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Sorenna
Sea Gull
Joined: May 13, 2008
Posts: 235
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 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: Post a BENEFIT to your diagnosis: |
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Hi-
We had the complaints which really hit home.
But have there been any positive aspects to having an official dx?
I think mine was that I no longer felt crazy or stupid. That all the reasons for my being "weird" were validated and actually just different.
I also felt much better that knowing a childhood bout with anorexia was in fact due in large part to sensory/taste issues and not the regular things associated with ED's.
Also why it is so difficult for me to work or be around other sense issues.
I have struggled with whether it's best to have an official DX or not........
Thanks for any input!  |
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Hector
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 11, 2008
Posts: 688
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:57 am Post subject: |
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| I was diagnosed when I was very young so I find it sort of hard to imagine, but I'd say it gave me more of a perspective on what makes me different. I'd probably find it difficult to know where to improve socially and what to work on without being aware of certain characteristic traits. |
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CyclopsSummers
Raven
Joined: Jun 22, 2008
Age: 21
Posts: 103
Location: Mokum, the Netherlands
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:58 am Post subject: |
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I was diagnosed at a very young age; autism (as identified as autism, because I was born with it, of course, so I had it before the doc said 'right. he's autistic) has been part of me for about as long as I can remember. It helps that I, my family, and my friends knew about my autism so they could properly inform strangers of my 'condition', and I've always attended schools that were more or less suited to handling it.
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Clarity of thought before rashness of action. |
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Speckles
Velociraptor
Joined: May 03, 2008
Posts: 441
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:04 am Post subject: |
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Oh heck yeah. I flat out couldn't function at the level I do if I didn't have an official dx to flash in people faces to get accommodation. It's awesome.
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I have seen the truth and it makes no sense. |
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liloleme
Deinonychus
Joined: Jun 09, 2008
Age: 41
Posts: 398
Location: California
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| I wanted an official diagnosis simply because it validated what my family and I suspected. I do think that it has been a help. Ive learned things about myself and my behaviors that I was not aware of before. Its kind of like someone saying "its ok that these things happen and than you react this way, its because of this". I feel like Ive been beating myself up my whole life because I couldnt fit in with these other people and now I understand why. Now my family and I can use this knowledge to help me to navigate my life a bit better. |
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anbuend
Oak-Type Autie
Joined: Jul 06, 2004
Posts: 3193
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:54 am Post subject: |
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Having an official diagnosis prior to the age of 18 meant that it was easier for me to get services I needed, than people with equal amount of problems but who were never diagnosed until adulthood.
It shouldn't be that way, but some agencies take the lazy way out and assume that not having a diagnosis prior to the age of 18 means that you didn't have the condition prior to the age of 18, even if the condition is one that starts before the age of 18 by definition. I used to know a man who had severe cerebral palsy, but since his school records were fifty years old and in another state where he had no access to them, the agency wouldn't take him without a massive fight. And I know another man who right now is stuck in the psychiatric system because his childhood records (showing diagnoses of all four conditions the developmental service agencies serve) are in another country.
It (both the diagnosis and the age at diagnosis) has also meant that when my father retired I was able to get social security from his account instead of just from SSI, and that I was able to keep Medicaid even after going slightly over the income limit (because it's one of the categories deemed identical to SSI for Medicaid purposes regardless of income level).
So both of those are things that would only benefit people who can't make enough money to support themselves, and need developmental services. It has also helped with getting specific equipment, but in that case it's not just the diagnosis, but things in my written records showing a history of speech problems, motor problems, hyperacute hearing, etc.
I suppose if I wanted to be a research participant it would help there, and it has helped when the media has needed to fact-check my diagnostic status.
Mostly then it has helped when needing to show someone else that medical professionals viewed me as having a specific condition, or having a history of specific difficulties related to it (such as intermittent speech even after acquiring superficially close-to-normal speech).
It hasn't helped me much with self-understanding, aside from the fact that if someone else hadn't pointed it out I might never have found out (given that I was diagnosed without my knowledge, and while having no knowledge of autism aside from having heard the word a couple times -- this will be different than someone who seeks out a diagnosis). Self-understanding has come from talking to other autistic people, not from medical professionals.
