Published on 12, July, 2020
Since I went 'public' about my ASD diagnosis I've had more than one person say to me 'We're all on the spectrum mate'. At the time I found the comment slightly offensive, as if they were saying, 'You're not the only one who's got issues, just get over it', but on reflection, perhaps they have a point. In this crazy world where the borders of 'normality' are infinitely blurred, could it be that we are all on one big spectrum, but only some of us in the 'zone' that is currently classed as a disorder? I can't help wondering if everyone did the tests and questionnaires that I did when being assessed what percentage of the population would be diagnosed. The very first test I did came as quite a shock because the questions seemed so very appropriate to how I was feeling, and it returned a result of high probability. I can't decide if that's just because I do actually have ASD or because some of those questions would apply to anyone doing the test. I'd be interested to hear people's opinion on this, especially if anyone out there has done the test and returned a negative result i.e. low probability.
Your comment raises a question for me. I hate sudden loud noises like dogs barking, owners shouting at them, alarms going off, cars and motorbikes going by that are unsilenced, etc. and yet I am perfectly happy to put a pair of headphones on and listen to Greenday, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, AC/DC et al at a volume I wouldn't be comfortable with normally. Any logical explanation for this?
Although my GP diagnosis may not be valid under NICE guidelines I think it's clear from what he discussed with me, and what I've read on this forum (and others), that I have ASD. To be honest I don't want to wear it like a badge so accepting it and trying to find ways to deal with it is far more important to me than waiting years for a formal diagnosis. Not sure having that would change anything for me now. I'm not looking for financial help, or any professional therapy, so not much to gain from it really. I've lived with it for 58 years, and got through the show so far. Yes there has been trauma, and heartache, and pain, along the way, all without knowing the reason why, until now. I accept that I'm different, and quirky, and troubled at times, and always will be, but I don't hate the way I am, just certain aspects of it. Now I know there's a reason I can learn to live with it instead of constantly asking why and trying to fight it. There are lots of people out there who I look at daily and tell myself 'If that's 'normal' then you can keep it'.
TL;DR version:Our feelings are valid but lets strive more for compassion than judgement whenever we can.
I wouldn't call it a delay, because that implies the neurotypical pace and direction is normal, but I know that normal (as a sense of the usual and "acceptable") doesn't really exist so using a neurotypical as a benchmark is inherently flawed as a practice. Also we do all have traits and tick certain criteria it's only an arbitrary number of them on a tick sheet that makes a diagnosis, they aren't really looking at our neurochemistry or DNA on the individual levels to tell what is what when they diagnose us, and some diagnosis are only as reliable as the assessor to carry them out on their tick list, the difference between a so called autistic and so called non autistic person could be a single question... and we know this because we get people come to this forum all the time feeling like they have been misdiagnosed or dismissed incorrectly.
That's why I don't get offended at "everyone is a little bit autistic" because of no nationwide testing there are people who are autistic many more than we know who are diagnosed who are running around having the autistic experience but under the impression they are neurotypical or just different/struggling because of something else other than autism.In fact anyone who says "everyone is a little autistic" probably IS AUTISTIC and feels like that is "normal" because actually it is normal to be autistic, they just think that everyone is having the same experience they are (I know I did back when I was an autistic in denial, it was always "everyone else must feel like this but gets on with it regardless so why don't I?") And it would do no good to get offended at or shout at another autistic person who struggles with properly identifying their experiences and probably needs acceptance as much as the rest of us.Now I am NOT saying everyone is on the autism spectrum, but we are all on the human spectrum of which autism makes up a part and I think it is really vile to exclude and berate people or include or identiy-jack people regardless of their own feelings about themselves based on whether a doctor (quality of which is not guaranteed) would or did sign off on a peice of paper or not, or the rest of the community decides to arbitrarily gatekeep the Official Tm label (which speaking as a diagnosed person is all a diagnosis really is) based on criteria that not all of us who are actually diagnosed meet anyway. Because I don't even have to ask, I already know I do not meet some criteria you met and vice versa, and one of us will have met more criteria than the other, and yet here we are both autistic. So what I am saying is arbitraily drawing a line between autistic and not autistic doesn't really work when it cuts off people who actually still are autistic they just aren't deemed "autisic enough" to recognise it themselves or be recognised as such by others which is where we get into the same problematic territory with services using "autism levels" to ignore the support needs of so-called "high functioning" (usually high masking) autistic people (despite "HFA" having the highest s****de rate among autistics), and why more and more people are getting diagnosed later in life... many of whom will have previously thought they were NT and said words to the effect of "everyone is a little bit autistic" (because the person saying it in fact is).So I think I understand why it may upset some people, but that anger is rather misplaced when it is being directed at the person saying it (they are only going by what they feel themselves and any knowleged they have picked up, which may be flawed, or their language use clunky (very likely if they are also autistic), and the anger should I feel be directed more towards the imperfect system that likes things that are not clear cut to be clear cut, even when they cannot be, that system we have to navigate under and the ableism inherent in it that makes even a lot of us ourselves also very prone to internalise that ableism.
