eattherich
01-06-2008, 06:02 PM
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/EPH/8516~Admitting-You-re-an-Asshole-Posters.jpg
Study: Most Self-Diagnosed "Asperger's" Patients Just Assholes
OXFORD, ENGLAND- For 20-year-old college student Annie Soshul, learning about Asperger's Syndrome was like opening a door. The symptoms of the disorder, not unlike a mild form of autism, sounded like her own autobiography: a gift for mathematics, an obsession with detail, and extreme discomfort with personal interaction or intimacy.
For years Soshul wondered what was wrong with her. Although her online life was rich and fulfilling, her "real life" inability to get along with coworkers or maintain a romantic relationship had become a source of deep frustration. At long last she was now armed with a medical term for her peculiar and often abrasive personality. For the first time since early childhood, she felt comfortable in her own skin.
She is by no means alone. There are, according to the most recent estimate, millions of young people today who so fervently believe that the disorder explains who and what they are that they see no need to seek medical attention to confirm their condition, much less to treat it.
According to a new study in the current issue of The Lancet, however, Soshul and others may be completely off base. After rummaging through piles of data spanning years of clinical research, the study's authors have concluded that a majority of these self-diagnosed Asperger's patients are actually just intensely unlikable people.
They are, in short, assholes.
"I took the on-line 'do you have Asperger's' test from that Slashdot link, and I scored near the top," said Soshul. "The result said that I'm smart and that my lack of people skills is a gift rather than a sign of ineptitude. These researchers can say all they want, but nobody can take that away from me."
Over the course of the past year, this "Do you have Asperger's Syndrome" quiz has circulated on the Internet more than "dumb blonde jokes" and "drowned lawyer jokes" emails combined. In fact, people take so much pride in their high scores that some have dubbed it the Mensa test of the new millennium. Not surprisingly, the revelation that these self-aggrandizing tests have no diagnostic value has not gone over well.
Dr. Leon McCouch says that he and the rest of the research team fully understood that their work might be controversial but were completely surprised at the torrent of hatemail and online death threats that followed its publication.
"It was never our intent to insult or upset people," said McCouch. "But as medical professionals, we would be remiss in our duty if we were to stand by and allow these people to incorrectly tie their boorish behavior to Asperger's Syndrome. Then again, I suppose we should have anticipated this reaction. What else would you expect when you speak truth to a bunch of assholes?"
McCouch went on to explain that his group's intention is to encourage folks who feel they have Asperger's to get tested for the disorder. For most of these people, however, the desire for an official diagnosis is grossly outweighed by the very real possibility that they will be told that they don't have Asperger's Syndrome.
The explanation has done little to calm nerves online. E-petitions for the article's redaction, profanity-laden rants, and amateurish Photoshops of McCouch circulated throughout the web on Tuesday.
"What right have they to take my Asperger's away from me?" wrote N1ght3lPh. "I'm so mad about this, I think I might post a thread about it."
Under intense pressure, McCouch has agreed to write a follow-up to the article for the next issue declaring a new medical definition for the not-quite-Asperger's-Syndrome Syndrome that appears to be spreading so quickly among America's 20-somethings. The disorder, to be known as "Ass Burger's Syndrome" should become official by February or March of next year.
The designation represents a significant step forward for wannabe Asperger's patients and their families, though experts say that it could just be a code name doctors will use to subtly mock Internet-addicted young people with no social skills.
http://www.ridiculopathy.com/stock/aspergers_nerds.jpg
http://www.ridiculopathy.com/news_detail.php?id=1725
The autism rights movement (also called the autistic self-advocacy movement and the autistic liberation movement) was started by adult autistic individuals to advocate and demand tolerance for what they refer to as neurodiversity. The movement is also supported by some "neurotypicals" including parents of autistic children. The movement is controversial and has been criticized by some parents of autistic children who disagree with its anti-cure and pro-neurodivergence views.
<SNIP>
The basis of the movement is the view that autism is not a disorder but simply a different way of being. They believe a cure for autism would destroy the original personality of the autistic person in a misguided attempt to replace them with a different (neurotypical) person. Some actions of people involved in the movement include challenging the ethics of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) and admission to psychiatric hospitals; arguing to include autistic adults in autism organizations and provide services for autistic adults; and to challenging descriptions of autism that they consider to be pitiful, insulting, and/or incorrect.
<SNIP>
The anti-cure perspective is related to much of the controversy of the movement. Some parents of autistic children see autism as something that gives their children great difficulty in life and therefore see autism as a disorder. Parents with this perspective (which is sometimes called the pro-cure perspective in the autism rights movement) believe that a cure for autism is in their children's best interests because they see a cure as something that will reduce suffering.People with the pro-cure perspective have been disdainfully labeled "curebies."
