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Is Asperger's overdiagnosed or underdiagnosed?

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Do you think that AS is overdiagnosed or underdiagnosed?
Overdiagnosed; 38%  38%  [ 25 ]
Nor overdiagnosed, neither underdiagnosed; 22%  22%  [ 14 ]
Underdiagnosed. 40%  40%  [ 26 ]
Total votes : 65

Drebi
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05 Jan 2013, 4:44 am

I think it's over-diagnosed in some areas and under-diagnosed in others (like mine).



Dillogic
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05 Jan 2013, 4:55 am

Filipendula wrote:
Even if someone manages to negotiate life fairly well, they can still have a very impaired sense of self and an ASD diagnosis might give them the personal understanding that they need to grow and reach their potential rather than merely survive tolerably.


That's called a possible symptom of life. An ASD diagnosis will just make them think they have something they don't, and then they'll probably start "acting" like they have such in some way or another, and when they run into people who really have it, they'll see that they're nothing like that, and they'll go on and on about how their ASD is the right one -- this is if they've made an identity out of it. It's not an identity any more than heart failure is one.

Treat it for what it is, a severe and pervasive clinical entity on the same level as any other severe clinical entity out there.



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05 Jan 2013, 5:17 am

Neither, it's both. First, diagnosis rates very across demographics for various reasons, even though other studies say they shouldn't. Secondly, AS is a spectrum and it's not too specific, so the question of what exactly it is changes.


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05 Jan 2013, 6:21 am

Quote:
Is your mother an autism specialist or what?

Yes. She has worked with autistic children for 30 years, children that had every type of ASD, from the most low-functioning ones to the high-functioning ones.

btbnnyr wrote:
I identify more with autistic men on wp.

Ditto, but I also identify more with autistic guys I met in real life. Well, maybe it's because I met very few females with autism in real life.


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05 Jan 2013, 6:48 am

Dillogic wrote:
Filipendula wrote:
Even if someone manages to negotiate life fairly well, they can still have a very impaired sense of self and an ASD diagnosis might give them the personal understanding that they need to grow and reach their potential rather than merely survive tolerably.


That's called a possible symptom of life. An ASD diagnosis will just make them think they have something they don't, and then they'll probably start "acting" like they have such in some way or another, and when they run into people who really have it, they'll see that they're nothing like that, and they'll go on and on about how their ASD is the right one -- this is if they've made an identity out of it. It's not an identity any more than heart failure is one.

Treat it for what it is, a severe and pervasive clinical entity on the same level as any other severe clinical entity out there.


AS has NOTHING in common with heart failure, so don't compare the two.


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05 Jan 2013, 9:04 am

invisiblesilent wrote:
I'm from the UK, I wasn't aware of any prohibitions as a result of AS aside from one: serving in the military. All people with diagnosed ASDs are prohibited from serving in the UK military with no exceptions.


I would love to know how this is legal. Autism is different for everyone. You have some people with Autism who are disabled by it that they won't be able to join, which is fair enough. You then have those who don't have that many issues and live a relatively normal life. Why can't they join?

As for the driving - it depends rightly, on how the person is affected. Some drive with no problem and others are banned because their issues (sensory, behaviour, etc) make driving unsafe for them and /or others around them.



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05 Jan 2013, 9:06 am

Ganondox wrote:
AS has NOTHING in common with heart failure, so don't compare the two.


Both are medical conditions, which is my point, so they both should be treated as medical conditions.



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05 Jan 2013, 9:59 am

deltafunction wrote:
Huh is this social impairments? Some people think that if you have friends and can hold a job, you are not impaired and therefore don't have it but I think that's ridiculous. I mean you have to be impaired in some sense to fit the criteria obviously, but that doesn't mean that people who can get by in a job or have friends aren't struggling if they fit the criteria.

I guess it depends on how you define impairment and the level of impairment required for diagnosis...


I'd like to point out that there are blind people and people in wheelchairs who hold jobs, but they are still considered disabled/impaired.

The key is that these people need supports and accommodations to function effectively, and so do I.

I'm currently employed, but I have accommodations in place to assist me where necessary.

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I'm aware that impairment is key in assessments, I just happen to think that's rubbish. Also, if it were that cut and dry they wouldn't keep researching, debating and re-writing the criteria anyway.


The entire point of the "Aspergers" label is to identify people with impairments. It was never intended to classify "personality-types."

It's a simple matter of the functionality of language. "Aspergers Disorder" specifically refers to people with impairments across certain life domains who, in most cases, require support. This is important to realize because adults and children have a hard enough time attempting to get said support in the first place.

If we continue to dilute the label with every introverted nerd who feels "different," but who isn't impaired in any way, then the term "Aspergers" becomes meaningless. Personally, I have no idea what's so attractive about being "autistic" as opposed to just weird.


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05 Jan 2013, 11:07 am

Fnord wrote:
whirlingmind wrote:
self "diagnosis" is not a diagnosis.

Agreed.


