Is a Self-Diagnosis Legitimate?

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Hush, you've not made one legitimate point.. all you're doing is whining and calling people names.
If you'd bothered to read anything on this forum, you'd see that the self-diagnosed aspies have suffered a lot under bogus diagnoses. Sub-clinical aspies stick to the term "geek" or "some aspie traits."

But, you've not bothered to read anything.. just whine and complain and insult others.

this paragraph is so incredibly elitist that I wanted to save it for future reference.

and your point is what? if you say you're black, you're either delusional or a liar. if you say you're white, you've successfully self-diagnosed. sooo... this analogy is BS.

WhittenKitten, why would somebody without impairment diagnose themselves with anything? I mean, anyone can have traits of something, just like everyone has traits of various personality disorders without having the full-blown disorders themselves. There are several people on here, particularly parents of AS kids, who say exactly that-- that they have traits similar to aspies, but just aren't impaired. This is why I redefined the word "geek" to mean "sub-clinical aspie"... someone who manages to function well despite having a lot of aspie traits. Of course they don't have a disorder, although they might relate better to people with autism spectrum disorders than to NTs. The people who self-diagnose are the ones who very clearly have something wrong, but it's not been properly identified because they're too old, too smart, wrong gender, etc, so it's nearly impossible to find a diagnosis. But I've not seen the "geeks" claiming to have this disorder.. just to have similarities to people who do.
If there's no impairment, obviously there's no disorder..

Well actually, according to the whole "drop in the bucket" theory on race identification, anybody with any African heritage at all is "black." So somebody can have white skin and still be black by that definition.

I'm starting to wonder if hush is just trying to cause trouble. As far as I can tell he's saying anything, or responding to anything that's been said.. just slinging insults and making bizarre statements that don't even make sense.

LOL. I think you ran into my mom!

my mother self-diagnosed with all kinds of things. something new every other month. she didn't like the dx her doctor gave her (according to a family member it was bipolar and borderline personality disorder). personally I think my mother has histrionic or narcissistic personality disorder. anyway, crazy people self-diagnose "normal" all the time. so many of them do it that "normal" is now skewed in everyone's view, but normals seem to accept it without any problem, so at this point I expect all normals to pathologically lie, steal, and abuse children (I don't, but I should based on how SD people are being portrayed as scammers and delusional).

Yes, this is true but a lot of people think "Oh I have a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so I MUST BE AUTISTIC!" when there is no impairement, I know more people like that than those who actually struggle. I know a lot of people who think that having AS is a cool thing, and instead of being an actual issue. I mean really, I am not trying to hate on any of you guys I'm just trying to understand and wrap my mind around it (cause I do believe that there are people who are missed/slip through the crackers/etc..) but I just don't understand thsoe that think just cause they have a few symptoms they automatically have it when there is so much more to it. Even some parents I have talked to said they have a few symptoms, and are convinced they have it just because of a few symptoms.

idk, i hope i'm not making you angry (cause I looked at your profile, and it says your self-diagnosed, and i don't really want you to think i'm like dissing you.)

I forgot about that ridiculous one-drop thing! all to protect slave owners from losing property if the kids started getting too light.

so legally I'm a light-skinned, red-headed black person. no lying or delusion necessary. oh, except it's "SD" because the branch of the family the drop came from passed for white. so, I'm back to being a liar or delusional.

In your case MaggieDoll, there is a hugely good reason NOT to get a "professional" diagnosis. In your state, you are required by "law" to disclose autism when you apply for a drivers license. In some cases, being autistic can be used to deny your RIGHT to drive.

I don't see why it wouldn't be.

