Self diagnosed people here don't have aspergers

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Well said. This would be the perfect ending to this thread, but it looks like it's here to stay for a while. Oh well.

And what exactly does being an Aspie feel like?

So if you decide you feel like a millionaire today does that really *make* you one?

Since there are several options to what you want to call yourself when you register on this website,including"dont know if I have it or not" and " have As-not diagnosed,then I assume these people are also welcome to come here and discuss AS issues with everyone who does have AS.
If anyone has a problem with that,I suggest you contact the WP Admin and have these options deleted so that in the future only AS people,or those who say that they have been diagnosed will have access.
Not that Im sure that it would work,but posting in here bitching about it sure wont.

Psychological bent versus possession. How is this a reasonable comparison? AS isn't something you possess, it is a label for how you see and approach the world based upon several key agreed upon characteristics. More than that, no two people with AS are identical. No two people are identical, not even "identical" twins.

If someone isn't diagnosed as AS, yet they do have it, if they don't claim to be AS does that make them any less AS? Is it truly fair to assume that someone would be incapable of diagnosing his or herself when you may not know anything else about them? Isn't telling them they are wrong effectively the same thing, but with even less information available to make that kind of judgment on?

Ah I thought you were talking about a pervasive developmental (and more appropriately, neurological) condition called Asperger Syndrome, not psychology... because your neurological makeup is every bit as physical and "Possessible" as money is, in fact moreso since most money you "own" doesn't physcially exist...


I possess my brain though...


No, but it's what they ARE that counts not what they "believe" or "feel". Feelings are terribly subjective, and a certain type of person with a tendency towards avoidance and social phobia tends to be very very keen on ascribing themselves many social deficits that, if they were actually true, would indicate possible AS.

Depression, low self esteem and suchlike are very much things that will make people feel that they are "different" or that they are "socially inept" but very few of those who feel that way actually *are* that way. It's actually their brains exaggerating a few social faux-pas into some huge concept of social ineptitude that then makes them embrace things they read about online and in magazines that makes them identify even more with something they don't have, and never had.

I have no problem whatsoever accepting people as they are. What bugs the heck out of me is when people try to make themselves fit something so desperately that they lose themselves in the process. I'd rather accept a "misfit" and "outsider" as my friend than listen to them whining on about how if you stretch X and Y of their characteristics and bend this or that diagnostic criterium in the DSM then they are perfectly typical of AS.

You could call it "morphing." Anything that my so-called therapists could bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate into shape became a "symptom" of schizophrenia. I'm worried that Asperger's could become the new schizophrenia if it hasn't already. At least it sounds somewhat more benign, but when every school shooter "might be Asperger's" then we have a problem, Houston.

"They" demonize perfectly normal behavior and emotional challenges.

That's a very good way of describing it, "bend, fold, spindle and mutilate into shape"...


Exactly. I mean even with Schizophrenia, there's this public idea that Schizophrenia = axe-wielding murderer. From what I have read and seen (one very good non-sensationalist documentary by the BBC especially) the only people really at risk of being killed by a schizophrenic are the themselves (e.g. suicide).

My 1 and only ex was schizophrenic, I miss her I shouldn't have left her....... bad memories, if you knew the story you'd definately understand.
But she was a great woman.... She knew I was different but it didn't bother her a single bit, she knew she wanted to be with me and she didn't give a damn what other people thought. Had I not left her there is no doubt in my mind she would have not left me.... And of coarse I could have been there to protect her, and she might still be here today.

Then I have to go back to what I said earlier:

Making such accusations is reckless, and could be hurtful. If someone benefits from this site, and isn't obviously "morphing" (I'll admit, I like that way of looking at it), where's the harm? If they aren't parading around declaring that, without a doubt, they have AS, thus making them in a way false representative of anyone who truly does, who is getting hurt from it?

More than that, someone mentioned earlier that a PhD would be best for giving a diagnosis. If someone disagrees with someone else's self-diagnosis, are they truly qualified to give a negative diagnosis?

What I'm trying to say is this: if someone is not going on about how "bad" they have AS, or misrepresenting AS, if they identify with others on this site that have at the least similar life experiences and difficulties, what's the big deal?

Depends if one has any of the traits that are commonly associated with being a millionaire. For instance, having a million dollars. That one would be fairly important.

Indeed... but that's what I mean people can become deluded into thinking they are millionaires (certain types of mania for example) and in the same way a low self esteem or social phobia and avoidant personality traits can easily make people believe they lack social skills and suchlike.

People with social phobia tend to lack social skills. There's no deception there. If you can't bring yourself to socialize, starting at an early age, you don't learn those skills.

The worst part about this is the way some people are handling it. Assuming that they can make what is effectively a diagnosis of others, without training, and with the only thing to judge it on being text on a forum. There's a staggering number of assumptions necessary to do such a thing.

yeah, that's really at the center of it,
it's not the diagnosis, nor the fact you aren't that change anything,
it's the issues...

i don't want a diagnosis, i don't trust doctors and don't trust a label for other people to be used, but after twenty years being puzzled about myself i'm really sure i have asperger's, there was a time(when i didn't know about asperger's) i simply thought i was autistic (my brother worked with autistic people and i related much better to things he told me of them)

i'm still wondering what the advantages of a diagnosis is? (have asked this already several times, but no answer ...)

maybe the diagnosed people who worry so much about the undiagnosed,
could point out some exact reasons for that? not just it is better or intolerable or whatever but actual statements that you've read here and consider harmful?
what are the things you think i (or others) shouldn't say? What have you read that was shocking and are you sure that it was because this person wasn't diagnosed?

I understand what you mean. But I don't identify as having AS just because I lack social skills... it's also important to discover and understand *why* someone doesn't have social skills. I don't have social phobia, I do not have an avoidant personality, and I am generally a happy person with no self-esteem issues. Yet, the social skills are still sub-par. I blame that on the fact that I can't "read" other people (non-verbal cues), I can't tell what people are thinking, I am totally and utterly clueless when it comes to other people's emotions and emotional states, "empathy" is a concept with which I am unfamiliar other than what the dictionary tells me... I also have a very minor difficulty with face recognition sometimes, but that's not really relevant to social skills. (It *is*, however, relevant to AS).

The thing is, I was aware of all of these things long before I ever heard of AS.

I've also, over time, learned to compensate for these deficiencies, well enough that over the last 10-15 years I've had no problems finding and keeping a job. But the fact remains that what's going on in other people's heads is a complete mystery to me, and I dread the next time I have to suffer through a job interview. (Which, if I ever want to get a higher position than I have now, is something I'll have to face sooner or later.)

It could help for things like insurance or government aid in some instances. That's an advantage that people would actually care about.