How important is formal diagnosis?

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If it was really possible to outgrow Autism then why is it only Aspergers that people are supposedly able to outgrow. Why are there no doctors saying they had a patient outgrow Kanners or Rhetts? Its not outgrowing its just that we are like any other human in that we are not stagnant creatures. We still mature, albeit sometimes at a slower pace, but we do grow up into adults and learn by making mistakes how to fit in a little better in the world the older we get. It doesn't mean we got cured or outgrowed it. Its as stupid as people that used to claim people outgrowed Asthma, but what you generally find is asthma gets worse and worse throughout a persons life.

I don't believe in this particular theory either but has been proven that the brain continues to create new neuronal connections at an astonishing rate throughout life. So there is real 'improvement' (I hate that word) in some areas, minor though they may be, even in kids with Kanners over long periods of time. In people with aspergers the results seems to be more obvious since we also learn to mask our shortcomings very well even though we're still basically the same inside.

interesting. I don't have any problem with the notion of improvement in any area of my life, so long as it happens organically and the catalyst is personal freedom of choice.
if it is a case of change and improvement for the sake of adherence to the prevailing socio-cultural modes of being and behvaviour and it is an enforced and severe kind of thing from outside of the individual with an ASD (which is what my parents attempted to do with me unwtittingly,) i do declare it an ABSOLUTE CROCK OF SH#T.


However, i think if i were a parent of an ASD child i would be mulling over this issue with far more consideration on an ongoing basis, than the phrase above. in that scenario, the issue would be under constant review and contemplation and it would invariably involve a constant negotiation between the autistic world and the external environment. My sister currently faces this issue on a moment to moment basis. it has been very hard.
on a light endnote - she took my nephew on his first "sleeper" train trip last week. He is a train fanatic at 3 year of age. He loves windmills too. he got a REAL buzz out of his overnight journey on the train!

i didn't mean to say that you saying so is a typical aspergers thing; i meant rather that the act of a doctor diagnosing aspergers is somewhat similar to how people with aspergers are inclined to think. also, i do mean to raise awareness to the extent which such ideas of what someone is capable of, ie the diagnosis of aspergers, could actually impede them, depending

Can you elaborate? I´m not sure I know what you mean, about diagnosing AS as being a typical AS-like thing???

I also dislike grey areas. However, even a diagnosis to me seems somewhat grey. The whole thing about AS seems rather grey!...how can they really KNOW? It sounds like some are being misdiagnosed with AS, and some are not getting the diagnosis they need. I keep taking these screening tests, and although I score in the AS section, I wonder about it. Am I answering the questions right? Have I understood correctly, have I interpreted it right? I don´t know if I would feel any different seeing a doctor about it, but I don´t know...maybe that´s just me....

If one really can "see" autism- as some have suggested, through brain scans- why don´t they just diagnose that way? Isn´t that more secure?

Must adhere to the bureaucratic systems in place in order to decrease the pressure loaded onto to us and help ensure understandings and protections for our delicate dispositions. we know doctors are hit and miss, Just like us they are special and flawed. Often just as odd. And usually they don't have anything to offer, that we didn't already know before we interacted, on the other hand, Personal experience;

I had a panic attack for over two hours, arrived in emergency certain I was having a heart attack and spent time that night planning my funeral .
Apparently I was hyperventilating and was "as red as a tomato" the kind doctor new something I didn't and 1 mg of adivan later I left tired and well.
Many times MD's have used various technologies (unavailable to me) to remove metal shards from my eyes. Self diagnosis just wasn't enough.
Dr's diligently almost killed me and then saved my life when I contracted Legionnaires disease. One month later when I had become able to walk again a Dr announced to me "would you like to Know what you had? Remember all the things we thought you had , well today we can tell you with certainly that you suffered from Legionnaires, And that shotgun Tanker dump of Iv antibiotics with the massive quantities of saline that we had given you upon your arrival before we put you into the artificial coma that you didn't recover from for two extra days just to dig around in your belly and find nothing, Had cured you." The first things that the lovely doctors did saved my life, their subsequent actions left me near death worse than when i arrived. Then they meticulously nursed me back to life. They are good s**ts.
My favorite dr is named HOUSE, He on TV, my NT wife loves him and so do I, If he were real, it would be just the way I would want a dr to be sorta a bit like us.

So love to hate em or hate to love em but we are their dependents.


Im an aspie, duhjavascript:emoticon(':wink:')

Wouldn't that be nice? Even better if I can do it myself at home. Someday. . .

I'm scared that people just ignorantly reject the idea that they have AS, and affect other family members who do have it, and would benefit from a diagnosis, treatment, and cooperative acknowledgement. It is a good example to set for others, getting diagnosed, and taking good care of yourself. I like the idea of breaking the many stereotypes about AS characteristics and the personalities, physical behaviours, and mental differences of those who have it amongst each other. My dad more than likely has it, and will probably never speak to me again to find out if I have it or not. Maybe he's gotten diagnosed, maybe not, but I know that it would have helped me if he had gotten one a long time ago. So, it seems logical to get one if it's available and feasible for you. This is not to say that 'healing' or 'calming' does not not occur as an Aspergian or an Autie ages. I know that when speaking of women specifically, that formal diagnoses are crucial. I'm a woman, and I want one, but I have to put effort into it, and that's not easy for me to accomplish without health insurance and a support group. So, I've started taking those steps to ensure that I'll do the right thing, and take care of myself while hopefully helping others do the same.

Yes, well/ My dad's approaching 82 now, and probably he's enjoying life as much as he ever has. No concerns about diagnosis or AS for him.

My younger son, who's probably aspie too, is staying with him at present. He's ambulance trained, which makes him a good bloke to have handy in an emergency, and he's desperately lonely, which makes the servant role through the next world tour an attractive proposition.

Me, I hang here suspended between an old reality that's tarnishing fast and a new one that stubbornly resists being brought into focus. If it wasn't for the desperate need to find some way to make diagnosis a constructive learning experience, it'd be hard to keep summoning up the enthusiasm for another day. Really, it would.

THe various types of scans are much like reading tea leaves in that the same identical scan can result in several interprettations depending on who is doing the looking. Just becasue an area appears dark when it should appear bright only means the brain is functioning differently but not necessarily abnormally.

Really? Sounds like that´s a grey area too, then. Hmmmm.....

Yeah, that would be cool...sort of like a home Pregnancy Test.

I can see a correlation between problem solving skills, recognising personal social differences, and drawing conclusions there exists a problem in order to find out the cause of it. It might be easier to see plant's point if the Aspergian is self diagnosed and turns out to be correct. There seem to be a large number of Aspies that fit that description. I'm one of them, and since many non Aspergians have had a hard time really grasping what the actual difference is between them and myself when I knew one existed by paying really close attention to details (some not so discreet), I've looked for my own answers. Besides that, there are Aspies who adapt better than others, making formal diagnosis less important, and self diagnosis becomes more applicable to them. Being concerned about behavioural health is not necessarily the same as being self absorbed, but that again, is an Aspie thing.

Thanks! That makes sense to me. And, I believe I am one of those self-diagnosed Aspies you speak about.

well aspie things are whatever they are... usually they are things rather specific to the particular idea and syntax towards that at the time....... which is to say that i consider asperger people simply to be naturally attent and sensitive to their semantics of things. certain things are what they are.
so far as my point, i've been struck from above with a diagnosis and offered no modalities whatsoever of understanding something that caused numerous changes in my life's situation; all of a sudden people were speaking to me through some fisheye of psychology books. even the idea that i've been diagnosed throws that statement into skepticism, but it actually holds up to be rather objective, except that mostly no one wanted to consider it

anyway, diagnosing aspergers is kiinda aspergian because it puts it in a category, something sorta abstract, which is what many aspergians are naturally inclined to do

i guess its a general person thing to think that various things threaten other things when that's not really the case all in all