That defeats the whole purpose of language. For language to work, we must agree what the symbols mean. And yet the meanings of those symbols is constantly evolving. We are constantly adding new meanings to dictionaries as terms change in usage and definition. Different groups of people use various terms differently.
You know this because I have told you the criteria in person. It is not "ill defined" nor is it "changing constantly". I just read an article about how the meaning of the term is changing for the DSM V. That they are, in fact, removing the term entirely from usage. That, to me, means "changing constantly," even if the meaning is only changing every few years when they update the DSM. Additionally, the conditions as specified can be vague in places. This is the case with most psychological conditions, from what I've been able to see.
The lay-person claiming "Aspie status" (and make no mistake, these people wear it as a badge of honor [for reasons beyond me]) are almost always wrong. However, what does this prescribe for their behavior? Most people are not going to seek treatment for possible asperger's syndrome unless they first suspect it in themself. They must first "self-diagnose" before they are able to go to a therapist and say, "I think I might have aspergers" and talk about their particular constellation of symptoms.
From what I've seen, people don't seem to wear it as a badge of honor so much as they use it to help them with self-acceptance. Being on the autism spectrum is frustrating, difficult, and alienating from the rest of society. Being able to name it, claim it, and find support from others with it can be vital towards beginning to build self-esteem and handle one's life.
Asperger's syndrome is VERY specific in its diagnosis and is statistically quite rare. From some of the articles I've been reading, the incidence of diagnosed Asperger's syndrome, and autism spectrum disorders in general, is increasing. It's not known whether this is due to some higher incidence of the condition in the general populace or if it has to do with improved awareness of the condition.
As for its specific conditions, part of what I'm going into in this essay is that there are more than likely psychological conditions that are significantly similar to Asperger's. If you look at the new information being suggested for the DSM V, they're talking about classifying the whole she-bang as Autism Spectrum Disorders in order to provide better treatment for individuals that might be "close" to asperger's, but not completely identical, and things like that. As the term implies, autism disorders are on a spectrum, and that means that the conditions vary from person to person.
To a lay person, an autism spectrum disorder that is almost identical to Asperger's IS Asperger's. And it appears that the medical community is starting to agree.
Self-diagnosis does harm in that it keeps people from understanding what the real problem is and prevents them from working on those problems. And yet, for most psychological conditions that I've looked at, self-diagnosis is really the first step towards getting treatment of those issues. It's like you're trapped in this sort of no-man's land. You can't seek an official diagnosis of something unless you diagnose yourself, but to do so is to perform a task that you are poorly trained in and/or don't full understand.
I'm not saying you're wrong. Self-diagnosis of anything can mask a person's real problems if done improperly. But it can just as easily give a person the tools they need to overcome their actual problems and, if valuable, seek official diagnosis for something.
D. My own therapist uses the term Multiple Personality ORDER for plurality that is less traumatic than MPD or DID Makes sense. Pesky words and everyone having their own definitions for things, eh?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 09:08 am (UTC)And yet the meanings of those symbols is constantly evolving. We are constantly adding new meanings to dictionaries as terms change in usage and definition. Different groups of people use various terms differently.
You know this because I have told you the criteria in person. It is not "ill defined" nor is it "changing constantly".
I just read an article about how the meaning of the term is changing for the DSM V. That they are, in fact, removing the term entirely from usage. That, to me, means "changing constantly," even if the meaning is only changing every few years when they update the DSM. Additionally, the conditions as specified can be vague in places. This is the case with most psychological conditions, from what I've been able to see.
The lay-person claiming "Aspie status" (and make no mistake, these people wear it as a badge of honor [for reasons beyond me]) are almost always wrong.
However, what does this prescribe for their behavior? Most people are not going to seek treatment for possible asperger's syndrome unless they first suspect it in themself. They must first "self-diagnose" before they are able to go to a therapist and say, "I think I might have aspergers" and talk about their particular constellation of symptoms.
From what I've seen, people don't seem to wear it as a badge of honor so much as they use it to help them with self-acceptance. Being on the autism spectrum is frustrating, difficult, and alienating from the rest of society. Being able to name it, claim it, and find support from others with it can be vital towards beginning to build self-esteem and handle one's life.
Asperger's syndrome is VERY specific in its diagnosis and is statistically quite rare.
From some of the articles I've been reading, the incidence of diagnosed Asperger's syndrome, and autism spectrum disorders in general, is increasing. It's not known whether this is due to some higher incidence of the condition in the general populace or if it has to do with improved awareness of the condition.
As for its specific conditions, part of what I'm going into in this essay is that there are more than likely psychological conditions that are significantly similar to Asperger's. If you look at the new information being suggested for the DSM V, they're talking about classifying the whole she-bang as Autism Spectrum Disorders in order to provide better treatment for individuals that might be "close" to asperger's, but not completely identical, and things like that. As the term implies, autism disorders are on a spectrum, and that means that the conditions vary from person to person.
To a lay person, an autism spectrum disorder that is almost identical to Asperger's IS Asperger's. And it appears that the medical community is starting to agree.
Self-diagnosis does harm in that it keeps people from understanding what the real problem is and prevents them from working on those problems.
And yet, for most psychological conditions that I've looked at, self-diagnosis is really the first step towards getting treatment of those issues. It's like you're trapped in this sort of no-man's land. You can't seek an official diagnosis of something unless you diagnose yourself, but to do so is to perform a task that you are poorly trained in and/or don't full understand.
I'm not saying you're wrong. Self-diagnosis of anything can mask a person's real problems if done improperly. But it can just as easily give a person the tools they need to overcome their actual problems and, if valuable, seek official diagnosis for something.
D. My own therapist uses the term Multiple Personality ORDER for plurality that is less traumatic than MPD or DID
Makes sense. Pesky words and everyone having their own definitions for things, eh?