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ictus75
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24 Sep 2012, 11:55 pm

CyborgUprising wrote:
I am aware this is bound to offend most people on the site, but I am quite disappointed that Numan is not officially on the spectrum. He has the money, why doesn't he get a diagnosis? Until he gets one, I will no longer view him as being "one of us." I could understand if he didn't have money, but the man's a musician who is actually semi-famous.


And what difference does money & fame have to do with it? It's his choice. If you know you are on the spectrum, and who would know better than yourself, do you really need an official piece of paper certifying that you are?

BTW, after having a 35 year musical career where he's sold millions of recordings and toured the globe, he's far from being "semi-famous."


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CyborgUprising
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29 Sep 2012, 12:33 pm

katzefrau wrote:
CyborgUprising wrote:
I am aware this is bound to offend most people on the site, but I am quite disappointed that Numan is not officially on the spectrum. He has the money, why doesn't he get a diagnosis? Until he gets one, I will no longer view him as being "one of us." I could understand if he didn't have money, but the man's a musician who is actually semi-famous.


I can only comprehend this as Aspergers elitism / snobbishness, and it comes up again and again on the forum with frequency, people starting threads alleging the self-diagnosed are fakes and such. Someone who is on the autistic spectrum is so with or without a diagnosis - the diagnosis does not create the condition, which existed before the label did, and also surely some who are diagnosed are not diagnosed correctly. Remember many people on this board grew up long before anything was known about Asperger's / HFA and often those who bristle at the self-identified are too young to know that difficulty.

Do you trust doctors more than your own understanding of yourself? I certainly don't. And I think reluctance to accept those undiagnosed (who are in some cases pretty textbook, and obviously correct) is some strange possessiveness about the label, as if allowing it out of your hands somehow corrupts it.

So, I am not offended, but I think this sort of complaint frequently comes from a bad place, of identifying so strongly with the diagnosis that one does not want to share it. After several years of sitting with a hypothetical or "soft" diagnosis (therapists, who are not ASD experts, agreeing that I have it, but feeling unqualified to give an official diagnosis) I no longer see the point of spending several thousand dollars to get a real one. The important thing is not to be legitimate to people on an internet board who are determined to classify people as "authentically having Asperger's" or not (which I could much more easily do by changing my designation to "diagnosed" without even being diagnosed) but to find the correct tools to understand oneself and be more authentic and happier. Part of being happy is to ignore the judgment of others, which often says more about them than about whoever it is that they are judging.


I am not a snob or elitist in any way, shape or form (but I guess your opinion is all that counts, right??). It certainly says alot about your own character to call anyone who dares to differ with your beliefs as being an "elitist" or snob. I do not call you any such name for differing with my views.

I am simply tired of people who self-diagnose or flat-out lie about having an ASD turn around and stab us all in the back. I've seen it countless times with celebrities and "regular joes." They go about spreading false notions about those on the spectrum, ally themselves with certain organizations that do not have our best interests in mind and chalk up any criticism to the critics as being arrogant, uneducated, vile, often claiming they are undermining progress. I'm fine with someone admitting they are self-diagnosed and may "possibly have an ASD," but to say definitively one has an ASD without any proof is akin to saying one has MS without a diagnosis, just a "hunch." I wouldn't go about saying I have RA if I didn't get a diagnosis to back it up.

In reference to your question, I trust a doctor to "prove" I have an ASD, which they easily did. Had I not gotten a diagnosis, I wouldn't consider myself anything but an eccentric person.



ewm80
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29 Sep 2012, 9:22 pm

I recall hearing that his wife was the one who initially made this speculation



jeff233
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14 Mar 2015, 3:24 pm

I can totally relate to gary numan. I am ok in one on one situations but in group socialising the dynamics are too complex to comprehend.



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14 Mar 2015, 3:47 pm

ewim80 wrote:
I recall hearing that his wife was the one who initially made this speculation


The musician talks about his family, IVF and living with Asperger's syndrome

Gary Numan: Key of Life interview with Mary Anne (Extended Cut)


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Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 14 Mar 2015, 4:06 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Fnord
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14 Mar 2015, 4:03 pm

davidgolfpro wrote:
It's obvious that he has it, and he is world famous.
Just because something is allegedly 'obvious' to you does not make it so.

Only appropriately-trained and licensed mental-health professionals can make an official diagnosis of an ASD.

Online tests can not provide an objective ASD diagnosis.

He may only be another poseur looking for an excuse to behave badly.

He is certainly wealthy enough to buy any 'diagnosis' he wants.



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14 Mar 2015, 4:26 pm

Fnord wrote:
davidgolfpro wrote:
It's obvious that he has it, and he is world famous.
Just because something is allegedly 'obvious' to you does not make it so.

Only appropriately-trained and licensed mental-health professionals can make an official diagnosis of an ASD.

Online tests can not provide an objective ASD diagnosis.

He may only be another poseur looking for an excuse to behave badly.

He is certainly wealthy enough to buy any 'diagnosis' he wants.



If he is looking to behave badly he won't last long as he turned 57 on March 8. He never had a reputation as a wild Rock 'n Roller. He was criticized for being aloof and his music was criticized for being not British enough and Nazi like back '79. Now he recognized for what he a synthesizer pop music pioneer.

Aspie or not to see a him and others geeky weirdos like Devo and Talking Heads have some success back then was helpful to me. I really like his work.


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DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman