Sick of people undermining aspergers/HFA

Page 2 of 4 [ 59 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next

russian
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 106

06 Apr 2011, 6:16 am

Quote:
think it's often forgotten that being able to say "we can't expect society... so we must..." is an argument that only the more privileged get to make. There are those who can't make that argument at all, because no amount of "sucking it up" is going to be enough to keep them alive (or not homeless, etc.) -- the world needs to adjust some for them or they're dead.

Yes exactly! Society should cater to those who are the worst off. For example, those with autism who can't find normal jobs should be catered to by heath/social services. Since my life is more independent and functional than the majority, I should receive few if any benefits or slack from society. Those who can not work, live alone should receive the most help.



SyphonFilter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Feb 2011
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 2,161
Location: The intersection of Inkopolis’ Plaza & Square where the Turf Wars lie.

06 Apr 2011, 10:35 am

I think that any person with an ASD who plays the "my-autism-is-more-severe-than-your-autism-so-your-problems-are-nothing" card is kinda throwing a pity-party for themselves. Some people need to focus on what they can do rather than all the ways autism limits them.



wavefreak58
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,419
Location: Western New York

06 Apr 2011, 10:48 am

SyphonFilter wrote:
I think that any person with an ASD who plays the "my-autism-is-more-severe-than-your-autism-so-your-problems-are-nothing" card is kinda throwing a pity-party for themselves. Some people need to focus on what they can do rather than all the ways autism limits them.


What you can and can't do is an interplay between abilities and limitations. You need to recognize your limitations so you can work around them with your abilities. This is true for everyone, not just autistics. What should be avoided is using limitations as an excuse for not doing things your abilities allow.


_________________
When God made me He didn't use a mold. I'm FREEHAND baby!
The road to my hell is paved with your good intentions.


Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

06 Apr 2011, 11:33 am

russian wrote:
Quote:
think it's often forgotten that being able to say "we can't expect society... so we must..." is an argument that only the more privileged get to make. There are those who can't make that argument at all, because no amount of "sucking it up" is going to be enough to keep them alive (or not homeless, etc.) -- the world needs to adjust some for them or they're dead.

Yes exactly! Society should cater to those who are the worst off. For example, those with autism who can't find normal jobs should be catered to by heath/social services. Since my life is more independent and functional than the majority, I should receive few if any benefits or slack from society. Those who can not work, live alone should receive the most help.


My problem is that where that line ends up does not necessarily correspond with reality. Being verbal doesn't mean being able to live independently or work, while some nonverbal autistic people do hold jobs.



wblastyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 533
Location: UK

06 Apr 2011, 12:04 pm

Yes, this really annoys me. I was actually going to make a thread about this yesterday, because my study support mentor was "surprised" I was diagnosed with ADHD. I realise being surprised doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't belive you, but it makes me think they find it hard to believe you have any significant difficulties. She also stated that she didn't think I had Aspergers, even though I'd been diagnosed by a professional, and I was reminded of this yesterday.

It really pisses me off when people don't believe I have any problems, like the psychiatrist I was seeing for depression/anxiety. I told her I thought I had AS and ADHD, and she just completely dismissed the idea. I eventually got diagnosed with AS, by a psychologist. When I also mentioned ADHD to her she claimed it was "just Aspergers", and she never assessed me for ADHD. Afterwards, I had relatives comment that they didn't think I had AS! (oh really, so you know better than a trained professional, who carried out an extensive assessment!?).

I still believed I had ADHD, but when I brought it up with my psychologist, she insisted I didn't have it, because I don't behave in certain ways, even though I do... Apparantly, a person who saw me once a month for a few years knows me better than I know myself... :roll: I know she's a professional, but when she tells you, you don't behave a certain way, when you clearly do, just not necessarily in her clinic, it's a bit annoying. She tried to prevent me from getting assessed for ADHD on the NHS, meaning I had to fly to London and pay for a private assessment. Turns out I do have ADHD afterall, and the prescribed medication is really beginning to help me.

I wonder, if these "professionals" had bothered to listen to me, would I have managed to actually finish university...

Anyway, it really invalidates our difficulties when people deny we have them, or says "we aren't as bad as people with X disability" (it's not a competition). Or they don't take us seriously because we don't "appear" that bad, as if you can always tell how disabled someone is from outward appearance (we're all ugly, you know :roll: ). Or when people think we don't have any probelsm because we're intelligetn. I must have imagined all the difficulties that eventually led to me dropping out of university.

Yeah, sorry for the rant but this thread really struck a cord with me...



Last edited by wblastyn on 06 Apr 2011, 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

06 Apr 2011, 12:10 pm

I have seen a guy studying to go into counseling say in public that if you have AS and meet the criteria for ADHD, then it's really the AS causing ADHD-like symptoms. Like, it's not even possible to have both.

What are people learning in those expensive universities these days?



wblastyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 533
Location: UK

06 Apr 2011, 12:19 pm

Verdandi wrote:
I have seen a guy studying to go into counseling say in public that if you have AS and meet the criteria for ADHD, then it's really the AS causing ADHD-like symptoms. Like, it's not even possible to have both.

What are people learning in those expensive universities these days?

Apparantly out-dated information...

The DSM IV criteria for ADHD basically says you can't have both, but they have removed the exclusion based on a pervasive developmental disorder in the next version (DSM V).

My psychiatrist, who diagnosed my ADHD, said that it's so common for people with AS to have ADHD symptoms that it was seen as a bit redundant to diagnose both. But the problem is people tend to assume if you have AS, then there is no treatment, whereas ADHD has medication, which is only licensed for ADHD. So, she said it was "good clinical practice" to view them as separate conditions, in someone with AS, because the medication can really help with the ADHD-like symptoms, which can be just as, if not more, impairing than the "core autistic symptoms".

