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Asperger's is not always hidden and you cannot assume someone on the forum must have something besides Asperger's just because they're experiencing a more severe form of it.

Assuming someone must have NPD or is "antisocial" and not AS is just as bad as assuming someone who is self diagnosed doesn't have it.

It's true, some who post on WP appear less affected in their posts but it's impossible to assess what it's like for them irl.
It's also easy to conclude, if you have a stronger case of AS than what you think is potrayed in someone's post, they must not have AS and are posting to fit in and have people to chat with. It's a matter of severity. Those with stronger AS traits are going to have a harder time fitting into society, living up to expectations and roles. Those with less intense traits are going to find compromising easier and are not going to notice the AS as much.
At the same time, it's easy to conclude some posting might not have an ASD at all. You can't tell over the internet who has what or what their lives are really like unless they provide other information. You can't tell from a typed post alone.

Well said OAnaO.

I understand your point, Shogun. What you would like is to have a forum for AS people with symptoms and an outlook on them that are similar to yours. You don't appreciate the positive slant on some posts.

Well, I am perhaps one of those you find irritating. I am rather autistic in a number of ways but I don't suffer from anxiety; I don't care what others think of my social deficits; and I have a very muted fight/flight response (I don't get angry or intimidated). The opposite of you, I find the overall tenor of WP forums to be too negative and I don't believe that I suffer from a disorder. I can assure you that it would be pleasant for me, too, to have a forum for autists similar to me. I expect many here feel the same way about their particular brand of AS/autism, but I am not sure that there is a practical way to differentiate between the many different types of autism.

As it is, I purposely refrain from posting on many threads that discuss aspects of AS that don't relate to my condition. I will respect your concerns and not post on threads that you start.

Cheers

I dont think this would be of any advantage to us, sure there may be people who have self diagnosed incorrectly, but most people who self diagnose would have read a great deal of information about aspergers/autism and their involvment is going to do alot more good then harm as being here educates them, and they can educate us.

edit: repeated myself

most of you are missing the point. i am not interested in hearing or reading posts from people who are self-diagnosed, well a certain type of them anyhow. everyone who thinks this condition is 'cool' is self-diagnosed. i want to escape those people. some of you make good points that fakers will just lie anyway. so i guess it doesn't matter. what is happening with AS and also HFA i think, is the same as what happened with ADD and ADHD. it's a disorder with a few GENERAL symptoms that anyone (especially geeky and loner types) can relate to, and a very non-specific DSM. from what i've heard it is IMPOSSIBLE for people with autism or AS to not suffer from anxiety, yet someone in this very thread has claimed it to be true. anyone with any knowledge would know right away that it makes no sense. any level of autism creates anxiety. it is the reason for many of the physical symptoms. to be free of anxiety is to be free of autism. that is fact. and it is people like this who claim to be exceptions to the FACTS that i wish to escape.

I have seen little to no evidence that this is true here on WP. Sure, there are probably a few, but I would say that they are the vast minority. Most people are here, well... for support with life issues. It may often sound like some of us believe that we are cool because we have certain traits, but I think this is being misinterpreted from an often overwhelming sense of relief when we discover that other people in the world have these traits, too.

If you honestly care that much and want to stay here, I would suggest that you simply carry a blacklist of people you don't want to hear from on WP. I believe that Lau explains how to do this on the technical forum.

I might be going for mine soon. But even if I do get it I will never look down on others who cannot afford it/dont have the services/cant be bothered seeing a psychiatrist. It would be ridiculous to do so.

Also, do you count those who have been diagnosed by a podiatrist?

no way. i do not see how a foot doctor could reliably diagnose a condition of the brain. the question itself even seems silly. if people here are getting ASD diagnosis from FOOT DOCTORS then it's even worse than i thought. the podiatrists making these calls should be checked out as well.

Your "formal diagnosis" does not automatically qualify you as an expert....We have covered numerous times on these forums that you can't make blanket statements like that about people on the spectrum or any other group. Where exactly did you hear that? How is it impossible?

I experience anxiety a-plenty myself, but I could certainly perceive how a person might have many autistic traits, but not be severely affected by anxiety...hats off to those people, wherever they are, and I am sure they must exist.

Anywhoo...if you want to find a forum where there is more "formal diagnosis" snobbery, check out the Asperger's forums at www.tribe.net..
Not much activity over there these days, but you might find folks there with a similar viewpoint who are somewhat vehemently against the self-diagnosed...at least that is how I recall the atmosphere to have been...

Ummm......

A formal diagnosis is expensive and hard to come by for many people...It wouldn't be fair to discriminate. This is a diverse forum, not a country club.

Also...what is wrong with some people thinking that there are "cool" things about having one's brain wired differently? One m.o. of WP is certainly empowerment.

okey doke...my 2cents...

I do not have a formal diagnosis, by the way...just the verbal opinion of an AS specialist and a psychiatrist....but I do not think I could have lived my whole life without the symptoms I have and could have allowed myself to become so completely addicted to an autism message board if there weren't things on here that I could relate to.
I do not claim to know exactly what my diagnosis would be if I were to finally get one...and I don't have the resources to do that.

That is unfair prejudice towards podiatrists.

how is it?

Hmm... I've somewhat started to doubt that the OP is diagnosed.

(:P)

I was diagnosed once by a teenage girl at the video store.

She had a friend with AS, which made her more experienced than the 4 psychs who told me they'd never seen an adult with AS before. She was a lot cheaper than them, too.

re: anxiety

Some have overcome their anxiety through therapy.
Some have it controlled through medication.
Some no longer put themselves in situations that make them anxious.

I do OK with meds and after therapy but still, if you want to see anxious-put me in a large party.
Once I literally ran away.

ShogunSalute, I dont know if Im among those missing the point as I never take part in discussions usually...
If I didnt have a formal diagnosis I wouldnt dare entering this thread beeing affraid I would be told to piss off

But according to your later posts, it appear to me that you might have anxiety towards certain people with certain opinions rather than the presense of their formal diagnosis....

edit:
and all this discussion have turned out way to complicated for the presence of me
*runs off and hide*

Last edited by xalepax on 21 Sep 2009, 7:06 am, edited 1 time in total.