possible reasons aspergers wasn't recognized in the 50's and 60's?

[Ylva]

No, like I said they'd have said you were "mad" and chucked you in the local Mad House.

Exactly.

 

[OlLiE]

I grew up in the 70-80-90's. I was high functioning and just considered 'difficult and awkward to deal with', someone who was weird, unapproachable, temper tantrums, inflexible, smart but annoying.

I was forced to try and understand myself on my own, find workarounds on my own, find my own sense of self worth etc, but i kind of like to see it as an character building exercise, albeit an unpleasant one.

I preferred discovering who i was rather than being told who i was or being boxed in by a medical label. While getting the diagnosis in my 40's helped me understand what was going on, i don't really regret only getting it later in life.

Knowing sooner would have helped in some aspects, all i really wanted was understanding and acceptance from my parents, but i would be worried that while it just a part of my life now, if i had learned at too early an age it may have defined me too much, it may have pushed a framework or context on me that may have limited me more later on in life.

The diagnosis has helped me improve my quality of life by making it easier to accept myself, respect my limitations, communicate to others about my needs, to stop fighting pointless battles to belong in environments that don't make me happy.

Everyone has difficulties and challenges in their lives. I just got deal the spectrum card and want to make the best out of my life.

 

[Pats]

Yep.
I'm really nervous writing on here, not sure if I am going to say something wrong, but here goes..
We behave "normally" until pressure is put on us. I have been wondering for awhile (been watching a police show) how many people on the spectrum have been accused of things they did not do by parents, teachers, pastors, or others in authority and punished because they acted awkwardly when "interrogated." Is it possible ASD folks are in prison today because a police officer decided they were guilty and "did what was needed to make sure justice was done?"
I know as a child I was punished so many times for things I did not do and I never understood why.
I was ran out of a church by a pastor who listened to gossip, called me into a meetings with the elders and treated me like a criminal until I explained my side. Not once, again and again and again. Until I left. (I'm not a christian any longer.) Then made sure all the other churches in the area knew I was evil. I couldn't find a place to go where I wasn't treated like a leper. In the name of God.
Sorry if this is offensive.
It is good that society is recognizing that we are different (not evil, retarded or dangerous) but I would still like never to have to openly acknowledge that I am HFA. It could cost me my job, my right to drive, and who knows what else.

Not offensive at all - it's a shame people were ever like that. As an adult stopped for speeding I was once tested for alcohol because I was so nervous and acted, I guess, drunk. (I don't drink at all - but my behavior made me suspicious).
I also have had a hard time with authorities, including a couple churches, and stopped going because the way I was treated. Then I decided I was not going to let anyone be a stumbling block for me and they will answer for themselves. Where I attend now, I've let it be known not to expect to see me more often than Sunday mornings because that was hard enough for me and explained to a couple people why and they don't push me to come more, and even the preacher has stopped preaching every Sunday on needing to be there every time the door is open. I spent a lot of time being afraid to do things because of how I was treated. But now that I know what I am I know the problems before they arise and can be a little more prepared to deal with it.

 

[Major Tom]

Other than the punishment in school, it was much the same growing up in the late 70s early 80s (at least in my home).

 

[Pats]

I grew up in the 70-80-90's. I was high functioning and just considered 'difficult and awkward to deal with', someone who was weird, unapproachable, temper tantrums, inflexible, smart but annoying.

I was forced to try and understand myself on my own, find workarounds on my own, find my own sense of self worth etc, but i kind of like to see it as an character building exercise, albeit an unpleasant one.

I preferred discovering who i was rather than being told who i was or being boxed in by a medical label. While getting the diagnosis in my 40's helped me understand what was going on, i don't really regret only getting it later in life.

Knowing sooner would have helped in some aspects, all i really wanted was understanding and acceptance from my parents, but i would be worried that while it just a part of my life now, if i had learned at too early an age it may have defined me too much, it may have pushed a framework or context on me that may have limited me more later on in life.

