People who "Make It Up".

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Today I attended a course about Aspergers. I have mentioned it before on WP (this Forum), but a proffessional on todays course said "In the diagnostic process there are some people that have researched about Aspergers/ASD and because a diagnosis will enable them to get more state benefits & less pressure to find payed employment they 'try to pull the wool over our eyes' when they don't have Aspergers or ASD at all."
The statemant "Try to pull the wool over over our eyes" I think means that a person basically lies and hopes that the professional doing the ASD/Aspergers assessment believes thier lies. Why it is wool I don't know. Maybe wooly knitted hats or something being stretched/pulled down to cover someones eyes.

No I would not exaggerate my condition or lie about it for that....not that it would help anything anyways, its not like they would increase my SSI check if they think my condition has gotten worse...not to mention if you get caught knowingly exaggerating/lying about your condition to get disability benefits that is a rather hefty federal crime I imagine, I guess for me though I don't care much about the legal bit its more if I could legitimately work I'd have a hang up about taking resources from people who really need it who really can't hold a job so wouldn't fake.

So yeah while I am sure some scammers may try to do this, I do not think it represents even half the people diagnosed who are receiving some kind of benefit for it. There are much easier more efficient ways to commit scams, and get a crap ton more doing so than trying to lie to get disability benefits since it doesn't pay that much really.

No way. My autism is severe enough...

In the UK it is a criminal offence. It may involve a prison sentence. It is classed as "Benefit Fraud".



Yes, it is a small percentage, but none-the-less some people do, and it is very wrong.

They put me through a pretty notable psychological evaluation to make sure I actually did have problems before accepting that I had autism, anxiety, and depression, then tossing me benefits.

I'm actively trying to get off of those benefits, because let's face it - being on disability sucks. The quality of life is really, really low compared to everything else you could possibly do. I'd be better off working a minimum wage job full time, in terms of happiness.

If I had the ability to do things without the government helping out, I'd do it, because honestly, anything else would be better than not having enough money to be genuinely happy.

I might because a lot of my troubles are hidden and people don't take them seriously so if I needed help I might have to work up something else that they tend to take more seriously.

I would not lie or exaggerate. If I am honest I am sure they will see that life is very difficult for me. And besides, it's not like a diagnosis is going to get me any benefits anyway. I am too old to be eligible for anything that would be of any real help to me. I am not even sure that it is possible to "fake" certain things. I guess if you are as good an actor as Dustin Hoffman is and you spend months and months with someone who has the symptoms you could but I think it would be pretty hard to fake certain things. Before I knew I was on the Spectrum I always thought I was NT. I did not even know the definitions of those words then. I knew I had my quirks and I just figured I was a a bit of a weirdo that never quite fit in. I would have never suspected Autism in a million years. But the person who told me that I was on the Spectrum said it was obvious from the very first moment he saw me. I was not doing anything in particular but I think that there are some things that just kind of show through and we don't even realize they are showing through. So you would have to be a really good actor to be able to fake a trained person.

It's a criminal offense here too in the states to lie and they always warn you about it and have you sign the paper stating everything you said was true, Does it still happen? Oh yeah, I have heard it in the media and I find it sick how a mom coached her kids to act intellectually challenged starting at a young age so she could get benefits for them. She wasn't caught until her sons were grown and one of them was caught on camera walking into a bank regarding his check and he was acting all normal apparently. He and his mom both faced charges and I think so did his other brother.The mother had a shedload of money to pay back from all the years she has stole. I don't see how anyone could pull this off but wow, it can happen. I can imagine she must have involved the schools and doctors so she could have medical records and her kids always faked it and no one ever noticed it. She did start from when they were four. I think it has to be some form of child abuse.

I am not diagnosed but if I were I would not do that, and I really don't think I could pull it off sufficiently anyway, not to mention there are people who really do need it more than I would.

But if you needed help but couldn't get it because you were not disabled enough to get the support? Would you then exaggerate your symptoms to get the help you need? I think that is what the OP is asking.

I am on the fence about this.

Nevermind, I re read the OP and that isn't what he was asking. But I still stand by my answer.

Last edited by League_Girl on 22 Jul 2014, 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If I tried to lie to lie or exaggerate to get benefits, I'd have a shutdown and not be able to get the lying forms to the mailbox or the lying words out of my mouth. I can and do lie, but not like that. I've learned to lie socially because for some reason even my Mom expects it from me, but I can't lie for material gain. I've made plans to lie for material gain before, but I can't carry them out.

Guilt is extremely stressful for me. I can't function under the burden of guilt.

oh ok, well if I felt that the rule was unfair and I was in great need and felt my problems did actually warrant financial help then yes if I thought I could get away with it.

But greed I think is never a reason that's right, if you were struggling to live then yes but if it meant you would buy more material things then no.

I guess would exaggerate it a bit if I was desperate for money and it ended up I can't find/keep a job and I got no family to help me. I have to live somehow, right? (I would try very hard to find a job and live on my own first before doing that though.)
To do so I would lower some of my copy mechanisms to show how my condition is when I don't keep the strong facade. It wouldn't be lieing. I would just show how my life would be if I was a little bit worse in keeping my issues hidden. This is not easy anyway.

But I wouldn't want to do it. I would feel bad about taking someones money even if I needed those. It would mean to me that I am a failure. I feel I am strong enough to survive without government help and if my family suddenly disappears I believe I would be able to survive on my own. There are people who need help more than I do. I was able to survive my life so far without professional help (I got diagnosed only recently). I'm too smart to depend on the public. It would be a huge hit in my self-confidence if it ended up I can't survive without charity.

Last edited by Kiriae on 22 Jul 2014, 3:47 pm, edited 5 times in total.

haha oh well, its an important part on whether its ok or not to do or not

I think this is the exact position that many of us are actually in. I know that if anything happened to my husband I can't imagine how I would survive. I hope we would not have to exaggerate to get help. I don't know that I could mainly because I don't know that I would know how to do it. I think I would be morally conflicted as well too. I would feel angry that my needs could go unmet and I could be in a dire situation just because someone else who has no idea what my life is like feels like I am not disabled enough to meet his or her criteria for help especially when I was given no help at all with this issue ever in my life. This would bother me because there is so much help and so many people get help even people who are more capable than I am but simply because of my age, I am left out of the system. So I would be tempted to exaggerate. But on the other hand that would be very deceitful and I don't know that I could feel good about myself for deliberately lying like that. But it's a real shame that we have to be in this position to begin with.

No, as I do not know how to lie. When I've tried keeping a secret I usually blurt it out as well.