Misdiagnosis

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I was dxed AS at age 13, and now that I am looking at it and have done some research on the dsm criteria for different diagnosis, I think I am actually HFAm and not AS, but labelled AS due to being higher functioning than most would expect... (and I certainly don't feel higher functioning, thats just how people around me describe me...)

From what I understand, the only difference between AS and HFA is that in HFA, there is a significant developmental language delay. In other words, if you didn't start speaking until >3 yrs old. Do you have any paediatric reports or parents who can say that you had a language delay.

Like I say, I'm sure that language is the only distinguishing criteria. Although apparently there is controvery over which diagnosis to make. Even Prof Baron-Cohen seems to use the terms interchangably.

I was originally diagnosed with AS but it was changed to HFA after it was decided that my language was delayed. I am sure there must be more differences but I think they are pretty much the same.

Padium,
are looking for a rediagnosis? it may not be worth it if HFA and AS are going to be classed the same thing soon,as am sure the new label [if its HFA] would be able to be used without reassessment.
if are in need of better support now,reassessment would be of help,some do look at the label and it's stereotypes more than the persons individual needs/difficulties/abilities as an autist.

/according to my research the difference is that there are several sections, three of which (A, B, and C) require you to have at least 4 things checked off for AS, and 6 for classical. There is one section of AS that states "does not meet the criteria for any other PDD" and in autism the only other distu=inguishing feature is that there has to be a delay or peculiarity in some form of functioning before the age of three. It does not have to be a language delay, but language delay is the easiest thing to notice. I did have peculiarities before the age of three, some were less noticeable delays, but others were just things that were not normal for someone of that age and not really delays or advancements, such as I was more interested in watching the news than playing with toys which is something my grandparents constantly remind me of (even though they do not believe in me being on the spectrum period and view it as an excuse).

Of A, B and C, I meet 8 criteria. AS requires the person to be higher functioning through the checklist, and not have the disorder start to present itself before age 3... I would say the fascination with the news when I couldn't understand what any of that meant would be an autistic trait.

I don't need more services at the moment, I just want to know my diagnosis is the right one. I also would prefer to carry the autie label rather than the aspie label just because of preconceptions. The only autie I really know lives next door to my parents, and is 3 years younger than me, we would get along really well if we had more in common, and he is definitly a good kid. His parents are doing a very good job with him according to what I have seen as well. I am just sick of being associated with the aspergers stereotypes, I may be a techie, I may be decent at math, but I am not someone who would rather spend time with computers than people, and my biggest interest is other people. I have more wrong with me than just being good with math and computers... And most of all, I hate that my parents believe the stereotypes about AS and have tried to guide me to do stff with my life based on that and that I am stereotypically good at math and computers. I hate math, and want nothing to do with it. I do not think that the rediagnosis would help me with service, but it would help me feel better about myself, and looking at it, it does fit.

Just tell people you are AUT then. ASP is Aut.

Once it is on your record that you have AUT it will just keep being oin your record.

You know yourself best. Just tell Drs you are AUT. It is not a lie because it is AUT

If you had more in common? I'm puzzled at that statement. It sounds as though you're saying you aren't interested in connecting with others unless they have the same diagnosis as you - like only people on the exact same node of the spectrum can ever share common interests or experiences? Any individual diagnosis is just a professional's opinion or perception of a person's place on the ASD spectrum - sometimes subject to reinterpretation. While it's true that those of us who generally find ourselves outside the social mainstream tend to gravitate toward similar types of personalities, there's no rational reason why people have to have precisely identical handicaps to develop a friendship.

Sorry to hear your folks are so bent on buying into the math geek stereotype, that would have frustrated the hell out of me, too. I can keep a checkbook, but that's the upper limit of my ability to focus on numbers. Algebra and geometry nearly kept me from graduating high school, though I excelled nearly everywhere else. I WISH I were a numbers savant - there are more lucrative career opportunities in it. But a stereotype is just that - a mythical arbitrary classification(see above). I think things like that are just a way people have of simplifying things so they don't have to make the effort of truly understanding.

aren't we all just AUTISTIC?

as the months go by, that is how i view it and i would encourage people to do the same. it breaks down the awful hierarchy stuff. "AS" is more socially aceptable than "HFA" and "HFA" is more socially acceptable than "LFA." yucky stuff if you ask me.

