in the past year or so 6 of my friends have claimed to have

Post Reply New Topic

it's funny,i have friends that i know really do hve it (more typical moderate aspergers) and the ones that i wonder about. they both talk excessively about their interests without letting anyone get a word in, they are both in their thirties with no relationship or job prospects, both have substance abuse issues, and both can appear neurotypical up to a certain point. i think they might just be looking for an excuse to boast about themselves

Speaking personally I’m past caring whether I have AS, some related condition or am just weird. I did go through a phase where I wanted to know, but now am not bothered, as I don’t feel an AS diagnosis would add any value to my life. I’ve got a diagnosis of dyslexia which offers me some protection at work; and my social difficulties I can deal with myself, without any help from others. I would say however that for some self-diagnosis can be the first step toward seeking a formal diagnosis and there are people who would benefit from such a diagnosis; either because it offers them an opportunity to find support for difficulties, or because it offers an explanation and validation for the way they have been all there lives. I don’t think these people should be put off from thinking of themselves as self-diagnosed, as long as they realise what that entails; and that they understand there is a big difference between self-diagnosis and formal diagnosis. I certainly don’t think anyone should go around claiming to have AS without a formal diagnosis; or at least they should keep their suspicions to themselves, otherwise it just leads to confusion.

I find that I am able to relate to people on the various AS forums very well and do share some traits linked supposedly to AS; but as to whether this is actually AS I don’t know. What I do find difficult however is speaking about AS on these forums without a formal diagnosis or a degree in psychology since I feel my opinion carries less weight than those who have such a diagnosis or who claim to have come by their understanding through years of academic study. It also opens the door for people to say that I shouldn’t really be posting here; that this forum is for people with AS, their relatives or professionals. This makes me feel uneasy, not just for myself but for others who might have AS and who would use this forum as an accessible resource to increase their understanding. While I can appreciate why those with a formal diagnosis might want to be part of an exclusive club, AS is regretfully part of a spectrum and so the boundaries are always going to be somewhat elastic. There are always going to be people on the margins whether it’s trendy to have AS or not. Interestingly, the fact that people now want to have a diagnosis of AS is in part testament to the success of the neurodiversity movement; the rest can be put down to the unfortunate tendency of some people to want to use a diagnosis (of any kind) to mark themselves out as special or superior.

Being bi-polar is also quite trendy at the moment because Stephen Fry has it; and being dyslexic apparently means that I’m gifted; well I must say I don’t feel very gifted most of the time.

Last edited by Quixotic on 26 Dec 2011, 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Conundrum, are your professors qualified to give a dignosis? And how were they able to do this "without your having said a word"? Do they have formal training in how to diagnose ASD and did they interview your parents to get an idea of your developmental history? And did they write out a report that would be accepted by the government if you were to apply for SSDI?

Last edited by DreamSofa on 26 Dec 2011, 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

+1

Some people know that there is something different or wrong about them but just don't have any way to get an actual diagnosis. I can barely even get to see anyone if I have a serious physical problem, never mind a mental problem that many consider to be unimportant unless I'm so messed up that I'm about to off myself or others.

DreamSofa: since they are both Criminal Justice professors, probably not. They are going on what they know from their own family members.

However, that doesn't matter, at least not to me. AS explains a lot of things that, for most of my life, I couldn't explain. I thought I was just "weird" or "immature" or...whatever.

I am not looking for government assistance or any other type of special treatment. Just having the "label" has answered a lot of questions, and now I can live my life thinking "okay, now that I know, I realize why I am the way I am and can compensate." Knowing this is for my own sake, not for the sake of being "different" in the eyes of the world in general (that happens already, label or no label). I don't tell people at work, for example, and have no intention of doing so.

Exactly. Also, considering my age (32), I don't think a formal diagnosis is really feasible at this point, nor do I think it would be helpful.

