Forbes article: "Is AS a vanishing diagnosis?"

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Excellent article that just came out a few days ago in the latest Forbes magazine, asking the rhetorical question "Is Aspergers a vanishing diagnosis?" It is reasonably objective, but sheds light on some of the insulting and sometimes flippant comments about Aspergers in the general population (e.g. people with AS will never have a secretary).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillin ... ium=social

"People with Asperger’s do struggle, in part because of an existing social construct that sees only their deficits and not their potential and in part because of a growing popsci dismissiveness and dilution of what “Asperger’s” even means, or what it will mean once it ceases to exist as a label."

I blame the poseurs who self-diagnose to avoid an even worse diagnosis, and who then act out of what's really wrong with them, only to absolve themselves of blame by claiming to be Aspies.

Now not only do some people think that anyone who displays symptoms of ADD/ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Clinical Depression, PTSD, Schizophrenia, or Scoiopathy is an Aspie, but they think that ALL Aspies have ADD/ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Clinical Depression, PTSD, Schizophrenia, AND Sociopathy!

I'm never "coming out" as an Aspie, and I'll be glad when AS is no longer officially distinct and separate from Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

I know who I am and what I'm capable of. I need no more labels that can be used against me.

<--- Autistic and proud.

Thanks for the link, Jayo. While AS has gained a measure of public notice lately, the disclosure may be worse than lay people having no knowledge. Fnord is right; unfortunately some individuals have misconstrued AS by self-labelling themselves without due cause which further clouds the parameters.

I now tell virtually no one I am an Aspie because I've been burned badly by their "assessment" and it can be shocking to learn how self-righteous do-gooders can insert meanings that are not true, cementing those stereotypes. AS can be exploited and we are justifiably defensive. Now I almost wouldn't trust anyone with disclosure. Like redrobin62, I am proud to be an Aspie and, at the same time, have learned it's not safe to say that. And that's a shame.

I can assert that plenty of my Wrong Planet friends are truly kind people (and incredibly talented). For myself, I am by nature a gentle compassionate person and very mindful of ethics. I hate that I would somehow be depicted as "thoughtless" or "uncooperative" (insert other negative descriptions here), etc. That hurts and it's unfair. How ironic that neurotypicals have the moratorium on empathy (?) yet have no reservations to slap us in the face. Funny, isn't it?

Anyhow, the article is on the mark. I wish there were a way to uphold our reputation but we truly have no control over such misconceptions. Do you wonder what Hans Asperger would think today if he were met with how the public views AS? I have a great deal of respect for Hans and I imagine he too would be hurt.

*edit* To add as an afterthought.....last week I attended an excellent conference/debate on Mirror Neurons. Very well done. Virtually all of us in the attendance were PhDs or PhD students. Anyhow, I sat next to a very chatty lady with a PhD in psychology. She actually told me that she has a theory that serial killers have Asperger's Syndrome. She was not kidding - she really believed that! That's scary. In secret, I felt really uncomfortable sitting next to her.

Where are these people?

Id like to point out to lazy psychiatrists that refuse to do their work properly and turn to "fashionable" labels instead
of doing a through examination. This sort of thing seems to happen with other labels every once in a while.

Not sure if we can do anything to stop it.

Since having been diagnosed, only one person has cast doubt about the whole legitimacy of Asperger's when talking about myself and my daughter. Everyone else has no problem believing the facts.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

YES - and why shouldn't they. There's enough evidence out there by now to prove that AS is not made up.
Surely, most intelligent people would be able to infer that because so-and-so is not consistent in how they read and respond to somebody's body language that they must have some form of "emotional dyslexia" - there can't be a conspiracy of all these people deliberately acting in such a passive-aggressive manner. The very fact that the person with Aspergers HAS TO TRY to conduct the expected behaviours, which would otherwise come naturally to other people, should prove that this is not just some personality trait and definitely not laziness - so if they observe a struggle on the subject's part, why wouldn't they believe that something clinical is at the root of it???

OMG!! Yes that's totally scary that somebody so educated (and yet so unenlightened) could think such a thing. So you're sure it wasn't one of those read-between-the-lines nuancey statements to tell you that you weren't her type?!? Well you say she really believed it so...wow. Ludicrous. Ted Bundy definitely didn't have Aspergers, that was the profile of someone who had no social awkwardness or fear of approaching women. Serial killers have to be high on theory of mind (ToM) for their manipulative prowess and low on moral standards, both are traits that somebody with Aspergers lacks. Try confronting her with those facts and she what she responds

Yes, her correlation makes no sense, defying the very definition of AS. At such university conferences we are required to wear name badges with academic titles displayed, which is how I know who she was. I did not know the woman and outwardly she was 'nice' (the chatty outgoing brazen type). I truly do not otherwise know her - she would never have known I was an Aspie. Never would I have broached this with her, mostly because I do not know her or work with her. Because the conference was geared to mirror neurons, ergo autism, she shared her theory with me because, in her profession, she studies serial killers. Yeah, I guess the morale is that autism/AS comes with serious misunderstanding of the facts and what ToM means, or rather does not mean. If she were, say, a member of the general public, it would not be so bad.....but a doctor of psychology? We do have an uphill battle then.

I read the article and I can honestly say this... Since AS is not in the new DSM... it will cease to be diagnosed... period