In which case, you will also agree that your statement:

Fnord wrote:
Overdiagnosed; especially when the apparently high number of people who self-diagnose is taken into account.


is invalid. Because you can't take into account self-diagnosis into that calculation! Hence how can you state that it's over-diagnosed based in whole or part on that?


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05 Jan 2013, 11:12 am

XFilesGeek wrote:
deltafunction wrote:
Huh is this social impairments? Some people think that if you have friends and can hold a job, you are not impaired and therefore don't have it but I think that's ridiculous. I mean you have to be impaired in some sense to fit the criteria obviously, but that doesn't mean that people who can get by in a job or have friends aren't struggling if they fit the criteria.

I guess it depends on how you define impairment and the level of impairment required for diagnosis...


I'd like to point out that there are blind people and people in wheelchairs who hold jobs, but they are still considered disabled/impaired.

The key is that these people need supports and accommodations to function effectively, and so do I.

I'm currently employed, but I have accommodations in place to assist me where necessary.


Agreed, though in my case I am employed but wouldn't know what to tell my employers about accommodations to assist me. It's an easy student job and my only difficulty is working with people, so I don't want to say anything because I work with people on a daily basis. When diagnosed, I was only told about accommodations that I would need in school.



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05 Jan 2013, 12:13 pm

deltafunction wrote:
XFilesGeek wrote:
deltafunction wrote:
Huh is this social impairments? Some people think that if you have friends and can hold a job, you are not impaired and therefore don't have it but I think that's ridiculous. I mean you have to be impaired in some sense to fit the criteria obviously, but that doesn't mean that people who can get by in a job or have friends aren't struggling if they fit the criteria.

I guess it depends on how you define impairment and the level of impairment required for diagnosis...


I'd like to point out that there are blind people and people in wheelchairs who hold jobs, but they are still considered disabled/impaired.

The key is that these people need supports and accommodations to function effectively, and so do I.

I'm currently employed, but I have accommodations in place to assist me where necessary.


Agreed, though in my case I am employed but wouldn't know what to tell my employers about accommodations to assist me. It's an easy student job and my only difficulty is working with people, so I don't want to say anything because I work with people on a daily basis. When diagnosed, I was only told about accommodations that I would need in school.


When I had a student job, I didn't need accommodations either.

It consisted of putting books back on the library shelves; therefore, I didn't need much in the way of support to do it.

Just keep in mind that there are different ways of interacting with people, and you may need support in the future. Don't bite off more than you can chew.


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05 Jan 2013, 12:16 pm

I think it is overdiagnosed. Like some people seem to think just because a small child is shy, it means they are Autistic.


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05 Jan 2013, 2:43 pm

Joe90 wrote:
I think it is overdiagnosed. Like some people seem to think just because a small child is shy, it means they are Autistic.


Who does? I don't mean this in an offensive way, but I mean, in my personal experience, if anything people seem more like to say that an autistic child is just shy. Even when their is significant evidence of impaired functioning in the areas associated with ASD some people still say 'Naaah, you're just odd/unique/quirky/messed up'

But. It's not extremely relevent to the topic, although it is an important thing to discuss, what the general public think and say about ASDs. It's important to the topic what the professionals are saying about it, because they're the ones doing the diagnosing. So, are there any professionals saying that?

I don't know, because I don't really speak to many professionals in the field, apart from a professor at my university and we haven't ever really discussed frequency.



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05 Jan 2013, 5:57 pm

Joe90 wrote:
I think it is overdiagnosed. Like some people seem to think just because a small child is shy, it means they are Autistic.



But it doesn't mean they get diagnosed with it by professionals. It's just people being misinformed what autism is and don't understand what it is.


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05 Jan 2013, 6:26 pm

Wandering_Stranger wrote:
invisiblesilent wrote:
I'm from the UK, I wasn't aware of any prohibitions as a result of AS aside from one: serving in the military. All people with diagnosed ASDs are prohibited from serving in the UK military with no exceptions.


I would love to know how this is legal. Autism is different for everyone. You have some people with Autism who are disabled by it that they won't be able to join, which is fair enough. You then have those who don't have that many issues and live a relatively normal life. Why can't they join?

As for the driving - it depends rightly, on how the person is affected. Some drive with no problem and others are banned because their issues (sensory, behaviour, etc) make driving unsafe for them and /or others around them.


I have wondered also about that. My uncle (by marriage i.e. non biological) actually served in the military when he was younger and he has an ASD (although he didn't know it at the time). He thrived in the structured environment of the miltary in which most of life was taken care of for him and he just had to do his job. He loved it and got to be a sergeant. I realise that is not an astronomical achievement but nor is it an achievement to be sniffed at and it demonstrates that he certainly wasn't doing just enough to get by: clearly he demonstrated enough competence to get promoted at least twice and possibly three times (I'm not sure if they "did" lance-corporals in his regiment).

edit: Thinking on my dad was a reservist as well and served on active duty in Cyprus as an infantryman. I'm pretty damn sure he has AS. He loved the military too.



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05 Jan 2013, 6:44 pm

The structure in the military almost prompted me to join. I was actually fairly close to doing so, but discovered that not being straight was against the rules.