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The ultimate online Apergers quiz: DSM IV

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infinitenull
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22 Jan 2012, 1:32 pm

So after the thread about Temple Grandin talking about insurance risks here I decided to do as she says and look up the DSM IV.

Then I thought about it, isn't the same criteria that doctors use to diagnose pretty much the criteria that a person could use to diagnose their selves? Perhaps I am being too logical on that part... who knows...

For me, I have decided to use it. As of today I am going to say that I am officially Aspergian based on the DSM IV.

I fit because of: I: B, C, and part of A, II: A, B,C, and D, III: Social and Other areas of impairments, IV: language OK, V: somewhat questionable... but for the most part ok, VI: I am not skitzo :p

Check out the criteria yourself:

http://www.autreat.com/dsm4-aspergers.html

Quote:

[The following is from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM IV]
(I) Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
(A) marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(B) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(C) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interest or achievements with other people, (e.g.. by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
(D) lack of social or emotional reciprocity
(II) Restricted repetitive & stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
(A) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
(B) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
(C) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g. hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
(D) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

(III) The disturbance causes clinically significant impairments in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

(IV) There is no clinically significant general delay in language (E.G. single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years)

(V) There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction) and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

(VI) Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia."


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OJani
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22 Jan 2012, 2:11 pm

The problem with the criteria (or any criteria) is that they don't tell you about severity / frequency (besides very vague). That's why they developed ADOS, ADI-R and other tools and even then it requires a trained and/or experienced professional to interpret the results and finally give a dx if it's appropriate. Any online (or other) test/quiz can only be indicative (some more, some less).


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infinitenull
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22 Jan 2012, 2:22 pm

OJani wrote:
The problem with the criteria (or any criteria) is that they don't tell you about severity / frequency (besides very vague). That's why they developed ADOS, ADI-R and other tools and even then it requires a trained and/or experienced professional to interpret the results and finally give a dx if it's appropriate. Any online (or other) test/quiz can only be indicative (some more, some less).


good points, but I think I'll take it as the final thing that I needed to consider for myself.

the things listed, I consider pretty significant in my life, especially when I was younger and didn't have ways to get around them.


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dianthus
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22 Jan 2012, 2:26 pm

OJani wrote:
The problem with the criteria (or any criteria) is that they don't tell you about severity / frequency (besides very vague).


Right, and that's why I'm hesitant to self-diagnose. At face value, I definitely meet the criteria, but I have no context to understand the severity of my issues (which is part of what I'm trying to glean by reading posts on this forum).



infinitenull
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22 Jan 2012, 2:38 pm

dianthus wrote:
OJani wrote:
The problem with the criteria (or any criteria) is that they don't tell you about severity / frequency (besides very vague).


Right, and that's why I'm hesitant to self-diagnose. At face value, I definitely meet the criteria, but I have no context to understand the severity of my issues (which is part of what I'm trying to glean by reading posts on this forum).


I am pretty confident with instructions... Generally while you could look at these statements as being hard to see about threshold but what supplements for that is this forum. As you read various professionally dx and self dx individuals' experiences you get a feel for the severity aspect.

There is a lot of reading material online and this forum has been a huge help. To me it's pretty binary.


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btbnnyr
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22 Jan 2012, 2:59 pm

When I joined WP, shortly after I had been professionally diagnosed, I read all 700 pages of the General Discussion (there were 700 pages in May 2011) to confirm my professional diagnosis.



dianthus
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22 Jan 2012, 3:00 pm

I feel confident in saying something like I have an "autistic neurology" because it is clear to me that my brain is wired for autism. But I am still not sure if I am really affected enough by it to say that I'm actually autistic.

ADHD probably explains most of my issues, but not quite all of them. I am still not even sure what the actual distinction is between ADHD and Asperger's. Both involve executive dysfunction, social impairments and sensory issues. So I am not sure where to draw the line between them.



ictus75
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22 Jan 2012, 3:39 pm

I've been officially DXed and it's nice to read that and see a little bit of all in me. Spot on.


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22 Jan 2012, 3:40 pm

btbnnyr wrote:
When I joined WP, shortly after I had been professionally diagnosed, I read all 700 pages of the General Discussion (there were 700 pages in May 2011) to confirm my professional diagnosis.



