How can I prove that I *don't* have aspergers?

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I was wondering... how do I prove that I *don't* have aspergers?

I'm looking at the diagnostic criteria for aspergers and they mention something like "You only need to have X amount of the following Y symptoms", and I'm looking at the symptoms and if I interpret the criteria in a certain way and imagine my personal history in just the right way, it seems quite plausible that I might be mildly autistic.

It also doesn't help that I typically scored 32 on the AQ test but that was before I learned about the scoring algorithm; After learning of the scoring algorithm, I erred towards the 'neurotypical' answer by changing my "slightly agree"'s to "slightly disagree" and vice versa when appropriate. So, after learning of the scoring rules, I typically end up with a score of 18!

Then there's that aspergers test and it says something like "Your aspergers score is 105; Your neurotypical score is 100; You have a mix of aspie and neurotypical traits.". (Btw, 2 people who had the same or 'better' NT scores were diagnosed with aspergers in that thread; The 2 other people that I found with similar profiles were "self-diagnosed" and "uncertain".)

Come on, where am I?

So, instead of looking for indications that seem to think that I *might* have aspergers, I'm looking for bona fide evidence that'd distinctively disprove the possibility once and for all! Are there any childhood experiences / properties that'd disprove the possibility of aspergers? Maybe something like...

"If you played pretend with your sibling, then you don't have aspergers."

"If you flirted with girls in highschool and a girl asked you out to the prom, then you don't have..."

Something like that, you know?

I just checked out the "What is your IQ?" thread and someone posted the article www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively ... and-autism . They mentioned "None of the children with autism in the study scored in the "high intelligence" range on the WISC" and I typically score in the 135-150 range on the WAIS (The adult version of the WISC). But, aspergers probably would score more highly on the WAIS than regularly autistic kids, so that doesn't suggest anything, I guess.

Last edited by swbluto on 05 Mar 2011, 11:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Things are always more complicated than "if you played with your sibling." Besides, proving a negative is hard.

There's no easy things like that, because autistic people vary so much, and there's no single thing that every person has to have. In a way it doesn't matter, though. You're still you, whether you're autistic, nonautistic, or somewhere in between.

I would say you can NOT prove a negstive - but of course I can't prove that.

If autism were a simple definable condition, and if we understood what it was, and if there were a definitive test - if only - then hey, a simple yes or no.

But really it comes down to definitions and value judgements and weighting the evidence.

One reason I am glad I was not recognized when they checked me out and that at my time of life there is absolutely no reason to eorry babout diagnosis one way or anther. I yam what I yam and tht is fine by me and the others wjo count and he who doesn't like it may go elsewhere.

Hang around here. See whether you feel more of a sense of belonging here than anywhere else. Check around threads. When people talk about their experiences, see if you relate more to the Aspies. Look on the NT/AS open hotline thread (it's sticky) and see if Aspies are asking questions you've wondered, or if their answers to NT questions are similar to yours.

There is nothing that is uniquely definitive to the Autistic experience.
It describes a combination of characteristics that occur in the same individual.

(FYI: the accuracy of tests such as the one you took is immediately compromised once the taker is knowledgeable of the scoring mechanisms. Having to consciously and deliberately alter your original answers toward a more NT response in order to yield that result is kind of the opposite of proving you're NT.)

I've actually read the article you mentioned-
it notes that no children with Autism scored in the high intelligence range on the WISC
IN ORDER TO NOTE
that there is very questionable accuracy when it comes to the scores of Autistics on tests developed for NT's.
The article only mentioned the WISC in order to contrast it with Raven's Progressive Matrices, on which a full THIRD of the children tested scored in the high intelligence range.

Those with Aspergers DO have Autism, in fact the syndrome has long-been questioned as distinct from HFA,
and with the newest edition of the DSM, that question has been decided in the negative.


It's really not so important whether you're "officially" Aspie, does it?
If you have challenges, think critically about what you need AS AN INDIVIDUAL to overcome them.
If you have strengths, celebrate and use them.

Last edited by Bethie on 05 Mar 2011, 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

OP, you sound Autistic to me. Most NTs wouldn't bother learning the scoring of the tests.

Those tests are supposed to be done blindly in order to get the most accurate score possible. When you learn the scoring methods of them and change your answers based on that, you are manipulating the test into giving you the answer you seek.

To be honest, I was reading wikipedia's article on the AQ test to find background information on the score distributions of "aspergers" and "neurotypicals" to derive a probability of a person scoring 32 on the test of having aspergers; I *think* I came back with a probability of somewhere around 22%. In the wikipedia article, they explained the scoring algorithm and so that little nugget of information was just cached when away to reuse when I retook the test.



Yeah, I know, I was only joking -- I didn't sincerely believe my 'newest' score was authentic. On that tangent, I did intend for my statement to be interpreted jocularly, but it apparently wasn't, so this either indicates my expression is not particularly obvious as a joke, or the interpreters weren't particularly perceptive to jokes. Since I've noticed this problem when talking to presumably neurotypicals in other places, I'm assuming my expression isn't obvious enough as a joke. So, maybe this would suggest I'm autistic? Of course, it could be the case everyone else is...

The only objective markers I can think of are the various tests using eye-following while watching video, MRIs, measuring activity in parts of the brain, checking speech robotically, pupil dilation test, and possibly gut flora test--- all these things have been cited as promising indicators of physical differences. Then there's DNA-- they are coming up with important markers there.... deletions on chromosome 17 etc... but ruling out? we're still pretty subjective...

I often miss jokes, but I've read your OP a couple of times and I just don't see a joke in there at all.

One thing to remember about online discussions (talking with NTs or ASDs) is to make jokes clear or people will take what you say at face value.

Oh yes, I'm developing and utilizing my strengths, no problems there.

It's those deficiencies and... it's funny... because if I do have aspergers or I'm "aspergish enough", then I won't have enough intrapersonal insight to know what *exactly* my problems are. For example, I *know* I have unusual facial expressions because this was confirmed by someone who shows all the traits of a "normal person" (Including having a wide array of friends, male and female.), but it's not like I can look in the mirror and go "OH, yeah, that's definitely an autistic facial expression.".

But... I've always felt like I had difficulty in managing my facial expressions when interacting with others. Over the years, it's like I had to unintuitively learn through the school of hard knocks the social rule of "Don't stare", and so about after 20 seconds or so, or whenever the person deflects their head, I avert my gaze. And this isn't something that's particularly intuitive. Is it supposed to be? *makes note to post to the QA hotline*

FYI:

It's best not to assume people on an Aspie forum will get sarcasm or non-literal jokes.

I promise you,
there's nothing inherently Autistic about being un-funny.

Sometimes jokes don't come across through text.

I can definitely empathize. Staring at others can be considered rude, or a come-on, or plain weird in different contexts,
but for a girl to stare at another girl in high school is apparently a declaration of war.




Very true. NT's struggle with the limitations of text when it comes to all-important nuances like voice inflection and facial expression.

I never had a staring problem... unless you count staring vacantly into the distance and not hearing anyone try to get my attention. lol

Haha. Fair enough (Although even if it were unfunny, I'd think it'd be recognizable as an unfunny attempt on second pass...). I seem unfunnier online than offline, though I'm sometimes pretty unfunny offline, too. I think the linguistic nuances required for verbal based humor may be particularly difficult to me because of expressive language delays earlier in my youth and probable lifelong underlying 'cognitive deficits'. Of course, it might also be related to autism-related characteristics.

When I was a teenager, I liked solving calculus and physics problems in my spare time. Maybe that'd be an 'obsessive interest' typical of aspergers?

Last edited by swbluto on 05 Mar 2011, 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.