<SNIP>
Criticism
The movement has been criticized by autism professionals and parents of autistic children who believe the goals of the movement will not help autistic children. There are some critics of the movement who still support some of the movement's goals despite opposing other goals.
Critics of the movement argue that the autistic spectrum people in the movement have high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome and that they have the ability to communicate. Lenny Schafer, for example, argues that those in the movement are Asperger autistics, as opposed to Kanner autistics. He says that if they would change every use of autism to read Asperger syndrome the movement might "make sense".They argue that low functioning autistic people have much less ability to communicate, but that the movement's activists clearly have the ability to write eloquently, and they believe that those who have less ability to communicate are likely to want or need very different things from those who can communicate more readily. Bobby Newman said in an issue of the Schafer Autism Report that he believes that those without basic skills of self-care would not want those who are capable of communication to speak on their behalf [38]. This is re-iterated by Sue Rubin, diagnosed with autism, when she states, 'High-functioning people speak and low-functioning people don't...low functioning people are just trying to get through the day without hurting, tapping, flailing, biting, screaming, etc. The thought of a gold pot of a potion with a cure really would be wonderful,"
Some critics of the movement believe Michelle Dawson played an important role in Auton v. British Columbia and is responsible for Canadian children not receiving applied behavioral analysis, which is considered an important therapy by the people who make this criticism.[citation needed]These critics say ABA has been scientifically proven to be effective and gives autistic children the best chance of success in adulthood. Some critics also fear that the movement will prevent other autistic children from receiving treatment. Kit Weintraub has responded to Michelle Dawson's claims that ABA is harmful by saying that it is harmful to deny medically necessary and appropriate treatment to autistic children who need it. Weintraub said she does not want ideology to triumph over the welfare of autistic children.
Lenny Schafer said that the autism-like lack of empathy of anti-cure activists prevent them from seeing what is in the hearts of pro-cure advocates . Autistic advocates counter that the behavior of the pro-cure movement shows a striking lack of empathy for autistics.
Responses from the movement
The owners of Autistics.org say that they receive e-mails from parents of autistic children in which parents claim their own children are different and have more difficulties than them. The people at Autistics.org argue that when the parents describe their children's difficulties, they are describing the children to have difficulties that range from very similar to their own difficulties that they had as children, to very similar to their current difficulties as adults. Autistics.org also says that their claims that they don't want a cure, see autism as a part of who they are, and don't want attempts at help that may actually be harmful are wrongly perceived by their critics as not wanting help with anything and living under entirely positive circumstances.
Activists in the movement have responded to criticisms that say they are high functioning or Asperger's by saying that some of them have been called low functioning as children by professionals, some of them can write but have no oral speech, and that some of them have periods of time where any form of communication is impossible. They also say it is not true that all autistic advocates are diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and that some of the most outspoken ones are autistic. When critics claim that the people in the movement are Asperger's and not autistic, the people in the autism rights movement see this as an attempt to diagnose them via the Internet.
They also dismiss the large body of research linking autism,autoimmune disease,and family histories of bipolar disease,and mental retardation.
Saying that those who cite this,are fear mongering,and painting an unrealistic picture of the disease.
Oh,nobody I met at any of these boards have any such comorbid conditions.I wasn't the only one chased off the message boards these groups run for bringing this up.The spokeswoman for Autism Speaks was,too,so I'm in good company.
Amanda Baggs says that when the critics assume that intelligent and articulate autistic people do not have difficulties like self-injurious behavior and difficulty with self-care, they affect the opinions of policy makers and make it more difficult for intelligent and articulate autistic people to get services. Baggs cites examples of autistic people who were denied services because they have IQs above 70. Some people are also irritated by the perception created by Rain Man that all autistics have savant abilities, although the reality is that the psychiatrist in the film said that Dustin Hoffman's character Raymond Babbitt was very high functioning, unlike many other autistics, who are unable to speak. A countercriticism of this Rain Man defence is that the film was clearly made at a time when understanding of autism was less developed, and is not reflective of the reality. Raymond Babbitt is not considered high-functioning by people in the autism rights movement, who point out that Albert Einstein may have met the diagnostic criteria for high-functioning autism.
<SNIP>
Baggs, who has been published at Autistics.org, responded to Bobby Newman's argument by saying that she was once in the situation Newman describes and would have wanted activists to stop her from receiving treatment she felt was harmful.
