Self-diagnosis

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Not quite true. A specialist in a diagnosis setting will observe you, not only ask you questions, and will take that into account as well.

Some people really have no method of pursuing a diagnosis at this particular point in time. While there are options for some people, there aren't for others. I don't like the phrase self-diagnosis, but there really are reasons for people to say things that have that meaning.

But, you really do gain things from those diagnosis evaluations in terms of knowledge, at least from specialists. You can't observe how you react in different situations, and the can, know what to look for, and know how to set up situations that will generally have abnormal reactions. I actually did learn things about myself from my diagnosis process. I've learned things from therapy. I've learned things about myself from simply interviewing - and this is specifically when it comes to my autism.

Sometimes I need clear answers in certain issues such as being able to raise children, executive functioning, being able to get into a job or reaching the education being able to get into a job or being able to ride a car and others - adult milestones.
Then I get confused in those topics, where people can perform these tasks but they are "self-diagnosed" or "not sure whether they have it or not".

But by this I do not want to imply that the self-diagnosis cannot be correct as I also can relate to issues from people who are "self-diagnosed" or "not sure whether they have it or not" as well.
But I agree with Tuttle, that observation plays a great part in diagnosis and so does the observation after diagnosis, because the severity of the individual autism - unless you are low-functioning and detected in early childhood - can only be detected in a matter of time and interaction.
But I do understand, that for people it can be difficult to be diagnosed because of certain reasons which have been discussed here before.
But I do not understand the video posted in connection with this thread.

No, it's not delusional. I wasn't delusional when I thought I was autistic based on my own research and discussions with others. I did not enter two or three symptoms into google and say "Oh, I'm autistic." I spent a period of time researching the topic fairly intensively. I purchased books, compared notes with other autistic people, discussed it with my mother (whose first response was "that makes sense" and her second was to mention that she was told when I was a child that I was autistic, but she rejected it).

I had so much corroboration before I was diagnosed that I felt dishonest if I said I might not have it. And then I was professionally diagnosed only a few months later.

These self-diagnosis threads are a waste of time. You don't know the people who have self-diagnosed, you do not know why they have not sought a professional diagnosis, and you do not know the efforts they've gone to in order to support the possibility that they are autistic. It appears that the only point of this thread is to mock people for not having that diagnosis, and that's not a point at all.

Funny video, and the point is valid.

However, sometimes, the only way to know something "different" is "wrong" with you is through research, and it's especially true with mental disorders where behavior and history needs to be taken into account, which is often too much to go into with a basic GP visit for them to pick up.

As an adult, how will a doctor know you have an ASD if you don't bring it up? They won't at all.

I saw countless professionals in mental hospitals, heaps of GPs, a psychiatrist that I went to for over a year; the only way the ASD was picked up was by me bringing it up with the latter (which was also..., what's that word? Ah..., validated! It was also validated by an ASD clinic afterwards, at Attwood's).

So, there's an anecdote.

Personally, I don't think it's very healthy to go around diagnosing yourself with things. Even doctors will go to another doctor to get themselves a proper diagnosis instead of just saying 'I must have ___.'
There are all kinds of things that look like autism on the surface but really aren't -like Non-verbal learning disabilities, fragile X and even social anxiety disorders.

It's also kind of rude to walk into a group of people who actually have autism (or some other diagnosis) and say that you have autism too without really knowing if you do. I understand it takes a long time to get a diagnosis (took me 14 years), I know there are not enough qualified docs, but really it's inconsiderate to just read some stuff on the net or pick up a few books and then walk in and talk like you know what our lives are like. You wouldn’t walk into an AA meeting and say you’re an alcoholic –why would you walk up to a group of autistic people and say you were? How is that okay?

You're not a doctor. I am not a doctor. If you think you have autism, go see one and get a referral -fight for it, just like we had to. And know that when and if you get a diagnosis it will change you and you will have to live with it for the rest of your life. This is your health we're talking about.

