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Most people on this forum don't have Asperger's Syndrome

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iliketrees
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09 Sep 2015, 5:31 pm

I just hate when anything I posted on gets bumped as seeing my old posts embarrasses me. I was 15 when I joined and really new to the subject and had no idea what I was saying. I wonder if anyone else feels that way so I always feel bad when an old thread is bumped back up.



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09 Sep 2015, 11:15 pm

iliketrees wrote:
I just hate when anything I posted on gets bumped as seeing my old posts embarrasses me. I was 15 when I joined and really new to the subject and had no idea what I was saying. I wonder if anyone else feels that way so I always feel bad when an old thread is bumped back up.



I had that happen to me once. Back in 2007 I was questioning my own Asperger diagnoses and letting myself get crazy over it because I had let myself listened to my ex boyfriend as if he was the expert on the subject and had let him convince me I was worst off. Then that thread got bumped on another forum so it was humiliating to see it so I asked for it to be locked.


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10 Sep 2015, 3:26 am

Mw99 wrote:
It is true that Asperger's Syndrome causes social awkwardness, but to assume that a socially awkward person has a high likelihood of having Asperger' Syndrome --just because he or she is socially awkward-- is ridiculous. It might sound hard to believe, but the first thought that comes into a lot of people's minds when they hear the words "socially awkward" is "Asperger's Syndrome."

Here's a brief list of conditions that also cause social awkwardness:

Low intelligence.
High intelligence.
Immaturity.
Attitude.
Schizophrenia.
Personality Disorders.
ADD/ADHD.

Of course, almost noone wants to attribute their social problems to a psychiatric disorder, low intelligence or a flaw of character; so it's not suprising that when an Oprah/Dr.Phil-educated armchair psychologist labels them Aspergeans, and reassures them that their problem is not a problem, but just a variation in the way they interpret the world, they feel ennobled and redeemed; the blame for their faults swiftly shifts from their own selves towards an abstraction.

The truth is that Asperger's Syndrome is just another fad, like depression and ADD/ADHD. In fact, most people who think they have Asperger's Syndrome probably don't have it, because self-awareness is pretty much inconsistent with the nature of Asperger's Syndrome. Do you feel empathy towards other "aspies" on this forum? Most likely, that means you don't have Asperger's Syndrome. Aspergeans are known for lacking empathy, and saying that an Aspergean feels empathy is almost as ludicrous as saying that a narcissist has low self-esteem; that's just not the way these labels were defined.

For those reasons, I think most people on this forum don't have Asperger's Syndrome.


Get out. Troll. I did not choose to be diagnosed. You clearly know nothing about autism.


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ASS-P
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10 Sep 2015, 3:49 am

...So , unless we're like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory we're not Aspies ? :wink:



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10 Sep 2015, 6:41 am

I never had a diagnoses. I just suggested it to my doctor and he said it's possible so he put it in my medical records. I always just felt I was weird until I heard the term and it scared me because it defined a lot about how I act.

It wasn't always like this though, in fact I was one of the more outgoing and outspoken persons in my childhood. It was only when they put me on tons of medications that my personality changed permanently.



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10 Sep 2015, 7:26 am

OP, you have a really good point I've been wanting to write here but never knew if it would be wise or not, being so most people would disagree and say that everybody with social awkwardness has ASD.

I believe that all people with a neurological condition of some sort are affected socially to a degree. I know a girl who was diagnosed with Fragile-X as a young child but doesn't meet the criteria for AS but she struggles with making friends. She could easily fit in here on WP and share her social awkwardness with us.

It's like, headaches are a main symptom of a brain tumor, but you can still exhibit a headache with other things like colds, stress, or lots of other things, or even just for no reason.


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iliketrees
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10 Sep 2015, 7:49 am

Joe90 wrote:
OP, you have a really good point I've been wanting to write here but never knew if it would be wise or not, being so most people would disagree and say that everybody with social awkwardness has ASD.

I believe that all people with a neurological condition of some sort are affected socially to a degree. I know a girl who was diagnosed with Fragile-X as a young child but doesn't meet the criteria for AS but she struggles with making friends. She could easily fit in here on WP and share her social awkwardness with us.

It's like, headaches are a main symptom of a brain tumor, but you can still exhibit a headache with other things like colds, stress, or lots of other things, or even just for no reason.