Autistics.org has responded to Kit Weintraub's wish to remove her son's autistic symptoms so that he will make friends by saying that when someone is bullied or ostracized for a quality, it is because of people who are intolerant and not the fault of people who are different.[4]
Phil Schwarz has responded to claims that the autistic advocates are higher functioning than autistic children by saying it is not always reasonable to compare the abilities of an autistic child with those of an autistic adult.
Some autistic authors such as Amanda Baggs have claimed that this is not always the case that anti-cure autistics have mild difficulties. A common complaint is that anti-cure advocates are clearly able to articulate complex opinions in writing, which is seen by some parents as inconsistent with a diagnosis of autism. Autism rights movement members wonder why such parents rule out the possibility that their children will be able to do the same later in life. Autistics who oppose a cure say they may experience extreme difficulties on a daily basis, and that they oppose being cured despite these difficulties because they believe autism is a fundamental part of who they are.
Further responses of the movement can be summarized as follows:
* The critics' position is tautological: They claim autistic persons cannot communicate and therefore don't have a voice. If they learn to communicate, they are no longer autistic by definition, and therefore are not allowed to speak on behalf of autistics.[citation needed]
* The prognosis of autism is notoriously unpredictable. Autistic activists ask why parents should assume that their 3- or 4-year-old child will behave the same way at age 30. They have also argued there are no indications that the recent increase in reported cases of autism is anything more than mass hysteria, and that all the "miracle cures" (which are not scientifically validated) are all but mass delusion.[citation needed]
* Being able to communicate well in writing is not inconsistent with a diagnosis of autism.
* Autism does not disappear the moment a person learns to communicate. Successfully teaching to communicate is not the same as "curing" autism.
* Autism rights advocates believe parents should take into account the self-esteem of their autistic children. Activists ask, is it better to teach these children that they have a neurological disease requiring intensive behavioral training to correct, or that they have unique and special neurology they should cherish and accept for what it is?
* Some of the critics' own children have apparently learned to communicate already, so their position is confusing because they argue that the writing abilities of autistic activists is evidence that they are fundamentally higher functioning than the children of the critics.
<SNIP>
The movement has been criticized for its own failure to incorporate diversity, include certain subgroups within the autistic community and that some in the movement are insulting to neurotypical individuals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_rig ... t#Websites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_rights_movement#Websites)
In the past few months,I have made a couple of allies,with mainstream researchers,on both sides of The Atlantic.But only have gotten into confrontations,and accused of trolling,by the people on the message boards for these groups.
Study: Most Self-Diagnosed "Asperger's" Patients Just Assholes
OXFORD, ENGLAND- For 20-year-old college student Annie Soshul, learning about Asperger's Syndrome was like opening a door. The symptoms of the disorder, not unlike a mild form of autism, sounded like her own autobiography: a gift for mathematics, an obsession with detail, and extreme discomfort with personal interaction or intimacy.
For years Soshul wondered what was wrong with her. Although her online life was rich and fulfilling, her "real life" inability to get along with coworkers or maintain a romantic relationship had become a source of deep frustration. At long last she was now armed with a medical term for her peculiar and often abrasive personality. For the first time since early childhood, she felt comfortable in her own skin.
She is by no means alone. There are, according to the most recent estimate, millions of young people today who so fervently believe that the disorder explains who and what they are that they see no need to seek medical attention to confirm their condition, much less to treat it.
According to a new study in the current issue of The Lancet, however, Soshul and others may be completely off base. After rummaging through piles of data spanning years of clinical research, the study's authors have concluded that a majority of these self-diagnosed Asperger's patients are actually just intensely unlikable people.
They are, in short, assholes.
"I took the on-line 'do you have Asperger's' test from that Slashdot link, and I scored near the top," said Soshul. "The result said that I'm smart and that my lack of people skills is a gift rather than a sign of ineptitude. These researchers can say all they want, but nobody can take that away from me."
Over the course of the past year, this "Do you have Asperger's Syndrome" quiz has circulated on the Internet more than "dumb blonde jokes" and "drowned lawyer jokes" emails combined. In fact, people take so much pride in their high scores that some have dubbed it the Mensa test of the new millennium. Not surprisingly, the revelation that these self-aggrandizing tests have no diagnostic value has not gone over well.
Dr. Leon McCouch says that he and the rest of the research team fully understood that their work might be controversial but were completely surprised at the torrent of hatemail and online death threats that followed its publication.
"It was never our intent to insult or upset people," said McCouch. "But as medical professionals, we would be remiss in our duty if we were to stand by and allow these people to incorrectly tie their boorish behavior to Asperger's Syndrome. Then again, I suppose we should have anticipated this reaction. What else would you expect when you speak truth to a bunch of assholes?"
