Radio 4 Out of the Ordinary

Sadly, I think the programme is more pernicious than this. I think it is trying to state that Asperger's really does not exist as a condition that requires any comprehension or understanding on the part of society.

By the way the presenter and producer was Jolyon Jenkins.

He twice asked the man with Asperger's why how he felt in the loud and busy environments was not just being "intoverted". He was clearly implying that the Asperger's diagnosis could be easily explained by just being a shy person. There were multiple instances of this type of appraoch in the programme. Really this programme was very very wrong. Think about all those parents (and adults) on here who are encountering teachers, care workers, other people in the position of power over their child/themselves, ignorant family members who are stating to their faces that Asperger's is "just a phase, he will grow out of it", you can "train Asperger's out of them, they just have to try harder not to have it", "I don't believe in Asperger's you are just shy and selfish". That is the viewpoint this programme is peddaling. It is very dangerous.

Yes, Asperger's is not a mental illness, neither is autism, but he really doesn't understand why it is in the DSM, this is just a consequence of where an understanding of a condition would be. As the consequences of the condition have a major impact on an individuals day to day life it has to be dealt with by one branch of a profession, and psychiatry and psychology is the only logical place to put it, an acceptance by psychiatry and psychology that people with Asperger's are different and cannot be medicated/given therapy to act NT would help a lot, but at least there is now a small understanding of the condition. Imagine what would happen if autism was emoved from DSM, and only those with a very serious version of autism (no language, unable to feed or dress themselves etc.) were diagnosed with a developmental disorder. ALL support services would disappear completely, everyone not coping with the NT world would be diagnosed with a complex set of mental illnesses with no reference to autism and the differnt way we perceive and react to stimuli in the environment. All of the understanding that has been built up over the years would disappear.

In addition this programme implied that diagnoses was based on a simple questionnaire and the test of understanding the emotion protrayed by those photos of the eyes. If this is the way that psychologists are diagnosing Asperger's it would not be right. Diagnoses as an adult involves al investigation of the person from childhood, or it should, as well as these types of tests, but the programme did not explore this at all.

The definite tone was. Women think there men are too different from them and are not fulfilling their emotional needs in a relationship, so they take a siple online test, go to a psychologist get diagnosed with Asperger's and then train their men to be better at fulfilling their emotional needs. Not good.

Sadly, I think the programme is more pernicious than this. I think it is trying to state that Asperger's really does not exist as a condition that requires any comprehension or understanding on the part of society.

By the way the presenter and producer was Jolyon Jenkins.

He twice asked the man with Asperger's why how he felt in the loud and busy environments was not just being "intoverted". He was clearly implying that the Asperger's diagnosis could be easily explained by just being a shy person. There were multiple instances of this type of appraoch in the programme. Really this programme was very very wrong. Think about all those parents (and adults) on here who are encountering teachers, care workers, other people in the position of power over their child/themselves, ignorant family members who are stating to their faces that Asperger's is "just a phase, he will grow out of it", you can "train Asperger's out of them, they just have to try harder not to have it", "I don't believe in Asperger's you are just shy and selfish". That is the viewpoint this programme is peddaling. It is very dangerous.

Yes, Asperger's is not a mental illness, neither is autism, but he really doesn't understand why it is in the DSM, this is just a consequence of where an understanding of a condition would be. As the consequences of the condition have a major impact on an individuals day to day life it has to be dealt with by one branch of a profession, and psychiatry and psychology is the only logical place to put it, an acceptance by psychiatry and psychology that people with Asperger's are different and cannot be medicated/given therapy to act NT would help a lot, but at least there is now a small understanding of the condition. Imagine what would happen if autism was emoved from DSM, and only those with a very serious version of autism (no language, unable to feed or dress themselves etc.) were diagnosed with a developmental disorder. ALL support services would disappear completely, everyone not coping with the NT world would be diagnosed with a complex set of mental illnesses with no reference to autism and the differnt way we perceive and react to stimuli in the environment. All of the understanding that has been built up over the years would disappear.

In addition this programme implied that diagnoses was based on a simple questionnaire and the test of understanding the emotion protrayed by those photos of the eyes. If this is the way that psychologists are diagnosing Asperger's it would not be right. Diagnoses as an adult involves al investigation of the person from childhood, or it should, as well as these types of tests, but the programme did not explore this at all.

The definite tone was. Women think there men are too different from them and are not fulfilling their emotional needs in a relationship, so they take a siple online test, go to a psychologist get diagnosed with Asperger's and then train their men to be better at fulfilling their emotional needs. Not good.