4 ms·

I think you are being overly cynical. It's a label that helps people. I'm one of those people. I spent so much of my youth wondering what was so innately wrong

I think you are being overly cynical. It's a label that helps people. I'm one of those people. I spent so much of my youth wondering what was so innately wrong with me that my peers would take every opportunity to mock my speech, my hobbies, my mannerisms, my preferences in food, clothes, etc. I became severely depressed during high school and nearly killed myself. I felt incredibly broken, confused, and separated from my peers in every way. My parents weren't the type to believe in stuff like ADHD or Autism spectrum stuff, so the fact that I was getting great grades/test scores/had a few close nerd friends seemed to indicate I was just bookish and shy. Teachers were the same way, nothing wrong with the quiet kid. When I finally had a psychologist tell me about Asperger's, and I went to some of the online communities and read about all of the other people with such similar experiences, it really helped. I wasn't so broken anymore, I was just different, and a lot of other people are different in the same way. By that time, I was too old to get much help out of an official diagnosis, but just being able to put a label on it gave me some peace. Even though I am well-adjusted, employed, and otherwise able to blend in and function to a point that it's mostly irrelevant, knowing about it and having a community helped me get there. I don't see why it's so terrible to have autism be a more inclusive label if it helps people.

lutusp 11y ago
> It's a label that helps people. Yes, that's very likely true. But some will argue that it's more than a label, that it has an independent reality, whether or not people find it helpful. Such people are trying to class autism with biological conditions, and they may turn out to be right. We won't know until someone uses science to link an actual objective cause to the symptoms -- a pathogen or an unambiguous organic source that can be objectively diagnosed without expert opinion playing any part at all. We're nowhere near that goal. > When I finally had a psychologist tell me about Asperger's, and I went to some of the online communities and read about all of the other people with such similar experiences, it really helped. How did you feel when Asperger's was abandoned, after an epidemic of phony diagnoses? Did it matter that many of the diagnoses were just opinion with no objective basis? This is not to claim that those with the Asperger's diagnosis were faking, but that their true subjective mental state wasn't being accurately assessed, and many smart people were being grouped with people who actually had one or another mental condition. I point this out only to show that we have no idea what Asperger's is, or Autism is, and the necessary science is not being done.
- dogma1138 11y ago
  Asperger is no longer considered an actual condition by the APA. Sadly in the UK it's running out of control, it's also now part of the new benefit package new PIP (DLA replacement) for working adults. The UK now has the 2nd highest autism rate in the world with over 1% of the population being diagnosed (not by doctors, nor by NHS but by "speech and developmental professionals" working for private institutions) with autism the vast majority in the recent 5 years Adult Asperger Syndrome. Japan also has very skewed numbers with nearly 2% of the population diagnosed with some form of autism, in late allot of the Japanese specific psychiatric/psychological conditions like Hikikomori are also being associated with autism.
  - ScottBurson 11y ago
    > Asperger is not longer considered an actual condition by the APA. All that's happened is that the terminology has been changed: In 2013, the DSM-5 replaced Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder and other pervasive developmental disorders with the umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. [0] This simply codifies the conclusion that Asperger syndrome differs in degree, but not in kind, from more severe forms of autism. It doesn't mean that people who were formerly diagnosed with Asperger are now considered normal. [0] http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/aspergers-syndrome/ http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/aspergers-syndrome/
    - dogma1138 11y ago
      That's not correct it pretty much excluded all Asperger related symptoms that are predominantly expressed in Autism cases and mandated that all previous Asperger diagnosis should be reevaluated: "Individuals with a well-established DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified should be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Individuals who have marked deficits in social communication, but whose symptoms do not otherwise meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder, should be evaluated for social (pragmatic) communication disorder." SPCD itself is not considered part of the Autism spectrum and has quite stringent requirements to ensure that only really edge cases that are neither autism nor a classic referral to a therapist get caught by it.

lutusp 11y ago

> It's a label that helps people. Yes, that's very likely true. But some will argue that it's more than a label, that it has an independent reality, whether or not people find it helpful. Such people are trying to class autism with biological conditions, and they may turn out to be right. We won't know until someone uses science to link an actual objective cause to the symptoms -- a pathogen or an unambiguous organic source that can be objectively diagnosed without expert opinion playing any part at all. We're nowhere near that goal. > When I finally had a psychologist tell me about Asperger's, and I went to some of the online communities and read about all of the other people with such similar experiences, it really helped. How did you feel when Asperger's was abandoned, after an epidemic of phony diagnoses? Did it matter that many of the diagnoses were just opinion with no objective basis? This is not to claim that those with the Asperger's diagnosis were faking, but that their true subjective mental state wasn't being accurately assessed, and many smart people were being grouped with people who actually had one or another mental condition. I point this out only to show that we have no idea what Asperger's is, or Autism is, and the necessary science is not being done.

dogma1138 11y ago
Asperger is no longer considered an actual condition by the APA. Sadly in the UK it's running out of control, it's also now part of the new benefit package new PIP (DLA replacement) for working adults. The UK now has the 2nd highest autism rate in the world with over 1% of the population being diagnosed (not by doctors, nor by NHS but by "speech and developmental professionals" working for private institutions) with autism the vast majority in the recent 5 years Adult Asperger Syndrome. Japan also has very skewed numbers with nearly 2% of the population diagnosed with some form of autism, in late allot of the Japanese specific psychiatric/psychological conditions like Hikikomori are also being associated with autism.
- ScottBurson 11y ago
  > Asperger is not longer considered an actual condition by the APA. All that's happened is that the terminology has been changed: In 2013, the DSM-5 replaced Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder and other pervasive developmental disorders with the umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. [0] This simply codifies the conclusion that Asperger syndrome differs in degree, but not in kind, from more severe forms of autism. It doesn't mean that people who were formerly diagnosed with Asperger are now considered normal. [0] http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/aspergers-syndrome/ http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/aspergers-syndrome/
  - dogma1138 11y ago
    That's not correct it pretty much excluded all Asperger related symptoms that are predominantly expressed in Autism cases and mandated that all previous Asperger diagnosis should be reevaluated: "Individuals with a well-established DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified should be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Individuals who have marked deficits in social communication, but whose symptoms do not otherwise meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder, should be evaluated for social (pragmatic) communication disorder." SPCD itself is not considered part of the Autism spectrum and has quite stringent requirements to ensure that only really edge cases that are neither autism nor a classic referral to a therapist get caught by it.