How many on WP do you think really have some form of autism?

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[quote="Laney2005"]The only contribution I am going to allow myself to make is that autism is a spectrum. The people you're going to see on here will by their very nature be on the higher-functioning end of that spectrum. And the written word is coded differently in the brain than speech. Most people with ASDs tend to have better writing skills than speaking skills. I know I have always found it (emotionally) easier to write than to speak.

The same counts for me.

I believe that most people here who state they are Aspie, Autie, etc. have some form of autism. Birds of a feather tend to flock together. This is what I see here. I know one Aspie adult who has social functioning skills actually superior to that of an NT. He has read a book about how to pick up women. I have seen him in action, and it is quite scary how well the pickup techniques work. I have also talked to people here who are very intelligent but are also low to medium functioning. It is hard to judge people online. I am friends with one person online who is a genius, but in real life, she is completely nonverbal. You have to actually meet people in their environment and see how they interact. While I believe that there are a few people here who have misdiagnosed themselves, I think that is a rare exception to the rule. I myself am a medium to high functioning adult Autie. However, at times, I can completely blend in as a NT. I think that many of the online autism tests are generally accurate. An official diagnosis (at least here in the Police States of America) is very expensive to get and is very detrimental to a person once they reach adulthood. It is in most cases completely unnecessary in order to access what little support is out there. I'm sure glad that it is not required here.

Last edited by cyberscan on 01 Dec 2009, 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'd say, most. I can tell by the way people on here interact. There are subtle differences.

Hey, Daniel, has anyone ever told you how awesome you are? 'Cause you are very awesome. Just wanted to say that.




You mean Strapples?






Trying to undiagnose (or what have you) people over the internet: not recommended.

I don't understand all the doubt and whatever such as this. I really don't.

Well, i can't say i actually have it. I know i have some sort of social issues, BUT that isn't the only reason i am here. My son has a dx of ASD. I am mostly here to better understand the thoughts and feelings of people on the spectrum so i can understand my son more.

Willard wrote:

Imagine that! topic

Great imagery, excellent grammar and profound language!!

QFT

well i am the person with the "b9" robot from lost in space avatar, and when i first joined here, i thought i would find people at my own level of social capacity, and i thought i would not encounter personality struggles or vanity or jealousy or political passion or religious passion. i thought i would encounter a site full of "me's".

i was wrong, and at first i was annoyed that even here there is no one who is similar to me, but after a while, i saw that some people that are here are very smart and i have much to learn by reading their words.
it really does not matter whether a person has an affliction the same as mine i realize.

the correctness of their reasoning, and the validity of their concepts is the same.

but i do think that the more severe autistic people here are a bit trodden under by the more charismatic members a bit.

A very salient issue regarding being identified with a mental disorder is the formidable and pervasive stigma still attached thereto. And although most here understand that AS is not a disorder but a neurological difference, it is included in the Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM) as such. It stands to reason that few people would wish to be associated with a mental disability without a very good reason, such as it accurately describing their condition.

To the contrary, common sense would suggest that many more would have a strong desire to deny their AS. I would speculate that for every person without AS wishing to identify with the condition, there are many dozens with AS who are in a state of denial, or who have difficulty accepting their different neurology.

It appears to me that many of these threads questioning AS diagnoses are started by people who have great difficulty accepting there own AS. If AS were a sham, and people who say they have AS are shams, this would reinforce their state of denial.

Heh. I know a person who has convinced himself that he has Asperger's from reading the Wikipedia page and has even told a few people at work that he has it. And he clearly does not have it, although he has some other issues.

This is irritating to me because it helps project the wrong image of Asperger's. No wonder people then start saying that AS is a fake disorder.

Have you tried to talk him into taking the online Aspie test. I know that it is not a "professional" diagnosis, but it is least objective. To tell you the truth, I believe that these test are more inclined to err on the side of diagnosing someone as NT.

A few thoughts:

1) I am diagnosed--for what that's worth. There are differences of opinion about diagnostic criteria, level of impairment, and how different presentations should be categorized. But at age 37, I was given the Aspie label, and it is one that I am content to wear.

2) I have a job, I have a 'life' (mortgage, volunteer activities), I perform in community theatre, I have a social circle. Do these factor contraindicate my diagnosis? Not to the people that made it, apparently. And not to me, either.

The simple fact is that I grew up in ignorance of my psychological difference. I attributed my alienation from my peers (I went to an all-boys school) to my sexual orientation. I knew I was socially clueless--I assumed it was because I had no opportunity to socialize with women and I had nothing in common with the straight teens around me. I credited my development of the skills that I have to coming out, and reconciling myself to my orientation. With the clarity of hindsight, I was developing skills, but those skills were compensating for deficits that I had misattributed.

So, today, am I still on the autism spectrum? I believe I am. My skills are just that, skills. They are learned behaviours. And when I am tired, or stressed, or otherwise incapable of exercising them, they do not work well, and all of my underlying deficits are still there.

A diabetic with an insulin pump might be able to eat an ice-cream sundae, but he is still a diabetic. An Aspie who has learned to stop interrupting conversations (well, I'm still working on this one.... ) is still an Aspie.

^^Horse manure. Absolute, pure, unadulterated balderdash.^^

I have refuted this claim over and over again.

It does not have to be expensive to get diagnosed (didn't cost me a dime).

It is in no way detrimental to any adult (no one has to know you've been diagnosed if you choose not to tell them), and

Access to the public services it makes available can literally mean the difference between life and death, shelter and homelessness.

Please stop spreading this defeatist MALARKY. You may keep someone in need from seeking the help that will save their life.

While I do believe some people mistake shyness, or anti-social tendencies for Aspergers/Autism, I tend to avoid judging people. I am only slightly upset when someone who is self-diagnosed says, "It's not so bad; look at all I've done.", and belittles what some of us are enduring.

I don't know who does, and doesn't, have AS. I just assume that if they say they do, they're affected in some way,and need support.

So that's the reason to hate self diagnosers.

He took the aspie quiz and the AQ test, and got 117 Aspie on the quiz and 32 on the AQ test, I believe. These tests are, however, are all self-assessment, which means that it's easy to answer the questions in a certain way that will result in a higher Asperger's score.

Yes. At least personally for me, it is.

no need for hatred

Although people may be annoying or even hurtful, surely the word "hate" is a bit much?