Aspies For Freedom

Noetic Wrote:

ADD/ADHD, Obsessive & Avoidant Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Tourette's (many with ASD have tics also), Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder (since the identiy disturbance makes people prone to "identifying" with other disorders)... I'm sure there's more.

PDD-NOS has nothing to do with the other disorders you listed, PDD-NOS means you're on the autistic spectrum but don't fit the AS or Autism, Rett or Disintegrative diagnosis.

I've read several sources that say all of those in the bold print can be comorbid to Asperger's. Personally I have the first two on the list, with little doubt, and I have seen countless posters on AFF claim to have ADD with AS or Bipolar with AS... so I don't see why you'd have to "rule these out" first.

Noetic Wrote:

Batman55 Wrote:

I've read several sources that say all of those in the bold print can be comorbid to Asperger's.��Personally I have the first two on the list, with little doubt, and I have seen countless posters on AFF claim to have ADD with AS or Bipolar with AS... so I don't see why you'd have to "rule these out" first.

*Can* is one thing but in many cases they explain a person's symptoms and thus should be regarded as the sole/main diagnosis. Also as I pointed out, according to DSM-IV you cannot diagnose AS and ADD together (because the exclusion criteria for ADD include all pervasive developmental disorders*) so unless you are diagnosing according to ICD-10 ADD must be excluded also.

(It always depends which tools a diagnostician uses - both ADD and Tourette's can't be combined with AS and other autism spectrum disorders if diagnosing using the DSM-IV)

*��Exclusion Criteria for ADD: "The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., mood disorder, anxiety disorder, dissociative disorder, or a personality disorder)"

ADD and Avoidant Personality Disorder explain my symptoms almost perfectly, but I am still 100% positive I have Asperger's.

What now?

garmonbozia Wrote:

It's that PDD-NOS that confuses me. Is that a catch-all for anything that doesn't easily fit the other conditions listed above? Is this one item in the DSM-IV or is it several?

The difference between Aspergers and PDD-NOS can amount to no more than who is doing the diagnosis. Insurance companies code both the same.

garmonbozia Wrote:

I've looked at Asperger's in the DSM-IV a few times... ...Okay, so as I understand it, if I want to do a self-diagnosis based on the DSM-IV, I need to rule out:

- Schizophrenia
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Schizoid Personality Disorder
- PDD-NOS
- anything else?

It's that PDD-NOS that confuses me....��Is that a catch-all...

This is a great Thread garmonbozia... Plan to share it with my Doc...

What do you suppose he'll say when I suggest a different definition for ADD / PDD / AS...�� as in "ASD" --Attention Surplus Disorder-- a new one for the books apt to confuse...

Thanks for the thread...�� Beammeup

Noetic Wrote:

PS: Could well be that you have ADD and rapid-cycling Bipolar or at least traits of both, though. Both of these plus a dash of Tourette's seem to fit you well (with or without AS), and would explain your "AS-atypical" traits quite well.

In the book I started a thread about in the News Section, the type that fit you best was Tourette's (mild, and tics often abate in your early Twenties) with its "unusual creativity", "emotional and temperamental reactivity", and "imitiation of others' actions or words" (which you said you used to do a lot) mixed with either Bipolar and/or ADD.

All of those are also known for social skills problems, sensory integration problems and other AS-typical things, so it's hard to say whether AS plays a part.

In your next message you might as well tell me to leave AFF because I lack convincing evidence that I have Asperger's.  Goddamn it.  Why do I even bother anymore?

I just f****g said I was 100% certain I have Asperger's.  My inflexible and repetitive routines and lack of theory of mind/empathy and preference for sameness and obsessive interests (more cyclical these days tho) and pedantic/unusually formal speech make it clear to me.

And it's fully clear to me that ADD and Avoidant Personality don't explain everything, as I have never been able to understand properly or use advice therapists have used for NT/ADD patients (none of my therapists saw AS in me so their advice was NT/ADD advice, and it never "sunk in.")  Alright?

I don't have f*****g Tourette's either.  People with AS also have tics, or so countless posters on AFF have shown.  Just because I don't rock or don't flap my hands doesn't mean I don't have AS.

Noetic Wrote:

Mind you this line had me rolling on the floor: "exhibited behavioural difficulties including aggression and being victims of bullying"

So being a victim of bullying is a behavioural difficulty now? Um... Well I guess so being beaten up is unusual Wink

I intend to bully anyone who places me into a category I don't agree with, like Tourette's/ADD without Asperger's. Point me to a combined type Tourette's/ADD forum ("I'm sure they exist") then, and I'll go there and leave this place behind for good. I'm here for a f****g reason, and that does not include insinuations by others that "I don't fit."

Batman55 Wrote:

ADD and Avoidant Personality Disorder explain my symptoms almost perfectly, but I am still 100% positive I have Asperger's.

What now?

See professionals and get a real diagnosis.

Noetic Wrote:

A last bit of advice to Batman55: I was trying to come up with reasons why your "AS" (I'm sorry I refuse to give you "diagnosis" online, you cannot demand people confirm something about you that they have NO way of confirming from what tiny bits of info we have on you!) is so atypical. Bipolar and Tourettes traits seem to explain those atypical aspects of you very well. If you deny having anything other than AS then I am not sure how else you explain the fact that you barely show any more COMMON AS characteristics at all?

My AS is not that atypical and even if it is, what do you have against me being on AFF?

Pakrat Wrote:

Well, you have a lot of the same things as I do and I'm officially diagnosed with Aspergers and Dysthymia, so I would not be surprised if you have at least the Aspergers. It makes it so hard though that there is no-one affordable in your area who you could go and see to be properly checked.

Yeah, that's what I mean.

garmonbozia Wrote:

I've printed out the copy of the DSM entry that Amy provided in a locked thread.��When I get a chance, I'll go through and mark off items, then add them up... and then do the same for everything I have to rule out.

Trouble is, I've been having a hard time finding a decent copy of the DSM online.��There are bits of it on Wikipedia, but for all I know those could be tampered with.��The ones on psych sites don't look very well indexed.

The biggest one I'll be looking at is OCD, as per the DSM.��(That one I've obviously got, double-checking locks, etc.)��That will probably be the one I have the most questions about after I've had a chance to read through it.

I also have some OCD (I double check things all the time) but it appears to be "bits and pieces of it," it's like I'm more OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) than the actual OCD.  But then I have compulsions that "bother me and get in the way" (like OCD) and also compulsions I enjoy giving into (like OCPD), it could be either one.  It's not clear.

It's like I have bits and pieces of about 10 different DSM-listed conditions if not more, and a few of these are also the real deal (clinically significant).. my ADD, for one, is unmistakable.  Throughout my whole life, I've been very ADD-like as well, completely disorganized and extreme procrastinator and inattentive and avid video game player and not able to complete anything... but despite all this, I am certain I have Asperger's Syndrome... just not the most "typical" variety.  I believe I am in the "creative subtype," which, according to my research, does exist.

Defined by this.. very divergent thinking and not as logical/practical as the usual Aspie... but still lacking social skills and social imagination.
Therefore I believe I'm Asperger's with a strong comorbid of ADD.  So I don't have to "rule out" ADD.. I get to include it.

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