The ch4 Program about Autism last night

[KImi]

Did anyone else in UK watch it? I was surprised the man and woman who both had kids and were married and had relationships were diagnosed as Autistic.

When I was diagnosed in 1998 the fact that I didn't like physical contact at all and couldnt even shake hands with the psychologist on meeting, let alone have enough physical contact to had kids was instrumental in me getting the diagnosis of Autism rather than Aspergers.

I had also scored in the learning disability range on alot of the score though I didn't do the same tests they were doing. I scored highest in reading, (recognition of words and spelling) memory and spatial patterns and was diagnosed as High Functioning Autistic.

I thought Aspergers was the very mild end of the spectrum with no learning difficulties and where generally people were very late been diagnosed and may just be thought of as 'odd' but usually weren't so averse to physical contact that they couldn't have a physical (intimate) relationship?

They did mention the criteria had been changed though on the program so it obviously has since I was diagnosed back in 1998. ...so I'm confused then...what now is the difference between (Leo Kanner's) Autism and Asperger's Syndrome?

 

[Echo]

I thought Aspergers was the very mild end of the spectrum with no learning difficulties and where generally people were very late been diagnosed and may just be thought of as 'odd' but usually weren't so averse to physical contact that they couldn't have a physical (intimate) relationship?

They did mention the criteria had been changed though on the program so it obviously has since I was diagnosed back in 1998. ...so I'm confused then...what now is the difference between (Leo Kanner's) Autism and Asperger's Syndrome?

As I understand it, KImi, "Asperger's" is no longer an official diagnosis. It's still used by those in the community at large, understandably, because it's been part of many people's identity for a long while. However, even if the people on that show were, in the past, diagnosed as Aspie, the show would have raised a lot of eyebrows if it didn't use current diagnostic criteria and language. For now, we all sit under the umbrella of "Autistic Spectrum Disorder." (Although, personally, the world "disorder" irritates me.)

 

[Streetwise]

Did anyone else in UK watch it? I was surprised the man and woman who both had kids and were married and had relationships were diagnosed as Autistic.

When I was diagnosed in 1998 the fact that I didn't like physical contact at all and couldnt even shake hands with the psychologist on meeting, let alone have enough physical contact to had kids was instrumental in me getting the diagnosis of Autism rather than Aspergers.

I had also scored in the learning disability range on alot of the score though I didn't do the same tests they were doing. I scored highest in reading, (recognition of words and spelling) memory and spatial patterns and was diagnosed as High Functioning Autistic.

I thought Aspergers was the very mild end of the spectrum with no learning difficulties and where generally people were very late been diagnosed and may just be thought of as 'odd' but usually weren't so averse to physical contact that they couldn't have a physical (intimate) relationship?

They did mention the criteria had been changed though on the program so it obviously has since I was diagnosed back in 1998. ...so I'm confused then...what now is the difference between (Leo Kanner's) Autism and Asperger's Syndrome?

hans Asperger originally diagnosed boys in the 1940s not adults!! people know the famous "little professors'.

 

[KImi]

so there's no longer an Asperger's syndrome? cos when the 2 people came out of the testing, one said they had been told they Autism and the other Asperger's! I'm quite sure..I did record it so can re-watch to double check.

I wonder why they decided there was no longer an Asperger's Syndrome?

 

[StephF]

Using the American DSM-V there is no longer "Asperger's Syndrome" however if you were diagnosed using the ICD-10 as many Europeans are, that system keeps Asperger's as a diagnosis.

BUT ICD-10 puts all forms of Autiesness & Aspieness under one top level diagnosis of "Autism Spectrum Disorder". This makes sense to me because none of us is likely to have all the traits and what traits we do have will be at greater or lesser levels.

e.g My diagnosis (UK) says I have Autism Spectrum Disorder, sub type Asperger's Syndrome.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

so there's no longer an Asperger's syndrome? cos when the 2 people came out of the testing, one said they had been told they Autism and the other Asperger's! I'm quite sure..I did record it so can re-watch to double check.

I wonder why they decided there was no longer an Asperger's Syndrome?

There is still an Asperger's syndrome, actually. A lot of people quote from the DSM (i.e Americans), Britain uses the ICD which still included Asperger's, although that is also being phased out in favour for ASD.

I think it was basically to consolidate the terms. Autism is a very complicated diagnosis as it is without adding lots of different names into the mix. Although in true American sense they decided it must have the 'disorder' part at the end of it because, you know, the American insurance system demands it.

 

[scrp14]

I was formally diagnosed with Infantile Autism, but my family just recognises me as aspergers, probably easier to say but not the same thing usually

 

[xudo]

I've recorded the programme, but haven't watched it yet.

I thought Aspergers was the very mild end of the spectrum with no learning difficulties and where generally people were very late been diagnosed and may just be thought of as 'odd' but usually weren't so averse to physical contact that they couldn't have a physical (intimate) relationship?

I have Asperger's, and also learning difficulties. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 30, but that's also common for women on the spectrum. With it being a spectrum, people with Asperger's can have 'milder' issues, but others not so much. The main difference (as I understand it) is that people with Asperger's have no delay in speech.

As I understand it, KImi, "Asperger's" is no longer an official diagnosis.

It is anywhere that uses the ICD rather than the DSM. Some professionals use the term ASD, and others Asperger's, while most use them interchangeably. I have heard Asperger's and HFA used interchangeably too. I'm in the UK (ICD) and my diagnosis says Asperger's but the consultant used the term ASD too.

