately trust the opinion of a professional over that of a person.

"Severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction" tends to be misinterpreted a lot, especially how it actually manifests in people.

You mean cobbwebs

Oh, well I guess I just got lucky and discovered aspergers on my own then.

I have had mental health pro's tell me I certainly don't have it while others tell me I obviously do. Does this psychologist work with many people on the spectrum? Do they have much experience with asperger's in particular? I would not overweight their opinion unless asperger's was one of their specialties. Does it really matter to you if you are far enough along the spectrum to actually warrant a diagnosis or is it perhaps helpful to just know you seem to lean in that direction?

I'm not sure i hate anyone even though there are some i should.
Sometimes i think a few NTs would be quite good on here as quite alot of questions are asked like is this an aspie thing.It is very rare that an NT comes on and says this is common for everyone not just aspies,maybe sometimes that would be the answer.