posted March 03, 2008 02:12 PM         

Poor coordination,left/right confusion,memory
issues,disorganization,and speech irregularities are not just symptoms
of psychotic disorders but they are also symptoms of learning
disabilities. It was these issues that got me misdiagnosed as a
schizoaffective bipolar in 1999 by psychiatrists.They never did any psychological
testing nor neurological testing.

I created a petition to stop the misdiagnosing of neurodivergents and
prevent the unnecessary medicating which can cause serious damage on
an emotional and physical level. This would involving having
psychiatrists to have their patients undergo psychological and
neurological testing and not just go by observations. You can't judge
a book by its cover. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-misdiagnosing-of-neurodivergents

Aspergers is listed as one of the conditions misdiagnosed Bipolar in
the book,THE BIPOLAR CHILD by The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to
Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder by Demitri Papolos M.D.,
Janice Papolos, Janice Papolos,Janice Papolos. I actually copied the
characteristics of Bipolar children and gave alternative explanations
that could be linked to neurodivergent conditions. One of the common
characteristics of bipolar children listed in the book was learning
disabilities which pretty much supports my belief that a lot of
learning disabled are getting diagnosed as having bipolar. One of the
very common characteristics of bipolar are oversensitivity to
environmental influences,and learning disabled people are highly
sensitive. How many learning disabled children act out,
misbehave,throw temper tantrums,lash out,pout,and/or cry because they
are frustrated,stressed,angry,irritable,and overwhelmed from problems
with processing information that leads to being
misunderstood,teased,ridiculed,and criticized. A whole lot. I
definitely was no different. Where is the common sense in regards to
learning disabled children having secondary psychological symptoms? It
just seems like there is very little of it. Learning disabled children
grow up to be learning disabled adults,and many of them have secondary
psychological problems. I definitely was no different. There is
definitely a significant overlap between learning disabilities and
mental health problems.

Children with learning disabilities are prone to chronic depression.
Older adolescents and adults tend to become withdrawn. They may be
quiet or become agitated, irritable, and angry; they may also look sad
and talk about their sadness. Young children, on the other hand, tend
to exhibit non-verbal clues and express their emotional struggles more
by their behavior than by talking. A major depression typically lasts
several weeks and may be intense. Mild chronic depression (dysthymia)
may last for an extended period of time and frequently appears to be
an aspect of a child's usual moods and personality. http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/mental_health/depression.asp

Learning Disabilities Association of America

There's all sorts of research in the field to suggest and support the
concomitance of learning disabilities and mental health problems.
Several recent studies show that 50% of individuals diagnosed with
learning disabilities have scores above the clinical range on a well
known depression scale. One thing we know is that attentional problems
are a common feature of both. Another study summary says, Teachers
have long known and reported that students with learning disabilities
at lower educational levels have similar but more, and more severe,
depression, than their peers without learning disabilities. There's no
reason to think this link disappears with age. In fact, it becomes
more urgent. And the stakes are higher. Failure to remediate at this
adult stage has more serious consequences. http://dyslexia.mtsu.edu/modules/articles/displayarticle.jsp?id=17

About 75 percent of dropouts have trouble reading, according to
research conducted by Reid Lyon of the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development. About half of adolescents with criminal
records and substance abuse histories have reading problems, according
to a study published by the National Institutes of Health in 2001. http://www.hopelit.com/Star-telegram.htm

Social Skills Deficits in Learning Disabilities:The Psychiatric
Comorbidity Hypothesis http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/mentpsych.html

For some the humiliation becomes too much. In one study, Peck found
that over 50 percent of all suicides under age fifteen in Los Angeles
County had been previously diagnosed as having learning disabilities.
The actual percentage of youngsters labeled "learning disabled" in
most school districts in the United States is below 5 percent;
therefore, it seems clear that youngsters with learning disabilities
constitute a disproportionately large percentage of adolescent
suicides compared with the general adolescent population.

Results from a study in the U.S.A. by the National Center for State
Courts demonstrated that youths with LD were 200 percent more likely
to be arrested than nondisabled peers for comparable offences.
According to the U.S. Department of Education 60 percent of America's
prison inmates are illiterate and 85 percent of all juvenile offenders
have reading problems. http://www.audiblox.com/learning_disabilities.htm

Social and Emotional Problems Related to Dyslexia
Depression is also a frequent complication in dyslexia. Although most
dyslexics are not depressed, children with this kind of learning
disability are at higher risk for intense feelings of sorrow and pain.
Perhaps because of their low self-esteem, dyslexics are afraid to turn
their anger toward their environment and instead turn it toward
themselves.

