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Too Many Auties/Aspies

All I have is an opinion and its worth zero, but maybe the powers that be, have made the spectrum so vast... simply on the premise of communication issues. It goes from people who are unable to function without total assistance, to billionaire CEO's with a glitch.

It seems they have interwoven so much stuff that just nearly anyone could be on the spectrum at some level. I also see it as a way to divide people at some levels, and I don't like that at all. People get stupid and things get dangerous when profiling starts taking place.

I often look back at what it was in the beginning and it was mainly a condition where boys were seen as having schizophrenia.... Now - wow?

Autism and Schizophrenia | Psychiatric Times

High-functioning autism and schizophrenia: A comparison of an early and late onset neurodevelopmental disorder - ScienceDirect

Not being a jerk (I promise) but I do not look "challenged" in any way. Yes, I have little glitches, some more obvious then others... But I don't have a tag hanging on my neck that states I am Autistic, yet I am and was born that way...

Today, I cant help but wonder how many are trying to PLAY THE GAME... A game I don't even play, and I have it and could play if I chose that path... Its called the free ride game. People do it all the time with way more than ASD.

YES, many people need assistance and deserve it... Others will take huge advantage of that system to get money and drugs from it...

I think its like anything else, and people are playing it from both ends. (NOT PEOPLE ON HERE)...
But people take advantage ANYWHERE they think they can... I also see people who help promote that because it keeps them employed and money flowing...

Its just like anything else a huge tangled mess. : )
 
Out of curiosity, what were your coworker views? I think clearly the increase in awareness of the disorder has led to an increase in diagnosis. But the question is whether that is the only reason for the increase. I'm not sure. I think the real rate (when you include both diagnosed and undiagnosed) may be increasing. It sure does seem there are many more people that I suspect to have autism in my generation than say my parents. But that just may be because I probably notice it in others who are near my age. Also, with jobs changing over the years, it seems more and more jobs require more and more communication skills so our weaknesses become more evident in the environment we live in today. For example, my dad is definitely on the spectrum, but he was a dairy farmer his whole life. To a certain extent he could work on his own so there was less opportunity for other people to see and perceive his differences. So to conclude, the real rate may or may not be increasing. I don't know that anyone knows the answer to that question.
 
I think that one the one side, the label is slapped on too quickly by people not qualified to slap on any labels. I think these days it's more usual to look for a label to explain or excuse unusual behavior than to actually try to fix it.
That being said, I also think it's diagnosed more often because health care professionals are more aware of the various expressions of autism, as well as its expression in women and in adults.
 
Well considering how subjective psychology can be,it calls to mind the evening I cornered an autism spectrum pro in the chat room and got her to state that the outcome of a diagnosis was often based on the school of study they had been taught under or what their team followed during a diagnosis.

I feel at times,a diagnosis could be tossed at some in order to milk the client for continued psychiatric visits or as just a way to explain away something they couldn't pin down to treat.

The latter theory of mine can also be bolstered by medical professions in countries with socialized medicine where it's less expensive to give them a disability status for something that can't be 100% treated instead of proper treatment of various symptoms.

To wrap this up,yes,there have been more advancements in recognizing it,while at the same time it opened the door for increased quackery.

To this day,I still question whether I'm worthy of wearing my blue painted tin star ;)
 
Maybe if they could fine ONE defining thing, a gene, a chromosome, a specific enzyme deficiency... Some real thing and then base diagnosis from that base point.

At that point I might not be labeled as having ASD at all... and SPD, OCD, PTSD would just be stand alone situations...

OR maybe pull out all those over laps they have lumped in with ASD, that help make assumptions of ASD...

As far as I know the current DSM refuses anything concerning SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)... Which blows my mind since it is nearly impossible to distinguish SPD from ASD...
 
Maybe if they could fine ONE defining thing, a gene, a chromosome, a specific enzyme deficiency... Some real thing and then base diagnosis from that base point.

At that point I might not be labeled as having ASD at all... and SPD, OCD, PTSD would just be stand alone situations...

OR maybe pull out all those over laps they have lumped in with ASD, that help make assumptions of ASD...

As far as I know the current DSM refuses anything concerning SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)... Which blows my mind since it is nearly impossible to distinguish SPD from ASD...

You have been diagnosed with 'chance'

Incurable.

And that - is a good thing.
 
One other thing is we are a society that seems cant function without medication...

I was just thinking... and yes that is dangerous.

I never pry into peoples lives. I never say much at all, but just in my little inner circle of a few hundred people or so. It seems most of them are openly on some form of "dope" as my Gramps used to call it.

