So... I was diagnosed

[sarmth]

Ok, well. I know I am really bad at staying here and not running away on something. But I AM here for good now.

Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, and I wanted to let everyone know this, incase there were any people who I somehow managed to rub the wrong way and annoy. I know that some people enjoyed me being here, and others were annoyed by me. Since there will be a lot more of me here, I thought I should just get up, and say it. So yes. I am an Aspie, and for those of you who thought something was wrong, you were correct lol!

Anyone else here an Aspie?

[Ben]

I'm bipolar. Not sure if officially bipolar I or II, because the doc never clarified and I stopped going and stopped taking medication. It was a year and a half ago and I feel GREAT. What they were giving me made me feel worse.

But what did help me feel better was in my avatar.

[sarmth]

I'm bipolar. Not sure if officially bipolar I or II, because the doc never clarified and I stopped going and stopped taking medication. It was a year and a half ago and I feel GREAT. What they were giving me made me feel worse.

But what did help me feel better was in my avatar.

I've known a lot of people who have done that, but I doubt it was THAT big! o.0

[Seraphim]

Loads of people here probably are, in varying degrees of severity.

Seems the internet tends to collect people like that because the limitations of the protocols and interfaces also happen to block the aspects of social behavior that people with certain disabilities tend to lack.

I was never officially diagnosed with Aspergers, I still run under the much older ADHD diagnosis. But every 10 years or so they go through and regroup the symptoms to come up with different diagnoses, even though what used to be part of ADHD is now a textbook Aspergers.

And I agree with Ben. Much of the medications used to treat such things often cause the very thing they are intended to treat or make it far worse. I too found that I was better off without the medications, managing it entirely through a combination of diet and thought experiments- the same old eccentric tinkering I've always done since I was a kid.

[Meksilon]

Loads of people here probably are, in varying degrees of severity.

Seems the internet tends to collect people like that because the limitations of the protocols and interfaces also happen to block the aspects of social behavior that people with certain disabilities tend to lack.

I was never officially diagnosed with Aspergers, I still run under the much older ADHD diagnosis. But every 10 years or so they go through and regroup the symptoms to come up with different diagnoses, even though what used to be part of ADHD is now a textbook Aspergers.

And I agree with Ben. Much of the medications used to treat such things often cause the very thing they are intended to treat or make it far worse. I too found that I was better off without the medications, managing it entirely through a combination of diet and thought experiments- the same old eccentric tinkering I've always done since I was a kid.

Totally agree with all you said. As far as meds go, any meds that are powerful mind-altering drugs IMHO should fall outside the jurisdiction of GP's for anything other than short term use (I'm good friends with a GP, he's well aware of my opinion on this, and I'm well aware how many of his patients come to him with those "emotional" issues rather than bacterial/viral/physical conditions). Labelling someone "this" or "that" causes them to see themselves that way. The idea that people with Aspergers don't fully comprehend consequences is rubbish. Chopper was diagnosed with "mild autism" and is clearly dyslexic; he was given ETS treatment as a child and look how that approach worked out. Or you have Martin Bryant, who was diagnosed with Aspergers later I think in his teens, and as a result you automatically have people assume that because he has a disorder it makes it more likely that he can be a violent criminal capable of committing the worst massacre by a lone gunman up until that point in history (1996). That belief is so strong that his civil rights were violated, he never got a trial (his lawyer decided his client was guilty, despite his client telling him otherwise). The stigma attached to these things is incredible. I can just imagine what would have happened if there was a trial "your honour, the defendant has asperger's, he is completely incapable of understanding the consequences to his actions". Even the fact that Dyslexia is classified as a learning disability is wrong, IMHO. The human brain contains trillions of connections (some say 1000 trillion), think about the way our eyes work for instance. They're not cameras; they're interactive - and can decide instantaneously (that is before actually sending the "picture" to the part of the brain that sees the image) what the objects its seeing are, and by objects I mean everything from "wall" "plate" "that darn shirt I was looking for" to "dear old aunty lu". The ability to connect written letters/words/paragraphs and their verbal "counterparts" is counterintuitive to begin with, so it's not surprising that a small number of people "can't" do it, it isn't because they have a "learning disability" but rather, frankly, because their brains can't connect language what they hear to what they see.

[sarmth]

Totally agree with all you said. As far as meds go, any meds that are powerful mind-altering drugs IMHO should fall outside the jurisdiction of GP's for anything other than short term use (I'm good friends with a GP, he's well aware of my opinion on this, and I'm well aware how many of his patients come to him with those "emotional" issues rather than bacterial/viral/physical conditions). Labelling someone "this" or "that" causes them to see themselves that way. The idea that people with Aspergers don't fully comprehend consequences is rubbish. Chopper was diagnosed with "mild autism" and is clearly dyslexic; he was given ETS treatment as a child and look how that approach worked out. Or you have Martin Bryant, who was diagnosed with Aspergers later I think in his teens, and as a result you automatically have people assume that because he has a disorder it makes it more likely that he can be a violent criminal capable of committing the worst massacre by a lone gunman up until that point in history (1996). That belief is so strong that his civil rights were violated, he never got a trial (his lawyer decided his client was guilty, despite his client telling him otherwise). The stigma attached to these things is incredible. I can just imagine what would have happened if there was a trial "your honour, the defendant has asperger's, he is completely incapable of understanding the consequences to his actions". Even the fact that Dyslexia is classified as a learning disability is wrong, IMHO. The human brain contains trillions of connections (some say 1000 trillion), think about the way our eyes work for instance. They're not cameras; they're interactive - and can decide instantaneously (that is before actually sending the "picture" to the part of the brain that sees the image) what the objects its seeing are, and by objects I mean everything from "wall" "plate" "that darn shirt I was looking for" to "dear old aunty lu". The ability to connect written letters/words/paragraphs and their verbal "counterparts" is counterintuitive to begin with, so it's not surprising that a small number of people "can't" do it, it isn't because they have a "learning disability" but rather, frankly, because their brains can't connect language what they hear to what they see.

It's not about being unable to do something, where there is a will there's a way. It's about identifying that way, and actually auctioning it. Simple as that. ^_^