However, depressed children and adolescents often have different
symptoms than do depressed
adults. The depressed child is unlikely to be lethargic or to talk
about feeling sad. Instead he or she may become more active or
misbehave to cover up the painful feelings. In the case of masked
depression, the child may not seem
obviously unhappy. However, both children and adults who are depressed
tend to have three similar characteristics:

#9642; First, they tend to have negative thoughts about themselves, i.e. a
negative self-image.

#9642; Second, they tend to view the world negatively. They are less likely
to enjoy the positive experiences in life. This makes it difficult for
them to have fun.

#9642; Finally, most depressed youngsters have great trouble imagining
anything positive about the future. The depressed dyslexic not only
experiences great pain in his present experiences, but also foresees a
life of continuing failure. http://www.interdys.org/FactSheets.htm

Children with both dyslexia and ADD are at dramatically increased risk
for substance abuse and felony convictions if they do not receive
appropriate interventions. http://www.dys-add.com/nowknow.html

ADHD and Antipsychotic Drugs
Studies conducted at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.,
suggest that the drugs are routinely prescribed for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=61845

More research needed
There has been little carefully controlled, long-term research on
children taking most psychiatric drugs, including the atypical
antipsychotics. The FDA is trying to get more pediatric research on
the atypicals, says Thomas Laughren, the agency's director of the
psychiatry products division.
The FDA has asked five pharmaceutical companies that make the drugs to
test them in children with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the
uses they're approved for in adults. Under law, they can get a
six-month extension on their patents for doing these studies.
Also, the drug companies are doing their own pediatric studies on
children with disorders as diverse as ADHD, autism, conduct disorder
and Tourette's syndrome.
Janssen LP has applied to the FDA for approval to use its atypical
antipsychotic, Risperdal, in the treatment of symptoms of autism, says
Ramy Mahmoud, vice president of medical affairs for Janssen. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-01-adult-antipsychotics-kids_x.htm

July 1, 2005 -- The antipsychotic drug Risperdal may cut aggressive
behavior in children with autism.
That effect was reported in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
Researchers including James McCracken, MD, of the University of
California at Los Angeles (UCLA), studied Risperdal and autism. http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20050701/antipsychotic-drug-may-help-kids-w ith-autism

Could a lot of Schizophrenics be actually misdiagnosed
Dylsexics,Dyspraxics,ADHDers,Aspergers? I believe so!

Patients with schizophrenia are likely to have problems reading,
reveals a study that shows some may even have impairments similar to
those seen in patients with dyslexia. http://www.patienthealthinternational.com/ncm.aspx?type=news¶m=14509

The ability to recognize objects is a fundamental cognitive task in
every sensory modality, e.g., for friend/foe discrimination, social
communication, reading, or hearing, and its loss or impairment is
associated with a number of neural disorders (e.g., in autism,
dyslexia, or schizophrenia). http://neuro.georgetown.edu/faculty/riesenhuber.htm

History: Most children who develop schizophrenia have disturbances of
behavior and cognition prior to the onset of characteristic symptoms
of psychosis. Delays in speech and language and delays in acquisition
of motor milestones are noted in approximately one half of these
children. Children who develop schizophrenia have higher rates of
impaired social skills and school achievement prior to presenting
signs of schizophrenia http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2057.htm
(Delays in Speech and language are signs of Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,and
Autism. Delays in acquisition of motor milestones are signs of
Dyspraxia. Impaired social skills are signs of Aspergers,Autistics.
Impaired school achievement is common in Dyslexics,Dyspraxics,ADHDers.)

Language Disorder In Schizophrenia As A Developmental Disorder by Ruth
Condray
Language disorder is increasingly understood to be an important
characteristic of schizophrenia. The
hypothesis advanced here is that receptive language disorder in
schizophrenia represents a learning
disorder that involves a neurodevelopmental etiology. It is argued
that receptive language disorder may
involve a preexisting developmental reading disorder for a subgroup of
schizophrenia patients. Whether the
language disorder of schizophrenia is equivalent,phenotypically and
etiologically, to the language
disorder of dyslexia is an open question. Although schizophrenia and
dyslexia are separate clinical
disorders, independent lines of evidence are suggestive of parallels
between their hallmark features,
cognitive dysfunction, and potential pathophysiology. http://www.wpic.pitt.edu/research/biome trics/Publications/Biometrics%20Archives%20PDF/890-2005%20Condary%20Sz%20Res%20Lang%20Disord.pdf

Raymond Andrews

member of International Dyslexia Association,Learning Disability
Association,The Dyslexia Foundation, National Association for the
Education of African American Children with Learning Disabilities and
donate to National Center of Learning Disabilities,Hello Friend/Ennis
Cosby Foundation, Dyspraxia USA, and The National Center for Learning Disabilities

posted March 04, 2008 06:33 PM         

You know.....my petition is for a great cause. I don't know about you,but I sick and tired of people misdiagnosed and put on medication because they don't fit the norms of society.