The diagnosis has helped me improve my quality of life by making it easier to accept myself, respect my limitations, communicate to others about my needs, to stop fighting pointless battles to belong in environments that don't make me happy.

Everyone has difficulties and challenges in their lives. I just got deal the spectrum card and want to make the best out of my life.

I have to agree with some advantages of not having the diagnosis until later because forcing me to be more normal (at least in behavior and actions) is probably the reason I was able to push myself through nursing school and work as the sole supporter of my kids and raise my kids. A label would have limited all that I'm sure. Even in my own mind would have given me an excuse not to fight as hard to do those things.

 

[Adora]

I was born in the 80s and grew up in the 90s but even back in the 90s there wasn’t a lot known about females on the spectrum and I went through my childhood not knowing I am on the spectrum,I was just considered extremely shy and things like my tip toe walking was just me being weird,like others have said here my interests were considered immature for a teenager and I sometimes use to get comments about why I am not into stuff like other teenage girls and I got compared to them about how my behaviour was weird compared to theirs,I was bullied at school for being weird and one time I came home and my mother was in a bad mood that day I was crying to her and while she did hug me she also said to me “You really are weird Adora”,my dad even had a full talk to me one time about my toy collecting and told me that because I’m getting older I shouldn’t tell anyone because I will get bullied but it didn’t matter because I was bullied anyway,years went by and it wasn’t until I was 31 that I found out I am on the spectrum but I have wondered about what if I knew earlier and then I come to the conclusion that maybe it was for the best that I didn’t know until later because I think during that period of my life it would of made things worse.

 

[Crossbreed]

Where even Hollywood has made us appear "dangerous".

Too bad it's rated R. An autistic James Bond would be cool.

 

[Shamar]

We didn't have multiple toys to line up other than matchbox cars. We had 1 Barbie and multiple outfits.
Didn't have computers and video games to become obsessed with.
We were sent outside to play and our play was never observed.

Didn't have the resources we have today to have the opportunity to learn everything we could about one particular subject (mine was that I learned everything I could about music I liked but my information was limited to what was written on the album covers. But I could tell you at that time who sang what part and who played what instrument and could recognize them by their sound.)

We got thumped in the head to knock some sense into us often.
We were kind of forced to learn to behave normally.
Teachers checked behavior boxes in report cards that parents never looked at.

Kids didn't have a voice and was basically just something belonging to the parents.
Everyone (including teachers) used corporal punishment or worse and it was acceptable so we also didn't act up in class.
People had the attitude that you were either sane or crazy and quirkiness was considered sane, just weird.

It didn't matter how late you were in talking - it wasn't a competition then.
I know there are hundreds more to list - care to add any thoughts?

As I recall, in the 50s and 60s, if you weren't retarded (think Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man"), then you were not autistic. You were shy, clumsy, quiet, and a loner. But not autistic. If you were able to screw up enough courage to tell a parent you were depressed or even thinking of suicide, you got something like "You're too young to have those kinds of problems. Just cheer up and be happy."
I have mentioned elsewhere here that I made a career in exploration geology. I don't believe I ever said how I got started. About age five, while on a family vacation in Arizona, I found a shoe box full of rocks that somebody had abandoned. I became obsessed with rocks after that. In fact, I still have that shoe box. But nobody thought there was anything to be concerned about.
I was always taking things apart and seeing how the bits worked, but not interested in the totality. There was never any concern that I had no friends. Nobody seemed bothered by the fact I was not interested in sports (my clumsiness pretty much precluded sports anyway).
Every elementary teacher said something along the lines of "He is obviously highly intelligent, but never does homework or participates in class." One teacher had me tested, and the biggest regret of my life filling out the questionnaires like an NT.
Obviously, I have some bitterness about things. With my diagnosis, I have come to terms with my autism and accepted it. It explains so much. I am still trying to come to terms over what the lack of diagnosis at an early age did to me. It would have saved many years of untold pain and suffering.

 

[mw2530]

I don't think it was recognized much in the 70's or 80's either. Or 90's for that matter.