 

[Echo]

I stand corrected. I'm in the United States and for some reason assumed the DSM was used across the pond, too. My bad.

But thank you all for educating me!

 

[KImi]

I was diagnosed as High Functioning Autistic. The Psychologist put on report they felt I had that rather than Asperger's, so I always though it was a separate but maybe similar condition. I did have speech and developmental delays as a baby/child but wasn't diagnosed until my late twenties.

 

[Mary Anne]

I was diagnosed as High Functioning Autistic. The Psychologist put on report they felt I had that rather than Asperger's, so I always though it was a separate but maybe similar condition. I did have speech and developmental delays as a baby/child but wasn't diagnosed until my late twenties.

I was taught that Aspergers IS “high functioning autism.” I work in the USA in the mental health industry. I am curious as to how your doctor differentiates the two classifications.

 

[KImi]

I was taught that Aspergers IS “high functioning autism.” I work in the UAS in the mental health industry. I am curious as to how your doctor differentiates the two classifications.

I only saw her that once back in 1998 to get diagnosed and in the report they had written that my "scores conform to the pattern typical of a person with autism and not with the pattern indicative of Asperger's Syndrome which has similar features but is different from autism" I am in the UK so she would have used whatever diagnosing system they were using in the UK in 1998, though I'm not sure which one it would have been.

 

[AGXStarseed]

They did mention the criteria had been changed though on the program so it obviously has since I was diagnosed back in 1998. ...so I'm confused then...what now is the difference between (Leo Kanner's) Autism and Asperger's Syndrome?

This may help you answer that question: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)00337-2/fulltext

 

[Mary Anne]

Does not really describe the differences. Do you have more detailed article or do I have to read Neurotribes?

 

[Mary Anne]

Wow, that IS

I only saw her that once back in 1998 to get diagnosed and in the report they had written that my "scores conform to the pattern typical of a person with autism and not with the pattern indicative of Asperger's Syndrome which has similar features but is different from autism" I am in the UK so she would have used whatever diagnosing system they were using in the UK in 1998, though I'm not sure which one it would have been.

wow....that is fascinating! But if it’s “different than Autism,” then why has the USA removed Aspergers from the Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM) and buried it within the Autism Spectrum categorization? Which of course would mean that it is considered a kind of high functioning Autism. Very confusing!

 

[KImi]

Wow, that IS

wow....that is fascinating! But if it’s “different than Autism,” then why has the USA removed Aspergers from the Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM) and buried it within the Autism Spectrum categorization? Which of course would mean that it is considered a kind of high functioning Autism. Very confusing!

Agree but who knows how NT's minds work!!!! Maybe the DSM should be written by someone WITH Autism!

 

[AO1501]

Wow, that IS

wow....that is fascinating! But if it’s “different than Autism,” then why has the USA removed Aspergers from the Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM) and buried it within the Autism Spectrum categorization? Which of course would mean that it is considered a kind of high functioning Autism. Very confusing!

More than anything, I think this reflects on how poorly the 'experts' still truly understand the autism spectrum, and that their thinking is still evolving. That the US and Europe use different diagnostic criteria would then certainly lead to some confusion. Added to that, considering that the experts in the field are pretty much all neurotypical, there isn't likely to be a great deal of input into scientific research and debate from those on the spectrum which might otherwise guide it a little more practically.

Personally, I don't care in the slightest what the label is because it doesn't change who I am as an individual, but I conform to what is broadly taken to be Asperger's, yet have a range of very common autistic traits, which leads me to believe that Asperger's Syndrome is part of the autistic spectrum, at least from the standpoint of the characteristics I experience. It seems reasonable to conclude that the only difference between 'autism' and 'Asperger's' is that the latter is a subset of the former, likely towards the high functioning end of the spectrum, though in itself, still a spectrum.

 

[KImi]

This may help you answer that question: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)00337-2/fulltext

Interesting but if Asperger discovered Autism before Kanner and it's been proven why then has Asperger's syndrome been removed? If Kanner was the one proven to have falsely claimed to have been the first to discover these children, why wasn't the new diagnostic system which is including Asperger's syndrome name it after him?

I wonder if I presented today for diagnosis as a more able version, (certainly a more able persona would step in to deal with the interaction) whether I'd still get the same diagnosis!

 

[AO1501]

Interesting but if Asperger discovered Autism before Kanner and it's been proven why then has Asperger's syndrome been removed? If Kanner was the one proven to have falsely claimed to have been the first to discover these children, why wasn't the new diagnostic system which is including Asperger's syndrome name it after him?

I wonder if I presented today for diagnosis as a more able version, (certainly a more able persona would step in to deal with the interaction) whether I'd still get the same diagnosis!

Asperger encountered the phenomenon before Kanner, but his papers were published in German, and not translated until much later. Consequently, Kanner developed his theories in isolation from Asperger's prior research. However, Kanner's theories were somewhat discredited over time, and Asperger's were discovered more appropriate to the syndrome.

 

[scrp14]

My official documentation details that it's Infantile Autism/Kanner Syndrome, where the infantile pertains to the age of the individual being from 0-11 years, from then on I would assume would be just Kanner syndrome, tbh when I am labelled Aspergers or "guy with aspergers" it just sounds more obnoxious than say if someone called me "guy with Kanners", probably because there is a negative association from social media etc.