Autism Vs eccentric personality

[BlooDeBloop]

Context: A health care worker suggested my 12yo DS may have asd. He is socially extremely awkward at school but copes in his way and brushes off taunts etc. There are some anxiety issues we deal with. He is certainly quirky. Many of the males on my side of the family can fairly be described as eccentric or oddball (...actually this is a good description of me too 😆).

Question: what is this autism spectrum that potentially includes my DS at one end and on the other includes non verbal or highly violent people needing full time, respite care into teens and beyond? Or even the more common presentation we see on TV, the rocking, meltdown prone, OCD type of person. I just don't see the connection. Depression presents on a scale but one end looks like the other end just more extreme. ASD is highly variable. Indeed, this is reflected by the commonly quoted 'if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism' i.e. no two cases are the same. If none are the same how can we be sure we're dealing with the same thing when we diagnose and talk about autism?

Can anyone explain?

Then I shall ignore your posts

So you’ll ignore anybody who disagrees with you.Exactly! We all knew you just wanted to spout ableist shite weren’t interested in educating yourself and this thread was completely disingenuous.

another to say another factor was also included

I didn't say another factor was included. I pointed out that the traits identified have to cause significant impairment for the diagnosis to be applied. It's a specifier of degree and effect, not an additional factor — it doesn't add another criterion that has to be met, it merely specifies that they have to be having an actual effect on someone's life to be relevant to the diagnosis.

Essentially, that part is in there specifically to avoid people being given medical diagnoses for harmless quirkiness. It's the actual answer to your whole fucking question. The point I posted that was the point at which you could have gone "Ah, right, I see! I'll bugger off now, because it seems that I wasn't, in fact, the first genius to come up with this objection, and funnily enough, the experts had already thought of this issue and dealt with it long before I'd ever heard the word autism".

I find this interesting. Most disabilities are visible. Obviously not all. ASD is a new category and not easily seen or understood by the layperson. Even 5 minutes ago it has other names. American clinicians are allowed to discuss it. They change its thresholds, boundaries, merge/split groups. But when us thickos talk about it, try to understand it, digest the nuances, it is offensive. Even when the matter directly applies to a decision I'll have to take. Why am I not allowed this thread? Is it illegal?

Of course you can talk about it. But if you talk bollocks, expect us other thickos to point it out.

Incidentally, who do you think the World Health Organisation are? Cause that's who publishes the International Classification of Diseases, the 11th edition of which merges the separate diagnoses into Autism Spectrum Disorder too. I quoted that alongside the DSM version. Do you think the WHO just automatically does whatever American clinicians tell them to, without discussing it and making their own decisions?

Are most disabilities visible? Deafness, Blindness, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Crohn's, Cerebral Palsy... It is actually estimated that 70-80% of disabilities are invisible.

Those of us who have survived complex trauma do tend to downplay it. However I suspect also many people diagnosed with autism are indeed autistic.

ASD is a new category

No it isn’t. I remember recording kids with it in my register 20 years ago.

DH for example is implacably against any form of diagnosis. Is he ableist? No idea but his is a common reaction in the population beyond MN.

No he’s an idiot who isn’t doing what’s best for his children. And they will suffer because of this.

Utterly charming that the OP finds it so funny … not.

No he’s an idiot who isn’t doing what’s best for his children. And they will suffer because of this.

Quite. If this child exists, I feel very sorry for them. A father that’s ‘against any form of diagnosis’ and then OP with her views as a mum. Heartbreaking.

OP's question was about putting vastly different personalities into the Autism category, and whether that's appropriate and useful. It's a valid question and should be discussed. Especially given the category/criteria changed recently, and will no doubt change again in the future. There's no need for such a pile-on.

Social imagination was the new addition to the triad model. When you brought up degree of impairment I found that useful. I think this went along the lines of what is the threshold for asd. Something can be life affecting/limiting but not be a medical matter. Again, very useful but leaving me with more questions.

I came on here seeking insights, expecting some level of challenge/pushback (I'm fine with that) but I'm no longer sure I'm getting much of use since the goady, loud, thought-police have taken over. Thank you off for engaging honestly (I'm not seeking to change minds or even find agreement). I don't include you in the goady group.

With this in mind, my next step will likely engage a professional at the coal face to give me clear guidance on diagnostic criteria and what a diagnosis will bring my DS.

This thread is so offensive - can’t it be taken down?

IMO your thinking is the wrong way round, you’re talking like there are pros and cons.

There are no cons.

Other than the hassle of the diagnostic process for you, there’s no downside.

You go for assessment, he’s either diagnosed or not, if not then you’re in the same position you are now.

If he is, then he can access support if, when and for what it’s needed for... if that’s none at some points of his life then it’s none. As he gets older he can ask for support as needed and choose where and when it is relevant to disclose or not.

It brings nothing unwanted or begat

Hit post too soon

it brings nothing unwanted or negative - people aren’t falling over themselves to force unneeded services on people, it’s very much the opposite.

You do have to add it to things like health insurance, travel insurance and medical declarations for jobs etc. Our travel insurancecwent up because of one of the responses to the autusm bit.

Anecdotally you don’t know when potential asd could impact their life. A friend of mine was diagnosed as an adult with babies - because the babies disrupted their life enough that the ASD also impacted their life. The diagnosis helped her cope.

Yes for medical information it does need to be declared.

But for jobs for example, if it’s not relevant during the hiring process and wouldn’t affect job performance then you can leave it as separate medical information, so HR or if they have HCPs they’d have it on file, but it’s up to the individual whether your immediate boss or workmates would know.

I mean, people do usually disclose it, but that’s because they need accommodations.... so...