Asperger's Syndrome: Difference between revisions
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There are a number of common fallacies, misconceptions and outright lies surrounding Asperger's and other autism spectrum disorders. These '''common misconceptions''' include:
* '''It doesn't exist'''. Yes, there are false diagnoses (and many more false self-diagnoses). If every condition which had those didn't actually exist, we wouldn't need doctors. That said, according to the DSM-V Asperger's Syndrome doesn't exist (although the DSM-V does still consider autism to exist). That change to the DSM-V is quite controversial. Asperger's Syndrome is still in the ICD-10.
* '''[[The Rainman|Social disability means talent in a particular field]]'''. One of the most popular misconceptions on Asperger's Syndrome, made worse by how [[Word of God|Hans Asperger himself]] described these people as "Little Professors". While a persistent obsession with any particular subject that leads to lots of study and practice in that subject may help in getting really good at it, people with AS are otherwise generally no more or less talented in anything than anyone else could become with that much study. How famous geniuses (supposedly) had Asperger's (e.g. [[Albert Einstein]] adds to the problem, and this of course attracts antisocial people to self-diagnose themselves with Asperger's, causing the syndrome as a whole to be associated with...
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* '''Lack of Imagination'''. Related to [[No Sense of Humour]] above, it is frequently reported that people with Asperger's have little to no imagination, but this is verging on [[Critical Research Failure]]. The misconception seems to stem from the fact that children with Asperger's are less like to engage in imaginative play - such as 'Doctors and Nurses', 'Mums and Dads' - with other kids, because they spend more time alone. The truth is that most Aspies have a detailed internal imagination, capable of creating entire worlds with which to entertain themselves while alone, sometimes bordering into [[Cloudcuckoolander]] territory. The 'lack of imagination' may be based on a need for a 'trigger' (such as a favourite cartoon show) or the need for their imaginary world to be absolutely perfect within their internal thoughtscape.
* '''Caused by vaccines'''. Children lucky enough to receive regular vaccinations tend to also be lucky enough to have access to counselors and psychologists who can diagnose autism spectrum disorders. That debunks literally the only 'evidence' for this theory.<br /><br />A lot of the 'evidence' is people confusing [http://w.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3254 correlation]{{Dead link}} with [http://w.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2741 causation]{{Dead link}}, people not considering [http://w.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2024 broadening diagnostic criteria and increased awareness]{{Dead link}} as a possible reason for the apparent increase of autism prevalence, and [http://w.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=370 one thoroughly discredited study]{{Dead link}} that is contradicted by an avalanche of other studies. The case against ''Caused by vaccines'' is not that difficult to grasp, yet many people remain convinced it's all caused by jabs, which is leading to [http://w.jennymccarthybodycount.com/Jenny_McCarthy_Body_Count/Home.html some pretty nasty stuff]{{Dead link}}.<br /><br />The idea that the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine causes autism is particularly tragic, as women contracting rubella while pregnant is one of the few known causes of autism, yet that is entirely preventable through inoculation. The guy who did the MMR study, Andrew Wakefield, was struck off the British medical register for ethics violations. Some people still believe he's an honest man punished by Big Pharma for dissenting against them.
* '''Caused by _____'''. While research continues (see below) and some of it is beginning to suggest several very plausible explanations for what causes Asperger's Syndrome, nothing has conclusively been shown to be ''the'' cause of every case of it. It's also possible that each genuine case of it has a completely different cause, or a different combination of multiple causes. People with Asperger's syndrome are not only different from other kinds of people, but often from each other as well. Research also continues into whether people have Asperger's Syndrome from birth, develop it at some time later in their early childhood, or both.
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