Does anyone else think that mild Autism and Aspergers Syndrome are fake?

Not fake, possibly misdiagnosed/over-diagnosed. Like ADD/ADHD. The criteria is so broad that even "normal" people might have one or two or more of the characteristics.

Nope. Your argument about America is ridiculous seen as Asperger's was first written about in Austria (by Hans Asperger). If you know a person who really has Asperger's/HFA you can tell it is different than just being shy or whatever. I understand why some are sceptical but I know it's only because they don't know someone who has it personally (or they're really old and stubborn- like my father was).

I do think that doctors over-diagnose and the whole self-diagnosing thing has gotten wayyy out of hand, but that doesn't mean there is no such thing as Asperger's/HFA.

When Asperger's was removed, they just changed the name, they didn't get rid of it as a condition. I agree with that decision, but only because I actually understand what the decision was, which you don't seem to.

Edit: Hans Asperger was Austrian. I don't know why it matters but he was definitely Austrian, not German. Anyway, my point is, autism is not an American disorder. It exists everywhere, regardless if government structure.

'Schools were created to brainwash people in to taking orders. Before that a lot of people owned their own businesses and land and worked for themselves and people taught their kids how to read and write at home'

Are you being serious? Most children (and adults) couldn't read until compulsory and free education! In my area, apparently there was a literacy level of just 45% before compulsory and free education was brought in in the UK in 1880. My area now has 99% literacy!

Schooling is good. Schooling in schools. It means kids are educated by trained teachers who actually have knowledge about their subject (unlike many parents) and they get exposed to more people and ideas.

To answer your question: yes. It's real. Take my friend's child with AS for a day. He's quite a brainy person actually and a bit socially awkward but he's fun and friendly. But he can't manage to take bus to school and he's 17. It's real.

Not entirely fake, no. But I do think ADHD has become a catch-all label that really denotes poor parenting in a note-worthy percentage of cases. I've seen it with my own eyes. Parents who are true failures at their jobs then drugging the heck out of their children and claiming it's ADHD. It really is a shame for the kids. As far as home-schooling goes ... to each their own but my opinion on it FOR ME is that the only way I would home-school my own children is if I went to university to become a teacher. You know, educated MYSELF to educate others. It comes with a degree for a reason and I don't fancy myself a teacher in that sense of the word. Without proper education and no one to fill the technological jobs necessary to keep our society functioning, we'd be back in the dark ages, using candles and cooking over open fires in no time. The only way is forward, not back.

It's not fake. It's easy to distinguish a shy and quiet child from a child with Asperger's. And to those who say that Autistic kids are just brats, I assure you they're not; it's easy to see an autistic kid struggling and stressing whereas a spoiled kid will just scream and act like he's king of the world.

Besides, people don't /have/ to work in corporations. If you don't want to, go ahead and become a farmer and home-school your kids. Mine are staying where they are. Even my youngest (who was diagnosed with mild Autism in Japan, not here) is starting to make something akin to connections with his classmates.

What a horribly ignorant thing to say. It's clear that you've never met someone struggling with one of these disorders!

I have worked at summer camps, preschools, and an elementary school. I have worked with hundreds of children, and I can assure you these disorders are VERY real. These children need different accommodations, and not paying attention to their needs is CRUEL.

Forcing a child with autism into an overstimulating environment is CRUEL.

Punishing a child with ADHD for misbehaving because you didn't provide him the tools he needs to control his energey (because "ADHD isn't real") is CRUEL.

God, people like you make me so angry!

They're not fake, I've got Asperger's Syndrome and was DIAGNOSED with it back when I was 13. We are more able to diagnose disabilities these days, people can't help it if they have bad social skills. Kids do have these disorders, I know a couple of people who also have Asperger's like me (although this one guy who has it I hate him, but I don't hate him because he has Asperger's I hate him because he's a racist asshole who punched me when we were younger).

They're not fake.The thing is,we now have access to a lot more resources than we did in the past.We're more advanced so we're able to detect things that we were unaware of in the early days.At least people are getting the treatment they need.

I don't think it's fake. I think more people recognize the symptoms now, than they used to, is why the increase. Just cause people didn't used to know they had something ... doesn't mean they didn't have it.

It's easy for someone perfectly "normal," who has probably never had relationships with these people, to claim they aren't real.