Asperger's and Labels

Would that not be considered just being a nerd? Someone with a high level of intelligence, not a lot of social skills, narrow but intense interests...

I used to think I might have all kinds of conditions, I'm definitely quite eccentric, but if anything I'm just a product of a very strict and unusual upbringing and a very cold uncaring self centered society. I spent years of my childhood seeing therapists and tried every fucking drug they could give me, and strangely enough none of them did anything because they were full of shit and trying to line their pockets...

The only time I started to feel better was when I got off the meds and got a life... hobbies, work, school, "real" friends... people have basic needs that have to be met to be satisfied and fully functional, and if some needs are not met they will affect the outcome of the person.
Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs

There are of course genetic or physical conditions people are born with, or from damage caused by trauma (concussions or other head injuries) but generally mental illness is not so much a "disease" as a state of mind that can be changed without drugs.

 

In the business world, people with Asperger's usually go by anther label. "Software Developers"

 

If we can label things and classify them as diseases or disorders then we can license pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs to treat them so another avenue can be opened up to transfer money from the poor and impressionable to the rich corporate ruling class.

That's right- you can label me a left-wing whacko-- there ought to be a pill to remedy that soon enough. The Fox News regimen has proven to be less than effective.

 

ha!

point is, labels can be both a curse and a help ...

a child living with the stigma on top of the challange of dealing with his own emotions, in a society that doesn't set it self up for all learners to succeed, is extremely challanging.

daisy your son is lucky to have such a smart lady on his side, to get the supports in place.... it'll come together for him.

 

It's helpful to study how people act in a society, and perhaps even more so in an educational enviornment.

These labels help the people who study this kind of thing look into the mechanisms of the way people act, and how such programs may be used to help people with specific ways of learning.

Studying different ways that people communicate can be very usefull, and understanding that there are different forms of mental conditions rather then just lumping people into crazy, delusional, anti-social, or retarded is in my opinion very usefull.

However, I do see your point. Lumping everyone with any sort of difference in social interactions or learning disabilities in rigid catagories then there are a lot of things that can be overlooked.

I assume it's a combination of both the fact that laypeople are paying more attention to psychiatry, and the excedingly complicated nature of the brain.

If someone has Syphilis, you give them penicillin.

If someones hearing voices, they could be schizophrenic, they could have Parkinsons, they could have an organic growth such as a tumor, they could be the messsiah.

The brains complicated.

 

I for one, know I have ADD. I literally can't focus on anything for more then 5 minutes before I need to get up and walk around.

I feel kinda the opposite of the way you describe yourself. i have a lot of intrests, and I'm sort of a jack of all, but a master of none.

 

I reccomend getting yourself diagnosed. Because people who self-diagnose mental conditions are some of the most annoying people in the world. So get yourself a real diagnosis. Either you will be right, and you can get help, or you'll be wrong, and maybe learn a lesson about assuming you have a disease that you aren't qualified to diagnose.

 

Also, I've noticed this weird trend in certain circles for people to decide that they have autism or Asperger's because they think it makes them appear intelligent. It really doesn't.

 

who are the circles? please tell me more. :bigear:

 

The internet.

 

I'm surprised I haven't been saddled with "that" one..

 

As rat said its a mild form of high functioning autism. It's very common and it also occurs by degree. Most people I have known with Aspy are ver intelligent, very focused on a narrow scope of subject, more than a little paranoid, fairly quiet in an arrogant kind of way, and borderline agoraphobic.

So yeah, I'm seeing it.