McCouch went on to explain that his group's intention is to encourage folks who feel they have Asperger's to get tested for the disorder. For most of these people, however, the desire for an official diagnosis is grossly outweighed by the very real possibility that they will be told that they don't have Asperger's Syndrome.
The explanation has done little to calm nerves online. E-petitions for the article's redaction, profanity-laden rants, and amateurish Photoshops of McCouch circulated throughout the web on Tuesday.
"What right have they to take my Asperger's away from me?" wrote N1ght3lPh. "I'm so mad about this, I think I might post a thread about it."
Under intense pressure, McCouch has agreed to write a follow-up to the article for the next issue declaring a new medical definition for the not-quite-Asperger's-Syndrome Syndrome that appears to be spreading so quickly among America's 20-somethings. The disorder, to be known as "Ass Burger's Syndrome" should become official by February or March of next year.
The designation represents a significant step forward for wannabe Asperger's patients and their families, though experts say that it could just be a code name doctors will use to subtly mock Internet-addicted young people with no social skills.
http://www.ridiculopathy.com/stock/aspergers_nerds.jpg
http://www.ridiculopathy.com/news_detail.php?id=1725
The autism rights movement (also called the autistic self-advocacy movement and the autistic liberation movement) was started by adult autistic individuals to advocate and demand tolerance for what they refer to as neurodiversity. The movement is also supported by some "neurotypicals" including parents of autistic children. The movement is controversial and has been criticized by some parents of autistic children who disagree with its anti-cure and pro-neurodivergence views.
<SNIP>
The basis of the movement is the view that autism is not a disorder but simply a different way of being. They believe a cure for autism would destroy the original personality of the autistic person in a misguided attempt to replace them with a different (neurotypical) person. Some actions of people involved in the movement include challenging the ethics of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) and admission to psychiatric hospitals; arguing to include autistic adults in autism organizations and provide services for autistic adults; and to challenging descriptions of autism that they consider to be pitiful, insulting, and/or incorrect.
<SNIP>
The anti-cure perspective is related to much of the controversy of the movement. Some parents of autistic children see autism as something that gives their children great difficulty in life and therefore see autism as a disorder. Parents with this perspective (which is sometimes called the pro-cure perspective in the autism rights movement) believe that a cure for autism is in their children's best interests because they see a cure as something that will reduce suffering.People with the pro-cure perspective have been disdainfully labeled "curebies."
<SNIP>
Criticism
The movement has been criticized by autism professionals and parents of autistic children who believe the goals of the movement will not help autistic children. There are some critics of the movement who still support some of the movement's goals despite opposing other goals.
Critics of the movement argue that the autistic spectrum people in the movement have high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome and that they have the ability to communicate. Lenny Schafer, for example, argues that those in the movement are Asperger autistics, as opposed to Kanner autistics. He says that if they would change every use of autism to read Asperger syndrome the movement might "make sense".They argue that low functioning autistic people have much less ability to communicate, but that the movement's activists clearly have the ability to write eloquently, and they believe that those who have less ability to communicate are likely to want or need very different things from those who can communicate more readily. Bobby Newman said in an issue of the Schafer Autism Report that he believes that those without basic skills of self-care would not want those who are capable of communication to speak on their behalf [38]. This is re-iterated by Sue Rubin, diagnosed with autism, when she states, 'High-functioning people speak and low-functioning people don't...low functioning people are just trying to get through the day without hurting, tapping, flailing, biting, screaming, etc. The thought of a gold pot of a potion with a cure really would be wonderful,"
Some critics of the movement believe Michelle Dawson played an important role in Auton v. British Columbia and is responsible for Canadian children not receiving applied behavioral analysis, which is considered an important therapy by the people who make this criticism.[citation needed]These critics say ABA has been scientifically proven to be effective and gives autistic children the best chance of success in adulthood. Some critics also fear that the movement will prevent other autistic children from receiving treatment. Kit Weintraub has responded to Michelle Dawson's claims that ABA is harmful by saying that it is harmful to deny medically necessary and appropriate treatment to autistic children who need it. Weintraub said she does not want ideology to triumph over the welfare of autistic children.
Lenny Schafer said that the autism-like lack of empathy of anti-cure activists prevent them from seeing what is in the hearts of pro-cure advocates . Autistic advocates counter that the behavior of the pro-cure movement shows a striking lack of empathy for autistics.
