{"id":70,"date":"2007-01-02T07:34:59","date_gmt":"2007-01-02T07:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lucarinfo.com\/czblog\/wrongplanet-aspergers-and-the-cheshire-cat\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T21:45:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:45:33","slug":"wrongplanet-aspergers-and-the-cheshire-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lucarinfo.com\/czblog\/wrongplanet-aspergers-and-the-cheshire-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"WrongPlanet Asperger’s and the Cheshire Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

WrongPlanet.net – my birthday is for everyone else. <\/strong>https:\/\/www.wrongplanet.net\/article350.html<\/p>\n

The person making the post, and many of the people commenting, are\u00a0ranting about not being\u00a0party animals.\u00a0Hate to break the news to these guys, but I don’t think\u00a0it’s\u00a0exclusively an aspie problem. Wonder if they even are\u00a0aspie, considering all the parties\u00a0they’re being invited to that they don’t want to attend!<\/p>\n

Think Asperger’s, along with a host of other psychiatric disorders like ADHD and PDD-NOS,\u00a0are\u00a0being overdiagnosed. I don’t believe Asperger’s is\u00a0a lack of social skills – there are plenty of socially awkward NTs out there,\u00a0nor is it not\u00a0enjoying parties – do they seriously believe\u00a0all NTs enjoy parties? Extroverts may enjoy parties.\u00a0But then there are the introverts, the shy, the socially phobic,\u00a0inhibited, or inept, the highly sensitive, the geek or\u00a0nerd, who try to avoid parties\u00a0whenever they can. That is, if they even get invited to any parties to begin with.<\/p>\n

Reminds me of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland who was convinced he was mad (crazy)\u00a0because his behavior was the exact opposite of a dog’s. As he said to Alice when she asked him how he knew he was mad –<\/p>\n

‘To begin with,’ said the Cat, `a dog’s not mad. You grant that?’<\/p>\n

`I suppose so,’ said Alice.<\/p>\n

`Well, then,’ the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.’<\/p>\n

`I call it purring, not growling,’ said Alice.<\/p>\n

`Call it what you like,’ said the Cat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The problem with the Cheshire cat wasn’t that he didn’t behave like a dog, (regardless of what his\u00a0psychiatrist might have told him). His problem was that he didn’t realize he was a cat, and it’s\u00a0alright to behave like\u00a0a cat when you’re a cat. His problem was that his identity had more to do with not being a dog than with being a cat.\u00a0In fact, he was so out of touch with being a cat, that he didn’t even know or care what purring was. (Sounds a lot like psychiatry to me!)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asperger’s is not a disease<\/em>, they say on the site and bravo for them! But I don’t believe\u00a0what they’re describing\u00a0warrants\u00a0 any label either, except for\u00a0perhaps\u00a0allowing themselves to be\u00a0misled by\u00a0those unfortunate souls\u00a0with psychiatry disorder,\u00a0psychiatrists –\u00a0https:\/\/isnt.autistics.org\/dsn-psy.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0(DSN-IV – Psychotic Disorders – 669.xx Psychiatry Disorder.<\/p>\n

A. Delusional thought patterns, consisting of at least two of the following:<\/p>\n