You sound like you have anxiety
we sure all face different challenges but they are different.... if these people claiming to be on the spectrum or all on the spectrum, if they had friends, big social circles, happy inclusive time being included in social stuff and big social circle, they get job from who they know not what they know, they can go out to nightclubs and do different things and not feel mega anxious and weird about it to the point of physically shaking, they can talk on and on without being lost for things to say... they dont understand what they are talking about, they havent had the experience this.but i do agree we all face different issues, and their issues maybe worse.... i see alot of other people around me and i think im living in a idiocracy, so i actually pitty most people because the average normal intelligence and awareness level seems to be extremely low.. and for that i consider the norm to be pretty brain dead and disabled, so yes they do have their own problems, they probably cant even identify the problem that i see in them though but they can feel it have a effect on their lives and cause them misery. but they dont need to be of any inteligence or awareness or wisdom because they have social circles acting as a crutch, which is why they never need to use their heads, they have support, they dont stand alone, so they was never forced to think and be smart and be wise and stand on their own feet with their own mind and tackle the world by themselves and think around challenges, they had social circles to carry them, which resulted in their lack of brain development. so infact they are more mentally disabled due to that, and that may also be why autistic people are often considered smarter. we have no social crutch, we have to make our own way in life and through troubles.
Former Member has got me thinking. If we were all autistic then the world would be more set up for us. Shops and supermarkets wouldn't play such loud music or have such bright lights, the world would be a more understanding place with a slower pace of life, collectively everyone would be able to communicate more easily, mental health services would be more effective etc... The list goes on.
The level of reasoning is indeed high here. It reminds me of a forum I used to care about in Italy. § Your deductions are certainly interesting and worth re-reading because they are excellent. § You know long before the diagnosis, I followed a CBT, two nurses accompanied me to the places and then made a report to my doctor who specialized not in autism, but a psychiatrist. § It was time to enter a bar. I entered. They were amazed. In fact my diagnosis was an anxiety disorder, social phobia. § Only the other patients had never succeeded. § I do. § I had an excellent conversational relationship with a nurse and she explained to me that I was the only one who could. § And that according to her I wasn't phobic at all, if anything I didn't look people in the eyes I looked away (Abbreviation not to write too many things) § My hands were shaking too, and I hadn't been out for a long time. I used both hands to hold a glass of orange soda. § Then I asked. § It was interesting to understand § As written not by me, but I agree, only a qualified person and not a general practitioner can make a diagnosis. § For us it is either an impossible or a very long process. § You go to the general practitioner afterwards and then communicate it to an institution called INPS and make at least two more visits. So calculate at least 3 years. Including months of visits, and tests. Then two more visits and to obtain them the general practitioner must issue a certificate, therefore he must not only read technical reports, but be convinced of them. Then the process is now long due to the crisis and the commissions are not at all suitable. § Maybe I will open a thread on this to evaluate the differences between two first level healthcare: UK and Italy. § Reading about you I think we should treasure your experience. § Why aren't we doing it § Another thing is the cognitive level of research. It is very high for us. I'm assuming you're on an equal footing here too. § I have to remember one thing. The basic normality does not actually exist. It derives from an eighteenth-century conception. But also: Normality has neurotypical neurology as its point of reference. Question if we were all autistic with no NT at all, would that be a disturbance anyway? Would you have an autism spectrum? Or There would be none of this § Ok the question is rhetorical in itself and we live as aliens in this society. My ideas about it are much bigger but it doesn't matter, they are my ideas. § In any case, our problem is purely communicative. And I don't mean cognitive.
Twitch said:I think Autonomistict's comment about the spectrum being non linear and rather more spikey makes sense of this.
I'm pleased it helped
Twitch said:I guess I have to trust my GP diagnosis and stop listening to the naysayers.
A GP cannot diagnose autism, they are not specialists and such a diagnosis would not be valid under NICE guidelines.
A GP will normally ask some questions and fill out an AQ10 questionnaire. Depending on the results of that they will then refer you to a specialist multidisciplinary team for a formal diagnosis.
The waiting times for a formal diagnosis are several years in most areas, although it is possible to shorten this via the right to choose pathway.