Wow you actually read every single thread? Hoe long did that take you to read all 700 pages?

How does reading all that confirm your professional diagnoses? Did you not trust the doctor or something so you had to read on here to realize you have it?



btbnnyr
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22 Jan 2012, 3:52 pm

League_Girl wrote:
btbnnyr wrote:
When I joined WP, shortly after I had been professionally diagnosed, I read all 700 pages of the General Discussion (there were 700 pages in May 2011) to confirm my professional diagnosis.



Wow you actually read every single thread? Hoe long did that take you to read all 700 pages?

How does reading all that confirm your professional diagnoses? Did you not trust the doctor or something so you had to read on here to realize you have it?


I trusted the professionals, but I wanted to find out how I related to other people on the spectrum, so I read all 700 pages to find out that I related a lot and the specific ways in which I related. Once I started reading, I could not stop, and my reading of all 700 pages, which did not take that long, only a week or two maybe, was an indicator of autism, I am sure, and I call such behaviors the "Autistic Inertia Unlimited", like the name of a runaway train.

Before I read WP, one of the things that was unclear in my mind was the reading of facial expressions. I thought that reading facial expressions meant being able to see facial features and being able to see facial features move, and that was it. I thought that I was great at reading facial expressions, because I could see all the facial features and all the facial features move. Then, I read a thread on WP, about halfway through the 700 pages, indicating that there was more to reading facial expressions than what I had thought. For the first time evar, I learned that people did not just read facial expressions as facial features existing and moving. They read facial expressions into states of mind, and they did it automatically without thinking about it and matching the facial features and facial features movements into positions and movements that they had seen on TV, such as from movies on the Lifetime Movie Network or cartoons like Looney Tunes. Once I made this great discovery, I realized that I was terrible at reading facial expressions, and I related to other people who said that they were bad at it too, and that helped me confirm that I had been correctly diagnosed.



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22 Jan 2012, 4:28 pm

I used to think I was good with reading facial expressions too but I found out difficulty with them also means having a hard time interpreting them. If you have to ask what that facial expression means or why they have that look, then you have difficulty reading/understanding them.



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22 Jan 2012, 4:44 pm

There are quite a few things that I am now reassessing if i do the same thing as other people do. Such as reading facial expressions and non-verbal stuff...

I have the concepts based on classes I've taken where I can consciously translate stuff like crossed arms as potentially meaning someone is shut off or non receptive etc... but that is because it was the topic of a communications class.

Stimming is another thing that I am sort of re-assessing in myself. I know that I hide it and things but I never realized that a lot of stimulating things that I do are not just quirks... I get anxious over it because of my differences...

It's been an interesting journey so far. While I've only seriously considered the topic since the 1st of this year I have always thought that I associated with people that I've met who were autistic.


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RazorEddie
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22 Jan 2012, 5:46 pm

Quote:
There are quite a few things that I am now reassessing if i do the same thing as other people do. Such as reading facial expressions and non-verbal stuff...


I know how you feel. I keep reading about various autistic traits that don't seem to apply to me. Very often, after thinking about them for a bit, I realize that actually they do. Every so often I revisit some of the on line AS tests. My scores are slowly going up as I learn what the questions actually mean.



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22 Jan 2012, 8:58 pm

btbnnyr wrote:
When I joined WP, shortly after I had been professionally diagnosed, I read all 700 pages of the General Discussion (there were 700 pages in May 2011) to confirm my professional diagnosis.


If you are going to bother to read 700 forum pages, then you are definately an Aspie.


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dianthus
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22 Jan 2012, 9:03 pm

Ganondox, what do you think is the difference between AS and ADHD? I saw another post where I think you said some of the same genes are attributed to both.



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22 Jan 2012, 9:13 pm

btbnnyr wrote:
When I joined WP, shortly after I had been professionally diagnosed, I read all 700 pages of the General Discussion (there were 700 pages in May 2011) to confirm my professional diagnosis.


There should be a club.

I didn't read all 700, though. I skipped over threads that didn't look useful, and focused on threads that did. I am sure I went back at least a few hundred pages, and I suspect I went all the way back to the start, but I cannot swear to it.