I have meds and try very hard to stay off of them. I hate them because they are not who I am.
I want to be me... Most people don't anymore. Most people cant cope with REAL LIFE.

I deal with it on hard core in my face levels that I see others running from and into pill bottles to escape.

Is this what LIFE has came too?

I'm trying to get back in touch with REAL LIFE as I watch a world running from it...

Maybe to get a label to find an excuse to not be able to cope with what we have become is what some people are grasping for. I have no idea.... My brain is just leaking out stuff at this point... : )
 
Good points raised.

* A "science" which continues to be debated with competing protocols which continue to evolve.
* A neurological condition which is inherently difficult to understand unless you actually have it.
* Media which may potentially be both positive and negative in proliferating stereotypes.
* Politicians and insurers too focused on containing costs relative to budgetary and tax concerns.
* Pursuit of autism as a disease rather than an alternate form of neurology.
* Autism primarily identified as a children's malady as opposed to recognizing its impact on adults.
* Politicizing autism positively or negatively as an acceptable or unacceptable form of entitlement.
* A multitude of comorbid conditions to confuse the entire equation.

All which force me to ponder as Sportster has as well. Is the science of autism establishing sufficient momentum to truly move in a positive direction, or simply going in circles "catching its tail" ?

One big "ball of confusion" at times. :confused:


RIP, Dennis Edwards
 
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One other thing is we are a society that seems cant function without medication...

I was just thinking... and yes that is dangerous.

I never pry into peoples lives. I never say much at all, but just in my little inner circle of a few hundred people or so. It seems most of them are openly on some form of "dope" as my Gramps used to call it.

I have meds and try very hard to stay off of them. I hate them because they are not who I am.
I want to be me... Most people don't anymore. Most people cant cope with REAL LIFE.

I deal with it on hard core in my face levels that I see others running from and into pill bottles to escape.

Is this what LIFE has came too?

I'm trying to get back in touch with REAL LIFE as I watch a world running from it...

Maybe to get a label to find an excuse to not be able to cope with what we have become is what some people are grasping for. I have no idea.... My brain is just leaking out stuff at this point... : )
After breaking my brain,I was placed on a slew of meds that I eventually dropped against the advice of my medical professionals.
Imagine this if you will,they were the cause of most of my issues and the longest strides I was able to take in my recovery were after my body was rid of the prescribed poisons.
 
Do you think that the Autism label is slapped on too quickly and on many people before a proper diagnosis or by inept practitioners?
I think that there might be some incompetent practitioners, some might be financiallly motivated to give diagnoses, people can be misdiagnosed with ASD, or people who have ASD may be misdiagnosed with something else, but I rather feel that it is due to a combination of more awareness of ASD - being less stigmatised and both parents and adults now coming out and asking to be assessed and diagnosed.

The pressures of society are also far greater and more demanding than in the past, and where at one point, people with ASD might have coped better, now they struggle, and seek answers. Due to the internet and digital media, people have more access to accurate and detailed information about a variety of different conditions, and are simply more aware of them, and better informed.

Also, the criteria for diagnosis has widened to encompass a wide range of symptoms, with a wide range of severity. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, autism was a rare and mysterious condition where a child had no or little interaction with others or the environment and was totally aloof. A child displaying milder symptoms who could speak was not suspected of autism, and the problems were often dismissed as behaviour or personaility issues, to be dealt with through discipline, to the detriment of the child.

When I was at school, the school was mainly concerned with a student's academic performance, and not with a child's social integration or mental wellbeing. Now, I think, they are more likely to pick up on a child's social difficulties or mental health issues. School reports now contain comments about social integration, when I was at school they didn't have such comments.
 
News didn't use to bother with 'personality' stories in the past, so you saw less of it.
People hid their home problems at home more.
I guess the label was also different in the past: i was 'difficult'
Dr's, especially GP's weren't really educated in the psych stuff.
 
I think the sheer number of people who just go self-diagnosed is testament to how under-diagnosed it is.

I mean, you tell your doctor that you're a little sad and you're having trouble concentrating and BOOM, you've got Major Depressive Disorder and ADHD, Prozac and Adderall for you. But there is so much you have to prove to get an autism diagnosis; it is not easy.
 
I agree!!! I raised the question once, "Is this how I'm going to have to live the rest of my life?" and it was interpreted as a suicide threat. Before I knew it, I was locked up in the padded section for a week. They asked no questions or tried to figure out why I felt the way I did. Their solution was to throw medication at it and let it go with some fancy words.

