AS experts vs aspie tests

[gal4God]

i don't know which 1 to belive. i'm trying 2 find the truth but they are both saying different things. are the experts who make the tests wrong or r the experts i know wrong. this is confusing me. i just want 2 know the truth but it looks like i'll never know that. who do u think u should belive?

 

[we5frogs]

What is different in what they are telling you?

The experts use a specific set of criteria, and just as no two of us are exactly alike, no one I have ever met meets all the criteria, or meets them in the same way.

The tests are more personal, however the opposite can be true. With these tests, it is easy for our personal opinions and feelings to factor in, and sway the test results.

The important thing to remember is this. The title > the label > what you call it, does not change anything. It took almost 6 years for us to get an AS diagnosis for Gavin. But we knew long before the diagnosis came that many of his challenges fit what we were reading in our research.

What did this mean for us? It meant Gavin could understand more about himself. It meant that our family was able to read about it and understand more about what it is like for him, as well as what we might be able to do to make it easier. It also meant that even though we didn't have the diagnosis for a long time, we could use ideas that worked for others to try to help him. Some worked and some didn't, but it gave us a place to find new things to try.

My older son, Stephen, does not have AS. He does however, have just a few little 'quirks' (as he calls them), some really mild ways in which he meets just a few of the criteria in a much more manageable way than Gavin and others with AS. He found out early on, however, that as he became aware of them and what Gavin uses to compensate for them, that some of the techniques worked for him as well, if he just 'tweaked' them for his own use. Not having AS didn't stop him from making his life easier with what he had learned through our AS research.

Concentrate more on who you are, and what God sees when He looks down on you, than on what the medical community calls you. That part only becomes important when we look for how we can use it to help ourselves.

 

[winglovesall]

I agree with ^, I don't believe, really, that you can find the truth from those experts and from those internet polls which suggest you aren't.

What you need to believe is God and who God made you to be.

And as ^said, I think you need to pray that God will heal you from aspergers.

 

[Dragonfly88]

Defently the test. Knowing from previosus professionals, I know they are not always right.
I feel for you being an aspie myself and wouldnt even know you were an aspie if you hadnt said so. You seem just like any other young woman.

 

[gal4God]

kool

 

[gal4God]

well i've been praying 4 months 4 a healing 4rm AS. this is kinda y i needed 2 know the turth

 

[gal4God]

do u think the experts will tell me if they think i don't have as?

 

[Dragonfly88]

do u think the experts will tell me if they think i don't have as?

they probably would.

Right now I am sseing a counselor who talked about my behaviors and body language and he definded what aspies have and said I only fit half of the problems aspies have.

I am also seeing a peer mentor and the peer mentor told me that she wouldnt think I had aspergers if I hadnt told her. She said I look and act like I dont have aspergers. That made me feel better.

 

[gal4God]

kool.

 

[gal4God]

some1 who normaly comes on this section plz vote i want ur opion as well as the cft's.

 

[Protinus]

I'm sorry fioban...what did you say?

 

[amhealy]

I don't know the answer, but perhaps it's a combination of both. I recently read an article that stated that one psychiatrist (can't remember his name) once wrote what the symptoms of Asperger's appeared to be based on one individual he assessed, and that unfortunately, those are the criteria that we now use to determine if someone has Asperger's. (I think I read this in the book "Gorilla Nation".)

If most psychiatrists use that criteria to determine if someone has Asperger's, than those of us who have it might not be properly diagnosed. People have different symptoms of Asperger's, just as ADDers have different symptoms of ADHD.

So maybe we don't have appropriate tests yet, and maybe mental health professionals aren''t as educated as we would like them to be. This is a new thing, this Aspergers.

Think about it: If you gave someone a test for ADD, and the person you are testing is hyper, then that person may fail the test because the ADD test doesn't test for hyperactivity. Yet maybe he has a lot of the other symptoms. Same goes for Aspergers.

 

[Protinus]

I don't know the answer, but perhaps it's a combination of both. I recently read an article that stated that one psychiatrist (can't remember his name) once wrote what the symptoms of Asperger's appeared to be based on one individual he assessed, and that unfortunately, those are the criteria that we now use to determine if someone has Asperger's. (I think I read this in the book "Gorilla Nation".)

If most psychiatrists use that criteria to determine if someone has Asperger's, than those of us who have it might not be properly diagnosed. People have different symptoms of Asperger's, just as ADDers have different symptoms of ADHD.

So maybe we don't have appropriate tests yet, and maybe mental health professionals aren''t as educated as we would like them to be. This is a new thing, this Aspergers.

Think about it: If you gave someone a test for ADD, and the person you are testing is hyper, then that person may fail the test because the ADD test doesn't test for hyperactivity. Yet maybe he has a lot of the other symptoms. Same goes for Aspergers.

amhealy: I don't think we should disparage the psychometric community. It is a constellation of symptoms within a category. The category is an attempt to describe a whole spectrum that is inclusive of autism but also higher functions that aren;t even documented! We're still learning! But Asperger's is a working heading that brings people and families together, which is the important thing!

 

[we5frogs]

amhealy: I don't think we should disparage the psychometric community. It is a constellation of symptoms within a category. The category is an attempt to describe a whole spectrum that is inclusive of autism but also higher functions that aren;t even documented! We're still learning! But Asperger's is a working heading that brings people and families together, which is the important thing!

Hmmm - It sounded to me like amhealy was stating more that diagnosing things like Aspergers is not an exact science, than disparaging the medical community.

As stated, Aspergers diagnoses are still considered rather new territory, and psychiatrists are simply normal folks like you and I, specifically educated in mental health. Even the most well meaning and well versed doctors can only use the tools provided for them, and interpret them according to what they see and experience, what they read and hear. Add to that the fact that no two of us meet all the criteria in the same way, or look exactly the same to them or the world around us, and that clearly explains how one doctor might say yes while another might say no, with both convinced they are correct.

But I absolutely love your last comment, that the working heading of AS brings people and families together. You are right, that is the most importnat thing!

 

[gal4God]

kk is it?

 

[gal4God]

how can u lot talk bout as likr its a gud thing?

 

[we5frogs]

fionaban - the things that make each of us unique are neither good or bad, they just are what they are

It's how we feel about ourselves, and all the things that go along with that, that is important.

My son says that with all the challenges he has had, he would not change one thing about himself, because God can use all his experiences to help others. Also, along with the AS differences that make life more difficult, there are just as many AS differences that make him really special.

For example, the girls really like the fact that he is so observant, he notices when they got a haircut or are wearing a new dress.

Also, he is very understanding, not judgemental, and hates to talk, so all his friends love to come to him when they need someone to listen to.

When we embrace who we are, the world does, too.

 

[gal4God]

kl

 

[AmyNelson]

kl

I think online tests can tell you on a simple level if you have traits of aspergers or not. Though they cannot diagnose on any level.
I made 'The geek syndrome' test, and many people have found it helpful.

Its on thegeeksyndrome.com if you want to try it.

 

[gal4God]

thanx amy i will try that 1.