Too many children are on medications. They approve antipsychotics for autism. Autistics aren't psychotic. Therefore, it makes no sense to give autistics antipsychotics. Psychiatric medications are given off-label to children to treat other things.

posted March 04, 2008 11:20 PM         

Part of the problem is the brain is very complex, and things haven't quite been unraveled yet as far as function goes. There are a lot of assocatiations between disorders, one may cause another, they may be related. There's so many different causes, genetic, environmental, viral. I agree that mental health is currently dominated by pharmaceuticals, which is disgusting and probably not helping a lot of people. IN fact, I"m not full convinced that ADHD is an actual disease, considering many adults who had ADHD are fully functional. Regardless, psychotropic medications can make life infinitely more livable for many people struggling with crippling disorders. Medication is not bad, in itself.

I think its important that you are involved in increasing awareness of psychiatric conditions and the difference between a learning disability and a mental disorder.

Unfortunately, this is an astrology forum and most of what you're saying will fall on deaf ears, simply because of the nature of the board.

People on this board are interested in bach flower essence and crystal healing, not in learning disabilities, at least typically.

Perhaps if you want a more involved discussion, a mental health or learning disability board would suit your purpose better.

I only say this because you seem frustrated at the lack of response. I take from your many many posts that you have a lot anxiety about your own learning disabilities. Your lexia, praxia, etc...but I think people quickly reach a point where they really dont' care. People care as much about you as you care about them. Which in most cases, especially on an anonymous message board, is not that much.

posted March 04, 2008 11:41 PM         

the forum says health and healing
It doesn't say Astrology.

I was talking about mental health matters. I'd say that fits in there with health and healing.

I am not anxious about my Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,ADD. I have gained more awareness about myself in regards to them,and so I don't believe that I am stupid any more and know that I am very intelligent like many other neurodivergents are. I realize that they have their gifts too like outside the box,lateral,imaginative,visualizing,intuitive, multidimensional thinking as well as highly sensitive and sympathetic with others who don't fit the norms of society. I even believe that they help me be a very good astrologer. However, I do have a diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder,Dysthymic Disorder,and Avoidant Personality Disorder which I believe are secondary and a psychological fall out from my Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,ADD. I try to keep that all in check.

I care a lot about people in general too. That's what motivates me to help people. I have done free astrology readings,reports for years. I do try to help people in the Linda Goodman forum. not as much as I used to, because I had problems with a few people who were very condescending,patronizing to me(like telling me what my lessons are based on just my Scorpio sunsign and invalidated my Pisces traits even though I told them how I relate to Pisces and how I felt strong connection through my late maternal grandfather through his Moon in Pisces), and so I left the forum for awhile. Since I came back, I don't try to post as much. I don't get so involved with synastry readings like I did in the past. If I see something that I disagree with,I don't respond. I used to disagree with certain posts,and elaborate my reasons.

I have never charged as an astrologer,and I never will. I don't believe that being a professional astrologer is my path,and I also care about not sticking out to much from the mainstream. I have security reasons too. I believe that being a neurodivergent,neurodiversity advocate is my life purpose.

I was just hoping that somebody would care to read what I posted and check out my petition and even sign it. It's for a great cause. A very important cause. The psychiatric misdiagnosing and medicating is something that many people are against.....not just Scientology. It's a human rights,civil rights issue.

That's all I have to say.

posted March 05, 2008 12:01 AM         

I like to start reading your posts because you have an interesting perspective, but then you launch into the same monologue and I stop reading.

posted March 05, 2008 12:05 AM         

If you don't like to read what I write,then just ignore it. It's not a crime to write about neurodivergent conditions. If there are a talking about astrological aspects and placements or stuff, I talk about what they indicate in the chart for me. I am very interested in neurodivergent indicators in chart....after all I am psychologically oriented Astrologer.

I don't friggen mention them in every friggen post. so quit exaggerating.so don't even go there!
Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,and ADD is NOTHING like hemmrhoids

I don't give a damn if people do the same thing that I do, they are not hurting me nor putting me down.