Most of us are not really that clear cut.

Yet again, it is an example of rudimentary classifcations made for us by non-autistics so they can categorise us as they see fit.

We are our own specialists, folks.

They are very good reasons for reassessment,and think should go if it if it would make life easier.
What can also help is getting an autism specialist involved-not just for assessment,
but to speak to family to explain exactly how it is-minus the stereotypes.
am think if they see AS in stereotypes,they would only see classic autism in it's stereotypes as well-it may be like going from one set of problems to another set of problems with how they see self.
See about getting referred to a good autism expert-as they see each autist as individual instead of against a set mould that the less experienced specialists do,they would be a big help to giving parents some understanding as well-even if they don't change the label-they can still educate on it.

I'm misdiagnosed, I have PDD-NOS.

I don't think that means your HFA. I made a poll here once on who with AS met the criteria for HFA and the majority did.

Yes, and if you meet the criteria for any other PDD (autism, schizoid, etc) you cannot recieve a diagnosis of AS according to the DSM. This means that the disorder AS should be really really rare. I am pretty sure I meet the criteria for autism, I just need a professional to confirm it.

I'm also misdiagnosed. (Saying it like this makes it sound really bad I think.)

If you can find the right label by yourself but don't need services, then maybe it doesn't really matter.

I need services but receive the same as anybody else with any other ASD label. So it doesn't matter either.

Though, in the end I can understand you.

I try to convince myself to just stick to the AS label. But then somebody suddenly crosses me and I'm totally wanting my label to be corrected because I'm just not like others with the same label.

And I don't want people to constantly assume that I can do some things but can't do others when in reality my ASD profile isn't typical for someone with AS.

I hope you find out what to do.

srry double post...

Last edited by Padium on 24 Mar 2009, 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would rather be viewed as the one who is autistic and those stereotypes than the one who has the popular diagnosis that is always misrepresented. autism is only misrepresented because of people who should not have the AS diagnosis and should instead have the autism diagnosis. I do not want to misrepresent a disorder. Yes I am currently getting the services I know I need, and the biggest reason I want a reassessment is to really now for sure... I am also getting a copy of my diagnosis to read over, so that I can see if some stuff on my parents part was accidently left out that would sway it either way, or if I was a "pity" diagnosis made to make me seem on the functioning level I am by connecting it to a diagnosis that is really reservered for the highest functioning on the spectrum, which I am not quite there, even though I am close. I am slowly finding out more and more... and I definitly look more and more like an autie the more I look at my records from when I was young (and some of that stuff is pretty ugly looking on my part, and I really hope noone else ever has to read those documents... I mean, I know that is who I am and all, but really...). I have made absolutly massive progression since I was young. I may be high functioning now, but I was an extremely intelligent person who would have been moderatly autistic as a child, but definitly not high functioning. I never had a speech delay, in fact I spoke sooner than most people, but I was still not a high functioning individual... Looking back I wonder why my mother never allowed my father to get me diagnosed, my dad suspected something was wrong before age 3, and knew 100% that something was wrong by age 4, but my mother would not let himget a diagnosis on me. My step mom finally got me a diagnosis when I was 13. That diagnosis helped me progress a lot, even though I fought tooth and nail to convince people I was normal. My parents just started treating me different and raising me different, and I started responding to it and made progression, but had I have noticed that they were treating me differently because of my diagnosis, I would have fought that too. Basicly, I slowly improved around that time, partially due to different treatment, partially due to other things.

Knowing my past, now that I have seen briefly some documents on me, I am really really extremely confused as to why I had the AS diagnosis. I was pretty far off from AS as a child, and the only thing I had going for me were the other social outcasts, and the fact that I was extremely intelligent in my early years. I am definitly not as intelligent as I was, specifically because of having very narrow interests, as a kid I soaked up all knowledge, and my special interest was to know everything. I knew basic molecular chemistry by age 7 because I heard about it and wanted to know. I knew square roots of some numbers by age 8... But other than my knowledge, I was pretty bad off... And I don't want to get into me then...

My high intelligence somewhat masked the severity of everything else though... And the one thing I will mention is that on some of my documents it was listed that I could not tell the difference between real and fantasy, I was aware I had problems there as a kid... I just didn't know how bad those problems were for me.