It’s fair to say that gaining a formal AS diagnosis as an adult can be difficult. In some places a person would be made to jump through all manner of hoops even to get an assessment. Those I know who have managed to get a diagnosis as an adult have on the whole been lucky in that they have had a family member who has been diagnosed and through this have gained access to medical professionals with a knowledge of AS. I think therefore that those with a formal diagnosis shouldn’t be too uncharitable to those who claim to be self-diagnosed; they have after all been fortunate to have access to such services, to have found out who they are and why they are the way they are. I also think that people (like myself) who ally ourselves with the AS community, or feel an affinity for people with AS shouldn’t feel undermined or made to feel unwelcome. We’re not all here because we see AS as the latest neurological fashion craze, 'oh so, a la mode’; we’re here because we care, want to help or see something of ourselves in all of you. As I’ve said before, I don’t think we should claim to have AS without a formal diagnosis, this would clearly be wrong. But equally it shouldn’t be automatically assumed that we’re here for the wrong reasons.

I have no insurance or money so I have no way to get a diagnosis. I'm also afraid of talking to psychologists and would rather not get in "the system" again. I've been in a mental hospital a couple of times in my teens involuntarily even though I wasn't a danger to myself or others and as far as I know they never even diagnosed me with anything.

I got a diagnosis at the grand old age of 41. Nobody in my family thinks they are on the spectrum. As far as I know, I am the only one. I got a diagnosis because I suspected and I wanted to know if

Further, I have no problems with someone saying "I think I might be on the spectrum" or "I have some ASD traits and wonder if I am on the spectrum". Fine. But to claim that someone has a complex neurological disorder on a flimsy basis? Or to claim that someone else has diagnosed them just by looking at them is nonsense.

And I've never seen anyone who assumes that anyone is here for the 'wrong reasons', whatever that means.

Then they have no business telling people that they are on the spectrum. I don't go around telling people that I think they have cancer, although my grandfather, aunt and uncle all died of it.

Pretty simple explanation OP, you are attracted to friends that are like you - you have ASD, so a lot of your friends are going to have ASD traits.

As for the validity of self diagnoses, I'm usually skeptical when the person who self dx'ed emphasis's how mild they are. And I'm usually annoyed when someone who is formally diagnosed emphasis's how mild they are - like they feel the immidiate instinctive need to compensate for Autism Speaks.

I would like some empirical evidence of this. I've tried to find any and the closest I came was a study that was actually debunked and one of the researchers discredited. It looks like ADHD is actually underdiagnosed and undermedicated for all ages, with some areas where it appears to be overdiagnosed for whatever reason.

Also, medications for ADHD are not "incredibly addictive" and stimulant medications are not extremely profitable as many prescribed are generics, and thus sell for fairly cheaply. Actually, research indicates that people with ADHD who use their medication properly are significantly less likely to become dependent upon and abuse drugs.

In other words - you're saying what everyone else who doesn't understand ADHD says. So much for AS making people immune to cultural prejudices. For that matter, you're saying exactly what the anti-psychiatry Church of Scientology has been saying to discredit psychiatric practice in general. Here's an example:

http://www.nacac.org/adoptalk/knowledgeispower.html

One thing about this is that sensory issues associated with autism can include hyposensitivity as well as hypersensitivity. Also, I do believe there are people who are openly AS who are in rock bands. . . for that matter, I learned how to play hard rock/heavy metal guitar in the early 90s. I could handle loud music better than I could handle many other loud noises, although that's no longer true.



You're not. People are overreacting.

-1 from me. Being diagnosed with AS is not an elitist club.

The thing about medical students who go through a "hypochondriac" phase is that they tend to do so during medical school (a high pressure, high stress situation) or as interns (a high pressure, high stress situation). The one time in my life I was anything like that, I had a severe panic disorder with continuous (as in 24 hours a day) panic attacks.

I don't care about anyone's self-diagnosis unless they ask me for an opinion, and then I'll try to be honest. Seeing how many people self-diagnosed and had that confirmed with an official diagnosis on this forum alone and this analysis of the numbers on this forum make it very difficult for me to be skeptical to the point of doubting other people. I certainly don't know them better than they know themselves:

http://abnormaldiversity.blogspot.com/2 ... nosis.html

I have stated this several times before, but just because you have a few AS traits by no means indicates that you have aspergers. Given how rare this diagnosis is, what does the OP believes the chances are that all these friends suddenly discover they have AS? You tell me.