Most people on this forum don't have Asperger's Syndrome

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It is true that Asperger's Syndrome causes social awkwardness, but to assume that a socially awkward person has a high likelihood of having Asperger' Syndrome --just because he or she is socially awkward-- is ridiculous. It might sound hard to believe, but the first thought that comes into a lot of people's minds when they hear the words "socially awkward" is "Asperger's Syndrome."

Here's a brief list of conditions that also cause social awkwardness:

Low intelligence.
High intelligence.
Immaturity.
Attitude.
Schizophrenia.
Personality Disorders.
ADD/ADHD.

Of course, almost noone wants to attribute their social problems to a psychiatric disorder, low intelligence or a flaw of character; so it's not suprising that when an Oprah/Dr.Phil-educated armchair psychologist labels them Aspergeans, and reassures them that their problem is not a problem, but just a variation in the way they interpret the world, they feel ennobled and redeemed; the blame for their faults swiftly shifts from their own selves towards an abstraction.

The truth is that Asperger's Syndrome is just another fad, like depression and ADD/ADHD. In fact, most people who think they have Asperger's Syndrome probably don't have it, because self-awareness is pretty much inconsistent with the nature of Asperger's Syndrome. Do you feel empathy towards other "aspies" on this forum? Most likely, that means you don't have Asperger's Syndrome. Aspergeans are known for lacking empathy, and saying that an Aspergean feels empathy is almost as ludicrous as saying that a narcissist has low self-esteem; that's just not the way these labels were defined.

For those reasons, I think most people on this forum don't have Asperger's Syndrome.

Ugh.
First of all, I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome by my psychiatrist, before I had seen psychiatrists seeing possibility of childhood schizophrenia. I'm also diagnosed with ADHD which may explain my large range of interests (on that personality test you take in high school I was told I could be whatever I wished to be).
I'm not stupid, I've been told I'm extremely smart.

Saying that we do not feel empathy is outrageous. Dr. Hans Asperger first called the syndrome "autistic psychopathy," but it's not as if Aspies are totally deprived of empathy because of lack of social understanding. It's not as if we are totally 100% independent of socialization (after all, humans evolved into extremely social animals, aspies just stayed behind a little bit) so saying that we're are totally independent of such is ridiculous.

As for narcissism and self-esteem, as someone with a narcissistic personality background, I can tell you that narcissism is a sort of defense mechanism triggered by low self esteem and self confidence. They are not contradictions - if contradictions exist at all.

I'm wondering if you are a troll.

I won't deny that AS is probably a bit of a fad, but people don't just conclude they have AS because they're socially awkward. There are a number of other symptoms that go with it.

Setting aside your obvious qualifications to decide, say, which of these strangers do or do not have the mental wiring indicitive of.

Lacking empathy is undefined.

A story of empathy:
I got to work yesterday and my favorite corworker says to me: Did you hear about Ray (name ommited), Ray, my teammate on a crew of 6.

I said "why is he dead?" The last thing I was expecting to hear.
He said, "yes"
I said "oh huh, that's strange"
And went to work unfased.

Yet say, if this was my cat...my rat..my husband..dog, child, favorite relative, betafish or an unknown person I would be crushed.

I think the definition of empathy as it translates within the NT population is seriously skewed. We are 'percieved' as lacking empathy. We do not lack it.
I do not empathy over someone I would not have sit at my table or visit my home-period.

And maybe you are right. That there is no such thing as Aspergers therefore no one can have it.

Some of us just don't know (and don't particularly care - like myself) if we have Asperger's or not.

Interesting premise, flawed, but interesting nonetheless.

It's impossible to determine the incidence of "real" "aspies" from people who display some of the traits, people who're looking for an answer for why they are how they are; it can take several months to several minutes to determine whether someone is an "aspie" or not out there, anyone can say they do this and that in here; they have this or that.

Generally, an undiagnosed "aspie" usually won't know that there's anything wrong with them until secondary mental disorders manifest due to one becoming too overwhelmed by society--trying to fit in. Some with a high level of insight will notice something amiss when they have no friends, why they cannot do this or that which their peers do with seamless ease. You're somewhat correct here, it's surprising how many undiagnosed-turn-diagnosed "aspies" thought they were good at social interaction prior to their awakening.

We have impairment in empathy--none, delayed, distorted, etcetera; people tend to confuse empathy with sympathy; so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on people here saying they have empathy in abundance when they don't define it to you.

I don't buy into the "fad" argument; awareness doesn't promote incidence, it tries to promote understanding as most people with this and its related disorders will be accurately diagnosed as children without knowledge of the disorder even existing to the parents--an accurate picture of the disorder anyway. But what of children before it was a diagnostic entity one will say; it's a rare disorder; 1/300 to 1/10,000. I'm sure out of 299 people, there's an uncle one of them knows who never left home, never married, worked "menial" jobs, but had an extraordinary ability to remember facts.

I've yet to see someone want Asperger's when they've seen someone with it.

I'll bet there are people here who aren't AS. What you say has some relevance. However, to say most people here aren't really AS just isn't true. Many of us are diagnosed, and of those who aren't, I've seen their descriptions of themselves as they tried to confirm their AS identity. They seem to be as far as I can tell.

Don`t apply your suspicions about yourself to other members you know nothing about.
The vast majority of WP members are Aspies.

You think you can decide whether someone has aspergers or not based on what they write on an internet forum?

i don't blame nuttin on nobody.........

and regardless........ you're stuck with me, the lot of you.

The majority of the people who post on this board, have AS. There are some people on this board, such as parents and other family members, who don't have it. as well as teachers. I also don't see anything with my intelligence.

Way to entirely miss the point of Asperger's Syndrome yourself, Mw99.

I'm glad someone touches this issue. I raised this point myself yesterday talking to another user of WP, suggesting that many people on this forum in fact don't have anything in common with autistic spectrum: they're simply intellectuals with poor social skills who don't find any common ground with all those average Joes surrounding them or the problems they encounter trying to socialize are caused by shyness and, of course, we must not forget about personality disorders - borderline, avoidant or schizoid personality.

As for me, I have no the slightest idea if I have it or not. But before I arrived here I had happened to talk online with one guy with AS diagnosed who claimed that he, being diagnosed had exactly the same symptoms which I had which may be a good premise to believe I have the same too.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt39373.html It's a thread I once started, summarizing all my quirks. The are typical for AS but I was completely unable to judge myself; to see myself from outside, through other people's eyes so I decided to look for opinion then which would agree with your statement about self-awareness being inconsistent with the nature of AS.

Speaking of empathy, this issue seems to look this way: some people with AS apparently have it developed (maybe not in such a high degree like in neurotypical people, I guess) but their problem is lack of skill when it comes to showing it, others - like myself - don't seem to have it in extent. I mean - in my case the cognitive empathy functions very well but the emotional one almost doesn't exist.