I agree with you, and the first paragraph the OP posted. However the OP then goes into a completely different subject. Someone can be socially awkward and not have any disorder, too.



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11 Sep 2015, 7:39 am

Empathy is not a sole or main indicator for having AS or not having AS.

We, as human beings, whether those who have AS or those who doesn't have AS are capable of learning and feeling. Though not completely comparable to others, there is what you call 'Individualism' and learning varies from person to person, environment, etc. which may not necessarily predict a precise outcome.



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11 Sep 2015, 8:21 am

Aristophanes wrote:
starkid wrote:
Aristophanes wrote:
It's just an annoyance. Do you want to wade through 10 pages of people's opinions who you'll never interact with? How about wading through all those pages to get current with the topic, then making your statement or quote and as the page refreshes realizing the people you wanted to have a discussion with are long gone. That's a lot of wasted time for the individual user.


No one needs to read every single past comment. Usually all that is necessary is to read the OP and whatever the newer posters have quoted.


I have a compulsion to be thorough--need is not the issue. :wink:

Well that's gotta suck :lol:



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14 Sep 2015, 12:54 am

Personally speaking, I see no reason to believe that most people on this forum are not autistic. There are certainly some people who are misdiagnosed or inaccurately self-diagnosed, but I do not understand why they would be the majority. If I had to come up with a rough estimate, I would say that approximately 70% of the users here are correctly diagnosed/self-diagnosed.

Tumblr, however, is a very different story.



iliketrees
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14 Sep 2015, 1:40 am

Hadeharia wrote:
Tumblr, however, is a very different story.

Care to share some more on that? I've never used tumblr.



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14 Sep 2015, 4:01 am

Most people here are aspies and have the evidence to back it up. I'm one of them.
On most of the Internet and and in real life, Asperger's is mostly a fad and a joke. Wrong Planet is one of the few places where it's taken seriously, as it deserves.
If someone honestly provides enough evidence on a forum, you can conclude that he's on the spectrum.
For example, if someone says he's always felt different and isolated from everyone else, can't fit in socially, can't make friends, can't be interested in things that his peers are interested in, has been heavily bullied by peers, is hated and rejected by everyone, hurts himself physically, has sensory oversensitivity, has trouble playing team sports and dancing, then he is certainly a spectrumite.
Aspies are trapped in their own minds and most people don't understand them. It's a horrible life.


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14 Sep 2015, 9:38 am

Cockroach96 wrote:
Most people here are aspies and have the evidence to back it up. I'm one of them.
On most of the Internet and and in real life, Asperger's is mostly a fad and a joke. Wrong Planet is one of the few places where it's taken seriously, as it deserves.
If someone honestly provides enough evidence on a forum, you can conclude that he's on the spectrum.
For example, if someone says he's always felt different and isolated from everyone else, can't fit in socially, can't make friends, can't be interested in things that his peers are interested in, has been heavily bullied by peers, is hated and rejected by everyone, hurts himself physically, has sensory oversensitivity, has trouble playing team sports and dancing, then he is certainly a spectrumite.
Aspies are trapped in their own minds and most people don't understand them. It's a horrible life.




That still isn't proof though because anyone can make that up about themselves and also that isn't always an indicator that someone is autistic. Someone can have sensory issues and not be on the spectrum so that isn't very accurate to indicate that someone is. And some people self harm and aren't autistic because it's how they release their pain and cope with whatever is going on in their life.

Heck even posting papers of your DX online still isn't "proof" because it can be a misdiagnoses or someone else's report and you are claiming it's yours or you could have typed it yourself.

Which is why these arguments are old.

Yes I am playing the devils' advocate here for why people would still feel justified with their opinion because these two things can happen.


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14 Sep 2015, 9:41 am

You cannot tell if a person is autistic based upon what the person writes. One could have suspicions--but there is NEVER any certainty.

You'd have to actually see this person for a while to have ANY real idea. And ANY possibility of certainty.



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14 Sep 2015, 11:16 am

herakh wrote:
SeaBright wrote:
Setting aside your obvious qualifications to decide, say, which of these strangers do or do not have the mental wiring indicitive of.

Lacking empathy is undefined.

A story of empathy:
I got to work yesterday and my favorite corworker says to me: Did you hear about Ray (name ommited), Ray, my teammate on a crew of 6.

I said "why is he dead?" The last thing I was expecting to hear.
He said, "yes"
I said "oh huh, that's strange"
And went to work unfased.

