The complete guide to Asperger's syndrome

What Hacker News says

1. pragmaticDec 2008
   Have you been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (AS)? Many of these problems sound like symptoms of AS. Many, many programmers have AS (it seems computers were made by and for people with AS (see the book below)). I've worked with several whom I suspected but weren't formally diagnosed. They were miserable because the couldn't understand how to deal with people on a functional level.

   The key is to understand the root of the problem. Some of the coworkers would be diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and the like while AS was the painfully obvious condition (though anxiety, etc are very common in those with AS).

   Read this book ASAP: The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book.php/isbn/9781843104957

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2. lutuspAug 2014
   > Asperger's wasn't "abandoned," it was folded into the broader spectrum of autism ...

   This is a common misconception. Asperger's wasn't folded into the parent category, instead those who were diagnosed with Asperger's, and the symptom constellation it represented, were folded into the parent category. Asperger's was abandoned.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03asperger.html?pag...

   Quote: "Some experts worry that the loss of the label [emphasis added] will inhibit mildly affected people from being assessed for autism. “The general public has either a neutral or fairly positive view of the term Asperger’s syndrome,” said Tony Attwood, a psychologist based in Australia who wrote “The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome” (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006). But if people are told they should be evaluated for autism, he went on, “they will say: ‘No, no, no. I can talk. I have a friend. What a ridiculous suggestion!’ So we will miss the opportunity to assess people.”"

   It's clear from the above that we're talking about a label, not a diagnosis. The label has been abandoned, and those seeking a diagnosis du jour with have to settle for Autism, universally regarded as undesirable.

   The thinking was that, if people with an Asperger's diagnosis knew they would be recategorized as autistic, this would reduce the diagnosis rate to something more consistent with reality, and the immediate motivation for the change was to halt an epidemic of nonsense diagnoses.

   > The same is true for thousands of others, and we're kind of tired of you psychology deniers telling us that we don't exist.

   You mean, along with all responsible psychiatrists and psychologists, all of whom now realize their mistake in allowing this diagnosis to come into existence?

   Your protest is on a par with someone who feels that his religious beliefs have been disparaged or discriminated against. I say this because Asperger Syndrome does not exist. The mental health profession now agrees and, by removing Asperger's from the DSM, has taken steps to signal clinicians to avoid use of the label.

   As to "psychology deniers", you may not be aware that the present chairman of the NIMH has recently ruled that the DSM may no longer be used as the basis for scientific research proposals, for the simple reason that it has no scientific content:

   http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-rats-of-n-i-m-h

   http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2013/transforming-dia...

   The first step was the elimination of Asperger's from the DSM. The second step is the elimination of the DSM from serious conversation among scientists. So, tell me, which part of this recitation of real events is causing you the most personal anguish?

   In closing, I want to say something that you ought to find reassuring -- you're not a diagnosis, you're a human being. The Asperger's story proves that diagnoses don't have rights and can be abandoned without warning. But human beings have inalienable rights, and cannot be abandoned. Start thinking of yourself as a human being -- see how it works out for you.

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3. nerdfilesMay 2012
   Code outside. Always. Code monkey right? Write in a tree.

   In the Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome, Attwood suggests a model with which to understand the neurological story, in terms of a functionalist-position. The "social module" along with other abilities grows over time. Aspies tend to have a neurologically stunted "social module" sapling.

   We should extend this reasoning to the "computer as part of the human phenotype." Hu-mans who tend to overuse Facebook should be viewed, as we would view an Asperger's patient, as meeting a criterion for possessing a poorly developed "computer" module. Put it this way: Some of us learn language faster than others. For some of us, it's highly interesting that we might not learn to vocalize until 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 years of age. Whatever the age, there's a cut off. Many of these hu-mans simply are not picking up. In a sense, they are along an Asperger's like spectrum where they are "blind" to their innate tech abilities. (I, for instance, can dual type at 30WPM on two standard keyboards. Why should I need this ability? -- But I have it. tpoped out vim with powerline and other goodies, etc.)

   I mean, just take the analogy!:

   1. A lack of social understanding (lack of tech understanding), 2. limited ability to have a reciprocal conversation (even if online, people resort too Broken 1337lish), and 3. an intense interest in a particular subject are the core features of this syndrome (meformers; they are solipsistic in a way, as if it were a fact that there's no good etiquette (no content to the concept), as some unruly Aspie kid's behavior might suggest -- except here: as if it were a fact that there's no content to claims about CISPA, NDAA, GMOs, Rick Perrying, etc. (no content to these issues since there's disproportionate growth to the "me module.").

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