New study finds online self-reports may not accurately reflect clinical autism diagnoses. Adults who report high levels of autistic traits through online surveys may not reflect the same social behaviors or clinical profiles as those who have been formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

[u/mvea]

https://www.psypost.org/new-study-finds-online-self-reports-may-not-accurately-reflect-clinical-autism-diagnoses/

[u/BoxBird]

When I was young I was diagnosed with Asperger’s but Drs said they were gonna take it out of the DSM anyways and the diagnosis would possibly cause discrimination and other issues for me so it was best to just pretend I was normal. None of my issues went away, but I’m REALLY good at masking. To my own detriment, of course. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there were a LOT of hidden high masking people like me just trying to wing it out in society, not realizing why we felt “off” when comparing ourselves to others.

[u/jessykittykat → u/BoxBird]

and then there’s the ones who got their quirks beat out of us as a child, i learned how to be palatable and “normal” very quickly bc getting constantly hit and screamed at was a big deterrent.

[u/carpentersglue → u/jessykittykat]

Awh dang. I’m so sorry you were treated that way.

[u/DragonBitsRedux → u/jessykittykat]

Meme: Why couldn't I get diagnosed for 20 years when the bully on the playground knew I was autistic within 20 seconds!

[u/pandershrek → u/BoxBird]

Literally dozens of us.

[u/uberfission → u/BoxBird]

Fairly certain my mom is on the spectrum and just got really good at masking over her lifetime.

[u/Zikkan1 → u/BoxBird]

I also got Asperger's as a kid. I however did receive the diagnosis and it helped me get help in school such as extended time on tests and sit in a room alone for concentration and have a staff member take notes in class for me.

I doubt I would have managed highschool without my diagnosis.

To me my diagnosis has helped me understand why I feel or act differently from most people and understand that it isn't wrong or weird, just different. And this understanding sparked an interest in introspection and self improvement. Today if I don't tell people about my diagnosis no one notices.

I don't see this as "masking" or anything negative, it's just self improvement, and this has taught me to recognize emotions and understand when others feel bad even better than most neurotypical people. People with autism are able to recognize and relate to emotions just as good or even better than most, we just need training which I think is true for everyone but it comes more natural to "normal" people but because we need to put in a conscious effort to learn these things the result is often better if we keep at it.

I still don't really grasp my own emotions very well and often feel like I feel both positive and negative emotions far less dramatic than others.

Not really sure if I made sense, just rambling on about a topic I find very interesting

[u/Zikkan1 → u/[deleted]]

I apologize for my bad choice of words. My point was more about the self improvement and masking and I were just talking about the ones at the part of the spectrum that would be able to "mask" themselves as the commenter said.

[u/proverbialbunny → u/BoxBird]

There’s also high functioning autistic people who prioritize self actualization and self growth. They grow past most of their autistic disadvantages without having to mask, and keep the advantages. These types muddy the water quite a bit begging the question of where the boundary lies between what is and isn’t autism.

[u/BoxBird → u/proverbialbunny]

I get what you’re saying but as someone who is high masking and highly values individual growth, successfully mitigating an issue does NOT make it go away, and thinking that way is harmful for people who mask well enough to seem “normal”. The problems keeping eye contact don’t go away. I’m great at it. No one I know has any idea it literally feels like torture and I have to spend a significant portion of my brain power just timing eye contact and making sure I look at the right points at someone’s face and not accidentally furrowing my brows when I think so the person talking doesn’t think I’m upset with them. But it happens literally every time I talk to someone.

I would honestly consider “high functioning” to be a little outdated as it is more about how one “blends in” than the internal struggles one faces due to it being a developmental disorder, not a social or behavioral disorder. The current model uses “high/low masking” and “high/low support” as a more effective way of assessing individual needs. But high masking does NOT mean someone isn’t struggling. Also, one can be high masking and high support needs. Or low masking high support needs. Unfortunately, it seems that high masking/ low support individuals fall through the cracks way too often specifically because they are more likely to try to blend in and not feel like they are safe to advocate for their needs, because they don’t quite feel understood.

[u/proverbialbunny → u/BoxBird]

Where did I say go away? It sounds like you’re overly reading into it?

[u/EnlightenedSinTryst → u/proverbialbunny]

What’s an example of an autistic disadvantage being grown past?

[u/proverbialbunny → u/EnlightenedSinTryst]

Not being able to read facial expressions and body language.

[u/EnlightenedSinTryst → u/proverbialbunny]

But how would one grow past those things?

[u/proverbialbunny → u/EnlightenedSinTryst]

By working at it, slowly taking one step at a time. For many people going from not paying attention while socializing to tons of attention is overwhelming and anxiety inducing, so taking it slow tends to work out better.

[u/EnlightenedSinTryst → u/proverbialbunny]

No, I mean, how would someone that can’t read facial expressions or body language be able to do it? “Just work at it” means they do have the capacity. “Not paying attention” isn’t what’s happening.

[u/Ahsef → u/EnlightenedSinTryst]

Because the test for it as a child doesn’t test for capacity, it tests for ability. It’s completely possible for someone to have not had the ability, and had to intentionally get better at it. Autism diagnosis do not distinguish between ability and capacity.

[u/EnlightenedSinTryst → u/Ahsef]

There’s a distinction between not knowing what certain signals mean and learning to interpret them, and not receiving them at all. A lot of this sounds like just trying to teach someone to be hyper-vigilant and to mask…

[u/PenImpossible874 → u/EnlightenedSinTryst]

They study it consciously the way neurotypicals consciously study algebra.

[u/PenImpossible874 → u/proverbialbunny]

That's because everything is a spectrum.

For ever 200cm person there are dozens of 180cm people.

For every severely autistic person, there are dozens of mildly autistic people.

For every mildly autistic person there are dozens of neurotypicals who are above average in autistic traits.

50% of the population is above average in any trait.

[u/ycnz → u/BoxBird]

I mean, Asperger was a nazi who helped butcher children, so removing that specific label is unambiguously a great thing.

[u/BoxBird → u/ycnz]

So the name should have changed. The DSM considering it all to fall under the classification of autism spectrum kind of made sense except for the fact that the social stigma of autism caused people who would have fallen under the “Asperger’s” category to just ignore certain issues and end up getting less support services because they blended in a little better to “normative” society, while still having pretty marked internal struggles with self regulation or feeling accepted by peers. Also they completely ignored the fact that there was basically no research into how it presents in both sexes. Realistically, a lot of people who had the diagnosis and lost it felt like they lost support and social understanding.

I think there should have been a slightly different way of approaching it, by focusing less on how the person “blends in” and more on what they internally have issues with, which are issues that really can only be self reported to an extent. And also not quite the structure of the DSM in general.

I just feel like putting it under one umbrella was not helpful for a lot of people when you consider the psychological impact of having to mask constantly.

[u/pandershrek → u/BoxBird]

It is, called HFA.

[u/BoxBird → u/pandershrek]

High Functioning Autism is not an official diagnosis in the DSM.