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undiagnosed aspie

Hotel california

I was just reading the advice on the NAS website regarding how to broach the subject of aspergers with someone.

Personally I don't think anyone , parents, teachers, friends should give any suspected condition a name, UNTIL IT IS PROFESSIONALLY DIAGNOSED.

I think there are ethical issues that need to be addressed, such as the psychological effect a WRONG undiagnosed diagnosis (hope you know what I mean) can do to a person.

What if you spend years thinking you have x and then years later find out you don't?  Now trust issues come into play. You may resent years of barking up the wrong tree.  after all you would never dream of telling someone they had cancer without a clinical diagnosis, so why be cavalier with asd?

I am shocked that NAS suggests telling someone what you think they have.  In my opinion it is dangerous.  By all means discuss a person's difficulties and suggest seeing a professional, but NEVER give a name to something you are not qualified to.

I absolutely hate the term undiagnosed aspie....and anyone who goes around claiming they, their partner, child has undiagnosed aspergers should refrain from doing so, purely because they are undiagnosed.

Welcome comments particularly on ethics of telling someone they have something before they are professionally diagnosed. I don't have a problem with people thinking they or someone else has aspergers and doing covert research, just disagree with giving a layman's diagnosis.

Parents

  • Hello Hotel California,

    I completely agree with what you are arguing here. Before I got formally diagnosed with Asperger's, I read a lot about the condition and spoke to other people about my concerns. I strongly believed I had Asperger's because almost everything about the condition described me. However, I was aware that until I had seen a professional I could not be 100 % certain, because I could have another condition that resembles Asperger's, although I knew that whatever I had was developmental in nature. I needed that official confirmation, and without it I just would not have felt comfortable saying I have Asperger's. I told people 'I think I have Asperger's and am awaiting assessment', but did not say I am an 'undiagnosed aspie' (I don't like the word aspie anyway, but that is another debate).

    If anyone tells me that they have 'undiagnosed Asperger's', I always wear my sceptical glasses, and think, but what if you are wrong?. It is the same when people say, 'I am on the spectrum myself, although I am not diagnosed'. Parents of children with AS often say this, noticing traits in themselves. Yes, they might be right, but they should say, 'I think I might be on the spectrum'. And if they really want confirmation they should seek a diagnosis. While they are waiting for diagnosis they should be supported with any issues they have.

     

     

Reply

  • Hello Hotel California,

    I completely agree with what you are arguing here. Before I got formally diagnosed with Asperger's, I read a lot about the condition and spoke to other people about my concerns. I strongly believed I had Asperger's because almost everything about the condition described me. However, I was aware that until I had seen a professional I could not be 100 % certain, because I could have another condition that resembles Asperger's, although I knew that whatever I had was developmental in nature. I needed that official confirmation, and without it I just would not have felt comfortable saying I have Asperger's. I told people 'I think I have Asperger's and am awaiting assessment', but did not say I am an 'undiagnosed aspie' (I don't like the word aspie anyway, but that is another debate).

    If anyone tells me that they have 'undiagnosed Asperger's', I always wear my sceptical glasses, and think, but what if you are wrong?. It is the same when people say, 'I am on the spectrum myself, although I am not diagnosed'. Parents of children with AS often say this, noticing traits in themselves. Yes, they might be right, but they should say, 'I think I might be on the spectrum'. And if they really want confirmation they should seek a diagnosis. While they are waiting for diagnosis they should be supported with any issues they have.

     

     

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