It depends on the extent of your faith in the psychiatric system to get it 'right' and not perceive everything through the lens of their particular speciality or rule things out through misassumptions. If a diagnosis is what you need for support or for reassurance then it is obviously worth having, but that doesn't mean doctors are infallible. It is equally bad for your health to be professionally misdiagnosed, I know this from personal experience of being medicated for a disorder I did not have, and then being told medication side-effects were part of 'anxiety'. Personally I have little to gain from a 'proper' diagnosis, so I would rather take what non-autism specialists have observed about me, analysis of my childhood that also fits the picture and my ongoing extensively research with a dash of uncertainty and live with that. Granted I may be wrong, but please don't assume I have no problems just because I don't have the official piece of paper or that I am here to mock the 'real' autistics or attention seek. To my mind this site is about exchanging experiences of living on the wrong planet and learning about AS/autism rather than an exclusive club. I also don't get the AA analogy because AA is in fact welcoming to all - the only requirement is that you wish to stop drinking - you don't have to prove you meet some preordained standard of alcoholism or have a doctor's referral - even if you only had two pints every Saturday night you would be still considered to have an alcohol problem if you wanted to stop but couldn't. If you are implying that people would pretend to be alcoholic for the attention I think people would generally have better things to do with their time and it would be a fairly pointless endeavour seeing as anonymity rules apply. AS is obviously very different, but for the most part I think if the motivation was solely to gain attention there are far easier and more effective ways.

But, even if this person hasn't got autism, if they came through the same things autistic people did then at very least this alone gives them a common ground.

(just as a reminder from the other thread: TowerCrane has been banned because he is a sockpuppet of a known troll.)

Last edited by Cornflake on 19 Aug 2012, 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

How is this even legal? If they can justify it, it is legal; but I don't see how they can.

Do you need to declare it on jobs forms if you get an official diagnosis? I'm thinking of reapplying for a teaching course and someone mentioned that it might be a good idea to get an official diagnosis to get more support (I failed a teaching course last year) but I don't want to have to mention it on every job application I do, especially since I already have to put down that I've had an eating disorder.

I don't know if you have to. I have been officially diagnosed, but I have not told the government, as I don't want to be classed as disabled. Maybe you don't have to tell.

In the UK you don't have to. But you can't moan if your employer doesn't make reasonable adjustments.

Really? That's good to know, it's only really for the teaching course that I'd want to let them know anyway. Might be worth looking into...

Yes. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I mentioned to someone who is meant to be helping me back to work that I have Autism, she decided I didn't (nice to see she knows more than my psychiatrist ) and decided to make my life hell. Complaining to her line manager did nothing and the line manager took her side.

That's awful! I started a teacher training course last year but found it really hard- coping with the noise level, speaking in front of the class, actually delivering the lesson etc was really difficult but I could do the planning/marking side of it and really want to give it another try. A woman whose kids I babysit said it might be worth seeing if I could get some more support, but I'd need a diagnosis (all I have is a psychologist's assessment atm which I didn't follow up at the time). Not sure where to go with it!

Wow, I guess I'm not the only one on here trying to train to become a teacher. Like you, I have also begun my training without support, since I'm self-diagnosed and haven't told anyone.

Like you, I definitely found the planning/marking side of it easy enough, but there were definitely some difficulties in terms of delivery. More so than support, I think the main component is practice - as I've taught more and more, it's become more and more comfortable getting up there.

Also, not sure how this works/would work for me, but I found it was also helpful to adjust my teaching style to emphasize my strengths. I find it much easier to work with students one-on-one or in small groups, so I've been setting up my classes to just include a short lesson that's delivered the whole class, with the focus more on the students completing activities to help them learn, and providing assistance to students as needed during the activity. It seems to work more effectively, as it's more suited to my strengths and abilities. And when, I am at the front of the class, I try as much as I can to break it up into small segments of me talking, then giving them something to do.

(Not trying to tell you what to do, just passing on what has seemed to work for me)