The 'Asperger industry', and political correctness

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I'm personally feeling a bit stupid for having got all excited about people here apparently not wanting to eradicate Sensory Processing Disorders despite their obviously not being useful or fun!!, because I was under the impression they were part of Aspergers , seeing how often they're used to prove ASD in tests ! !

Last edited by ouinon on 28 Oct 2007, 2:30 am, edited 2 times in total.

I am puzzled that you separate them up,( into Aspergers and a Sensory Processing Disorder) , BECAUSE so many posts on here seem to use evidence of sensory processing difficulties, meltdowns, stimming, etc etc, as PROOF of being Aspergers!

If they are separate how can one be proof of the other ? And why are sensory disorder symptoms used as diagnostic symptoms on tests for Aspergers?


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Well, here's where my professional background plays a huge, helpful role for me. Picture a Venn diagram. One circle is Aspergers, another is SPD. You can, logically, have SPD but none of the social/behavioral setbacks, thinking patterns, and OCD tendencies of Asperger's. You can also be a person who has Asperger's, but never really feels the need to stim, has reasonably good body awareness, and reasonably good visual-spatial skills. It's just that ASD and SPD are comorbid something like upwards of 75% of the time from the ASD end. So, if they're looking for the often diffuse and subjective early symptoms in say, a kindergarten child who can't tell you she thinks differently, you look for those tell-tale markers because they're often so obvious and visible.
It helps to consider Asperger's as a cluster of things. "Behavioral disorders" are often more varied to diagnosticians than something easy like strep throat, and may, in hindsight, comprise several disorders or syndromes working in concert. In my family, it seems to have a particularly strong genetic background, as 5/6 children born between my father and his brothers are Aspies. We were not neglected or unloved. My older half-sister and younger sister are both NTs, my brother and I Aspies. I have rather marked SPD, my brother's is more mild. Yet his overall stereotypical Aspie-ness of behavior is greater than mine. (He programs video games and struggles with writing, while I speak 8 languages and majored in writing for children.) SPD is a small but hard to ignore part of life for most of us, but not all.

Gilly

Thank you very much.
The thing that now interests me is WHY they are co-morbid to that extent. What is it that predisposes person to one so heavily if have the other? You said from the ASD end , that means that if have AS will prob have SPD? Not that if have SPD will likely have AS ? Or ? Not quite sure which way round you meant that. Would like to know more about this!
Thank you very much for your original post too. I had been confounding the two terribly!

What is the link ZARATHUSTRA?

Acceptance of what?

Quite simply nerve endings are multi-pronged and can correct bi-directionally simulateously.

Bingo. AS is nearly always with SPD, but SPD is not always with AS. So, having AS makes you much more likely to have SPD, while having SPD does not mean you will have AS. They aren't quite sure why this is yet. On a side note, ever find you're processing one aspect of an item, but not all of them? I noticed while driving today that I really don't seem to see things with depth, like in a photo, because I am always flitting from one detail to the next without seeing the entire scene at once. Or the way musicians with ASD can often have perfect pitch when hearing others play, but then seem tone-deaf about their own playing because they can process the sound or the motion at speed, but not both at once. Anyone else that way?

Gilly

I don't know if I've understood what you mean. The music and driving really don't make any sense to me cos don't do either , BUT when started to think visually I realised I get that ( if I'm understanding you right ) about colours and tones. I'm a fine judge of colour , AND of tone , but if have to evaluate/weigh them in conjunction I get really confused.
I think I may have something similar about shape and texture. Not sure.
But the col etc thing has really caused me difficulty in art . Why I preferred drawing , monochrome most of my life , and when I DO paint/draw in colour it has to be abstract so that I CAN focus exclusively on this mystery of colour and tone. I still find myself gradually monochroming a picture because I find it easier to "understand", ( and work on ) like that.

Thank you for reply re AS and SPD . That is very useful to know. It would be v interesting to know the answer to what they still don't understand ! ! About why is more linked one direction etc.

Speak for yourself only please. You don't know me at all (nor do you really know the "many" others on this site) and you have no right to claim that I (or others) pretend to like being an Aspie and/or that I need a cure.

Personally, I'd hate to be an NT and, if someone tried to cure me, he or she better get "cured" first.

I'd like to second this! JCJC777 you come off as an ignorant and arrogant troublemaker! Am I isolated? Yes! Do I have some social pain? Yes! Is it awful? NO!! !! ! Do I HATE being ASPIE? HELL NO! I wish I was more like I used to be when I doubt anyone could have doubted I was aspie. Do I want to be like the average NT person I know? *****NO WAY*****!

BTW I have had SPD problems for as long as I can remember when such a problem could be apparent! That is one thing that surprisingly even my mother remembers! It is ALSO the symptom that really just slapped me in the face when I saw it. So I guess it is pretty much official I have AS!

