I think it's all bullshit. People are so over-diagnosed nowadays, if shrinks had it their way, we'd all be labeled with some kind of disorder. And if the pharmaceutical companies had it their way, we'd all be on something. People are different, we all have things to deal with and handle them differently. That doesn't mean you have a "disorder".
You're oversimplifying it, and anyone who belittles those who suffer from it are engaging in a grotesque act of ignorant bullying. I have three friends who are all brothers, all of whom suffer from varying degrees of Asperger's. It is very real, and often can be debilitating. Sometimes extremely so. It isn't a matter of "legal license to act like an asshole", it's a matter of not having any idea that one is acting like an asshole, and getting frustrated by the fact that they have a lot of difficulty communicating and getting along with others in life. Example, someone at work says, "hey, the adoption came through, and our new baby from the Phillipines just arrived. Wanna see some pictures?" Now for the most part, people don't really care enough about this coworker's new baby, but out of politeness, most of us understand that the socially acceptable thing is to take the time to look at the pictures and go along with the chit chat so that you don't damage your relationship with said coworker. Someone with Asperger's would likely say, "No thanks" or "Not really", and move along with their day. They aren't being an asshole, they're just being honest because they don't have the natural facility to recognize things like pleasantries. Obviously, if sometime down the line one needed a favor from that coworker, and it was the Asperger's scenario, it would adversely affect the person's career and lead to a lot of frustration.
Im autistic, and this is compleatly true. If we do things that arent socialy acceptable, its just beacuse we cant understand why its not! At the age of 16, something as simple as buying a drink at starbucks can still be extreamly diffucult, and when there is too much stuff like this to deal with, i do somethimes just shutdown or panic, sometimes getting mad at people trying to help me. Im not a mean usualy, actualy, some lower functioning kids i know are the nicest people ive met. Somethimes we just dont know what to do.
This is all very true. wouldn't that be great. Maybe I'm naive, but I'm going to assume you're being sincere and wish you the best of luck with your work situation, and everything else. Oh yeah, and good luck with any treatment they have that helps you with not being a jerk.
I tend to agree, but its not so much over-diagnosed. Its more or less mis-diagnosed. And there is a difference. I've witnessed some doctors misread/misinterpret symptoms and immediately think its some "illness" (often times without proper testing) when its not that. I don't know what it is, but maybe its arrogance. I've had quite the number of arguments with people in the medical profession that thought I was narcoleptic, prone to seizures and a few other things when all it turned out to be was mononucleosis. There are those in the psychology profession that actually do care, take time to listen, and take the time to diagnose properly whenever they can, but then there are those that are in an immediate rush to throw out a name as if to "fix you as soon as possible." And then there's those who would love to see you doped up on something.........
Yes, I was oversimplifying it, more so for humor's sake than anything else. I think Aspergers is very real, but there is the tendency to over- or mis-diagnose, which is also very real. Therefore, yes, in a way, it does become a license for many to act an asshole when increasingly people are labeled with the favor-of-the-moment mental disorder. You can justify it with all the examples you want, but it is plain and simple human nature for us to find scapegoats for behavior that is undesirable, whatever it may be. When it came to criminal behavior, humanity has historically looked to cultural factors, genetics, and media products.Today, it's more popular to look for psychological factors to explain the subtleties that make us act differently from each other. This is in no way to discount that there are people with real mental disorders, but caution should be the numer one factor when those disorders start getting thrown around to people with wild abandon.
I can't understand why there are so many people who claim that Aspergers can be 'fixed' with some form of medication. From everything I have read Aspergers is not a 'treatable' mental disorder in the strictest sense of the word. Those with more than one mental disorder, such as Extreme Anxiety and Aspergers or ADHD and Aspergers combined can obviously take some form of medication for the symptoms of one of the disease, but as far as I know it isn't Aspergers. Aspergers is not a mental disorder per-se, it affects the mental processes of those who actually possess it in the Social Spectrum. Those with Aspergers do not 'act like jerks' they suffer from a different mental wiring than most ordinary people. They can not differentiate between facial expressions, subtleties of body language or communications in general that are not direct, honest, spoken dialogue. They take things too literally, if you told them someone with Aspergers that a man had his leg torn off in an unconventional manner they would accept those words at face value and not bother looking into it. Which can lead to problems when reacting with others. Those with Aspergers get angry because they can't understand why someone has reacted the way they have, angry or upset or frustrated or even just obsessed at trying to analyze what has happened and then make ammends by apologizing or doing their best to come off as the opposite of a jerk. You can't treat social disorders with medication, plain and simple, some of the medical profession may feel that these pills or something can do something, perhaps by intense study or something. But the thing about Aspergers is that those with it do not possess all of the exact same symptoms. There are different levels of how debilitating the disorder treats a person, and if they have other complications such as ADHD or Deep Depresion then they are going to have two problems in their mental wiring causing conflicting and disorganized thoughts, feelings and reactions. Understanding these things would help people to accept that Aspergers is very real, it's not just some latest fad, not as far as I am aware. If someone has kept using Aspergers as an excuse for being a jerk... Well there is obviously something off about such excuses. I'm a jerk too some of the time, but it's not because I have Aspergers, it's because I'm just being a jerk. I've been in a bad mood or something someone else posted just rubbed me the wrong way and I got too antagonistic about it. I may have Aspergers, but it doesn't make me a jerk. Being a jerk due to reacting/overreacting at what someone else has said makes me a jerk.
