A word about Mendelsohnn's syndrome

[Myrtonos]

Has anyone here heard about the occasional autistic person that stands out even among the autistic community, possibly no less so than in the general population, and not only NTs but even other aspies/auties find them creepy, annoying or odd? They may have something called Mendelsohnn's syndrome, a schizotypal autistic spectrum disorder similar to asperger's syndrome, there is more info on wikipedia.

It seems that many posters here are in fact mainstream aspies. Judging from how late many of them were diagnosed, many seem to have gone through school normally, without aides, and if they acheived much social success without mentors, the same seems to be the case with most celebrities suspected to be or diagnosed as being on the spectrum. As far as I know, those with Mendelsohnn's would not have such normal lives.

Are any of these signs of Mendelsohnn's syndrome?

1. One believes that one is medically normal and convinced that one's fine the way one is, yet can't figure out why people don't want one around or why people think they could be better at being polite or considerate of others.
2. One knows one's acting in good faith yet assume most other people who don't want one around and/or think one have the problem mentioned above are acting in bad faith.
3. One believes it is necessary to keep going on and on about what others say are one's own special interests.
4. One states as fact what others say are one's own opinions.
5. One believes one is a special expert in one's special interrest(s) and, for instance, have a special authority to dictate how encyclopedia articles on them should read, yet others don't pay much attention to what one says about them, even if they share them.
6. One threatens to stop contacting people if they don't let one get one's way, yet one practically stalks them, such as by responding on their behalf, and/or continuing to quote and rephrase them.
7. One believes that most people are or everyone is out to get them.
8. One believes one is a lateral thinker yet has a reputation for impractical thinking.
9. Upon reading this list, one believes that most people who function more normally yet appear to have similar symptoms may be suffering from things like megalomania, similar to the sort defined in this wiki essay.

 

[Cali Cat]

Interesting ... sounds sort of like my ex-bf ... but he's English, not Finnish or Russian, and he only exhibited these traits when he was in a manic state. He has bipolar disorder as well as AS ... not a good combo. And, yes, he appeared "odd" even to other Aspies, including me.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

Interesting ... sounds sort of like my ex-bf ... but he's English, not Finnish or Russian, and he only exhibited these traits when he was in a manic state. He has bipolar disorder as well as AS ... not a good combo. And, yes, he appeared "odd" even to other Aspies, including me.

Bipolar people are on the 'schizo-typal spectrum' (not sure if actual term). If someone gets too manic they start having schizophrenic symptoms; this is known as schizo-effective. So makes sense someone with Bipolar may have schizotypal personality traits.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

Has anyone here heard about the occasional autistic person that stands out even among the autistic community, possibly no less so than in the general population, and not only NTs but even other aspies/auties find them creepy, annoying or odd? They may have something called Mendelsohnn's syndrome, a schizotypal autistic spectrum disorder similar to asperger's syndrome, there is more info on wikipedia.

It seems that many posters here are in fact mainstream aspies. Judging from how late many of them were diagnosed, many seem to have gone through school normally, without aides, and if they acheived much social success without mentors, the same seems to be the case with most celebrities suspected to be or diagnosed as being on the spectrum. As far as I know, those with Mendelsohnn's would not have such normal lives.

Are any of these signs of Mendelsohnn's syndrome?

1. One believes that one is medically normal and convinced that one's fine the way one is, yet can't figure out why people don't want one around or why people think they could be better at being polite or considerate of others.
2. One knows one's acting in good faith yet assume most other people who don't want one around and/or think one have the problem mentioned above are acting in bad faith.
3. One believes it is necessary to keep going on and on about what others say are one's own special interests.
4. One states as fact what others say are one's own opinions.
5. One believes one is a special expert in one's special interrest(s) and, for instance, have a special authority to dictate how encyclopedia articles on them should read, yet others don't pay much attention to what one says about them, even if they share them.
6. One threatens to stop contacting people if they don't let one get one's way, yet one practically stalks them, such as by responding on their behalf, and/or continuing to quote and rephrase them.
7. One believes that most people or everyone is out to get them.
8. One believes one is a lateral thinker yet has a reputation for impractical thinking.
9. Upon reading this list, one believes that most people who function more normally yet appear to have symptoms may be suffering from things like megalomania, similar to the sort defined in this wiki essay.

I may have to post this disorder on my facebook it's very informative thank you.

