IT'S OFFICIAL: No More Aspergers

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If a famous person, said, no, actually I'm middle functioning, there's a lot of things I'm not good at, I think that would do a lot of good.

Coming from the other direction, Chris Murray might be a person who (erroneously) could be considered low functioning, but who's actually squarely middle functioning. The subject of a documentary by his brother, Chris has two jobs and lives independently in an apartment, and he has his artwork. Chris's mother is supportive and pretty alright. (his father, now deceased, sounds like he was really pretty awful) And his family has some money. And that helps, for my guess would be that the two jobs do not support Chris's apartment.
http://inheavenmovie.com/

And without a modest amount of help, Chris is the kind of person who could end up in really awful institution, and that doesn't need to happen.

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Must meet criteria A, B, C, and D:

A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts, not accounted for by general developmental delays, and manifest by all 3 of the following:
1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity; ranging from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back and forth conversation through reduced sharing of interests, emotions, and affect and response to total lack of initiation of social interaction,
2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction; ranging from poorly integrated- verbal and nonverbal communication, through abnormalities in eye contact and body-language, or deficits in understanding and use of nonverbal communication, to total lack of facial expression or gestures.
3. Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships, appropriate to developmental level (beyond those with caregivers); ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit different social contexts through difficulties in sharing imaginative play and in making friends to an apparent absence of interest in people

B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least two of the following:
1. Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects; (such as simple motor stereotypies, echolalia, repetitive use of objects, or idiosyncratic phrases).
2. Excessive adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, or excessive resistance to change; (such as motoric rituals, insistence on same route or food, repetitive questioning or extreme distress at small changes).
3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus; (such as strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).
4. Hyper-or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment; (such as apparent indifference to pain/heat/cold, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, fascination with lights or spinning objects).

C. Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities)

D. Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.

........................................


I still fit ALL of this criteria. I am not losing my diagnoses.

Sorry I'm a child of the 80's the it was a trait or symptom

ADD is now a concomitant disorder. Generally speaking a big part of Aspergers, and usually the part seen at school.
My teachers said I had ADD and my brother ADHD, They ordered a complete physco-evaluation through the school in 1979.
They labeled us with a form of Autism. Of which the state of NY deemed we were gifted not disabled. So we did not receive an education.

Right now today 2012, My son is facing the same situation, in the very same school district. They refuse to evaluate him under IDEA
so obviously we are. I am not misinformed, but instead sick of insurance companies and government institutions changing things to wiggle out of teaching these kids. It's the children that benefit from these labels, They deserve an education. They deserve to understand themselves.

By giving teachers a name to describe these traits and allowing them to keep the term for school use would help develop a system to catch these kids. I am saying the system is did not work for us then and is not working for my son now.
School is just a great place for him to add to his ever growing pencil collection (you've heard of loving lampposts he's loving pencils)

I haven't seen any one of those patterns we've found that

a) is only for people diagnosed with Asperger's
and
b) fits everyone diagnosed with Asperger's

There are different subtypes. The diagnostic splits we were using weren't meaningful splits though.

We should pay attention to those patterns, but saying "look this is what Aspies are like" when its either ignoring the people with other diagnoses or forcing people with the Asperger's diagnosis into being something they aren't because that's "What Aspies Are Like" (which happened to me by professionals on multiple occasions) is a problem.

Many people with Aspergers/Autism do NOT meet the definition of ADHD/ADD. I went through extensive testing for ADHD and I simply do not have ADHD, but I clearly have Aspergers.

I have been tested on attention, which I score will in normal ranges. I have also been tested on executive function, again I score normal range. These problems are NOT part of any requirement for Aspegers/Autism and many people with Aspergers/Autism do not have problems in these areas.

I worry about my parents dying a lot, too. I know this is off topic. Just wondering if others worry about that, too.

Studies have found percentages ranging from 30% to 75% of the autistic people in their study meeting the criteria for ADHD, which means there's no conclusive number, but it is understood to be a very common comorbidity.



I'm not sure what your point is. Many autistic people do have executive function difficulties and may not meet the criteria for ADHD. Many others do have executive function difficulties and do meet the criteria for ADHD.

I just felt that some people seem to think ALL people with ASD have to have these problems, and just wanted to point out that there are many people with ASD who do not.

Man, what a DIS-SERVICE to all of us diagnosed....now we are just all "Autistic" and/or have DMDD.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/ ... l-17856914

Some Moron just waved a wand & POOF we are all different...of course, the DSM re-write isn't out until May of next year.

CyborgUprising said: Perhaps the most moronic thing mentioned was the whole Gender Identity Disorder being changed into Gender Dysphoria. Last time I checked, feeling as if you're the wrong gender isn't a "mental illness" at all. Is having polydactyly a "mental disorder" too? There is the distinct possibility that nature simply effed up when some people were developing in utero and a person is born with the brain of a male but the body of a female.

On a related note: generalizing autism is like generalizing cancer. Doing so would neglect to acknowledge the differences between the forms of the disease and treatment would no longer be as effective (liver cancer differs genetically from breast cancer and thus would require an entirely different course of action). Neglecting the differences between the forms of autism on the spectrum would likewise result in ineffective means of meeting the needs of individuals on the spectrum(hopefully it doesn't get too generalized, where LFA and HFA are treated in the same manner).

I just felt that some people seem to think ALL people with ASD have to have these problems, and just wanted to point out that there are many people with ASD who do not.

You're both right. Most of us recognize all points mentioned. Not that many people need to be alerted to these facts.

Many of us have ADHD, and many do not. Those of us who do not probably shouldn't be dismissive of those who do, but those of us who do also need to recognize that some of us do not have the same problems we do.