people wrongly diagonosed

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You cannot tell whether someone has AS or not based on written lines of text over the internet.

>.> I always worry people scrutinise my posts with this in mind.
Although I don't think I self diagnosed myself as an aspie, I just know I have some traits and get on way better with aspies because they make more sense to me than NT, so it wouldn't be particularly weird if I was...

When I first joined here, for the first few weeks, I had chosen "Have Asperger's-Undiagnosed", then after lots of reading about people who have much worse symptoms than I do, I changed it to "Not sure..."

As of now, I have decided to pursue an official diagnosis if can afford to go through with it but, I am concerned about what this could mean if my employer finds out because I am in the perfect job for my interest (graphic design/art)....I couldn't have landed a more perfect situation and I've worked at the same job for 26 years (technically at the same company, but the company was bought 2X).

I have a lot of traits/symptoms and may even meet the diagnosis criteria. I have much more than just the social awkwardness.

For some reason, I find it so much easier communicate by typing online than I do speaking, and I'm not shy online like I am in person. So, I agree with what several people have responded that you can't judge someone by how they type.

I don't think the online tests are fail-proof, but perhaps just general indicators. I didn't lie when I took the tests because I really wanted to know for myself. After I took the tests, I wanted to compare myself to people who I think are normal, and to my parents. My father came up borderline. My mom came up normal. My husband is normal. My work partner, who thought he might have Asperger's actually came up normal too. On my father's side of the family, his nephew, my first cousin either has Asperger's or HFA, and he's a computer genius.

I put a topic up one time asking how people self diagnosed/figured out on their own and there were 2 people who just wanted to say go and get diagnosed on my topic. Which did not pertain.

The biggest reason I now think I have aspergers is that Me and my mom think I have it, without me telling her first.

I should be getting tested in a few weeks.

I was never diagnosed/self-diagnosed for AS. So I'm a NORMAL PERSON! Muahaha!

What makes you think that your remote diagnosis of people that you've never seen is more accurate than their self-diagnosis?

AS has only been included in medical diagnostic manuals since 1994. In some countries, people are only being diagnosed with AS in recent years. As a result, there are countless undiagnosed adults who could never figure out what was wrong with them. Some of those adults come across an article about AS, and their entire life experience suddenly makes sense for the first time. You don't get to invalidate this realization based on your biased perception of someone that you don't know the first thing about.

Besides, why do you think that psychiatrists don't misdiagnose patients? Psychiatry is no fact-based medical science. Mental health specialists base their diagnosis on the patient's statements and their own subjective impression. Online tests do the same, but with much less personal bias. Until DNA analyses are used to diagnose autism and AS, none of us will ever know for sure if we have it or not (much less if somebody else has it).

Your post was very informative. I agree with everything that you have said. Great job Craze!

I've recently participated in a thread about heartburn in another forum. I wonder how many of the thread participants had an official diagnosis? My point is, it is entirely possible to be aware of a health condition without consulting a specialist.

Thanks

I can't see a Neurologist at this time anyway. And even if I could, I would use the money for better purposes then a "No you do not have, Yes you have." Such as...say...Rent, food and various other bills as well as bus fair.

There is no such thing as an accurate diagnosis of Asperger. Psychology is not a hard science and so such a thing does not exist.

I have admitted to not being sure of my diagnosis. I will leave the site if I am convinced that I do not have the disorder.

Not this topic again.

It's become so tiresome I can't even be bothered to defend the position of the self diagnosed any more. It's all been said before.

Why can't people just mind their own business?

I originally self diagnosed as on the spectrum. I got an informal diagnosis for Aperger's from a professional, but later discovered I was missing a crucial bit of information, I had significant developmental delays as a child, so now am convinced it is mild high functioning autism instead.

Am I the sort of person you are talking about? Or are you saying there are too many hypochondriacs here? I might argue that they are welcome regardless, seeing as they too share in the experience of mental disability. I'm not sure many people would voluntarily identify as being autistic without honestly believing that they, in fact, are autistic... it has a fairly strong negative stigma.

I have devoured books, articles, and online resources about ASDs, I know a ridiculous amount about this group of related disorders, as well as many other disorders to boot. (I have a bachelors in Psychology) I know more about it that almost every mental health professional I’ve ever met, in fact, because it is a condition near and dear to me (for obvious reasons). But I do not feel comfortable passing judgment on whether or not someone’s self-diagnosis was accurate or not. Especially through only an online forum! That is preposterous.

If there was ever a condition I thought enabled the person to be objective enough to self diagnose accurately, that condition would be ASD.

Pointless topic is pointless.

Because all of this has been said before, and that there can be no satisfactory resolution to this type of discussion, and that similar threads have caused upset because the validity of members' diagnoses is being questioned - this thread is being locked.