 

[photoaddict]

Interesting. I've known someone who was bipolar and had many of these traits. I haven't encountered them within autism, though, so that's new to me. My brother and I are definitely "mainstream", as you put it. Now I feel a need to read more about it, though. (One of my obsessions these days is how the brain functions and various abnormalities. )

 

[AsheSkyler]

My casual research has lead me to conversations suggesting the autism and shizophrenia are like brother and sister, or perhaps cousins. Other research suggests they are born from the same gene. I actually know a girl who does have both, but as far as I know only has the hallucinations to deal with rather than the personality uniqueness. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a blending of the two where they got some of the other well known traits of the schizo-typal spectrum. (That term works for me too, Hedgehog Instigator, because "schizo" alone seems rude and other full words I'm currently aware of that begin with "schizo" aren't all-encompassing.)

 

[Myrtonos]

Do any of those with Schizotypic-autism such as the ex boyfriend of "Calli Cat" also feel they are treated unfairly even when most things are in their favour?
Could it be that aspies often think more logically than neurotypicals but those with Mendelsohnn's just believe they do but actually think less logically?

 

[Katleya]

I might be guilty of 8 (I don't know. I would need someone neutral to assess the impracticality of my thinking). That being said, what is deemed impractical might just be other-practical, some people have a hard time admitting that all roads lead to Rome. So I would still challenge that argument...

Anyways, I do wish to point out that many of us didn't get an early diagnosis or assistance in school for the simple reason that it didn't exist at our time. I know there was no such thing in my days (and I'm only in my early 30s), and even if there had been, as a female, I wouldn't have qualified, because supposedly at that time Asperger's was still strictly a male condition.

Social success is a very subjective criteria: some people look like they have it together, but the reality may be much grimmer.
If you had taken a snapshot of my life a year and a half ago, I had graduated from one of the top schools in the country, was starting a full time job, moving into a fancy district with my boyfriend. Not on the picture? Years of unemployment, a 2:1 ratio of jobs to number of years I've worked, salary equal to a third of what my classmates were hired for while I was 7 years older (along with me needing 2 years to find that job, while most of them had secured one before graduation), 2 stints in the loony bin before the diagnosis, and many more unglamorous things. This is not success, but I sure know how to put some polish on it & make it look pretty to the outside, even to a psychiatrist. So my life on paper may have looked rosy, but it was only rosy like toilet paper can be, covering a pile of crap

 

[Myrtonos]

I might be guilty of 8 (I don't know. I would need someone neutral to assess the impracticality of my thinking). That being said, what is deemed impractical might just be other-practical, some people have a hard time admitting that all roads lead to Rome. So I would still challenge that argument...

That's just one item. I don't get most of this.

Anyways, I do wish to point out that many of us didn't get an early diagnosis or assistance in school for the simple reason that it didn't exist at our time. I know there was no such thing in my days (and I'm only in my early 30s), and even if there had been, as a female, I wouldn't have qualifier, because supposedly at that time Asperger's was still strictly a male condition.

Apparently Hans Asperger only studied boys. It's easy to think that this condition is male because it is associated with liking logic and being feminine with not liking logic.

I don't get all the rest.

 

[Katleya]

Yes indeed, he'd only studied boys. And for some reason, many doctors even to this day don't take that into account, they just stop at "not girls", which is surprising to say the least.

Aside from possibly 8 (and even that, I'm not sure), I don't see myself in any of these traits, yet I've had that schizotypal diagnosis in the past (I couldn't remember if it was schizoid personality or what the other day, but reading the word brought back the memory). Turns out, just a few months before the so-called diagnosis, a new drug was marketed, at insane prices... and while I'm convinced that autism and mental disorders aren't mutually exclusive, I can't shake the belief that many so-called personality disorders are actually a more diverse expression of an already existing condition or personality disorder (whether neurological or psychiatric), but rather than accepting that maybe there are core common signs along with some symptoms that may vary, it's called a variation and given a name of its own just so that yet another drug can be sold & more profit can be made.

That being said, I still find this topic worth looking into, and it's great that you brought it to our attention. I haven't been able to read the wikipedia article from your link (the page it opened was a page saying there was no article on schizotypal autism), and when I google Mendelsohnn syndrome, Google insists on redirecting me to Mendelson syndrome, which has nothing to do with what we're discussing
Would you mind posting a new link, maybe? Thanks!

 

[Jet Weiss]

Interesting, I think I do have some of those traits, however probably not enough to be formally diagnosed with the disorder.
Other Aspies/Auties do find me odd though. However I think it is more likely that I have a personality disorder or C-PTSD than it is that I may have Mendelsohn's.
My therapist recommended that I am evaluated with some psych testing to see if I do fit the diagnostic criteria for C-PTSD.