BTW SPD wouldn't be that bad if people maintained their space, didn't BLAST sound, or play certain frequencies. If they followed that advice, it would be more healthful for EVERYONE!

And, not to burst anyone's hopeful little bubble, but if autism is a difference in brain structure or development, the only thing can be done is symptom management and prevention. Earlier diagnosis and earlier plus more effective intervention is all you can ask unless you want to take meds for individual symptoms like anxiety and ADD. I mean, a cure would essentially mean a new nervous system and new personality.

Apparently the original poster hasn't realized the possibility that there's more to life than social factors.

People who appreciate autistic traits or having Asperger's Syndrome don't appreciate being lonely, they appreciate the GOOD sides of their personalities. I AM in terrible pain sometimes, and maybe Asperger's has something to do with it. Fortunately there are pills to cure depression (and they work). But being the way I am has opened my mind to so many things that other people around me are completely oblivious to. I consider myself more rational and emotional than most people I know, and I like both those sides of me. I'm rational because I haven't learned irrational behaviour everyone else picks up, and I'm emotional because I know what being truly alone is like. It makes me a better person, and that is what appreciating Asperger's Syndrome is all about.

Besides, who wants to live in a world where everyone is exactly the same and no one ever thinks of anything new? THAT, if anything, sounds pathetic.

OK, Lets get rid of hospitals, schools, etc.... Your argument says they are UNNECCESSARY!

I can only speak from MY ASPIE disabilities. Want to know some of them? OK, HERE THEY ARE!! !!

1. MELTDOWNS! Mine can be avoided simply by leaving me alone when I have a problem, and realizing that time estimates are ******ESTIMATES******! Saying something needs to be done NOW DOESN"T CUT IT, and may DELAY things! Besides, WHY do idiots gather around knowing that it WILL NOT, DOES NOT, CAN NOT help!?!? They waste THEIR time as well as create problems which wastes MY time, and endanger EVERYTHING! This has, just in MY carreer cost several man MONTHS and cost MILLIONS of dollars. WHY!?!?!? BTW NT people have had WORSE problems, and most of the bugs I fix are caused by NTs!

2. SENSORY PROBLEMS! AGAIN, WHY do they subject people to these loud noises, etc?!?!? When loud noises are involved, the producers of that noise are REQUIRED *****BY LAW***** to wear "ear protection"! Yet the others are expected to simply "tough it out" with NO WARNING!

3. LEARNING DIFFERENCES! HECK, I teach a LOT of NTs! For a project my company just started, **I** have been designated as the INSTRUCTOR! I tend to do most of the "knowledge transfer". Many say I am a good teacher. What is so hard? OK, I may learn in a different way. You know what though? I don't care if the guy is 5 or 65! I don't care if their IQ is 80 or 180! I don't care if they know about computers, or not. I don't care if they are NT or AS. I can probably do a better job teaching them than almost anyone else.

I ALSO know computers from the lowest level to the highest. I can explain how transistors work, how registers work, how clocks and pipelines work to make computers work, and work faster, P2P, C/S, mainframe, dual tier, three tier, relay, direct, why/when locks are needed, etc... A LOT of "programmers" don't even know what half of those even are! HECK, I did a highschool thesis on C.O.S.M.O.S! I got the highest grade he gave, and other students accused me of cheating! They thought I did too well! I took computers in highschool and college and got As all the way through.

4. SOCIAL PROBLEMS! Hey, people should be more direct.

So AS people are different. They need LESS help with many things. Who should care if they need more help with others? LONG ago, they could have made faster computers. Some DID! So why didn't they catch on? They needed a better environment, better controls, and there was a lower yield(meaning higher cost). That sounds a LOT like autism? Yet MANY LARGE comanie bought those computers. They had to beef up air conditioners, lock computer rooms, provide water, etc... But they DID! They suffered with the HELP the computer needed because they worked BETTER AND FASTER! That sounds a lot like HFA/AS!

So AS is like those computers. We may do better, but need a better environment.

Humanity bites itself in the ass, every time. Imagine all the stuff we might have learned about those Greek statues if those Christians hadn't horribly mutilated or destroyed them. Imagine all the stuff we could have done in science if people like Galileo and Copernicus weren't consistently told to shut up by the church. Imagine what women might have been able to do sooner if they weren't being discriminated against by certain cultures.

Absolute rubbish. I took a look at his blog and he says that he is "self-diagnosed."
I think I'll self-diagnose myself as a billionaire.
My life is more than okay, now that I know why I am the way I am, and I do not live in "awful social pain and isolation."
As to pretending to like being "Aspie," I like being human, I like being alive. There are many things I maybe would like to change about myself, but that's pie in the sky stuff.
It is the way it is. Nobody could possibly "encourage" me to take a view of any kind. I make up my own views, as I go along.
Self pity is not an option for me. To be perfectly honest, I am convinced that I have a better mind than most "normal" people.
"Political correctness." Oh brother. This cat isn't SMART enough to have Asperger's! HAH!