Noca wrote:
If you seek out a professional diagnosis(which I always support doing if financially possible), seek out someone who specializes in diagnosing autism spectrum disorders. If you are female, then make you seek out not only someone who specializes in autism but also specializes in specifically diagnosing females, as they present differently than males and will many times be overlooked and dismissed by someone who lacks the experience to diagnose them properly. Do not just seek out any Jo Blow psychiatrist/health professional and expect them to be competent enough to diagnose you, because chances are that they won't.
I would suggest a private psychologist(Google it) who specializes if you can afford one because you won't need to convince anyone to give you a referral in order to get assessed. If you seek out a psychiatrist, then you will have to convince some doctor who likely doesn't know jack about autism that you need to be assessed and there will be a high probability that your concerns will be ignored and dismissed if you go that route, not to mention the long wait lists.
^Agree!
I wanted to add that for people who are new to the concept of autism, it can be difficult to find out what it
is. Autism is classified as a mental illness and this is helpful because you can enact your ADA rights and have it in your medical records. But it's more common in the Autism Advocacy community (of which WrongPlanet is a big part) to see autism as a neurological and social difference. That's why you often hear the term "wired differently."
Other groups of people classified as mentally ill can be made "more normal" or cured by using medications and therapy. The only way to change autistic behaviors is for the autistic person themself to suppress or hide these behaviors. I have not heard of any method to change the "autistic inner self" of a person, nor do I think anyone should try.
As to what questions to ask a professional...You could take an
online self-diagnostic test, and perhaps just read up on autism and see how much applies to you. Member here are always around to answer questions and offer advice. Oh, and welcome to WP!
18 Dec 2015, 9:50 pm
