Can autism be misdiagnosed as narcissism?

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If so, why? And it you think it can't be, why not?

ASD presents itself since childhood and NPD (or all PDs) begins by early adulthood (or so it is claimed). Other than that, imho, it's quite likely under certain circumstances to develop NPD traits (with a varying degree of severity). Some of the 'Millons subtypes', for instance, compensatory and fanatic seems more likely than amorous, elitist; etc.

Right, it makes me even more suspicious of a blog post I saw about a child 'having' NPD! Thank you.

As I understand PDs in children is a hot topic among some these days.

However I think that many ASD people could fit into the criteria of some PD (esp. since it is so loose in the eyes of a non-professional).

Bun, AS tends to be highly comorbid with other conditions, so I suppose it's certainly possible to suffer from both. But I'm very aspie and not in the least narcissistic.

But, reading your question carefully, I have little respect left for the mental health profession. I was misdiagnosed too many times, and am a textbook aspie.

Thank you for your reply as well, Dunnyveg. I agree with you about bad diagnosis creating the opposite affect to 'treating' someone.

I too have little faith in mental health professionals. They don't know much if anything about AS, Tourette syndrome, ADHD and dyspraxia (etc.) so they diagnose you with a condition like personality disorder nos or borderline. The latter seems to be quite common in girls because professionals still seem unable to accept that girls can get any of the above conditions. I had to go to a Tourettes specialist to get my diagnoses because the local mental health team were useless!

The DSM IV states that it is only diagnosable in early adulthood:

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.

It is common for children to go through a 'narcissistic phase' at some point in their life though.

Asperger's syndrome is most comorbid with DSM-IV-TR Cluster A and Cluster C personality disorders. ADHD is more comorbid with the Cluster B personality disorders, which includes narcissistic personality disorder. This is not to say that it is impossible for AS and NPD to be comorbid.

I can see why someone might view certain Aspie behaviors as selfish or self-centered, but I think a counselor or psychologist worth their salt would know the difference. However, as a counselor myself...I can say that there seem to be a lot of counselors and psychologists out there who aren't terribly good at their jobs.

what exactly does narcissistic mean anyway? I don't even know how to pronounce it, I don't think we use it here in the UK.

I am someone who hates myself, has no faith in myself, thinks I'm unworthy, let other people treat me like I'm dirt, and has no confidence. Is this the opposite to narcissistic?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissist ... y_disorder

No, I don't think I have this. The only symptom of it I have is I become easily jealous of others, even if it's for no reason.

Problem with diagnosing personality disorders in children is that they're tightly bound up with parental behaviour, and those same parents are seeking diagnosis for their children. It's messed up.

Exactly, when I think of why a mum would want to diagnose her child with NPD, I believe that the mum thinks the child may not be sensitive to HER needs, therefore, she's giving up the parental role and is actually showing need for care and attention to herself.

I have met a few diagnosed Aspies in real life and they are about the farthest thing from narcissistic you could possibly imagine.

Most people who accuse Aspies of being narcissistic are either extremely ignorant or bullies or perhaps a bit of both.

I have been reading a lot on narcissism personality disorders and I keep hearing a joke that all children and teens are narcissists but the difference is they grow out of it. NPD cannot be diagnosed in children for this reason. When you read about narcissism, it sounds like characteristics you would find in a child or in a adolescent and that is true but it's normal while for an adult it's not. Some people view narcs as children or as a giant toddler or six year old and treat them as such during their fits and rages because it works with them. That is how they deal with their parent who is one. How their parent acts or loved one, they look at how they would handle it in a child is they acted that way and do the same with them.

I think it's possible that one can have both. I believe someone I used to talk to online had it because she was very bitter, felt everyone was better than her so she looked down on others who she felt had it better than her, she thought her problems and what she got in life was worse than how others have it and she would trivialize other peoples problems and s**t they have been through in life. She also wanted to start making up stuff about herself to be better and make herself sound better. I think she was heading for NPD and she was a diagnosed aspie. I stopped talking to her for these reasons. She also told me she wanted to brag to make others feel bad and to make herself feel better. I suspect she was a narc and was heading there. She was also diagnosed as being Bipolar. I also realize another person I knew online who has been banned from here several times may be a malignant narcissist which I won't get into but yet she also claimed she had classic autism or infantile autism.

I am also positive that my "aspie" ex had it too because what I read about covert narcissism all seems to fit him and it makes more sense about his behavior. Someone asked me on another forum how do I know he was a cN because sometimes people will pathologize others for closure. I told him I found out through Lucky Heaven's Otter's blog and then reading about narcissism in Google search and then learned about covert narcissism from the blogger so I looked that term up too and bingo. Is it possible I am just imagining things what I read about it and finding ways for it to fit him or am I doing confirmation bias? I have also wondered if I am just exaggerating what happened but my mom told me what she remembered about it and it sounded bad than I remembered and I asked one of my online friends about it too asking if she remembers when me and him were together and what does she remember about it and she told me also and it also sounded bad. So I know I am not exaggerating. It's good to go to your friends and family members if you are doubting yourself. I have even thought if I am thinking too much about this or what if I am just one of those people who labels anyone as a narcissist just because they were a jerk or an a**hole you know because we see this word thrown around a lot online so it makes me skeptical like people are over using this word and labeling anyone as that.