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Is aspergers a disorder or not?

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Sweetleaf
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21 Jan 2011, 12:23 pm

What are all of your opinions? Just kind of curious because it causes some difficulties with functioning in society....so I would think that would classify it as a disorder. However some say they don't see it that way and belive they benifit from this condition.

I am still unsure how exactly I feel about it.



MidlifeAspie
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21 Jan 2011, 12:44 pm

Disorder: Noun S: (n) disorder, upset (a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning)

While the diagnosed rate remains at 1 in 80, it will always be a disorder. For it not to be a disorder the majority would have to have it, thereby making it "normal functioning".

In my opinion, disorder is not a pejorative term.



KenG
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21 Jan 2011, 1:01 pm

MidlifeAspie wrote:
While the diagnosed rate remains at 1 in 80, it will always be a disorder. For it not to be a disorder the majority would have to have it, thereby making it "normal functioning".
The majority are right handed, are you therefore claiming left handed people are disordered?

The same applies to the autism spectrum. Being a minority group doesn't mean we are disordered.


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MidlifeAspie
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21 Jan 2011, 1:07 pm

KenG wrote:
MidlifeAspie wrote:
While the diagnosed rate remains at 1 in 80, it will always be a disorder. For it not to be a disorder the majority would have to have it, thereby making it "normal functioning".
The majority are right handed, are you therefore claiming left handed people are disordered?

The same applies to the autism spectrum. Being a minority group doesn't mean we are disordered.


We can agree to disagree. Being left-handed is not a disturbance in function. Any group who is a minority because of a problem in functioning has a disorder. As I said, the term is not pejorative to me. It seems it is to you so we will naturally not agree on this.



Simonono
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21 Jan 2011, 1:16 pm

Not a disorder, but a whole new species. The world just isn't right enough for us. To the moon! :lol:



KenG
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21 Jan 2011, 1:23 pm

MidlifeAspie wrote:
Any group who is a minority because of a problem in functioning has a disorder
But what if mainstream society creates suitable accommodations for us. Will we still have a problem in functioning?


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KenG
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21 Jan 2011, 1:25 pm

Simonono wrote:
The world just isn't right enough for us. To the moon! :lol:
I'd rather go to Strawberry Fields, you know. Too bad that place was nothing is real.


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MidlifeAspie
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21 Jan 2011, 1:30 pm

KenG wrote:
MidlifeAspie wrote:
Any group who is a minority because of a problem in functioning has a disorder
But what if mainstream society creates suitable accommodations for us. Will we still have a problem in functioning?


I will. There are no accommodations society can make that will make me care about what they want me to care about. I'm an Aspie and I love it. :D



Asp-Z
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21 Jan 2011, 1:31 pm

Not in my opinion, no.



ruveyn
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21 Jan 2011, 1:31 pm

It is a condition.

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21 Jan 2011, 1:41 pm

Everyone faces challenges, and no one comes up with consistently perfect responses. Perhaps everyone is entitled to decide for themselves whether they regard their responses as inappropriate enough to be labelled a “disorder”. Personally, I’d never allow some psychiatrist or psychologist to label me as “disordered”.

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21 Jan 2011, 1:46 pm

The offficial name for the condition in the DSM, is: ASPERGER'S DISORDER

'syndrome' is just a PC variant coined by those who don't like to admit they have a problem.


Look, all the namby-pamby talk about "its just a condition"; "Its a difference, not a disorder"; "Its really a GIFT" is just denial. Stick your fingers in your ears and yell "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU all day long, it will never change the fact that IF you actually HAVE Asperger's Disorder, you have a brain condition that makes learning social interactive behaviors very difficult and interacting 100% normally virtually impossible. You will be considered somewhat weird and unusual by your peers your entire life and that's exactly how most of them will treat you. It doesn't mean you can't have friends or relationships, but it does mean you will always be the square peg and everyone will know it whether you choose to admit it or not.


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21 Jan 2011, 1:51 pm

KenG wrote:
MidlifeAspie wrote:
Any group who is a minority because of a problem in functioning has a disorder
But what if mainstream society creates suitable accommodations for us. Will we still have a problem in functioning?


Is it possible to make suitable accommodations that will make my executive functions functional? Will make socializing reflexive and intuitive? You can accommodate people all day, but the reason for the accommodations will continue to exist. Further, such a society does not currently exist and it seems impractical to define matters on the basis of the best of all possible worlds.

I am not sure about a disability focused movement that tries to deny the relevance of disability itself.



Last edited by Verdandi on 21 Jan 2011, 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MidlifeAspie
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21 Jan 2011, 1:51 pm

Avengilante wrote:
The offficial name for the condition in the DSM, is: ASPERGER'S DISORDER

'syndrome' is just a PC variant coined by those who don't like to admit they have a problem.


Look, all the namby-pamby talk about "its just a condition"; "Its a difference, not a disorder"; "Its really a GIFT" is just denial. Stick your fingers in your ears and yell "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU all day long, it will never change the fact that IF you actually HAVE Asperger's Disorder, you have a brain condition that makes learning social interactive behaviors very difficult and interacting 100% normally virtually impossible. You will be considered somewhat weird and unusual by your peers your entire life and that's exactly how most of them will treat you. It doesn't mean you can't have friends or relationships, but it does mean you will always be the square peg and everyone will know it whether you choose to admit it or not.


This flies in the face of the "X-men theory" that so many seem to use to make themselves feel superior. I wonder what those who insist that they do not have a problem or "disorder" get out of this particular community if not communing over shared difficulties.



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21 Jan 2011, 1:54 pm

Verdandi wrote:

I am not sure about a disability focused movement that tries to deny the relevance of disability itself.


Some people want their cake and to eat it too. Pay me to stay at home and play video games because I can't function out in the real world, but don't you dare say I have a disorder that makes me this way.



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21 Jan 2011, 1:55 pm

Bertvan wrote:
Everyone faces challenges, and no one comes up with consistently perfect responses. Perhaps everyone is entitled to decide for themselves whether they regard their responses as inappropriate enough to be labelled a “disorder”. Personally, I’d never allow some psychiatrist or psychologist to label me as “disordered”.


Obviously everyone faces challenges. But when you take an existing demographic and can show that people in this demographic on average have more difficulties than people outside that demographic all else being equal, then there is something to it beyond "everyone faces challenges." And for every reason you can list that someone may face challenges, there is likely someone with AS who faces those challenges in addition to Asperger's.