No, you're not making me angry at all.. You're making rational points, but like I said.. I've been diagnosed with all kinds of bizarre crap that just didn't fit. I do have impairments, but until I really started researching AS, I didn't know why. I think I may actually be diagnosed with agoraphobia or something like that-- I'm on disability, even the government person who evaluated me could see that I had very clear impairments, I didn't even have to appeal my disability to get it like most people do, because it's obvious. There was never a good explanation for it, though.. never a diagnosis that explained why I have the problems I have. I got in trouble in treatment for not making friends, as though it was somehow my choice not to make friends. I'm a girl, and I'm not mentally ret*d, so nobody bothered to look into it. Professionals my parents took me to as a kid said they didn't know what was wrong. Many of them insulted me, or made fun of me. And now, there's not much of a way to get a diagnosis-- my psychiatrist doesn't know about autism, and doesn't know anybody who does. She told me that if I find an autism specialist who works with adults, I should let her know so she can add them to her referral list. Not to mention that someone in this thread mentioned that you can lose your driver's license for having an autism spectrum disorder.. Granted, I drive about twice a month.. but I'd rather not lose my license.
Like I said, there is a population of sub-clinical aspies who relate to autism but don't have a disorder.. they're called "geeks" or "engineers." I really haven't ran into any who claim to be aspies, though... they just call themselves geeks as far as I can tell.
There are some people who are just nasty and claim to have AS..
Your points are all valid, it just seems like most of the self-diagnosed aspies here are people who have had a lot of very significant impairments, but the reason for those impairments just wasn't properly identified. The people who aren't impaired but have traits say that they're not impaired but have traits.

That sucks, and I hope you can find a way to do that that's not that overly distressing.

But there are also un'dx people with AS who also can't work -- and can't get accomodations or disability, or any help at all. They grind away at job after job, as best they can, because there's no alternative but homelessness, the looney bin, or jail.

I remember a member here who took an anti-depressant to deliberately numb out her emotions, because she cried at work so much she was in danger of losing her job. And had no family to fall back on, and was too poor to get a diagnostic evaluation.

It's my bias, but when I hear of something like that it's hard for me to care much about people being worried about fakers. Yes, they're out there, but so are un'dx'ed autistic people, some of whom may be having a very hard time, with no help whatsoever. To think someone might get turned away from getting information that could help immensely, because of fear of fakers, seems like a misplaced priority to me.

Not every self-diagnosed person is looking for a social club, or a way to be 'special.' No doubt there are some misguided people, but as you said, you've only ever met one person like that. If I'd been in your class, you'd never have known.

Last edited by Apple_in_my_Eye on 22 Oct 2009, 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have been to AS groups and they were very welcoming towards me, they never asked me for proof of diagnosis. In fact spending time with them was good because I could compare myself to them and figure out where I fit on the spectrum. I think anyone should be able to decide in such a manner. I dont think anyone who was not on the spectrum would last longer than one session anyway, the reality of AS and autism is such that only people who genuinely had the traits would want to say they had it.

I have received more provisional advice at autism centres I went to but nothing official yet. I am actually trying for diagnosis right now and finding it quite hard to get an appointment with a professional. The one I am trying now seems to be booked up as he is busy diagnosing loads of school kids.

It only takes one bad apple to ruin the whole batch, which is really sad and I feel bad for those who struggled a lot who were undiagnosed/are still undiagnosed. I struggled as well, I did not get a diagnosis at school age which would have benefited me. I take Adderall for my Attention issues, but I have had to stop cause my Mom can't afford my medication and because our insurance has been so wacky. The Adderall helped me cope a bit, but it made me super sleepy and droopy. I am not depressed, or i don't think i am though i may have had bits of depression when I was younger. I have severe sensory issues which makes it hard for me to work.

I really want those who are seeking a diagnosis to be able to get one, cause I know there are people on here who aren't like the person I met and i am trying to tell myself that but my mind keeps going back to that one person and that makes me feel guilty and like a horrible person. I think those who truly have AS or an ASD should be able to get one, and that there needs to be people who are educated in adults on the spectrum. My Psychologist was.. I saw four different people three psychiatirsts one psychologist, the Psychologist and two of the Psychiatrists siad i was on the spectrum had three different opinions and the last one is the one on paper.

Right, that stuff.

And the hypochondriacs don't last long.. they think they have something, and then tomorrow or next week or next month it's something else.

I'm not really going of logic, and I don't really care about valid points, I don't see any logic or validity in your side of things either. I'm going off the way I feel and the way I know alot of other people feel. I'm not one of these high IQ AS people (well I have a high IQ, but I don't seem to be able to utilize it at all academically, so it doesn't count) so I can't be eloquent. This is just how I feel about it all, I don't have to justify the way I feel, and I don't have to apologize for expressing it just because you disagree.