Seriously. I know two people who are real "Aspies" and they put all of the self-diagnosed jerks to shame. You don't know awkward until you've hung out with the real deal.
I've seen some very high-functioning and low-functioning people with Aspergers, yet even though I'm rather socially mal-adjusted and am seriously not a group-person, I can't compare myself to an "Aspie" after having taken psychology and sociology for years. It's still a night-and-day difference if you know what you're looking at.
I think the true issue with these self-diagnosed "Aspies" is that they truly have no clue, they just know something is wrong with them socially and want to attach a name to it that's not 'anti-social'. These people rarely have the social issues that a real "Aspie" does; IE they lose most of their social-awkwardness on a one-on-one basis.
Like I said, I've met "Aspies" and they're generally as awkward one-on-one as they are in a group. They don't read many of the physical clues that allow seamless conversation, so they tend to wait awkwardly long at the end as if they're waiting to see the speaker has finished. It's almost like a satellite-link on a news program, there's always that 3-second pause between one person talking and the other responding.
I'm anti-social in groups. I simply dislike large gatherings of people I don't know much (even work colleagues), however one-on-one or in a group I'm fine and talkative. I've been at family gatherings where there's easy been upwards of 100 people in an area no bigger than a large yard where the population density could be measured in the square-foot. Yet I'm sociable, it's not that I can't socialise, it's that much of the time I'm simply unwilling.
I agree. I think a lot of self-diagnosed "Aspies" are really just people who are afraid to get out of their comfort zone and like the idea of having something legitimate-sounding to blame.
If I was an actual Asperger's sufferer I would be a lot angrier at fairly normal people pretending they have it and wearing it like a badge of honour. I doubt the real deal is a lot of fun.
I don't think you can generalise in such a way. I had a proper diagnosis made whilst at school but manage to hold down friendships, family relationships and work in a fairly "social" and communicative field (radio).
It makes a few things like reading social cues a little more difficult than for many people but it really doesn't have a particularly detrimental impact on my life - quite the opposite when it comes to economically useful things like language learning and understanding technical concepts.
Asperger's just isn't something I think about day-to-day and I certainly don't see myself as a "sufferer".
I have friends who have been diagnosed (i.e. not self-described), and Asperger's really runs the entire gamut. You have the slightly awkward people who prefer to be alone, and then you have full-blown inability to fit into any social situation. It sounds like your case is somewhat mild - but I do think for more extreme cases it can be "suffering".
Note: I too dislike the amount of self-diagnosis that goes on with things like this. Asperger's and autism are real conditions that real people suffer from - diagnosing yourself just because you're antisocial and afraid adversely affects how seriously people view these conditions.
I'm actually diagnosed, and these people with behavioral problems who say that they're "autistic" annoy me because it makes teachers assume you are going to be a little brat. People should not be allowed to proclaim they have a disorder without going to see a paediatrician and getting it diagnosed. It seems asperges/autism is the new "fad", like adhd was a while ago. It's becoming way too over diagnosed.
One of the hopes is that people with Asperger's will now be eligible for more care, as there is a belief among some mental health professionals that this population is underserved. By grouping these people with people that experience the more severe Autism, the seriousness of the condition should be made clearer. There was an interesting discussion about this on NPR. Many MHP's have considered Asperger's and Autism to be along a spectrum for years (and it is taught this way in some psych programs.)
However, the DSM is still a broken and kludgy diagnostic tool.
I think they should add Aspergers by Proxy to the DSM-V, for all the clueless psychologists out there who are unable to understand anything logical, and think any kid who isn't within their idea of "normal" has Aspergers.
In all seriousness, part of where the problem comes in is that psychologists deviate from the "core" differential diagnosis between Aspergers and High Functioning Autism.
I think they should keep Aspergers in the DSM-V for persons who have social difficulties, eg. "Difficulty understanding others emotions" - and get rid of all the Autistic Spectrum symptoms that confuse the diagnosis.
I am an EEG tech experienced with Quantitative EEG (qEEG) technology - According to my professor, the part of the brain that plays a role in Aspergers is the posterior temporal lobe, primarily on the right. That is difficulty understanding others emotions.
You're confusing psychologists and psychiatrists, the two have little association with each other. Psychiatrists carry the prescription pad and diagnose diseases, psychologists typically deal with functionality issues and work with their patients through the solutions.
Psychologists typically diagnose behavior issues, they're not medically trained whatsoever and rarely tackle conditions as a "disease". People with phobias and addictions are typically best served by psychologists as a psychiatrist usually throws pills at the situation and treats nothing.
I'm not disagreeing with your point, just psychologist should be substituted for psychiatrists as they control the DSM-V.
I was making a reference to the way psychologists interact with and diagnose patients, not who controls the DSM.
To be completely accurate, the DSM-V task force is made up of both psychiatrists and psychologists, although it comes under the umbrella of the American Psychiatric Association.
I work with both psychologists and psychiatrists in my job, (I know the difference) and on average, the general attitude towards patients, especially ASD patients seems to very condescending and clueless.
On a slightly related topic, a lot of psychiatrists seem to forget the basics of medicine, shouldn't be allowed to call themselves MD. They should have their own category, like Doctor of Psychiatry, not Doctor of Medicine
I don't have much of a point... Just find it interesting how often folks in these articles are always 'self-described'.