I guess that I am just a lot more tolerant,and so it doesn't bother me if people write "repetive" posts. I will read all kinds of stuff.

I helped that one lady whose son is Aspergers. I even pointed out that they have their gifts. I listed the positives of Aspergers. People focus on the negatives of Aspergers,Autism and think that it's a disorder that needs to be cured. The same thing with other neurodivergent conditions.

It's Aspergers,Autistics who came up with Neurodiversity Movement which I strongly support.

posted March 05, 2008 01:21 PM         

It's my experiences of being Dyslexic,Dyspraxic,ADD,special education that factors the most in why I believe/practice treating others like I want to be treated --- a fellow human bing with a soul.

also....my multethnic Black,White,Hispanic,Native American ancestry also factors into my treating others like I want to be treated too.

the same with my being a male that doesn't fit the male stereotype.

They helped me learn lessons of tolerance of diversity. They motivate me to stand up for myself/others and believe in civil,equal,human rights.

Intolerance of diversity is the greatest problem on our planet.

posted March 09, 2008 06:06 AM         

http://www.oliversacks.com/

It was a while ago, but I think he was talking about Tourette's Syndrome when he said about the most and least tolerant places to live if you have TS. The least was Japan, the most was (surprise, surprise) The Netherlands.

This could be wrong, like I said, it was a while ago.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat - a friend bought it for me as a present. Don't know why, he was a scientist, maybe he thought I needed educating.

From his website:

THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT

Here Dr. Sacks recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders: people afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations; patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents.

If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales remain, in Dr. Sacks's splendid and sympathetic telling, deeply human. They are studies of life struggling against incredible adversity, and they enable us to enter the world of the neurologically impaired, to imagine with our hearts what it must be to live and feel as they do.

posted March 26, 2008 01:10 PM         

I never head of him nor his book.

The stuff that you told me is very interesting.

it seems that Tourette Syndrome is also neurodivergence. I should add that to my list.
I created a neurodiversity blog at tribenet so people can read information about neurodivergent conditions.

posted March 27, 2008 02:02 AM         

Real Freedom is Living Outside the NT Box
A.J. Mahari

Adults with Asperger's Sydrome (AS) really know what it is to live life and to exist, be and differently function outside of the Neuro-Typcial (NT) box which is all-too-often held up as the measure by which we all must be held to standard. It is the measure used to determine value and worth, success and failure. It is the box that traps the NT and those with AS live much richer lives and should not be tarnished with this brush of judgment.

Monism, which is the doctrine that mind and matter are formed from, or reducible to, the same ultimate substance or principle of being, can be assimilated into an understanding of what it is like to be an adult with Asperger's Syndrome (AS). It speaks to the reality that life is not some "other defined box" into which we must all fit. We, as beings, within this human realm with all of its incumbent nature cannot and should not be reduced to a single principle or way of being.

Human nature to varying degrees conditions human knowledge. Knowledge is inherently derived from what we are taught and what we experience. It can also be postulated that knowledge is also derived from our intuition, our spiritual essence. How we learn, how we process, how we experience concepts, precepts, and datum drive the ways in which we come to a working and ongoing understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Ashok Tiwari - in "Real Freedom, A Philosophical View, on the following website www.geocities.com/ashokktiwari/freedom.html asserts that, "Monism does not see, behind man's actions, the purposes of a supreme directorate, foreign to him and determining him according to its will, but rather sees that men, in so far as they realize their intuitive ideas, pursue only their own human ends. Moreover, each individual pursues his own particular ends. For the world of ideas comes to expression, not in a community of men, but only in human individuals. What appears as the common goal of a whole group of people is only the result of the separate acts of will of its individual members..."

So, what I am driving at here is simply this: People with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) live outside the box of the "whole group", or society in general. This is seen, viewed, and defined by most as being "less than" and/or dysfunctional. When, in truth, what this really means is that those with AS are living lives that are of a different nature than those who are neuro-typical (NT). What the majority, in this case, NT's, have in common, is all-too-often (if not always) seen and defined as "normal" leaving anyone, anything, or any difference in values, morals, goals, life choices, paths in life and so forth being categorized as unsuccessful or not valuable in accordance with a monistic view that rejects the metaphysical philosophy of freedom.

Freedom like a stone, in the eyes of some perhaps, but freedom nonetheless.

We are only as free, in this world, as our thoughts and understanding will allow us to be. Those of us with Asperger's are in some ways freer than the average NT who ascribes wholly to the datum which espouses the kind of like-mindedness required to chase the 9-5 definition of both functionality and success.