Yet say, if this was my cat...my rat..my husband..dog, child, favorite relative, betafish or an unknown person I would be crushed.

I think the definition of empathy as it translates within the NT population is seriously skewed. We are 'percieved' as lacking empathy. We do not lack it.
I do not empathy over someone I would not have sit at my table or visit my home-period.

And maybe you are right. That there is no such thing as Aspergers therefore no one can have it.


i had a similiar story. the day my grandfather died was the same day my family was going for a trip. so when we got the phone call, all i could think was " So i guess the trip is off, huh?" i just cant feel other people's sympathy, particularly my family and relatives who was crying during the funeral.
i just stand there, feeling stoic. i think i almost cry, i could feel my eyes were wet, but alas, no tears.


Different but similar:

I didn't cry when I heard my Mom had died. Nor while getting plane tickets.....not when we arrived in Phoenix and met my Dad.......not during the ceremony or afterward. But when we all went back to my Dad's house and as I walked the sidewalk to the front door the sing-song kid's verse "Step on a crack and you'll break your Mamma's back" jumped into my mind and that's as far as I could go. All I could do was stand on the sidewalk and bawl my eyes out. Everyone went inside and let me cry.

It wasn't until that song popped into my mind that her death became real for me. Don't know if this rings a bell with anyone else's thoughts or experiences, but thought I'd throw it in.



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14 Sep 2015, 2:46 pm

League_Girl wrote:
Cockroach96 wrote:
Most people here are aspies and have the evidence to back it up. I'm one of them.
On most of the Internet and and in real life, Asperger's is mostly a fad and a joke. Wrong Planet is one of the few places where it's taken seriously, as it deserves.
If someone honestly provides enough evidence on a forum, you can conclude that he's on the spectrum.
For example, if someone says he's always felt different and isolated from everyone else, can't fit in socially, can't make friends, can't be interested in things that his peers are interested in, has been heavily bullied by peers, is hated and rejected by everyone, hurts himself physically, has sensory oversensitivity, has trouble playing team sports and dancing, then he is certainly a spectrumite.
Aspies are trapped in their own minds and most people don't understand them. It's a horrible life.




That still isn't proof though because anyone can make that up about themselves and also that isn't always an indicator that someone is autistic. Someone can have sensory issues and not be on the spectrum so that isn't very accurate to indicate that someone is. And some people self harm and aren't autistic because it's how they release their pain and cope with whatever is going on in their life.

Heck even posting papers of your DX online still isn't "proof" because it can be a misdiagnoses or someone else's report and you are claiming it's yours or you could have typed it yourself.

Which is why these arguments are old.

Yes I am playing the devils' advocate here for why people would still feel justified with their opinion because these two things can happen.


Hmmm.

You could only justify belief in the OP's statements by willfully ignoring logic.

OP wrote:
The truth is that Asperger's Syndrome is just another fad, like depression and ADD/ADHD.

I suppose it may have been possible to believe this years ago, but the evidence of subsequent research indicates that the truth is rather that Aspergers Syndrome is just another cluster of behaviors on the high functioning end of the Autistic Spectrum.

OP wrote:
self-awareness is pretty much inconsistent with the nature of Asperger's Syndrome.

Not according to the DSM IV, DSM 5, ICD-9 or ICD-10. By the best available consensus, old or new, this statement is false.

OP wrote:
Aspergeans are known for lacking empathy, and saying that an Aspergean feels empathy is almost as ludicrous as saying that a narcissist has low self-esteem; that's just not the way these labels were defined.
Again, all due respect to Baron Cohen, not according to the old or new standard definitions of Aspergers Syndrome. This statement is also demonstrably false.

op wrote:
For those reasons, I think most people on this forum don't have Asperger's Syndrome.

Given that the OP's argument is constructed on premises that can be shown to be false without exception, there is no reason to suppose there is any validity to the OP's conclusion.

Finally, since we are getting tales of alexithymia in response to this thread:
G Bird and R Cook in Translational Psychiatry wrote:
Despite their frequent co-occurrence, alexithymia and autism are independent constructs. Alexithymia is neither necessary nor sufficient for an autism diagnosis, nor is it universal among autistic individuals. Conversely, many individuals show severe degrees of alexithymia without demonstrating autistic symptoms.

http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v3/n7/ ... 1361a.html