Some really interesting thoughts here. The general consensus seems to be a resounding NO, not everyone is on the autistic spectrum, but I still keep thinking that defining the 'ends' of a spectrum is a bit like looking for the end of a rainbow. I think Autonomistict's comment about the spectrum being non linear and rather more spikey makes sense of this. I guess I have to trust my GP diagnosis and stop listening to the naysayers.
On another note, it was a close friend's birthday today and he asked me if I'd meet him and his wife for a beer in a local pub. Without thinking about it too much I agreed. I arrived at the pub first and as I walked into the beer garden I suddenly panicked. I haven't been anywhere with that many people in such close proximity for months and months, and it freaked me out to the point where I almost turned around and ran away. Instead I found a free table right on the outskirts of the garden and sat down with my back to everyone else to wait for my friends. My hands were shaking, my throat was dry, and I sat and fumbled with my mobile phone to try and distract my negative thoughts. It felt truly horrible but I wanted desperately to overcome it. When I suddenly got a text message from my mate saying they had arrived the relief was immense and ultimately I was glad I made the effort. I wasn't aware of it before today but his wife is a paediatric nurse who specialises in dealing with autistic children. We've known each other for a few years and she told me that she wasn't at all surprised about my diagnosis, and that it explained a lot of my behavioural traits that she'd noticed in the past. It may sound odd to say it but I'm finding that the more others recognise this the easier it is for me to accept it. I really thought the opposite would be true.
Nice post! § The cut off in a test that you quote will decrease. It is now 32. § Many diagnostic scales are based on the manual even prior to the DSM 5 which is very old now. § Interesting because your post makes some fine differentiations. §Some diagnostic tests are still used in the diagnostic phase.
Yes, everyone would fall somewhere within a neurological spectrum, but not an autistic spectrum. I'm afraid they are ignorant to the subject so they are entirely wrong.
write on nothing but your location. We have often talked about self-evaluation tests. I helped find some definitions in Italian. Know that some are very interesting to get an idea close to reality. Of course I knew since 2010 that I fell within those parameters. But I waited for the first official diagnosis in 2020. They matched exactly. § I had informal ones from 2011 onwards, or non-specialized doctors. They were worthless to me. Then the last ones. § It is not the same thing to be autistic and that of the same whole that everyone would belong to. § Lots of misdiagnoses. § Here, ten times fewer people over 18 are diagnosed. Because doctors don't evaluate it. § Valid numbers can be within one of every 66 individuals. § But it applies to many normal diagnoses, let's say. The uncomfortable questions. Because in us autistics there are those of anxiety. But which ones? The settlement between a social phobia and an avoidant personality disorder is not so simple if you don't do diriment tests. Once upon a time I always asked a doctor a very complex question for my training based on logical mappings that included all of them. Because everyone needed only one diagnosis of social phobia. But what if this intersects with another and in another? I never got an answer. § Be careful because it is human for an autistic person to have something else § Some exams are inexpensive, others would be DNA, still others would be SPECT and some more affordable in neuroimaging. I would challenge any detractor to compare neuroimaging with mine. Because it would be very different. So how could we evaluate the number of neurons between NT and ND . Ours DO NOT undergo cellular apoptosis. We have and always about double. Always. § Anyone who says get done if you want you can, I would challenge him to evaluate my sensory versus his. The TOM. § Everything should be seen calmly and disciplinarily ascertained by suitable doctors. What: there are. § Deficit gift in spray package (I paraphrase an Italian piece of music by changing the t
What I find absolutely hilarious is that one of my friends the other day stated "There's still a lot of abelism/disableism in our society" then about an hour later brought up the subject of who he thinks is on the spectrum based on nothing but his own perception and in the same breath suggests my post-viral fatigue is "just anxiety". This is coming from someone who is neurodivergent themselves but is very good and more than able at playing the social game.
I see autism like a cake. You need certain elements to make a cake eg flour, butter, sugar eggs (none of this gluten free stuff im talking basic traditional cake). You can have all these ingredients in varying proportions but it's still a cake. Some people might have extra ingredients or toppings but you cannot make a basic cake without those things. So when my other friend who I know very well, states in an off the cuff remark she thinks she's "on the spectrum", what I wanted to suggest was she probably has got only eggs and butter which makes an omelette, not a cake. Ironically I couldn't process my way through this in real time so didn't say it.
There are people, like my friend, who have similar traits, but from knowing her, it has a different root cause (upbringing and child development). To me, autism is an internal processing difference which is fundamentally different to people who are not autistic and this may or may not manifest externally.
Sorry if I've gone off on one and it isnt wholly relevant but I've needed to get it off my chest for two days,
"Everyone is on the spectrum" along with "We're all a little bit autistic" are two of the most offensive and invalidating phrases frequently encountered by autistic people.