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"We may seem in the gutter from up there where you are but maybe you don't know we still see the same stars." -Donna Williams |
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Danielismyname
but a turtle
Joined: Apr 03, 2007
Posts: 5705
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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Free money for food and cheap medication. I also have allowances made for vocational and academic pursuits if I so desire.
People stop bombarding my mother with, "'What's wrong with Daniel, and why can't he do {insert something that someone his age "should" be doing}.'" from family members and people around her. That's a plus.
It hasn't helped with understanding who I am, whether by reading what other people with Autism write (other than shared symptoms), or clinical definitions of such [that are often times contradictory and confusing as no one completely agrees with anything], but the latter made me know what disorder I have for it's clear as death that I have Autism as it's outlined.
A downside is (not that you asked this), it has made my mother feel guilty for not recognizing it sooner, no matter how much I reassure her that she couldn't have known--I started speaking when a parent would begin to worry (4 1/2), and even though I was a little slow in picking things up mentally, I was always good with mechanical objects and physical activity. As I entered school, I only had [marked] problems with English, but I had a "high IQ", so we all know what that ruled out twenty years ago, even if I never looked people in the eye. Concerning the latter, my mother chalked that up to being like my father, for he never looked at people in the eye (yeah...). |
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LadyMacbeth
They made me do it.
Joined: May 28, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 1426
Location: In the girls toilets at Hogwarts, washing the blood off my hands.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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DLA.
Hopefully come more benifits will appear in the future. My mum now doesn't have a go at me for everything, since the diagnosis, "because it explains everything".
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We are the mutant race!!!! Don't look at my eyes, don't look at my face... |
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Tensho
Supporting Member
Joined: Mar 26, 2007
Age: 27
Posts: 422
Location: England
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:46 pm Post subject: |
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I get DLA too thats lower rate meaning just £18 a week.
The biggest benefit I get is finally knowing myself and that I am different. My life was spiralling out of control but since then things are becoming better people are more helpful to me and will give me space too. |
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woodsman25
The Dude
Joined: May 19, 2007
Age: 26
Posts: 2437
Location: NY
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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I am able to organize my finances so at the age of 25 I own a small home, a new car, live pretty much better then any other guy my age and can maintain my lifestyle without a roomate or ATM being employed.
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DX'ed with HFA as a child. However this was in 1987 and I am certain had I been DX'ed a few years later I would have been DX'ed with AS instead. |
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Kaleido
On an extended tea break
Joined: Feb 19, 2007
Age: 50
Posts: 2208
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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| I was getting a bit fed up with people trying to attach various labels to me which were incorrect, to get my diagnosis and a correct label after so many years of would-be-psychologists trying to mess with me was a great relief. It brought peace and a lot of understanding about the way my life had gone. |
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Anniemaniac
Deinonychus
Joined: Nov 04, 2006
Posts: 311
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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| One of the best things about an official diagnosis is the fact that you get extra support in things like college. The support isn't actually all that supportive, but it's better than nothing. |
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y1999Jonathan
Butterfly
Joined: Jul 04, 2008
Age: 17
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Being diagosed was like being saved because they took me out of school where I was getting harrassed and my family started seeing me as their son and not problem |
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velodog
Gold Supporter
Joined: Mar 16, 2008
Posts: 1251
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject: Re: Post a BENEFIT to your diagnosis: |
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| Sorenna wrote: | I think mine was that I no longer felt crazy or stupid. That all the reasons for my being "weird" were validated and actually just different.
I have struggled with whether it's best to have an official DX or not........
Thanks for any input! |
I no longer kick myself in the ass to the extent that I used to. Now that I know that there are other people like me I understand that I am not just a weak individual, I have actually been able to look at some of what I have done in a positive light since I was trying to work through an undefined handicap without knowing it.
As far as "Official" DX, I let the Psychiatrist know that I wanted total discretion and she has assured me that she will respect that. |
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