In defence of the self-DX "mild" Aspies...

Post Reply New Topic

I've been searching the web a lot (you could say "obsessively") and a common sentiment I've seen, not so much at WP, but elsewhere, is that there is no such thing as mild Asperger's, you can't diagnose yourself, either get a professional diagnosis or shut up, you just want to think you're special/your kid is special, you want an excuse to be a jerk you just want a criminal defence, you're insulting "real" Aspies, you're a neurohypochondriac, etc. Well, to that I say bollocks. Great big bouncy bollocks.

I'm not looking for a clinical diagnosis because I seem to function well in society. I am getting ready to move out from my parents' house as my house is going to be built in the coming months (I am 29) and I should cope reasonably fine. I have and can hold jobs. I have a long-term girlfriend although she was the first one I've had, after a long string of incompetent obliviousness with females, I can play competitive sport at a reasonable level, though I'm only just starting to understand how stiff, robotic movements can hinder greatly one's effectiveness in say, pitching a baseball. And, to reference Temple Grandin, since I don't need services, a clinical diagnosis isn't going to do much for me but relieve me of my money, maybe ruin my health insurance and/or life insurance, and as I am reading from many of you, it's often a crapshoot anyway.

Sure, I'm high functioning. I'm lucky enough to be able to work in a field where autistic obsession can be highly rewarded and Aspie traits are to at least some extent tolerated, especially when accompanied by high levels of esoteric skill and knowledge. What if I lacked the parental support and educational opportunities to get into computers? What if my mother didn't buy me books on BASIC programming when I was 6, or my best friend's dad when I was 11-18 didn't teach programming, loan me books on it, etc? I can tell you, excuse the stereotype, that if I had ended up in finance, retail, bricklaying or any one of the many trades and professions outside of science, technology and engineering, I would be functioning at a markedly different level. Even now, working at an organisation that does many non-technology things, after having worked or studied in virtually IT-exclusive contexts or with low populations of NTs for the previous 10 years, I notice my Aspie traits much more.

So, of course one's ability to function is context-dependant. Axiomatic, you'd think. But, and correct me if I am wrong, ASDs are really about your neurological wiring, which is not context-dependant. So then, surely one has to consider the case of the person who is an uber-nerd among uber-nerds, an introvert's introvert differently to one who is a little quieter than the norm in a gaggle of garrulous socialites?

I'm not looking for an excuse, I'm not looking for a medal, I'm not looking for money from the government, I just want to understand what's going on in my head.

I get you, people don't always take you seriously when you're self dx'ed, which is nonsense, I always assume the person is correct when they say they're self dx'ed, just for simplicity its easier and nicer.

I like your post, but be careful about throwing people under the bus, there. There's nothing wrong with "looking for money from the government" when your disabilities make it very difficult for you to work.

How can you say there are no variations in degree of Aspergers whithout stating any facts? Personally I think there are degrees in every psychologic issue, but Im no computer, so sorry for the lack of facts, it would take for ever to sum it up

Yes, you are correct. I somewhat rushed to finish the post before I had to get off the train, which was probably a mistake. I did not intend at all to cast aspersions on people receiving disability grants who are less than high functioning. The intent was more so to point out that I am not looking for assistance without having gone through the proper process and channels. I am sure that anyone here who does receive such assistance has at least tried in good faith to go through those processes and channels. If my apparent lack of clarity offended anybody, then I apologise.

What I should also have added before submitting this post:

This self-dx didn't come out of nothing. I've had friends with Aspie friends and relatives tell me I'm one. In my mid-teens, my mother, totally unbeknownst to me until a year ago, asked a friend of hers who had Internet access (we didn't, at the time) to get info on Asperger's because she believed I might have it. My girlfriend and sister are both fans of The Big Bang Theory and will often sarcastically riposte my impromptu lectures with "Thanks, Sheldon!" (yes, I know that's even less than non-clinical, but it's something). I have scored between 35-41 on the AQ test, which my uber-nerd friends typically score 16-30 on. On the RDOS quiz, I vary between "Aspie and NT traits" and "very likely an Aspie" (this morning I got 119 AS/81 NT). My Aspie traits were much more pronounced in my pre-teen years before I'd had a chance to slowly learn from other kids that I was weird, but at that time, Asperger's wasn't widely known about and it would never occur to teachers and parents to seek a diagnosis for it (which might well have been for the best anyway, so lucky me), especially when I aced all their standardised tests (though I did have to see counsellors on account of occasional angry outbursts). So this hasn't come out of nothing, as I said.

