Problem with high functioning autism

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The problem with high functioning autism is that people around you may perceive you as normal but they don't see your invisible disabilities. This may include doctors who may think you are perfectly healthy because you are physically healthy.

I wonder has anyone had any problems with doctors ignoring their diagnosis or ignoring that mild ASC even exists?

When I was a kid I was tested several times to see what problems I had and autism was ruled out every time. Their reasons were I was too friendly, too social, wanted to please adults, too socially developed. But no one could figure out what was wrong with me except I had language. I was surprised as the socially developed comment because as a child I was always rejected and labeled mean and rude and I had a hard time playing with other kids at their house unless we were doing what I wanted to do. I am not sure why I had these issues then. Maybe I was just a very bad child and I had to change and I deserved all the treatment I got and the meanness. Kids also thought I was weird or strange. I remember thinking other kids were nuts for not liking presents or cake or books or toys or anything I liked and I would think they were just teasing because I didn't understand. But this was the early 90's so autism was different then and it's different in girls. Plus I read they have better social skills than boys and are better with social norms and copying them and they tend to be more social and more likely to have friends.

I grew up in the 70s so no one had heard of Asperger's then. I think the psychologists thought that I had Oppositional Defiant Disorder (which I probably did) and maybe ADHD (which I don't think I have). I think you are right, though, when you are high functioning everyone expects you to be normal, and they can't understand why you may not be, and you get judged by normal standards. Heck, I still have the problem of judging myself by normal standards too much. I have only known I had Asperger's for 2 1/2 years, though.

I would disagree with some of this. Asperger's and High Functioning Autism are not the same. The people around me do not perceive me as normal. Someone walking down the street may see me that way, as long as they keep their distance.

They are the same, there WERE some minor differences in the DSM IV but nothing that actually sets them apart, and high functioning autism isnt even a diagnosis

http://autism-help.org/autism-high-functioning-hfa.htm

Differences between aspergers syndrome & high-functioning autism

Although individuals with Asperger's tend to perform better cognitively than those with autism, the extent of the overlap between Asperger's and high-functioning autism is unclear.



A neuropsychological profile has been proposed for Aspergers syndrome; if verified, it could differentiate between Aspergers syndrome and high-functioning autism and aid in differential diagnosis. Relative to high-functioning autism, people with Aspergers syndrome have deficits in nonverbal skills such as visual-spatial problem solving and visual-motor coordination, along with stronger verbal abilities. Several studies have found Aspergers syndrome with a neuropsychologic profile of assets and deficits consistent with a nonverbal learning disability, but several other studies have failed to replicate this. The literature review did not reveal consistent findings of "nonverbal weaknesses or increased spatial or motor problems relative to individuals with high-functioning autism", leading some researchers to argue that increased cognitive ability is evidenced in Aspergers syndrome relative to high-functioning autism regardless of differences in verbal and nonverbal ability.

Unless you are throwing shopping carts around the store when people get to close behind you or going full meltdown when someone touches you, they are not on the same level.

sorry. I find the whole autism thing very confusing now. Especially now that all levels are grouped together under one umbrella. ASC.

I am confused as to what to call myself or tell people. I have ASC. But my IQ is above average (but my spelling is below average...lol). I am in some ways the same as low IQ ASC, but at the same time nothing like them.

I am not sure if the new definition really helps.

Just like to say, my experiences were extremely similar to yours although I wasn't a little girl. But i did grew up being really nice and having too much empathy. I did read of a theory by 2 psychologists that proposed that autistic people did not have a lack of empathy but too much and a lack of skill to express that empathy.
Their theory is called the Intense World Theory.
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/ ... 00224/full
This is what i am like too. And unfortunately for me, has resulted in me going through crap all my life.
I recently was given an adult diagnosis, and I believe my doctor is completely ignoring the diagnosis, thinking that i am making it all up or just trying to pull a fast one.
Instead, he spends most of his time helping heroin addicts who are pulling a fast one, but likely believes every word they say because they are expert manipulators, slanderers, liars, con men and in some case sociopathic.
(please note, i am not attacking heroin addicts per se, but I am writing specifically about the ones that my doctor in particular sees, who I know personally as petty criminals with sadistic tendencies. If you are on heroin, please do not be offended. I wish you well).

No doubt one reason that adults have such a problem with the concept of Aspergers is that many of us get along much, much better with adults, than we do with other children our age. Many of us will recall having very adult conversations with adults, and not being able to talk with our cohort in school at all, or being picked on.

This perceptual trap affects doctors just as much as anyone else. They see a smart, more or less obedient little kid, who can have a very intelligent conversation, often above average for their age, and they wonder, how could this child be on the autistic spectrum?

Many adults think we're ahead of our time, as we appear to be smarter and more engaging with them than other kids. They just don't get that we wouldn't get along with our age group, or be the target of bullies.

I've thought about this analogy for explaining sensory issue to a neurotypical person. (no such thing as 'normal' anyway and how boring a place the world would be if there were! )

Imagine doing your taxes while there's a punk rock band playing 15 feet away. You could probably do it but it would take a lot of energy to concentrate and do it. And at the end, you're probably going to be exhausted.

That would sound a lot like ADHD there. I could relate to that a lot with my attention problems. I also remember the time I couldn't work out a math problem in a elementary school classroom to add up the scores after a game we played because the class was too loud and I couldn't concentrate and I ended up miscounting and got the score wrong to the little kids did it and they were able to do it through the chaos. I wasn't exhausted. It was just very hard trying to do a long math problem because I didn't keep adding up the score to keep it shorter so I wouldn't have to do a lot of adding at the end. But this would be a good analogy to use to to explain attention problems to someone, try doing taxes in a noisy room and see how easy it is.

They said they were ending the old system because Aspergers was too broad and confusing and clinicians were diagnosing Aspergers inconsistently. So to "solve" the problem they put everybody in a broader category. Makes a lot of sense (sarcasm).

They should have done the opposite of what they did and do what they do with most other conditions make more subcategories not less.

Related or not what I have noticed is here on WP is that since the change posters have a more negative view of autism.

At least in the UK it is ASC not like here where it is ASD

Health Professionals haven't ignored my diagnosis but they have voiced their opinions on it on more than one occasion.

Commonly, I will go to a Therapist to discuss issues with socialising (for example) and I will receive a non sympathetic response basically indicating that they see me as a normal person who doesn't possess traits of Aspergers to any great deal.

They are the same thing and were very rarley differatiated even when they co existed, now its just autism spectrum disorder.

I wonder if that has to do with that autism test I took that tells me that I'm basically half autistic and half neurotypical ...