Responses from the movement
The owners of Autistics.org say that they receive e-mails from parents of autistic children in which parents claim their own children are different and have more difficulties than them. The people at Autistics.org argue that when the parents describe their children's difficulties, they are describing the children to have difficulties that range from very similar to their own difficulties that they had as children, to very similar to their current difficulties as adults. Autistics.org also says that their claims that they don't want a cure, see autism as a part of who they are, and don't want attempts at help that may actually be harmful are wrongly perceived by their critics as not wanting help with anything and living under entirely positive circumstances.
Activists in the movement have responded to criticisms that say they are high functioning or Asperger's by saying that some of them have been called low functioning as children by professionals, some of them can write but have no oral speech, and that some of them have periods of time where any form of communication is impossible. They also say it is not true that all autistic advocates are diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and that some of the most outspoken ones are autistic. When critics claim that the people in the movement are Asperger's and not autistic, the people in the autism rights movement see this as an attempt to diagnose them via the Internet.
They also dismiss the large body of research linking autism,autoimmune disease,and family histories of bipolar disease,and mental retardation.
Saying that those who cite this,are fear mongering,and painting an unrealistic picture of the disease.
Oh,nobody I met at any of these boards have any such comorbid conditions.I wasn't the only one chased off the message boards these groups run for bringing this up.The spokeswoman for Autism Speaks was,too,so I'm in good company.
Amanda Baggs says that when the critics assume that intelligent and articulate autistic people do not have difficulties like self-injurious behavior and difficulty with self-care, they affect the opinions of policy makers and make it more difficult for intelligent and articulate autistic people to get services. Baggs cites examples of autistic people who were denied services because they have IQs above 70. Some people are also irritated by the perception created by Rain Man that all autistics have savant abilities, although the reality is that the psychiatrist in the film said that Dustin Hoffman's character Raymond Babbitt was very high functioning, unlike many other autistics, who are unable to speak. A countercriticism of this Rain Man defence is that the film was clearly made at a time when understanding of autism was less developed, and is not reflective of the reality. Raymond Babbitt is not considered high-functioning by people in the autism rights movement, who point out that Albert Einstein may have met the diagnostic criteria for high-functioning autism.
<SNIP>
Baggs, who has been published at Autistics.org, responded to Bobby Newman's argument by saying that she was once in the situation Newman describes and would have wanted activists to stop her from receiving treatment she felt was harmful.
Autistics.org has responded to Kit Weintraub's wish to remove her son's autistic symptoms so that he will make friends by saying that when someone is bullied or ostracized for a quality, it is because of people who are intolerant and not the fault of people who are different.[4]
Phil Schwarz has responded to claims that the autistic advocates are higher functioning than autistic children by saying it is not always reasonable to compare the abilities of an autistic child with those of an autistic adult.
Some autistic authors such as Amanda Baggs have claimed that this is not always the case that anti-cure autistics have mild difficulties. A common complaint is that anti-cure advocates are clearly able to articulate complex opinions in writing, which is seen by some parents as inconsistent with a diagnosis of autism. Autism rights movement members wonder why such parents rule out the possibility that their children will be able to do the same later in life. Autistics who oppose a cure say they may experience extreme difficulties on a daily basis, and that they oppose being cured despite these difficulties because they believe autism is a fundamental part of who they are.
Further responses of the movement can be summarized as follows:
* The critics' position is tautological: They claim autistic persons cannot communicate and therefore don't have a voice. If they learn to communicate, they are no longer autistic by definition, and therefore are not allowed to speak on behalf of autistics.[citation needed]
* The prognosis of autism is notoriously unpredictable. Autistic activists ask why parents should assume that their 3- or 4-year-old child will behave the same way at age 30. They have also argued there are no indications that the recent increase in reported cases of autism is anything more than mass hysteria, and that all the "miracle cures" (which are not scientifically validated) are all but mass delusion.[citation needed]
* Being able to communicate well in writing is not inconsistent with a diagnosis of autism.
* Autism does not disappear the moment a person learns to communicate. Successfully teaching to communicate is not the same as "curing" autism.
* Autism rights advocates believe parents should take into account the self-esteem of their autistic children. Activists ask, is it better to teach these children that they have a neurological disease requiring intensive behavioral training to correct, or that they have unique and special neurology they should cherish and accept for what it is?
* Some of the critics' own children have apparently learned to communicate already, so their position is confusing because they argue that the writing abilities of autistic activists is evidence that they are fundamentally higher functioning than the children of the critics.
<SNIP>
The movement has been criticized for its own failure to incorporate diversity, include certain subgroups within the autistic community and that some in the movement are insulting to neurotypical individuals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_rig ... t#Websites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_rights_movement#Websites)
In the past few months,I have made a couple of allies,with mainstream researchers,on both sides of The Atlantic.But only have gotten into confrontations,and accused of trolling,by the people on the message boards for these groups.