Is Aspergers something that some can go to a doctor and have diagnosed, or is it one of these vague ailments like “pain” or “general malaise?” The reason I ask is because very often, when I read about someone with Aspergers on the Internet, it is preceded by the phrase “self-diagnosed.” That sometimes leads me to believe that it is a means for socially inept people to excuse their social ineptness, rather than an actual ailment.
I have a grandmother who liked to self-diagnose herself with pneumonia. Does that mean pneumonia doesn’t exist?
Anyway, yes, Asperger’s is a real thing and can really be diagnosed by real medical professionals.
It’s real in that it has a DSM entry. There are details on the diagnosis procedures on wikipedia. Some debate as to whether it should be a separate diagnosis or just included as very mild autism.
That being said, most self-diagnosed internet cases are the “I am socially inept, and feel it should be an illness rather than a personal failing” thing. Especially if it is brought up apropos of nothing.
Who says social ineptness isn’t a symptom of disease? Nobody wants to be socially inept.
If we are defining “disease” as any true statement about me that I would prefer not to be true, sure.
But in either case, social ineptness alone does not meet the diagnostic criteria for Asperger’s, any more than “bad grades” alone meets the diagnostic criteria for ADD.
If you’re asking whether Asperger’s really exists or whether it’s just a made-up excuse, the answer is that it’s very much a real medical condition. If you’re asking whether it’s a single, specific condition in itself or whether it’s more of a catch-all term for a wider range of conditions on a spectrum, that’s a better question, and I’m not sure about the answer.
[QUOTE=Mayo Clinic]
To be diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, your child’s signs and symptoms must match the criteria spelled out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association and used by mental health providers to diagnose mental conditions.
Some of the DSM criteria for Asperger’s syndrome are:
No significant language delays
A lack of eye to eye contact
Unusual body posture or social expressions
Difficulty making friends
A preoccupation with one subject
No interest in interactive play
An inflexible attitude toward change
[/QUOTE]
Ah, so then all of senior management at the bank I used to work for had Aspergers. I hope they get treatment.
Aspergers is real, but I hate it when it is classified as “a form of Autism”. Although some symptoms overlap, it really is nothing like autism. My 8yo is on the Autistic Spectrum. He is fairly high functioning and is mainstreamed at school. But I would KILL for him to only have Aspergers.
I never thought I had Asperger’s, but my family did, in large part because of my “social ineptness.” They insisted I get tested for it. I was and I passed- I don’t have it. The diagnosis I did get then was wrong though. So maybe I actually do have Asperger’s! :rolleyes:
It might be interesting that Dr. Hans Asperger himself is said to have displayed autism-spectrum tendencies growing up. How much of his awareness of that behavior, and the impetus to study it, might have had to do with his own experience?
This is the best way to “self-diagnose”.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html
I tried this and scored pretty high when the article first came out.
It’s not so much “socially inept” as a difficulty understanding what others seem to be feeling. I remember going to meetings, and afterwards a co-worker would say something like “Di you see Fred get all upset? He knows our new system will make it hard for him to BS his way through his job…” I would not have had a clue the guy was expressing anything beond what he actually said. Similarly, I too have had obsessive preoccupations with odd subjects through the years, and a distinct lack of interest in most social activites - they seemed like a waste of time.
However, like many childhood conditions, everyone uses it as an excuse for why they can’t succeed. I suspect like ADD and dyslexia, it’s going to become the reason of the times why little Johnny can’t read.
How 'bout that. I’m autistic.
Me too! I’d better announce it on the internet!
I’m average! Woo-hoo, I’m average!
I honestly don’t know what the OP is asking. Is the OP suggesting that pain and general malaise are not “real”? I would suggest that the correct answer to the OP is: Yes, Aspergers is indeed something that a doctor can diagnose, just like he can diagnose pain and general malaise.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I too am “self-diagnosed”, having scored markedly above average a few years ago in the Wired article cited by md2000.
Is there any genetic difference between a person with Asperger’s and a person without, or is it really only behavioural? How widely accepted is the idea that a person can be completely cured of Asperger’s?
Not accepted at all. There is no “cure” for Asperger’s. There are some behavioral therapies that can help, but otherwise it’s just something people have to learn to live with.
I had a classmate in college who had (clinically diagnosed) Aspberger’s and she said something I thought was interesting – she had a very hard time following movies, because she couldn’t figure out why people were acting the way they were. “Why is that character crying?” “Uh, well, it’s because she realized her father loved her all along and now that he’s dead she can never reconcile with him…that’s what the last twenty minutes were about.” “Really?”
I thought this was interesting because it showed that she couldn’t pick up on social cues even when she was removed from the social situation itself.
There’s not a blood test for Asperger’s syndrome, if that’s what you mean. Asperger’s syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders do seem to run in families, but a genetic cause hasn’t been identified for most of them. AFAIK Rett’s syndrome is the only one with a clear genetic cause, a mutation on the X chromosome.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone claim that Asperger’s syndrome can be cured, but people with Asperger’s syndrome can learn different techniques for getting along better with neurotypical folks.
Is social ineptitude a personal failing?