Why has Autism Been turned into an umbrella diagnosis?

Posted on by Inari Mulastar

Say, I’ve doing some thinking. You see, I was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome pretty young, and I guess I’m not “normal” in the truest sense of the word.

I tend to keep to myself, have some rather eccentric hobbies, along with a tendancy to fixate on a certain topic or train of thought for weeks on end. Lately, I’ve been on a crusade against plastic.

But the thing is, is there something wrong with me? Do I need to be cured? Am I in-capable of tying my own shoelaces? I most certainly am not!

The mental health bible- (the DSM-5), got updated recently. I feel like I have have a personal stake in this. Truth be told, I rather liked being an aspie. Autism spectrum disorder or ASD just sounds wrong. Yeah, that’ll go down well in a job interview…

I’ve learned through bitter experience that the vast majority of autistic symptoms can be attributed to malnutrition. It’s fairly obvious our little engines don’t run so well on standard fuel(processed food, grains)? Someone, fetch us that high octane stuff…(think paleo or keto diet)🙂

How could anyone learn to socialise when they are isolated anyway? sometimes the only mistake we make is assuming that telling the truth is the right thing to do. Have you ever seen people too afraid to tell someone their muffins sucked, or that they really, really look terrible in that shirt?

It’d be rude to tell them, right. Oh, rubbish! Just tell them and be nice about it. That’s what we often do. When we mention that someome is fat, or that their bathroom is filthy, we are making an observation, not a judgement! It’s quite the tragedy of miscommunication. Only until we know better, of course. And I’m sure everyone learned these lessons somewhere down the line. Maybe a bit sooner than we did, that’s for sure.

Speaking of which, I’ve been one to dabble in ‘conspiracies’ in the past, and sometimes still do. So, That brings me to vaccines. Some people claim that vaccines cause autism, which would imply that I’m somehow broken and damaged goods? I guess I feel like ‘autism’ fits into 2 categories:

  • ‘Neurdiversity’
  • Brain Impairment/damage

And I guess my question is, who gets to decide which is which? where do we draw the line? I don’t really know. But it seems as if the traits for ‘aspergers’ run in my family (Both sides of the family show a bit, though it’s a bit stronger on my fathers side). My father isn’t ‘diagnosed’, but I’ll eat my hat if anyone tries to tell me he doesn’t fit the bill.

My grandfather, on the other hand, is where it intrigues me. He has traits like, say: obsession with ritual and routine, It has to be this milk, that butter. Actually, remember a rather sad if funny conversation. He was tasked with getting “hot choc” on the shopping list. So, what does he do? Finds a brand of hot chocolate with those exact words written on it.

Now, why the quotation marks? Well, isn’t it just a set of personality traits that society has deemed undesirable? We have disorders like “Oppositional Defiant disorder”, for example. So someone doesn’t blindly obey an adult just because they were told to? What if they think their orders make no sense? Ugh. I hate that people don’t understand that. It’s not about being defiant or authority or and of that nonsense! We just don’t follow systems we perceive to be broken.

The saddest part is we’re actually quite loyal, provided you treat us with some respect. we’ll happily go make you a cup of coffee, or fetch your mail.

I’m not brain damaged, and I rather dislike the sneaky way i which people who don’t conform to social norms are gradually becoming medicalised. When did eccentric become autistic?

Thanks for reading.

5 thoughts on “Why has Autism Been turned into an umbrella diagnosis?”

  2. I came across a good quote the other day, I can’t remember the source, “Two percent of people think. Five percent of people think they think. And the rest of the people would rather die than have to think.”.

    I looked up Asperger’s Syndrome recently in response to one of your earlier posts and came across this website
    http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/about-aspergers/what-is-aspergers
    Here are a couple of lines from it…

    Difficulty making friends and often teased by other children.
    Unusual language abilities that include advanced vocabulary and syntax but delayed conversation skills, unusual prosody and a tendency to be pedantic.
    An unusual profile of learning abilities.
    Sensitivity to specific sounds, aromas, textures or touch
    Problems knowing when something may cause embarrassment.
    A longer time to process social information, due to using intelligence rather than intuition.
    ………..From my clinical experience I consider that children and adults with Aspergers Syndrome have a different, not defective, way of thinking.

    Is the condition always associated with a lack of physical coordination? I suspect there is always going to be a problem with definitions. Conditions with similar symptoms may have unrelated causes. I am thinking of those historical cases of Feral children, discovered to have survived in forests for years without human society and brought back into society. They could never be taught to speak afterwards. Were they rejected because they were retarded or were they retarded because they were rejected? Or could either cause have the same result.

    Are you familiar with the Tarot of Marseilles? If you can, find an image of the LE FOL card in the Jack Dodal edition or even better, the Jean Noblet edition and see if you agree it might depict a figure with an Asperger’s like condition. (I have read that LE FOL does not mean ‘Fool’ but derives from a latin word for ‘wind’.

    I refuse to drink fluoridated water too. You are right about that. I have a friend who agrees absolutely that fluoride is a poison but drinks it anyway and won’t even invest $150 to buy a water distiller. Most people don’t care. 2%, 5% and the rest. Knowing something is not the same as the ability to think.

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    1. Okay, Where to begin. So, about physical coordination. I’m not 100% sure it has to be present, But for Aspergers it is alarmingly common. I’m terribly clumsy, always running into things and moving in a rather strange fashion. To be honest, I’m starting to wonder if it’s because my connection to the physical plane is weaker than most. If that was true, it would explain many things. Maybe I will write about that later.
      And yeah, about that idea: My mother was told by ‘experts’ I would never learn to do anything, I would nee everything! In my experience people don’t even try, they just give up before they even start. So the latter statement seems to be true in my experience.
      The only reason I’m as functional as I am is because people tried. Really, really hard.

      We are like grown up children. That’s really the best way to describe it. I reminds me of this bible verse:
      And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” THe bible while being distorted is still filled with wisdom.
      Tarot? To be honest, I haven’t really delved much into it. I know of the ‘fool’, yeah. Just had another look for you though. The fool seems to be called LE MAT, though. Is this the desk you mean?
      http://www.tarotlore.com/marseille-tarot-cards/the-fool/
      I think it does, in a way. There is a naivete that can’t be denied and a sort of divine protection watching over us. Trust me. I’d swear the heavens are watching out for me. the idea of it meaning wind makes sense to me.
      Oh, and that friend of yours reminds me about mark passio’s semminar you got me onto. (okay, it wasn’t that dumb, I often come across the wrong way) Knowledge is simply the beginning of the journey. To move forward, Action is required. hmmm.. Masculine energy.

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  3. An excellent and fascinating post, Sage.
    Oh when I was a teacher how my blood used to boil when the ‘experts’ bandied around their cocktail of ‘disorders’ – ESPECIALLY ODD!! Once taught a boy diagnosed with that who was slung out of classes right, left and centre, just because he was way more intelligent than the teachers, and had the audacity to tell them when they got things wrong! The ‘neurotypical’ population can be so stupid and reactionary sometimes. I’m embarrassed for my kind. We NEED neurodiversity to breath life and new ideas into our species, and you are right in all you say here.
    Keep speaking out!

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