Aspergers the syndrome of the year

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That's to see an autism specialist, so basically to see someone who's well qualified to diagnose any autism spectrum disorder. It's pretty bad, but unfortunately NM is just short of doctors, period. They have earmarked a large sum of money to improve services (it was at least $10m, although I forget how much exactly) related to autism, but there's a major controversy going on (at least amongst those who know) because the legislature want to spend much of it on research for a cure, and families understandably would rather it be spent on better and faster diagnosis and support. We can't afford to spend on research - we're a small, poor state, but the curebies get everywhere and somehow seem to shout loudest.

Space, I think your 'insult' statement is a little much. If someone has arthritis and someone else with joint pain says he has arthritis, that's hardly an insult, whether its a correct or incorrect self-diagnosis. In fact, to think it is suggests that you regard your diagnosis as some kind of merit badge, that only an 'official' diagnosis gives you the right to wear.

I think some of us here are forgetting that this is a spectrum disorder, and for many of us the diagnosis is not a 'yes' or 'no' proposition. It is impossible for anyone, professionals or lay persons, to paint a line on that spectrum and say those on one side 'do' and those on the other 'don't'. The literature on Asperger's is laden with terms such as a "ghosting" of symptoms, and many of us here, officially diagnosed or otherwise, do not have every possible symptom. Please consider lightening up on this.

That is really unacceptable, Here in Kansas, it took me 4 days to get an appointment.

self diagnosed members on here should not waste effort on defending self for not having official diagnosis,as it is neither right or wrong to go for assessment, it's a personal choice.
it is not fair for people to assume a diagnosis makes something real,it might do-officially but not having a doctor say what it is, does not make the difficulties,behaviors and differences any less autistic or aspie.

many,if not most adults start out as self diagnosed,and many do not even need it to be official as they are HF and have integrated well into NT society,there are also those self diagnosed members who live in areas where it is impossible to find doctors experienced in autism or aspergers.

self diagnosed people do not make it harder for those who are diagnosed,people who dont take diagnosed people seriously because of the non diagnosed are uneducated in ASD to start with and that is where the problem comes from-ignorance,not from self diagnosed people.


it is true,that not all self diagnosed,are going to be autistic,over the years,have seen people come on autism forums saying they're almost certain they're autistic,but then they say they didn't have any differences or problems till teenage or adult years,not everyone researches it enough.


was never self diagnosed [was diagnosed before knowing specifics],but do not have a problem with the whole idea,away from the internet,every autism ignorant person am know [and there is a long list of them] have all been ignorant because they haven't had training or education in it,they have never said anything bad about self diagnosed people,doubt they even know they exist.
at least here,it is not a big problem,so how big a problem is it really,or could this just be from overthinking about what could happen?

Dunno about that. I'm afraid AS is the diagnosis du jour, partly because Aspies are supposed to be "little professors" (how cute!), quirky yet generally tolerable, and it currently seems AS is the dumping ground for shrinks to put folks in who just don't "fit in" socially. Is there really this tremendous explosion of Asperger's syndrome, or is it merely a trendy diagnosis that immediately comes to mind because your shrink just read about it in the latest AMA journal?

I'm a skeptic at heart, and I've written this before here: AS seems like an unbelievably difficult diagnosis to make objectively. Sure, we've got some specific traits, but a large portion of the general population share these as well!

I've got these traits as well, as do many of you. But I find the DSM sufficiently vague, and my own objectivity so unreliable as to wonder how anyone, including a highly-trained medical professional can make a definite diagnosis from a pile of symptoms that are common in the general population.

What many experts think will eventually happen is further specification. For instance, the AS diagnosis might remain but divided into numerous subtypes.