To live outside of this cherished box is seen as the equivalent of being a failure. To society, it is defined as failing to do what an adult is supposed to do. It is viewed as a disability. I have struggled with this freedom-robbing reality all of my life. I am just now coming to a place of burgeoning freedom, understanding, and personal acceptance. I am coming to truly accept what it means to have Asperger's Syndrome, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am now a strong believer in the inherent difference between how I process information, view the world, function, contribute to the world around me, play my part, accomplish, and so forth, as an individual. No doubt that the Asperger way is much more unique (often seen as "weird") but it is nonetheless totally a worthy and valuable way of being firstly, being in the world secondly, of processing information thirdly, and fourthly of relating.

If some of us didn't live outside of the box, whatever you define that box to be, how would the rest of you come to know that box so well? I don't judge those who live in the box so why judge me for not living there?

It is the inability that I have to be a part of the masses in many ways that actually is valuable and makes me tick so to speak. The reality of the metaphysical masses assumes that reality is a unified whole and that all existing things can be ascribed to or described by a single concept or system. A single way of doing things. A single way of being in the world - being social - being driven by a set of common values, morals, and a code of conduct.

Those of us with Asperger's Syndrome, to varying degrees, live outside of this single way conceiving, thinking, understanding, acquiring knowledge, functioning or being. This reality does not make us any less. In fact, many would argue it makes us a whole lot more. It makes us more individual. We walk to the beat of our own drummers. Not all that is eccentric is negative. Not all that is not part of the main is negative.

Those of us with AS have a different nature. We have to be true to our natures just as NT's have to be true to their natures. To all adults, like me, with Asperger's I say, be sure to celebrate your differences and not get caught up in the "I'm supposed to be like everyone else" kind of thinking. There truly is not, despite the rhetoric spouted from so many areas of life, any everyone else, at all.

Gregory B. Yates, in his writing, "A Topological Theory of Autism," - the website - www.autismtheory.org/topotheory.html says, "Autism emerges as a major feature of brain evolution: It is generally not a disease. Autism has been with humans as long as humans have been and has marked human history."

Yates makes it clear that the central defining feature of autism is social disconnectedness. Yates points out that, "The name "autism" derives from the Greek word "auto" for self, and proclaims the apparent mental involution or self-absorption of autistic people."

As one who has to a certain degree experienced (and I continue to experience) what Yates describes as an "apparent mental involution" along with a dose of "self-absorption" I do not agree that how these are from the inside out are the same as how they are defined from those on the outside, looking in and trying to understand.

There is an awesome gift in the form of AS mental involution. I experience that gift in many different ways not the least of which is the way that I crave and process information.

I would also assert that not all that is involuted is negative either. Just as all that is exuded is not all positive or negative.

Just as the words of Ashok Tiwari, in "Real Freedom, A Philosophical View, "...men, in so far as they realize their intuitive ideas, pursue only their own human ends. Moreover, each individual pursues his own particular ends. For the world of ideas comes to expression, not in a community of men, but only in human individuals..." point out self-absorption is not reserved only for those who are autistic of have Asperger's but is to some degree a part of the human condition.

What then, I ask, is the difference between the pursuits of those with Asperger's, such as myself, for example, and the pursuits of others? Though some want to make these worlds or realities so different I postulate that there is more similarity than difference.

Being in one's own world, to whatever degree one is socially disconnected, or different, can be one of the most single freeing experiences that a human being can hope to attain. Not all that glitters is gold. Just as not all that appears to be negative or is judged as negative or a lack is in fact the negative lack of anything.

Conversely, what I know about Asperger's Syndrome from the inside out is that the reverse is actually true more often than not. What professionals and others deem to be such lack of functioning (which is really more to speak to a lack of "fitting in") is for me the antithesis, of free-thinking, freedom of self-expression, a very strong ability not only to process information but to assimilate it and take things further than most give effort to thinking about in a 9-5 box.

Living outside the box has its inherent burdens but the benefits, in my experience, far outweigh them.

As an adult with Asperger's Syndrome the freedom that exists outside the box is profound and cherished. As I keep pushing the limits of my box-free existence I continue to find more and more to celebrate and less and less to feel inadequate about.

This process of self-acceptance is very much about not buying into the "party line". Know that what appears to be the "common goal of the whole group" or a norm of our collective culture is really underneath it all a reflection of a mass mentality that seeks to undo the inherent essence of spiritual being -- and our freedom to be as individual as we want to be or need to be.