How and why asd is misdiagnosed

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https://www.mhfmjournal.com/open-access ... tment-.pdf

There is the assumption that people who have "esoteric" and obsessive interests, and have "poor social skills" are automatically "Aspie."

I believe there are people out there who are between normal and different. They would be considered a "difficult child" or a "difficult person" because they are not significant enough to have a disorder but yet they have enough for it to be a problem.

This looks like a good read , thanks firemonkey

This is very accurate statement. I also learned that if you think different than others you get a label.

While I believe I'm more ADHD than aspie one day I hope aspie can not be a negative label

There is the assumption that people who have "esoteric" and obsessive interests, and have "poor social skills" are automatically "Aspie."
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some of the characteristics of autism overlap with the ones of schizophrenia. except schizophrenia is a mental illness and autism is a developmental disability.

some articles claim that a long time ago. autism was called "childhood schizophrenia."

This is a really helpful read.

@League Girl: And there are Aspies who are not difficult at all.

That flo chart has at least some truth to it. I've been treated like s**t due to being different and to being autistic and that made me depressed and anxious and what was maybe even what made me bipolar.

You don't need to have an autism diagnosis to be treated different. I was treated different long before the diagnoses and my husband was treated different too and he doesn't even have autism. All you need is to be different and kids can pick up on it so they treat you different for it and the adults too. My husband also got excluded from classes because he was in special ed and he had to fight to take one of them. My school tried to limit my career choices in high school and I realize this might have still happened without the AS diagnoses because the same happened to my husband too. They see your disability (even if it doesn't have a name or if they don't know what you have) and assume you won't be able to do it.

"Difficult" is just a word some professionals use on a child who is more challenging than most kids but they don't have a disorder. A kid is hyper and impulsive but he doesn't have ADHD or a kid has tactile issues and has texture issues with food but they don't have sensory processing disorder, they are just sensitive, or a kid has problems with social skills and understanding things and reading social cues and body language and they also are sensitive to touch and smell and have problems with change and transitions but yet they are not autistic. But if a kid has a disorder, they are not difficult.

I think parents can use similar words about their offspring. I come from a generation where if you were fairly intelligent it was hardly ever considered you might have a disorder of some sort. I have thus never been diagnosed with anything other than a mental illness but probably if a child nowadays would have fitted ASD/NVLD, dysgraphia,dyspraxia , directional dyslexia and learning difficulties .


My mother frequently used to call me an awkward baby,toddler,child,teenager etc.

The nearest I got to the recognition of any issues was a school in Bangkok suggesting I might have what we now call cerebral palsy. I was tested and the results came up negative. No other avenue pursued.

Then at prep school;my headmaster described me to the public school headmaster as being poorly coordinated with difficulty with drawing and writing.

Public school records described me as messy and disorganised. No one though bothered to see if there was any actual disorder/problem.

At public school I was subjected to a lot of verbal bullying. Why? Because I was different-physically and socially awkward. I was introverted and shy whereas many of the boys were extroverted and boisterous, It didn't help my status amongst my peers that I was poor at sports.


During my first admission at a psych hospital I was told I was being sent to make doll's houses. I freaked out because I have very poor constructional abilities. I went into extreme avoidant mode and tried to walk in front of a hospital bus . I was summoned to see one of the pdocs. There was no attempt to find out why I had reacted as I did. Instead I was branded an awkward and troublesome teenager.

Fast forward 25 odd years and I'm asking for more help and support, and getting frustrated because I am getting nowhere. You've guessed it. Branded awkward,demanding and troublesome.

Meanwhile no help for the issues as they are just not being recognised. There was mention of very poor social skills
a couple of years ago but as for ever having any help and support for it............

Social skills training might be recognised in psych circles in the US ,but in the UK it's virtually ignored.

Having obsessive esoteric interests and poor social skills is pretty much the definition of aspergers. So why not make that assumption?

25 years ago autism wasn't something on the list of things most people could be diagnosed with.

If you are lucky, an adult in the USA may be able to get into a jobs training program, such as Roses for Autism, a private venture started because a farmer wanted his son to be able to get a job. It can tap into funding sources because it can get people off the dole.

Mental disability issues in Connecticut become "cured" when you become adult, programs for children are only for children.

League Girl,

I believe that could have described me. I was socially awkward, obsessed with certain topics and really didn't cultivate friendships growing up, preferring to concentrate on reading and studies. My AQ score was 28, putting me in between NT and AS.

That's like my life f***ing story right there....

me too