Why would someone pretend to have aspergers?

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To some people Asperger is kind of quaint. Sort of a cutesie syndrome that makes you special. I don't know why anyone would knowingly pretend to have Asperger's, but I can see that someone who suffers from other problems might prefer the Asperger label to other labels diagnoses and then convince themselves that it's true. I think a lot of poeple who self-diagnose may in fact have other issues, but pin them on AS because they aren't professionals and they feel that being an aspie provides them with a better sense of self, whether it's genuine or not.

As I gradually get a sense of how much AS has subtly but systematically blighted my life over fifty years, I just wonder why anyone would want to have it, let alone fake it.

hi there,

just checkout

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pe ... _disorders

and you will find also remarkably many "not so good guys" there... murderer, suicide bombers and so on.... if you read this, you really got the impression that autistic people are more dangerous than other social groups.

I think it would be naive to think that there are no people outside who have an interest to fake aspergers, in order to come away easier....
actually i would really be surprised if the bad figures on the list really had aspergers...

another thing: I really don't get why the people here on WP just don't fight more for a better image and respect for their minority. Why let other decide what to think about their condition?

Why for example does no one here put an eye on this list of famous people on wikipedia? I got the impression, that people who really have no clue or didn't understand the condition decide who to put on this list or not. why are there so many murders there?


thanks,

anton

You should never believe these amateur diagnoses of celebrities. Everyone sees what they fear and admire in celebrities, that's their whole allure; the fact that you can project anything onto them.

As far as aspies being dangerous goes there's some very recent Scandinavian research on that. The studies confirmed that autistic people are NOT more likely to commit violent crimes than others, but in the instances where autistic people also suffer from a personality disorder, the risk increases.

They also did brain scans of psychopaths, autistic people and NT's to compare their reactions to imagery of people with fearful facial expressions. The results showed that autistic people process facial expressions in a different part of the brain. Psychopaths showed acticity in a part of the brain which indicates suppressed affective empathy.

Here's a couple of links:

Risk and dynamics….

Offenders with mental disorder…..

Quoting the latter:

Its possible to have AS along with other issues......also this is one self diagnosed person who does not feel being an aspie gives me a better sense of self. Its more like I read up on it and found it seemed to explain a lot about some of the difficulties I had growing up and still have, I guess I would say calling it AS feels a little better then just thinking I'm a total freak.

The reason that people say that you can't be an Aspie is because you've _learned_ since you were a child, learned to mask traits. Asperger's isn't curable, but when you know about them, you can learn to get around the behaviors. It's exactly like tying shoes: Aspie children tend to be quite late doing it, but it's a very convenient thing to know how to do, so we learn it. I was lucky enough not to have much feeling _against_ making eye contact, but I had to be taught to do it by my mother. And yes, just since I learned that I _am_ an Aspie, at the age of 65, I've been told not to use it as an excuse -- that wasn't really necessary: since I've learned that I have it, and learned about the characteristic behaviors, I have started to learn not to do the ones that I hadn't noticed before, when they're actually something harmful. I am a much nicer person to be around than I was five years ago.

I have no idea why one would pretend to have it, nor how one would actually go about it. It doesn't bring any benefits. Empathy? Not really.

Associating with it makes sense if one feels they share similar problems. It's just how people go in this regard (familiar).

I can associate with people who have Schizophrenia, as the symptoms of my ASD are much like the so-called negative symptoms they experience. If AS/HFA didn't exist, I'd self-diagnose as someone with Simple Schizophrenia and seek out a professional opinion on such.

It depends on whether they know they are pretending or not.
And don't look for truth in the internet...People use it for all sorts of purposes.

Do you know of anyone who does?

Most AS I know are incredibly good and honest, it makes me think it's an innate AS trait.

yes, that absolutely confuses me too.... i also think that AS people are really nice guys

has anyone known a asshole-aspie?

greets,
anton

'Cause they make it look cool

Hmmk, well I did have "Med Student Disease" in my early Psych days. But Asperger's wasn't widely known. Closest thing I could get out of that was Schizoid. But I always have known that my parents had fears of me being autistic as a child ( I lost speech for nearly 2 years, but regained it impressively after that).
I learned to mask Stimming & twirling and other ASD behaviors pretty fast (One does this when faced with the threat of being institutionalized as a motive!).
I also think of what this has cost me over the course of nearly 50 years. Its NOT cute, its NOT trendy, it HURTS!
Of course, if someone did fake it for whatever reason, they might have a different medical/psychological disorder.

Sincerely,
Matt

ie, you diagnosed yourself because you were a Med Student?

Yes I have.

I did not know that. I learned how to tie shoes normally... granted I have to teach myself because I could never understand the whole "bunny ears through the hole" thing my parents kept telling to me. but once I started tying my shoes, they would be octuple-tied. My parents got angry at me because they were a pain to untie.

But my little brother was diagnosed with autism, and my parents refuse to teach him how to tie his own shoes. As if it is impossible for him to learn how...

sigh... for some reason this makes me glad that I was not diagnosed as a child.