The self-diagnosis is what helped in obtaining an official diagnosis; and even then I'm not 100% sure if it is completely accurate. I've heard it said that "Psychiatry is an inexact science." I can see why.
A self diagnosis is only accurate if you can stay on point to remain as objective as possible in order to fit the true state of being without trying to make yourself fit a diagnosis ;)
 
I agree!!! I raised the question once, "Is this how I'm going to have to live the rest of my life?" and it was interpreted as a suicide threat. Before I knew it, I was locked up in the padded section for a week. They asked no questions or tried to figure out why I felt the way I did. Their solution was to throw medication at it and let it go with some fancy words.

The self-diagnosis is what helped in obtaining an official diagnosis; and even then I'm not 100% sure if it is completely accurate. I've heard it said that "Psychiatry is an inexact science." I can see why.

When I attempted suicide, the only person who asked why I did it was a cop. Nobody else asked. Nobody. And I didn't bother to explain, because if they're just going to lock me up (4 months) and shove anti-psychotics down my throat, then screw them and the horse they rode in on; I'll solve my own damn problems.

Psychiatry is in a sad state. Your story of a misconstrued suicide threat is all too common, I've had to really talk my way out of some similar situations. In group therapy, at the "hospital" as they liked to call it, an older gentleman was talking about how he got taken out of residential and thrown back into rubber-room status because he mentioned that he was having suicidal thoughts and wanted to talk about it and reason through it. I just told him "look, I'm not trying to be a dick, but welcome to the world of psychology. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you keep that S to yourself." Lots of heads nodding in that room.

Well that was kind of a babble/rant. Screw it I'm posting it.
 
Welcome to the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, otherwise known as frequency illusion or recency illusion. This phenomenon occurs when the thing you've just noticed, experienced or been told about suddenly crops up constantly. It gives you the feeling that out of nowhere, pretty much everyone and their cousin are talking about the subject -- or that it is swiftly surrounding you. And you're not crazy; you are totally seeing it more. But the thing is, of course, that's because you're noticing it more [source: Zwicky].
 
When I attempted suicide, the only person who asked why I did it was a cop. Nobody else asked. Nobody. And I didn't bother to explain, because if they're just going to lock me up (4 months) and shove anti-psychotics down my throat, then screw them and the horse they rode in on; I'll solve my own damn problems.

Psychiatry is in a sad state. Your story of a misconstrued suicide threat is all too common, I've had to really talk my way out of some similar situations. In group therapy, at the "hospital" as they liked to call it, an older gentleman was talking about how he got taken out of residential and thrown back into rubber-room status because he mentioned that he was having suicidal thoughts and wanted to talk about it and reason through it. I just told him "look, I'm not trying to be a dick, but welcome to the world of psychology. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you keep that S to yourself." Lots of heads nodding in that room.

Well that was kind of a babble/rant. Screw it I'm posting it.

I had suicidal thoughts for about 20 years. (On and off!)

Just thought it was normal.

Now I think maybe my first thought was wrong :)

(I think the odd time,under pressure it may be close to normal)

But there was no way I was going to mention it to a doctor.

But, it sort of meant my subconscious saying 'your life has to change'

Happy days :)
 
Maybe if they could fine ONE defining thing, a gene, a chromosome, a specific enzyme deficiency... Some real thing and then base diagnosis from that base point.

At that point I might not be labeled as having ASD at all... and SPD, OCD, PTSD would just be stand alone situations...

OR maybe pull out all those over laps they have lumped in with ASD, that help make assumptions of ASD...

As far as I know the current DSM refuses anything concerning SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)... Which blows my mind since it is nearly impossible to distinguish SPD from ASD...
chromosome six is where developmental disorders are found if it is damaged it also includes immune disorders and diseases .
 
All I have is an opinion and its worth zero, but maybe the powers that be, have made the spectrum so vast... simply on the premise of communication issues. It goes from people who are unable to function without total assistance, to billionaire CEO's with a glitch.

It seems they have interwoven so much stuff that just nearly anyone could be on the spectrum at some level. I also see it as a way to divide people at some levels, and I don't like that at all. People get stupid and things get dangerous when profiling starts taking place.

I often look back at what it was in the beginning and it was mainly a condition where boys were seen as having schizophrenia.... Now - wow?

Autism and Schizophrenia | Psychiatric Times

High-functioning autism and schizophrenia: A comparison of an early and late onset neurodevelopmental disorder - ScienceDirect

Not being a jerk (I promise) but I do not look "challenged" in any way. Yes, I have little glitches, some more obvious then others... But I don't have a tag hanging on my neck that states I am Autistic, yet I am and was born that way...