They are myths perpetuated by people who do not understand autism.
https://autismunderstood.co.uk/what-actually-is-autism/autism-myths/
The above website explains it well:
No, no, just no! I think people sometimes say this to try and empathise. However, it often has the opposite effect. Yes, there are traits that are part of an autism profile, that are shared with people who aren’t autistic. This is because they are human traits, and we are all human! However, the extent to which an autistic person experiences them, and the impact it has on daily life, will be very different from someone who is not autistic. One point to note here is that there are undiagnosed autistic individuals who may be unaware of their autistic identity but share these traits.
I think it basically comes from a lack of understand of what the autistic spectrum is. Many people wrongly think it is linear, a straight line with not autistic at one end and the most autistic it is possible to be at the other. The spectrum is better understood as a spiky profile. There is a good explanation here:
https://the-art-of-autism.com/understanding-the-spectrum-a-comic-strip-explanation/
I agree. I would just make one point regarding the use of the term 'neurodevelopmental delay'. It is very true that autistic children can be delayed in areas such as speech.
However I think it sort of implies that we will eventually catch up and be like our non autistic peers after some delay. That could feed into another myth is that autism is something that only affects children. As we all well know autism is lifelong.
This NAS website describes autism as a 'lifelong developmental disability'. Of course some autistic people don't like the use of the term disability either.
If you haven't seen them before, you have got to check out that film (Life of Brian) and the other main Monty Python one (Holy Grail).
People use the, "We are all on the spectrum" (or WAAOTS) statement ~ with the spectrum in question going from no traits to fifty traits in the case of the Autistic [Spectrum] Quotient 50 (AQ) test-result score-ratios as follows:
0~11 low result – indicating no tendency at all towards [being] autistic.
11~21 is the average result that people get (many women average around 15 and men around 17)
22~25 shows autistic tendencies slightly above the population average
26~31 gives a borderline indication of an autism spectrum disorder. It is also possible to have aspergers or mild autism within this range.
32~50 indicates a strong likelihood of Asperger syndrome or autism.
https://aspergerstest.net/interpreting-aq-test-results/
So as such everyone is on the autism spectrum; but not the autism 'diagnostic' spectrum ~ as only some people have an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or increasingly more an Autism Spectrum Condition these days ~ as may include or exclude having either or both physiological and psychological co-morbidities.
As someone who is autistic in terms of having Asperger Syndrome and as having done a fair amount of advocacy work over the years ~ I have personally found the 'WAAOTS' statement to be very useful indeed, as proportionally contrasting examples of which have really helped to make autistic sensibilities and care requirements more relevant to other people who are not autistic.
When for instance it comes to autistic inhibitions ~ asking neurologically typical or atypical people if they have ever been panicked enough to become indecisive or pressurised enough to have made decisive errors; which includes everyone to some extent ~ this can help them with further explanations to appreciate that we (as autistic people) have greater difficulties with 'give-and-take' reciprocations in typical social interaction, imagination and communication situations ~ with some or a great many of our inhibitions being a result of developmentally and educationally inappropriate facilitations, identifications and affirmations from others historically.
Fearing negative repercussions socially or finding social interactions challenging is for instance only as such a partial consideration or temporary concern for most non-autistic people ~ with social breakthroughs and group integrations being more often than not greatly anticipated and very much enjoyed; yet for those of us who are autistic or otherwise neurologically divergent ~ social events can be totally nerve-racking or in part or whole confusing, frustrating or even exhaustively debilitating ~ particularly if reasonable adjustments have rarely or never been made, offered or provided to help us gauge, manage or circumvent requisite pressures or excessive strains in previous or present living and working situations.
When it comes though to non-autistic people using the 'WAAOTS' statement to rhetorically sideline the difficulties we on the autism diagnostic spectrum face ~ I just add with an enthusiastic reverse-psychology twist something like, "Normally to a small degree ~ yes; that is the case!" and then confide that some autistic people find 'WAAOTS' statements as being somewhat demeaning or even quite offensive ~ even when they are in no way whatsoever meant to be; what with all of us (autistic or otherwise) being human evolutions of consciously vitalised experience and awareness ~ which in each and every case involves physiological and psychological multilinear extents and curvilinear degrees of nature's developmental infinitudes, as can in scale be much more appreciated and as such much better in quality facilitated.
Was laughing at the video, not the person who posted here.I was just playing.No harm intended.
It's a thing people do with lots of issues, where they see a very mild view of things from the outside and can't conceive of what it's actually like. So you get people dismissing ASD because there's a couple of things they see in themselves and they cope fine, or they talk about being a bit OCD because they like their bookshelf to be in order.