The Revamped TSR Asperger's Society!

Antidepressants turn this off for me, mostly. Not that I'd recommend this; it means it's quite a bit harder to work.

(I think is quite a "sigh, grr, for ****'s sake" face.)

The letter says that I'm going to be assessed by a psychiatrist? Why? When it's not a mental issue.

What exactly are psychometric tests? That's what I'll be having. A friend said that should help with the issue of having other disabilities for which the symptoms are similar (such as the hyper sensitivity) to that of AS.

Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed by psychiatrists because they're classified as psychiatric disorders and not primarily neurological ones. Which I totally disagree with. After all, ASDs are neurodevelopmental disorders.

Psychometric tests are probably just glorified personality tests, like the MMPI. They're mostly used for personality disorders and they definitely can't differentiate between conditions of similar symptomatology. If anything, making a possible AS patient take a personality test is nothing but an easy way of getting sidetracked in the diagnostic process. Plus, I've taken the MMPI - total waste of time and the interpretation was wrong to the point of being hilarious.

This is why I am confused. I was always brought up (brother has Aspergers) to believe that ASD was a developmental disorder - not a mental health issue.

Hey, no one said it was a mental health issue. But it is a sort of psychological issue, so you need a psychiatrist.

Technically it's a social disorder. I sometimes refer myself to people as 'socially retarded'.

Shyness can be described as a "social" or psychological disorder, but autism most certainly can't be. See, this is the thing here - all people really know about ASDs is that we have social problems, not unlike people with anxiety, and therefore think it must be a simple psychological issue. Scientifically speaking, however, autism is a brain disorder. The neuroanatomy, neurological functioning and chemistry in autism are different from those of healthy individuals. Autism isn't any less of a neurological disorder than is say Alzheimer's, yet because the focus is almost exclusively on behavioral symptoms the neurology of it is almost completely ignored.

Sure, so the causes are physical, but so what? The symptoms are psychological (behavioural, social...) and the only treatments we can reasonably perform are psychological (or chemical?!). All we can do is alleviate symptoms and help people develop coping mechanisms. We're not medically advanced enough to go poking around in people's brains yet, so while it would be lovely to go under the scalpel and get rewired as whatever you wanted, the closest we've got is psychiatrists. (The fact that it is caused by something physical is precisely why Alzheimer's is untreatable right now.)

Decided to complain about my astrophysics lecturer to my personal tutor. Also, counselling went well today How is everyone?

The symptoms aren't solely psychological. The processing difficulties, executive function limitations... those are mainly frontal lobe dysfunctions. No amount of CBT or whatever is going to fix that. Of course there are no viable alternatives to therapy because it seems we're not even trying to come up with them. Look at the research and clinical trials going on on the topic of autism - it's all social this and psychological that. With Alzheimer's they're at least focused on (almost exclusively) medical interventions so there's a chance they might come up with something. But you're not going to just stumble across a cure for short term memory deficiencies (or whatever else) in an art therapy session, you have to go to the source to find an answer and come up with a fix. Yet no one's doing that and at least a part of it is due to the fact that the society, and it seems even those with the disorder, view Asperger's as nothing more than a set of social difficulties with a couple of "extras" thrown in here and there.

Hi everyone.

I suspect that I have AS, but I'm not entirely sure. Maybe I am just a really weird, socially awkward person? My mum thought I might have AS when I was a child and took me to the paediatrist to get someone to have a look at me, but the doctor said 'no'. I'm not entirely convinced, though, especially not after I read that a diagnosis in girls/women is rarer than in their male counterparts.

I practically took every test I could find online and every single one of them told me I'm likely to be an aspie. I think the biggest shock I got was getting 7 out of 80 for an empathy test.

What if my brain does look 'normal' and there's nothing wrong with it? What is the explanation for the way I am then? I really just want to know what is up and then get on with my life. I will be able to get some closure on this topic as soon as I know more. I already talked to my GP about it and he said he'll refer me to a specialist. Although I probably should have written down what he told me because I am **** at verbal instructions...

Does anyone else find it almost a joy to have little sympathy for others? When watching this Tv show called Bouncers yesterday, there was this one guy who was working the doors who summed it up very well.

"Round here, it's all about who can shag the most birds, who has the flashiest clothes and that you're 'hard'. I have very little faith in the human race. I mean I can abide going out for a few drinks and having a laugh, but these lot are just.... inbred. Actual mongrels."

Or something along those lines.

Hello and welcome!
I always score rubbish on empathy tests too, I got 17 on the EQ one and the one on the BBC website I got 0, fail

What symptoms do you have? Obviosuly no one here will be able to diagnose you online, but as a girl with AS I may be able to relate. Some people have 'traits' of autism and asperger's without having the actual full condition, if you don't have it you could be like that.

What if my brain does look 'normal' and there's nothing wrong with it? What is the explanation for the way I am then?

I already talked to my GP about it and he said he'll refer me to a specialist. Although I probably should have written down what he told me because I am **** at verbal instructions...