When the professionals are idiots...

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As soon as the DSM-V goes into effect, Asperger's wont exist, so I can't call myself an Aspie anymore. But I won't fit the diagnostic criteria for autism, either.

You know what? I'm sick of doctors, most of whom are NT, trying to say they know who is and is not autistic. But that is the name of the condition.

So let's get rid of that. Call yourself autistic to non-autistics if you want. But to those of you who are sick of having inadequate words dictated by people who either don't know what they're talking about or don't WANT to know what they're talking about, I propose that we call ourselves dandelions, which is basically supposed to be how I use the term Aspie.

To be a dandelion, you must fit at least three of the following criteria:
1. At least half the time has one or two special interests, or historically has had them
2. Uses or interprets body language in one or more nonstandard ways
3. Has one or more of the following:
i. Unusual sensory perceptions (hypersensitive, hyposensitive, etc.)
ii. Difficulty recognizing faces (prosopagnosia)
iii. Perceives things as raw sensory data, rather than with meaning (e.g., "that is a rectangular patch of light comprised of many rectangular patches and some that look like rectangles with holes in them in which the other rectangles fit, as well as some blue and green marks toward the upper left, some gray marks toward the center but kind of toward the right, some light blue vertical bars..." as opposed to "oh, look, that's a computer screen on which someone's composing a message on WrongPlanet")
iv. Difficulty with or nonstandard use of language
4. One or more of the following:
i. Odd stuff like not letting the things on your plate touch, or always visiting a specific place at a specific time on a specific day of the week
ii. Sensitivity to fluorescent lights
iii. Lacks in-group/out-group dichotomy (favoritism)
iv. Less than normal need/desire for friends
v. IQ tests fail to predict performance in life, or fail to predict performance on other IQ tests
vi. NTs react as if this person has offended them, despite the dandelion being sure that the NT's offense is completely out of the blue, or believing it's deserved but not having any idea what they did to deserve it

Anyone think the criteria need to be revised?

Anyway, you can be a dandelion. So whatever the doctors say, whatever the DSM says, even if the DSM-V ends up defining autism as someone who fits all of the following criteria:
1. Is a purple monkey
2. Exhibits one or more of the following:
i. Drools a lot
ii. Likes bananas
iii. Is good at Dance Dance Revolution
3. Speaks Chinese with a German accent
4. Is God
4. Does not speak German, has no speech delay and no significant impairment in any area of life.
6. Does not recognize the existence of the number 5
7. Does not meet the criteria for schizophrenia or for being Nothobranchius furzeri.

...You can still call yourself a dandelion!! I take it all the non-NTs here are dandelions, right? If not, why not?

Doesn't this sound like the best idea ever?

I answered yes to all but one on the criteria.

But I have no problem with the name change. I call myself autistic and fit autism more than AS.

Yeah, when I said "at least three of the following criteria," I meant the ones marked with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4), two of which are lists out of which you only need one (the actual DSM does crazy stuff like that too).

So you'd definitely fit. Welcome, dandelion!

Oh my God, I think I have autism.

I used to do that until someone told me they all get mixed together on the inside anyway, so now I am more inclined toward trying to get as many different things as possible on my fork at once in order to help the processes along ...

... and yes, lions are definitely dandy as long as they refrain from too much candy.

You are not your diagnosis, and "autie" isn't any more difficult to type than "aspie."

If I fit the criteria. They're changing the criteria to exclude me.

The plate thing, yeah that's me.

I make sure everything is separate. No Mr. Mash Potato you can't touch my mushroom. They need according space between each other.

Indeed. Here, I'll share which ones I have. Mine are bolded.

1. At least half the time has one or two special interests, or historically has had them (not all the time, but a lot of the time)
2. Uses or interprets body language in one or more nonstandard ways (mildly nonstandard, but it differs in important ways)
3. Has one or more of the following: (yes, specifically...)
i. Unusual sensory perceptions (hypersensitive, hyposensitive, etc.)
ii. Difficulty recognizing faces (prosopagnosia) (have historically had this, but not anymore)
iii. Perceives things as raw sensory data, rather than with meaning (e.g., "that is a rectangular patch of light comprised of many rectangular patches and some that look like rectangles with holes in them in which the other rectangles fit, as well as some blue and green marks toward the upper left, some gray marks toward the center but kind of toward the right, some light blue vertical bars..." as opposed to "oh, look, that's a computer screen on which someone's composing a message on WrongPlanet")
iv. Difficulty with or nonstandard use of language
4. One or more of the following:
i. Odd stuff like not letting the things on your plate touch, or always visiting a specific place at a specific time on a specific day of the week (NO MUSHROOMS!! And other stuff)
ii. Sensitivity to fluorescent lights
iii. Lacks in-group/out-group dichotomy (favoritism)
iv. Less than normal need/desire for friends
v. IQ tests fail to predict performance in life, or fail to predict performance on other IQ tests (I'd need to know my IQ to answer this one)
vi. NTs react as if this person has offended them, despite the dandelion being sure that the NT's offense is completely out of the blue, or believing it's deserved but not having any idea what they did to deserve it

Ok so I just found out I have aspergers a couple or months back. So do I not have aspergers anymore? What do I have? Or am I supposed to magically be an NT now who doesn't have any problems?

Okay, so... let me try to explain it. Some people think a certain way. Let's not even call it dandelion. Let's call it X. Most people who are Xs got called autistic, and most people who got called autistic were Xs. They wanted to use a divide-and-conquer tactic, though, to help marginalize us, so they called the ones who are best at making people respect us Asperger's instead of autistic. So now they've figured out that that's stupid. So they're not going to call anyone Asperger's anymore. At the same time, they're changing the definition of autistic so a whole bunch of Xs aren't autistic anymore. If you were ever an X, you still are. If by some miracle you fit the new criteria for autism, you're autistic. If you don't, you're whatever you do fit the criteria for, or you're officially NT because the new diagnostic criteria are awful.

I don't want to confuse the issue by having two sets of diagnostic criteria for autism, one of which I just made up, so I made up a new word so I could have a word to describe what I am, because they're taking away both the words I used before. I don't have Asperger's; it doesn't exist. I don't have autism; autism is something that doesn't include all the Xs. But I'm still an X, so I came up with something else.

Either high functioning autism or social communication disorder.

The experts are the problem when they expect that everybody is going to want to treated and cured.

In my case studies class, we had a discussion about the change to the DSM IV. My professor, who specializes in Autism, really liked the idea. Honestly, I hear most people use the terms "high functioning Autism", and "Asperger’s" interchangeably. I feel that it should not exclude anyone that is already diagnosed, rather it's just a change in the label that the person will have. On the other hand, many people who are diagnosed late, or as adults, may not fully fit the new criteria because they have changed and adapted as they grew up. I could still fit the criteria, but I do not look as “impaired” from an outside perspective. For some reason I always like the distinction between Autism and Asperger’s, although I'm not sure why...

I'm all for it. Having to correct "ass-burgers" and "asparagus" has pretty much worn off on me.

People who have AS and do not feel disordered will benefit from the new DSM. You can still be an Aspie, people won't think you are disordered which is what a lot of Aspies want. The 'syndrome' still exists, but is no longer considered a limitation.