Asperger’s Syndrome is an incredibly nuanced, complex, psychiatric disorder. So many of its symptoms manifest through what appears to be a high intellect and an inability to relate to others. We get confused by the intellectual aspects of Asperger’s thinking a person with this disorder should be smart enough, know better, and behave right. We are not here to make excuses for bad behavior or justify violent and/or criminal acts. What we are trying to do is recognize when psychiatric disorders cause a person to think, feel, and act in certain ways. Nowhere is this process of discovery more challenging and intriguing then in working with and studying Asperger’s Syndrome. Read more…
Michael Burry always saw the world differently—due, he believed, to the childhood loss of one eye. So when the 32-year-old investor spotted the huge bubble in the subprime-mortgage bond market, in 2004, then created a way to bet against it, he wasn’t surprised that no one understood what he was doing. In an excerpt from his new book, The Big Short, the author charts Burry’s oddball maneuvers, his almost comical dealings with Goldman Sachs and other banks as the market collapsed, and the true reason for his visionary obsession.
Michael Lewis discusses his book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, mentioning an Asperger’s Syndrome investor who made tons of money by betting against the high stakes dysfunctional risk built into the financial market leading up to its collapse.
Temple Grandin is our greatest teacher for what it means to have autism, be a person with Asperger’s, and how to see, perceive, and think about the world around us. Her ability to describe and explain autistic perceptions and thinking revolutionizes our understanding of not only autism, but what it means to be human and have unique potential as well. Working with people diagnosed with Asperger’s has been one of the privileges of my life. My own ability to see, perceive, and feel the world more deeply and with greater sensitivity while finding the potential within each human being comes in large part from the time I’ve spent with them. To see the world more concretely and with less abstractions, beautiful.
(Check out the many other Temple Grandin videos here.)
So, what I’m going the long way to say, is that I never had an issue, as some do, with calling myself autistic. It was the first label I came in contact with…and is shared with others whom I admire and feel a kinship to, such as Temple Grandin.
As a label, Asperger’s has done well by me, too. It is a strong identity – one that’s been groomed to have more positive connotations than some other diagnostic labels. Because of that, there are those that feel that replacing the Asperger’s label with an autism label would change people’s perceptions too greatly. That it will lower peoples’ expectations of our abilities through negative connotations.
Perhaps I’m naive…but I like to hope that the opposite will be true. That maybe some of the optimism that some apply to the Asperger’s label can be absorbed into the autism label. And maybe, it will encourage us to look at abilities more fluidly, and see that ability is not black or white.
(Find the illustration and other responses to Asperger’s becoming a part of the Autism Spectrum in the NYT article “A Question About a Diagnosis.”)
We can attest to the amazing skill sets people diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome possess. What has been missing for so long when evaluating someone who has an Asperger’s diagnosis is the tremendous assets he has and how to utilize them. The tendency is to marginalize a person with a condition like Asperger’s and not allow him to thrive in an environment that capitalizes on who he is and how he views the world around him. NPR has a post titled “For Some Jobs, Asperger’s Syndrome Can Be An Asset” that gives us hope that things can change for the better in this regard. Here is an excerpt.
Statistics on the unemployed have been dominating the news for months.
And while the current portrait of the jobless might seem dire, consider this: According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 20 percent of the disabled population in the country has work.
But Aspiritech, a nonprofit in the suburbs of Chicago, is trying to help improve the job outlook for people with Asperger’s and high-functioning autism.
The company trains people in data entry and computer program testing — skills that come naturally to many with the disorder.
A new child diagnosis of Temper Dysregulation Disorder with Dysphoria has been added. If this seems unremarkable it’s actually big slap in the face for a small but vocal group of US psychiatrists who have been pushing the idea of ‘child bipolar disorder’ – arguing that sad children who have tantrums are showing a juvenile form of ‘manic depression’.
This has become popular, almost entirely in the US, and has led to the alarming rise in children taking antipsychotics. The LA Times reports that this new diagnosis has been created in large part to stop kids being diagnosed with child bipolar. That’s the slap.
One of the most controversial proposals was to identify “risk syndromes,” that is, a risk of developing a disorder like schizophrenia or dementia. Studies of teenagers identified as at high risk of developing psychosis, for instance, find that 70 percent or more in fact do not come down with the disorder.
“I completely understand the idea of trying to catch something early,” Dr. First said, “but there’s a huge potential that many unusual, semi-deviant, creative kids could fall under this umbrella and carry this label for the rest of their lives.”
Here is a list of posts on the DSM-V draft release:
Instead of including a diagnostic category for Asperger’s, the DSM-V draft includes traits associated with Asperger’s, such as difficulty with social interactions and limited, repetitive behaviors, in a broad category called autism spectrum disorder.
The goal of this site and our work is to identify the many ways we name and treat ourselves, others, and the world around us. On our home page you can find interesting commentary and research about what is going on in homes, schools, consulting rooms, courtrooms, laboratories, workplaces and the culture. As consultants through our agency we help individuals, couples, children and families (re)claim a more stable and sustainable path forward in their lives.
Our dedication is to finding what we call realistic hope and establishing accountability whenever and wherever possible. We look forward to hearing back from you in an effort to build awareness and community around the challenges we must face together and for our children. It is in the spirit of healing that we welcome you.
Katy Gaddess PI, MFT
Investigator, Therapist, Social Worker
Jeff Gaddess PhD, MA
Consultant, Case Analyst, Cultural Mythologist
The content of this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be and should not be used in place of the advice of your therapist, psychiatrist, attorney, physician or other medical professional. K and J Investigations and Case Management does not provide clinical advice on this blog, nor should its contents be considered clinical advice. Should you have any healthcare-related questions, please call or see your physician or other healthcare provider promptly. For additional information please read our terms of service and privacy policy.