My opinion on this is that most people with AS have some executive dysfunction, which is also seen in ADHD, but may not be as severe as those people with full blown ADHD. However, in some people the executive dysfunction can be so impairing, that they also fit the criteria for ADHD. In which case, medication may be useful.



Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

06 Apr 2011, 12:41 pm

Yeah, this was my understanding. The numbers I know are abut 75% of people diagnosed with an ASD meet the criteria for ADHD.

Really, it's high enough it should be standard practice to screen anyone who is diagnosed with one for the other.

I have both, but it looks like I won't be able to get medication. :(



SyphonFilter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Feb 2011
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 2,161
Location: The intersection of Inkopolis’ Plaza & Square where the Turf Wars lie.

06 Apr 2011, 1:17 pm

Verdandi wrote:
Yeah, this was my understanding. The numbers I know are abut 75% of people diagnosed with an ASD meet the criteria for ADHD.

Really, it's high enough it should be standard practice to screen anyone who is diagnosed with one for the other.

I have both, but it looks like I won't be able to get medication. :(


So do I. Why wouldn't you be able to get meds for the ADHD?



Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

06 Apr 2011, 1:47 pm

SyphonFilter wrote:
Verdandi wrote:
Yeah, this was my understanding. The numbers I know are abut 75% of people diagnosed with an ASD meet the criteria for ADHD.

Really, it's high enough it should be standard practice to screen anyone who is diagnosed with one for the other.

I have both, but it looks like I won't be able to get medication. :(


So do I. Why wouldn't you be able to get meds for the ADHD?


I have heard but have not yet had a chance to confirm that Medicaid doesn't like to pay for ADHD meds for adults.



Apple_in_my_Eye
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,420
Location: in my brain

06 Apr 2011, 2:21 pm

Verdandi wrote:
russian wrote:
Yes exactly! Society should cater to those who are the worst off. For example, those with autism who can't find normal jobs should be catered to by heath/social services. Since my life is more independent and functional than the majority, I should receive few if any benefits or slack from society. Those who can not work, live alone should receive the most help.


My problem is that where that line ends up does not necessarily correspond with reality. Being verbal doesn't mean being able to live independently or work, while some nonverbal autistic people do hold jobs.


Yes. Someone who is doing well at 26 might find themselves at 46 in the "worse" category, despite being able to speak (and/or having other superficial "not worse" signifiers, that don't actually, practically mean that they aren't in need of assistance).



torako
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 20 Apr 2010
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 161
Location: Kansas, USA

06 Apr 2011, 2:58 pm

i get annoyed by the inverse of that too... when someone really does have an easier time/is responsible for their situation and insists on complaining...
i'm mostly referring to an irl friend of mine who is apparently diagnosed with asperger's... it is homeless by choice (no, seriously, it decided to be homeless, refuses to get a job... etc) and then whines about being homelesss... poor by choice (dropped out of 9th grade, ran away from home, never had a job because it never wanted one) and complains about being poor... claims to have it SO MUCH WORSE than me because it has asperger's and mental illnesses and OMG... and somehow *magically* has the exact same tics as i do and they only started after it came here for a bit...
anyway, it gets about $900 a month in disability... and somehow got like, another $2000... the $900/month is almost as much as my girlfriend makes from her job, and my girlfriend has to pay for rent and food, this friend doesn't have to pay rent and has a habit of stealing food.
but OMG the friend has it SO MUCH WORSE THAN WE DO OMG and when we criticized it for eating all of our food and not paying my girlfriend back, we were being SO HORRIBLY MEAN AND CRUEL because it is SO POOR WAH WAH
>>

(but um yeah, according to this person i don't actually have problems. or something.)



wblastyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 533
Location: UK

06 Apr 2011, 4:11 pm

Apple_in_my_Eye wrote:
Verdandi wrote:
russian wrote:
Yes exactly! Society should cater to those who are the worst off. For example, those with autism who can't find normal jobs should be catered to by heath/social services. Since my life is more independent and functional than the majority, I should receive few if any benefits or slack from society. Those who can not work, live alone should receive the most help.


My problem is that where that line ends up does not necessarily correspond with reality. Being verbal doesn't mean being able to live independently or work, while some nonverbal autistic people do hold jobs.


Yes. Someone who is doing well at 26 might find themselves at 46 in the "worse" category, despite being able to speak (and/or having other superficial "not worse" signifiers, that don't actually, practically mean that they aren't in need of assistance).

Yep. Less obvious=/=mild. This has caused me trouble with support workers, who assume I don't need as much help because I am "less obvious", and therefore "mild". :roll:



anbuend
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jul 2004
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Posts: 5,039

06 Apr 2011, 4:40 pm

Referring to another person as "it"? Seriously?


_________________
"In my world it's a place of patterns and feel. In my world it's a haven for what is real. It's my world, nobody can steal it, but people like me, we live in the shadows." -Donna Williams


Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

06 Apr 2011, 5:04 pm

torako wrote:
(but um yeah, according to this person i don't actually have problems. or something.)


torako,

is "it" this person's preferred pronoun?



torako
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 20 Apr 2010
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 161
Location: Kansas, USA

06 Apr 2011, 9:12 pm

Verdandi wrote:
torako wrote:
(but um yeah, according to this person i don't actually have problems. or something.)


torako,

is "it" this person's preferred pronoun?


yes. why?