Thank you, although I'm not offended. I just wanted you to clarify like that.

You do realise not everyone can afford a professional diagnoses right? So my own research and a counseler I went to for a while agreeing will have to suffice. If you have a problem with that then well, it is your problem.

Hey--haven't been on the forums that much lately, but very glad I came across this thread.

AS explains the "weirdness" I've had my entire life. I researched it and realized how much sense it made.

Score on the AQ test: 37

Score on the RDOS: both AS and NT around 100, with AS slightly more. Near-balance probably due to my mom showing me how to cope/act, even without knowing what I had.

Two professors, both with relatives/friends with AS, recognized it in me immediately.

I am 32 years old and self-diagnosed at age 30. A formal diagnosis would do nothing for me now, even if I could get one. I know what I am/have, and that's enough.

I am not "pretending." I am not "making excuses." I am not "trying to be special or different." I AM different.

I certainly wouldn't assume that anyone that self-diagnoses is just doing it for attention (or any of the other silly reasons you read about). I think most self diagnose for the same reason that people seek a formal diagnosis.

I also don't think we should assume that someone that self-diagnoses is, necessarily, wrong. They may well be right.

However, I really don't think people should self diagnose. The DSM-IV explicitly states that the diagnostic criteria for these disorders "should not be rigidly applied by untrained individuals". I firmly believe that a diagnosis can ONLY be made by a qualified, trained professional with extensive specialized training and clinical experience. Many psychological disorders are highly similar to each other and there is often a substantial overlap of symptoms. (There are countless people out there with anxiety disorders, for example, that wrongly self-diagnose as ADHD).

In theory, a diagnosis should reflect an underlying neurological condition (that would not change with context). However, current technology is not sufficient to grant us direct access to the neurological differences that underlie many psychological diagnoses. For that reason, we still must rely on patterns of symptoms. Most psychologists take a "practical" approach, in the sense that they see no reason to give someone a diagnosis if they are doing well in their lives.

For example, why diagnose someone with ADHD -- which gives them a free ticket to obtain amphetemines -- if he is doing just fine in his life? That could well do more harm than good.

The reality is that many psychological disorders grade into other disorders and into neurotypicality. Where to draw the line, therefore, becomes mostly a practical decision that is based on what would likely do the most good.

When I was a tot and would not react to other kids that came over, even just by coming down the stairs, no one thought it as odd.
When I was a little kid in elementary school no one but one teacher found it odd to see me wandering along the halls alone going nowhere and covering my ears.
No one, it seems, find it strange that I am obsessed to medicine and the human body at the age of three.
And no one seemed to care that I was left out and bullied for 10 straight years?
Self diagnosis is crucial for the official diagnosis which is...official.

And, ps, my asq is 47 and my aspie test score was 184.

Your looking for something because you are upset enough to start this thread. The only reason I got an evaluation was because of as*holes on WP saying I was NT when I posted a reply they did not like.

Who cares what other people think! They don't live your life, so who are they (those self-dx objectors) to tell you what you do or do not have?

It just annoys me because lots of people even family members have accused me of trying to exagerrate things or trying to tell me there is nothing wrong with me and I just need to get over everything and move on, while completely ignoring that maybe I do have some difficulties. It did not help my self esteem any more then being called ret*d when I knew I was and still am quite intelligent...I just have communication/social difficulties related to aspergers which happen to effect how smart I come off as. I mean at the end of the day it does not matter what any self-dx objectors say......but it is still rather irritating that they accuse people such as myself as being fakes.

I would hate to have been a self diagnosed in the present. I already have a hard time with getting friends and family to take me seriously with having gotten an actual Dx. Sometimes I do question whether or not I really do have it but the stimming, flapping, sensitivity issues, and other problems that especially other people point out about me kinda speak for themselves. I know that the majority of unusual things about myself and my childhood match up with Asperger's eerily/

I don't know if there's been any actual studies, but it's been my experience that a lot of people I've come across who self-dx themselves with ADHD and get evaluated get diagnosed with it.

The thing about the qualified, trained professional with extensive specialized training and clinical experience is that they're supposed to know how to diagnose people from what said people report and how they present themselves. The experience of being someone with a condition like AS or ADHD or other conditions is not the same as the experience of observing someone else. It's not comparable.

I don't see a problem with people self-diagnosing - and I don't see a lot of people who strictly diagnose themselves from the DSM-IV criteria, but tend to draw on other information (such as descriptions by other people who have the same condition), which goes well beyond the DSM and ties back to the experience of being someone with one of those conditions.