Is Asperger's overdiagnosed or underdiagnosed?

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This is weird. I see people claiming that AS is overdiagnosed, but I see others saying that AS is underdiagnosed. But most experts say that it's nor overdiagnosed neither underdiagnosed.
Personally, I think that it's overdiagnosed. I have my reasons to think so: I saw people that claimed to have AS and were much more better than me: they looked very outgoing, had no obsessions that absorbed all their time like happens to me most of the times and the "condition" didn't seem to have a negative impact on their lives after all. My mother thinks the same: she saw people claiming to have AS that, according to her, neither showed enough AS symptoms to make a diagnosis. I can trust my mother because she's quite an expert about autism. And after all, I don't think AS is common. I met just very few people with AS in all my life (they were 4 or 5). I don't exactly know if it's me being a bit more low-functioning than those people or just AS being overdiagnosed. Please note that this doesn't mean I am discussing the diagnosis on people of this forum.
What do you think about this?

How would I know? I'm not a professional. Didn't answer the poll.

What country are you refering to? From what I heard of our UK and Canadian members, the DX rates are low.

While I doubt the 1 in 33 number thrown up by one study (at least by DSM-IV standards), I think the adult rate in the US is extremely low. That said, the social implications of running adult DXes on a major scale are complex at best.

I agree with the academic community that AS probably is neither over- nor underdiagnosed. I think that ASDs are being overdiagnosed in the < 18 community, but I think that ASDs are underdiagnosed in those > 18. And thus, the amount of diagnoses balances out in these two groups.

Every country of the world in general.

While it may be true that some people who get a diagnosis may not seem like they fit it I think there are also people who do fit it but aren't diagnosed.

For example, while I wouldn't say I have an ASD definitively without a diagnosis, I do not have a dx, and many people have asked me if I'm autistic, or aspergeric (depending on what mood I was in actually - because when I'm very stressed I stimm like mad, and rock, and lose my voice, so I seem 'low functioning', but if I'm in a situation I'm comfortable in I'll monologue about my special interest until people leave the room.).

My mother has read the diagnostic criteria for both, and I've given her explanations of the different parts of the criteria, shown her video examples of some of the behaviours and professionals talking about them. She is very certain that I fit the criteria for Autism/Aspergers.

Without getting into questions of functioning level, my oddness is not easy to miss. I know two people diagnosed (although only recently, and only because they sought out the diagnosis) who are so obviously on the spectrum I cannot understand how they were not diagnosed in childhood.

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I think the assumption that if someone under the age of 23-ish wasn't diagnosed in childhood, they either don't have it, or have it mildly is rather dangerous.

Because, using the examples of my self and my two friends(ish) who are diagnosed, we all had negative home environments with parents who either didn't have to the time to, or the inclination to get our diagnosis. But that doesn't mean we didn't need them, or couldn't benefit from them.

So, maybe it's somewhere in the middle, some people who needn't be caught by the ASD net our, and some people are missed when they shouldn't be.

Well, it must be taken into consideration that the "autism spectrum" is widely a construct of developed countries. While ASDs are found the world over, in all walks of life, developing countries don't use "diagnoses" nearly as much. So, really, as far as diagnosis rates go, rather than ASD epidemiology/prevalence rates in general, cultural differences have to be factored into the equation.

Not really.

Prototypical Asperger's is hard to misdiagnose (all absorbing interest and one-sided verbose approach to socializing).

There's lot of people getting PDD-NOS because they have severe social deficits and repetitive behaviors or communication problems (one or the other) -- that's just showing that most tend to have bits and pieces (PDD-NOS is the most common ASD after all, then AD, and with AS at the least common).

There's lots of self-diagnoses on the 'net though which makes it seem like there's a lot.

Really, I only know one other person in person with a diagnosed ASD, and that's my nephew (out of observing hundreds of people in school and whatnot).

Last edited by Dillogic on 04 Jan 2013, 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Is it over- or under-diagnosed?

Yes.

It's surely diagnosed in people who are simply socially awkward but not autistic, especially children whose parents want a simple explanation or excuse for their behavior.

It's absolutely underdiagnosed in other groups, especially girls/women and anyone who grew up before asperger syndrome was classified and there was little information on any kind of autism at all.

The younger you are, the more likely you are to have a diagnosis. You're also more likely to be diagnosed even if you don't have it. So it is both over- and under-diagnosed, and there's no way to tell which happens more often.

I think it's under-diagnosed. Look at all the people on Wrong Planet whose profile is set to "have asperger's - undiagnosed"

I'm curious how you'd know this? For various reasons, I keep my obsessions quiet. They do adsorb all my time; but no-one knows that.

I used to know at least one person who claims he has Aspergers. I don't see how at all. He doesn't come across as socially awkward, etc.

As for the question - I'm not sure. I did used to know someone who claimed it is overdiagnosed. My parents once told me that when they were children (1060s) people with conditions such as Autism were put in institutions. And I'm sure many were diagnosed with other conditions; such as depression.

I find it unlikely that false positive DXs are being issued for "socially awkward" behavior, ASDs are by no means a simple explanation. If that was the case, we'd hear more incidents of people's DXs being challenged years later, mainly for military applications.

Department of Defense would be the most likely "finder" of false DXs when they reject some with a DX, and that person fights for a waiver, and I hav'nt heard them complaining about it lately.

I believe that it is under-diagnosed. Mainly in women. I believe a much higher percentage of males are getting diagnosed because clinicians are far more ready with outdated views, to believe that it is more a male condition.

Once they finally wake up and smell the coffee, there will be a lot more females getting diagnosed.

Perhaps Alex, you could make this a mission on behalf of your Aspie sisters being that you are in the public eye?

Because other kids I met that looked more like having the "true" AS always talked about their interests and went on and on about it. I do the same.

Good idea.

I agree, though I do wish to clarify that I do not think that these misdiagnosed individuals are neccesarily NT, I think that ASD is not the most accurate categorization for them and that these indiviudals will better accomodated by diagnoses such as SCD. This is why I believe that the unification of Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s and PDD-NOS into a single diagnosis is a positive development. Of course there will always be room for improvement.