Ah dammit you beat me to it Welcome aboard Bryan! I was diagnosed recently, wish that happened a bit earlier though, preferably before I started High School because that would have saved me alot of the trouble I went through adapting to the High School environment as a freshman and sophomore. At first my doctor thought I had ADD but I went in for more tests. My case isn't severe so I guess you could say I have aspergers of a "lesser-degree". For the most part I barely have no problems when it comes to socializing but I tend to be very shy around people I don't know and most of the time I'm just unable to speak. When I do you can't hear a single thing I'm saying because I'm speaking too soft or I'm studdering. So there's that, and my passion for dinosaurs (95% of everything I've read on aspergers cited "Having an huge interest in topics like dinosaurs" as a symptom.). I also frequently partake in religious debates, I'm very artistic, and I'm clumsy. Having aspergers is nothing to be ashamed about. Everybody is different, people with aspergers think and emote differently/uniquely than others.
Same here. Same here, liked dinosaurs since I was a kid. (Also been a big Godzilla fan since back in the day BTW) I'm also clumsy and quite artistic, I don't draw as much as I used to, but I used to all the time. Seeing me without a pencil in my hand scribbling away or writing stories was a rarity. So is everyone different, or just people with Asperger's? If everyone is different, does that mean everyone has Asperger's? And if people with Asperger's are so different, why is there a checklist to identify them? Wouldn't it be difficult because the traits are so unique and special each time? Besides, you don't seem that different to me, I just pointed out many similarities we have. Maybe I have Asperger's and don't realize it, and challenge people's claims because I have a hard time relating to their feelings? That's another symptom after all.
Just so you know, they cannot legally fire you just because you have a disability. Wow. I had no idea there were so many people on the boards who have this condition. I've been diagnosed with general anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder myself. I wonder if collecting things like Transformers is somehow therapeutic?
I was diagnosed with aspergers when I was in the third grade. I've been taking medication since sixth grade and have high anxiety levels as well. I recently learned my anxiety issues may be genetic as both of my aunts and my grandmother on my mom's side of the family suffer from anxiety as well. My mom doesn't seem to have the same issues as my aunts, in fact one of my aunts said she was glad my mom was "the strong one". A few months ago, during November, when I was still in high school, my anxiety and stress levels got out of control and I spent a few days in the adolecent pych ward. My mom thinks the meds I had just been perscribed may have contributed to my break-down, which afterwards my doctor took me off of. Ironicly, when I got back to school the next week we began reading Its Kind of a Funny Story in english class. Then after we finnished reading the book we watched One Flew Over the Coo-Coos Nest, as Funny Story was Still in theaters at the time. My senior english teacher was awsome.
I'm an elementary special education teacher and have worked with several autistic students on the spectrum. Autism is very real and attempts to trivialize it are not cool.
I mean that people have many similarities with each other but everyone has something that makes them different, unique, regardless if they have aspergers or not. For example we have similar interests, ideas etc. but we could have different views on certain topics, perhaps ones we can't discuss here etc. hope that clears it up
Cool, except you're not a psychologist and you weren't there, so I'm not really tracking how you know what it "sounds" like. Dude, I've post like 20 times since you joined...and I was around for years before that. You don't know anything about me, and knowing "a few people with Asperger's" doesn't exactly make you an expert. Unfortunately, they absolutely can. My job has very specific medical standards. It wouldn't really be "getting fired," but yes, I can be let go. A lot of it depends on this meeting later this week and how my bosses decide to interpret the regulations. In the meantime, I'm just hanging out. I've been...I guess suspended is the right word. So I have a lot of time to think about how this is going to play out and what's next for me. It's kind of driving me crazy.
Yeah... I'm sorry, but I think you're trolling the Aspergers people on here. You've definitely got some anger issues, at least in what and how you post on these forums (your comments about abuse of women on that one thread about the woman murdered by her ex were particularly disturbing) but one thing I've never seen from you on here is compassion or understanding for weakness in others. IF it turns out you are serious, then I'll change my tune. But your posting history over the years serves as heavy evidence that you are not, and are instead mocking those with mental health issues.