I thought that this statement was rather interesting:

"She [Dr. Temple Grandin] identified three specializations of autistic thought — visual thinkers, music and math dominance, and verbal thinkers. The first, the photorealists like her, are those who function like having a movie projector in the brain, or in a contemporary analogy, a Google Images-like search engine. The second type are those who are good at patterns — much more abstract than the visual thinkers. She illustrated this with a slide of a praying mantis made in origami overlaid on top of the quite complex folding pattern of its square of paper. Some very pattern-oriented mind came up with that folding sequence. Finally, the verbally-oriented folks are those who are good at facts — the history buffs, the sports trivia buffs.

"It seems autism isn’t one single thing or syndrome, rather it’s a manifestation of how different brains can specialize. Obviously it is important to work on making autistic individuals functioning members of society, but as Temple Grandin puts it, we don’t want to cure Einstein (non-verbal at age three). What we see in extreme in autistic individuals are unusual combinations of the intellectual potentials we all have."

-- Reclaming Your Inner Artist (link)

It's not necessarily an individual's choice to get diagnosed (or not). I didn't learn about Asperger's until high school, and by the time I was able to talk to a professional, she told me that there was basically no one in the area who would diagnose me; I was too old. (And this is a big city, too.)

would it be possible to be reffered to/go to someone outside the city?
tends to happen in this town and others a lot,as there's no one who specialises in adults with ASD.

does not make sense for big cities to not have these specialists.

I contacted a psychiatrist through my health insurance company (Blue Cross) and was having problems with insomnia (due to a cockroach infestation). I was not even looking for a diagnosis - just to get some sleep. The diagnoses were unexpected.

Maybe the problem is in specifically requesting to be diagnosed rather than asking to meet with a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist to discuss some specific symptoms.

[quote="

You're not gay, you need to stop self diagnosing! Start dating women until you get an official diagnosis from a doctor. Only they can tell you if you're gay.



I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it, (EDIT: In case it's not clear, I'm joking. Probably in poor taste.)

I LMAO when I read this. I thought it was incredibly funny. I have a weird sense of humour, though. It's a good thing that we don't need official diagnoses to treat ourselves for some things. I would be miserable with my allergies if I couldn't take OTC allergy meds, which incidentally, after all the fancy testing and a year of shots and 20 specialized allergy meds that I was allergic to most of, works the best.

What if we couldn't go to the store and buy OTC remedies for headaches, colds, mosquito bites, sunburns, etc. "I'm sorry Mrs. Liverbird you need to go the dermatologist to get aloe gel for your sunburn." "I'm sorry Mrs. Liverbird you must go to the neurologist to get aspirin for your headache. I can't dianose you with a headache. I'm sorry that you have an axe sticking out of your head, but I'm a dentist not a neurologist, so you will need to go to the neurologist."

I honestly don't know everything (yet ) but I have not yet heard that it's a cool new diagnosis. My understanding based on experienced so far is that it is really difficult to get the schools to diagnose a child who is believed to have AS.

I have been battling my son's school for the last 2 years because I could tell his brain was just like mine, and his friends started disappearing in the 3rd grade. By the 4th grade, he was friendless. It hasn't been "fun" to go through this process. They finally tested him and said that yes, highly likely he has AS.

And now that we have that much of a diagnosis, so what? His teacher doesn't understand it. I have to explain it, and it comes out sounding like I am making excuses for my son. He seems highly intelligent, so how could he possibly not understand the homework assignment that was written on the board? He must be trying to get out of doing the work!

But if the teacher understood that my son took the assignment literally, the teacher would understand why my son didn't understand it. When the teacher wrote, "Math page 362" well, fine. But what the heck are you supposed to do on 362? Anyone else would probably say, "Do the problems, duh!" But my son couldn't figure out why the teacher wrote "Math page 362." He tried to ask the teacher to explain but the teacher said he figured my son was just seeking attention.

I am not the only parent I know who is going through this. If it is such a cool new diagnosis, it sure as heck isn't any fun to obtain.

"You're not gay, you need to stop self diagnosing! Start dating women until you get an official diagnosis from a doctor. Only they can tell you if you're gay."

Offended? Funniest thing I've read all day. Though I think my grandmother may have said something similar to this when she found out!