 

[Suzanne]

Suddenly I was supposed to give up kid stuff that I was still interested in and become into adult stuff that I was too young to do and thought most of it was stupid or dangerous anyway

Same! But I would secretly play with my dollies in my bedroom when I was 16.

I would have been mocked had it been found out and must have had a sense that I am "too old" for this now; but also a sense of: but I feel not old enough yet, to venture out into that huge world out there! I shrank from the "grown up world" and still do!

 

[Suzanne]

What you say makes perfect sense to me. Clusters of teenagers, girls or boys, should raise alarm bells to those who are different from them or just plain old unpopular with them. The clusters are typically are insecure about themselves, desperate to fit in, resort to bulling to curry favor with their friends and to retaliate against bullying that they have also experienced, and are generally immature and emotionally shallow. Teenage years are about the hardest phase of life. Some turn out great; others turn out the opposite, and it is hell being a parent to teenagers and trying to teach them the right things.

Even yesterday, at the supermarket with my husband, we passed a group of girls who where in a circle and blocking the way for us. I caught the look of one girl and thought: wow, even in France it happens to me. She gave me a look that only girls give to ones that they scorn. She does not know me, but decided by the look of me, that I deserved her look of "yuck". And STILL at 48 made me react the way I have always reacted: shinking into myself!!!!!

 

[megacomic]

Look up a man named Leo Kanner. His criteria on what was autism was so narrow many people went untreated and diagnosed. He also ensured than no one would try to translate Hans Aspergers work. Also Aspergers clinic was bombed in WW2 and his work kind of went to the wayside.

 

[SusanLR]

As I recall, in the 50s and 60s, if you weren't retarded (think Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man"), then you were not autistic. You were shy, clumsy, quiet, and a loner. But not autistic. If you were able to screw up enough courage to tell a parent you were depressed or even thinking of suicide, you got something like "You're too young to have those kinds of problems. Just cheer up and be happy."

That's exactly how it seemed to me too, growing up in the 60's.
Also I was one of those "artistic" and intelligent types.
Got labeled as shy when I wasn't at all.
I remember the family doctor once told my Mom when I was around age 14, he though I had an autistic
personality.
When we left the office she was upset and rather angry that someone dared say they thought I was
autistic!
I told her I thought she misunderstood and he said I had an artistic personality.
He said autistic though as I understood him also.
But, it settled her down.

Rocks are still my special interest to this day.
I was born in Arizona and had a daily ritual by the time I was three of running outside after breakfast
each morning with my "Spoom" and digging in the same place next to our house thinking I would find
some treasure rock!
I have quite a collection of rocks I have either found or aquired through the years.
I also collected a jar of sand from White Sands New Mexico and brought it with me when we moved to
Missouri at age five.
I thought it very special, until I gradually used it all up making mixtures with it, playing alchemy.

 

[Crossbreed]

He also ensured than no one would try to translate Hans Aspergers work.

I never heard that one before.

 

[Progster]

I remember the family doctor once told my Mom when I was around age 14, he though I had an autistic
personality.
When we left the office she was upset and rather angry that someone dared say they thought I was
autistic!

Something similar happened to me too, I was sent to a private remedial tutor to help me catch up with school work, and she told my parents that she thought I was autistic. My parents then took me to the GP, and he disagreed basically because I did not seem like a classically autistic child as it was understood at the time.

 

[Bella Pines]

Individuality and self awareness.

I think society as a whole has shifted quite dramatically and there's much more emphasis on the individual. Selfies, blogs, video diaries. This comes with a lot more self analysis and categorization, and brings with it labels like aspergers, adhd, bipolar, meyers briggs, bisexual and all the other countless ways of grouping, describing and classifying ourselves.