Today, I cant help but wonder how many are trying to PLAY THE GAME... A game I don't even play, and I have it and could play if I chose that path... Its called the free ride game. People do it all the time with way more than ASD.

YES, many people need assistance and deserve it... Others will take huge advantage of that system to get money and drugs from it...

I think its like anything else, and people are playing it from both ends. (NOT PEOPLE ON HERE)...
But people take advantage ANYWHERE they think they can... I also see people who help promote that because it keeps them employed and money flowing...

Its just like anything else a huge tangled mess. : )
I was diagnosed with my brothers in the 1970s by the highest qualified expert in the profession at the time, Professor Michael Rutter (now Sir Professor Michael Rutter since he was knighted for his work with autistic children in the UK). In those days an autism diagnosis was much rarer and the condition was seen as a lot more severe than it is now. It was blatantly obvious that I wasn't "normal" to get a diagnosis in those days and since both my brothers were also blatantly autistic it sparked a great deal of expert interest in our family since autism wasn't supposed to be an inherited condition in those days. I had extremely slow speech development and various other skills were impaired to the extent that they thought I was going to remain severely "disabled" like my low functioning autistic brothers who even as adults can't tell the time or count to 5. I was hyperactive, I had severe behaviour issues, my autistic traits were in your face which often included severe violent meltdowns, I had epilepsy as a young child, I still have spasticity in my back and a small part is actually paralysed which means I can only reach as far as my knees if I attempt to touch my toes (it is also causing me back pain in later life as predicted) and my tongue shape is deformed (I was going to have an operation, but doctors eventually didn't see it as severe enough, although it still makes it difficult for me to sound my Rs). Experts strongly advised that I should attend a "special" school throughout my childhood, but my parents kept insisting against strong advice that I attend a normal school anyway which caused me severe issues throughout, even at senior school when I was sent home on numerous occasions after meltdown incidents, often caused by bullying, my parents kept arguing to have me reinstated. I remember the head teacher stating something very similar to, "It's not Paul's fault, it's just that we are not qualified here to deal with Paul's special needs". I asked my parents why and they kept saying that I wouldn't have the same opportunities at a special school.

Although a large proportion of the rise in diagnosis is because of a greater understanding of autism, I also agree that the spectrum has become too broad and much worse that a lot of people are taking advantage of the system and this really angers me as it completely undermines people like myself who are genuine. I will keep it brief since this isn't the Politics & Religion forum, so I will just say that many genuine people are already having to fight not to lose their support amongst cuts and clampdowns in countries such as the UK. I already know that it's very possible to fiddle the system and even to fake an official diagnosis from an ex friend who I know did just that to claim high level benefits, it makes my blood boil and people like this are "spitting in my face", for full details please click here.
 
When I attempted suicide, the only person who asked why I did it was a cop. Nobody else asked. Nobody. And I didn't bother to explain, because if they're just going to lock me up (4 months) and shove anti-psychotics down my throat, then screw them and the horse they rode in on; I'll solve my own damn problems.

Psychiatry is in a sad state. Your story of a misconstrued suicide threat is all too common, I've had to really talk my way out of some similar situations. In group therapy, at the "hospital" as they liked to call it, an older gentleman was talking about how he got taken out of residential and thrown back into rubber-room status because he mentioned that he was having suicidal thoughts and wanted to talk about it and reason through it. I just told him "look, I'm not trying to be a dick, but welcome to the world of psychology. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you keep that S to yourself." Lots of heads nodding in that room.

Well that was kind of a babble/rant. Screw it I'm posting it.
Psychiatry being in a sad state is nothing new, well in my opinion it's much worse than just a "sad" state, it's still in the dark ages. Giving people highly addictive mind altering drugs as a "quick fix" is usually detrimental in the long term and amazingly so called "treatments" such as the barbaric electroshock therapy still exist today, due to receiving such bad press it's now been renamed to Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), in fact I could write a lot more about barbaric practices still used even today. If you go back psychiatry was even worse still however, there was a lot more psychiatric hospitals just 25 years ago which operated under extremely questionable procedures and were in my opinion rampant with severe abuse. I could write pages on this, for instance I could talk about the testing powerful hallucinogens such as LSD, the normal prescribing of what are now various banned street drugs to patients, psychiatry in Nazi Germany that lead to a lot of modern psychiatry and much much more that completely demonises psychiatry as a profession, in fact I could even go right back to as early as 1247 when the first mental institution was opened in England named Bethlem Hospital.
 

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