My son isn't broken. He won't be on SSI for life. He's just taking longer than NT's to be self-sufficient because his head is stuffed with a lot of things that he's sorting out. Each tiny step forward brings him closer to understanding and knowing how to get along in life.

My job is to help him reflect as he progresses since there really isn't anything out there to guide him. We help him stay confident and when he feels discouraged he works through it and keeps taking those tiny but significant steps.

I don't think you 'saw my point at all' Cagerattler. I see nothing in my post that caused you to explain your agenda to me, or use my post to stage your argument, Cagerattler.

I asked him if he had the credientals to recommend others' in whom he admired and trusted their credentials. I reminded him of Wrong PLanet posting policy.

I am glad to meet another older aspie that self diagnosed,Cagerattler

but I don't believe you 'saw my point.'

Merle

hmmm... oddly while saying that only doctors are qualified to diagnose, it took FOUR doctors to actually diagnose your son, which means that they all must have had different opinions.

Sure, they are professional, and have a title and all, allowing them to diagnose, but if it takes 4 to get the correct diagnosis, basing a good portion of the evaluation on what THE PERSON'S (who is being diagnosed) life is like, then how would they really be more qualified based on a mere observation without ever having to live with the person?

There is a reason we are able to get second opinions to confirm the first. If doctors never ever misdiagnosed, this would not be needed.

A lot of parents who argue self-diagnosis, and a lot of people who do, wind up mentioning somewhere along the line that they have AT LEAST been to 2 doctors to wind up with the diagnosis. Some may have switched due to other things, but a lot of people go to more doctors because they feel the first doctor was WRONG. Which, essentially, is a form of self-diagnosis, just looking for confirmation that they are right... the only thing that keeps it from being self-diagnosis is that they have not vocalized their idea of what it might be, and they just say "the doctors are still looking into it" or whatnot, rather than flat out saying "this is what I think it is, and we're seeing another doctor to confirm my observations". You know, the observations people make on a minute by minute basis of another, rather than in just a mere one hour session. ***btw, not saying anything negative about those who don't like the idea of self-diagnosis, just an observation... and personally, I'm working on a second opinion to confirm the first opinion as well as my own, lol.

Now, I'm not saying that self-diagnosis isn't dangerous or that it can't be misleading. Everything like that can be worrisome or cause a lot of problems. But it isn't necessarily wrong just because someone has vocalized and confirmed their own ideas of what fits them. There is nothing wrong with trying to figure out who you are, or why things are happening the way that they are. Heck, most people who find out about ailments have come to the conclusion long before it was confirmed by a doctor, based on family observations, etc. Most people who suffer from depression either feel it themselves first, or have friends/family tell them that they think something is going on... well before going to the doctor. It is just kind of how things go.

Nobody would ever wind up at a doctor to begin with if they were not the ones to notice first, and most have a pretty good idea of what it might be when they walk into the doctor's office. The docs are there for confirmation and treatment... not solely for diagnosis purposes, at least I don't think so.

Also, I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "oh awesome! I have decided that I have AS!". If somebody doesn't have it, but self-diagnosis it anyway, chances are they will relate very little to anything said on this site, lol. They would have no reason to hang around here if they could not relate really, unless they just wanted to learn more about it... but most who are here for that purpose will just say that rather than saying they have AS, from what I have noticed at least. Granted, however, I'm no professional, so my observations could mean a lot or very little, since I know nobody on this site in person, and even if I did, it wouldn't matter what I thought. But if they said they were self-diagnosed, I might would be a bit eager to believe them since they live their lives themselves rather than based on observation.

Ditto. Health insurance was something I never considered a luxury until I turned 18 and lost mine.

I was all "screw these pills, screw psychiatrists, screw these psych. wards, I don't need them" and now that I actually want to see a psychiatrist to get an official diagnosis, to put the doubt to rest, it's more like "oh s***". Should have done it when I had the chance.