 

[Autistamatic]

I'm reading much that sounds familiar in this thread. I think in the last decade or so a corner has been turned (in the UK at least) where awareness of AS/HFA is concerned, but we've still a VERY long way to go before we are properly accepted.
My diagnosis was in the early 80s and only came about because my school had me labelled as a high flier, but I didn't enjoy doing things their way. I would read the text books in the first week of term and lose interest in rehashing things I had already learned for the rest of the term/year. I had so many OTHER interesting things to do....
AS hadn't been formally connected with autism back then but it didn't stop my parents or schools from writing off the diagnosis and continuing to treat me as a wayward child.
I've generally kept quiet about my diagnosis through life and opening up about it has been a mixed experience. Until my wife, only one previous girlfriend knew, and that was because she worked it out for herself. Things kind of deteriorated from there...
My wife has known from the start, but thankfully for me she had extensive knowledge of the spectrum prior to meeting me. The diagnosis makes no difference to her, but she likes the personality that comes with it. I am very lucky to have met her.
Between my diagnosis in the 80s and my former girlfriend putting 2 and 2 together in the very early 2000s I heard very little about AS from anywhere. Even when I went online in the mid 90s there was very little information about, and most of what I found amounted to a call for intra-species war between Aspies & NTs! It was like a thousand mini Magnetos preaching our superiority over the "norms" and predicting our inevitable inheritance of the Earth!
Things are better now than they have ever been for us, but we are far from being where we should be. Too many NTs regard us as poor, disadvantaged, disabled people to be patronised and looked after. Symptoms or characteristics are treated as stereotypes and used against many of us to keep us in our place. "Autistic" has become a convenient label for intolerant people to use to write us off as different and incapable of integrating.
Awareness of our existence has increased exponentially, but tolerance, acceptance and integration are a long way off. I wish there HAD been more awareness back in the 50s and 60s because we may be MUCH further down the road towards fairer treatment than we are now.
As to the comments about "nuthouses" from earlier. My mother was very similar to me in childhood and went through many similar experiences to myself. She may very well have been diagnosed AS herself had such a thing been available. She was institutionalised in the late 1940s for her waywardness and treated as insane for some time. Eventually a doctor recognised that she was not mad, but someone who was clever and asked too many questions of a world that didn't make much sense to her. He counselled her to keep her questions to herself and keep her head down then discharged her thankfully. She always described him as being someone who recognised a kindred spirit and that she was very lucky to have met.

 

[Progster]

Another reason why I wasn't diagnosed early on was that excuses or alternative explanations were found for my behaviour, due to some difficult circumstances of my upbringing.

 

[Crossbreed]

Dr. Kanner, himself, was probably one of the bigger reasons why autism was rejected as a diagnosis. He claimed that autism was caused by unloving, "refrigerator" mothers. A diagnosis of autism was tantamount to being an accusation! (I still run into those that believe that, now.)

It was only when Dr. Lorna Wing came on the scene that that position was challenged. She had an autistic daughter, Suzy, and knew that she hadn't been cold to her. That motivated her to study autism further, uncovering the findings of Dr. Asperger. (In fact, Dr. Wing was the one who named Asperger's Syndrome, for him.)

 

[Mary Terry]

That's exactly how it seemed to me too, growing up in the 60's.
Also I was one of those "artistic" and intelligent types.
Got labeled as shy when I wasn't at all.
I remember the family doctor once told my Mom when I was around age 14, he though I had an autistic
personality.
When we left the office she was upset and rather angry that someone dared say they thought I was
autistic!
I told her I thought she misunderstood and he said I had an artistic personality.
He said autistic though as I understood him also.
But, it settled her down.

Rocks are still my special interest to this day.
I was born in Arizona and had a daily ritual by the time I was three of running outside after breakfast
each morning with my "Spoom" and digging in the same place next to our house thinking I would find
some treasure rock!
I have quite a collection of rocks I have either found or aquired through the years.
I also collected a jar of sand from White Sands New Mexico and brought it with me when we moved to
Missouri at age five.
I thought it very special, until I gradually used it all up making mixtures with it, playing alchemy.

I have always loved rocks, too. Some of my earliest spoken words were 'instant rocks' by which I meant 'interesting rocks'. I took geology classes in college although it had nothing to do with my major area of study but counted as science credits applied toward my degree.