Some people make it up

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Today I was informed by a doctor that some people read forums like this to gather information so that they can pretend to have ASD/Aspergers.

I was very shocked because doing that is very wrong, and obviously they are NOT Good People.

Personally I fail to understand how people pretending to be on the spectrum can do so as in my opinion, and from my own experience I can tell if someone is on the autistic spectrum within 2 seconds of looking at them if it is in real-life (such as them walking past me and me looking at them, or me seeing them stood in a supermarket cue), regardless of where they are on the scale. It is SO EASY to see.
Why can't doctors see it?

That's because there's something already wrong with that person to want to imitate the symptoms of ASD.

I fail to understand why anyone would WANT to pretend to be on the spectrum. Perhaps I'm alone in this view but I don't see a whole hell of a lot of upsides to autism at any level.

Even if someone were to be attempting to pursue some kind of welfare help, benefit payments, etc, there doesn't appear to be jacksh!t in that department, even in the UK, where the latest government cuts are sending people back to the "fit to work" assessment who are terminally ill with cancer, extremely depressed, and all kinds of other things.

I honestly can't understand why anyone would fake AS/ASDs and the psychologist I spoke with said the exact same thing and even if you could, I would be a nightmare to keep up the appearance. I find identifying those on the spectrum becomes quite easy when you know what it is: the guy who helped me at the computer section at Staples last night is so laughably Aspie I had to keep my mouth shut! He even spoke in an excessive formal tone and was so honest he talked himself out of a sale. He even used the extremely specific term "99.7 to 99.8% chance" that only someone on the spectrum would use. Don't worry I will spend that money saved on a new laptop this summer and will go back to him so he gets credit if I can. After all, he's one honest kid and gave top notch service!

While obviously only an expert can diagnose an Autism Spectrum Disorder, determining if someone is "Aspie" or "Autie" like is quite easy to do once you learn what it is beyond the stereotypes, especially in teenage/young adult males. I come here to try and AVOID acting too much like a stereotypical Aspie!

can tell if someone is on the autistic spectrum within 2 seconds of looking at them if it is in real-life (such as them walking past me and me looking at them, or me seeing them stood in a supermarket cue), regardless of where they are on the scale. It is SO EASY to see.
Why can't doctors see it?[/quote]

I can "recognize" other autistics on sight as well. And it is easy. But, I can understand why docs can't. I mean, I am not aware they are autistic by anything else other than my heart singing that I have encountered one of my own. I'm pretty sure that NT docs don't analyze using melodic criteria.

And I know what I just posted sounds so not autisticky,but, oh well.

Sometimes I do quickly realize kids with some form of autism.

I have never heard of anyone faking it intentionally in order to fake it to get a diagnosis. Why would they do that?

What I hear from the media where I live is that some get "over diagnosed" with ASD because that is "the trend" instead of getting diagnosed with something else. No idea how true that is.

And there was this debate a couple of years ago about teenagers faking ADHD in order to get Ritalin. (No idea if kids actually did fake ADHD.) So now it is a lot harder to get an ADHD diagnosis. And I see people struggling with ADHD without being able obtain a diagnosis.

Also I can't answer the poll because there is no option for "this assertion is blatantly false."

I want to hear stories from people who voted yes on the poll. Do they personally know someone who tried to fake symptoms autism with a doctor?

I can't tell if someone is autistic or not. They all look normal to me. Even in my group I wouldn't be able to tell if I didn't know them. They look like everyone else. Even if someone cut me off in the store I would think they were rude or weren't paying attention because they were in a hurry giving them the benefit of the doubt but I wouldn't assume every person who makes a social mistake is ASD.

I think it does happen, but I don't think it's commonplace.

A few years ago, I got to know someone on another ASD forum. She had a diagnosis of Asperger's. We lived close to each other, and met up a few times. I really don't think she did have Asperger's and I'm not sure whether she deliberately "acted autistic" to get the diagnosis, but she was using the diagnosis to get accommodations at uni and in her workplace. She had been having difficulties in her workplace, and having a diagnosis meant that she couldn't be disciplined/dismissed as readily as someone without a diagnosis.

I was suspicious, and I checked out her posting history. She had been a member of that particular forum for longer than I had been. She did seem to have been gathering information, but as I say, I couldn't say that she was setting out to deceive as perhaps subconsciously looking for some kind of "get-out" for her own troubles.

Never seen anyone doing that...

It was online and he pulled a lot of other crap with me to the point that I simply do not interact with him anymore. No opportunity to slap anyone.