Are you only Aspie if a doctor said so?

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PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT TROLLING. I AM JUST A VERY CURIOUS PERSON.

I have nothing against the self diagnosis idea, but the thing is. Unless you have a doctor's note that says Asperger's Syndrome, how do you know for sure that you have Aspergers? I mean, isn't it possible for people to display autistic like traits but not be autistic themselves?

I'm not self diagnosed. I remember the words "Autism" being said all the time when I was in school. I know for a fact I was diagnosed by a doctor, but I don't know when. I know the words Aspergers being said once. I didn't know what either of them were until recently.

I mean no offense. Please take this as a curious question.

You're only officially an aspie (i.e. for government purposes) when you get a doctors diagnosis.

You can be born an aspie and be one your whole life without ever coming near a doctors office.

Fact is, it's not always easy to GET a diagnosis even if you truly are an aspie. Doctors who are familiar with Asperger's, particularly in adults, aren't at every corner. Those of us who grew up without a diagnosis have often learned to overcome or hide our natural aspie instincts in public, which would lead a doctor who's only checking off a list of traits to conclude we don't have it, even though the inclinations are still there. Yes, I suppose there are smart and socially awkward NT's out there who self diagnose Asperger's to have an excuse for their poor behavior, but by and large, Asperger's is no prize, and many on this board would happily trade in their SSI checks for a chance to participate in the wider world. If someone tells me they have Asperger's, then as far as I'm concerned, they have it.

Interstingly, there are some of the diagnosed here that question the "official diagnoses." It's a subjective distinction no matter which way you look at it, as there isn't advanced imaging diagnostics universally available as yet.



It's possible to not make eye contact if your were used as a whipping post and shoved in a closet all day when growing up, I guess. Other than that I'd be at a loss as to why on the "non verbal?"

Last edited by Mdyar on 23 Feb 2011, 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

In my opinion, you're not an official aspie until your diagnosed. Yes, you can have the autistic brain structure all your life but you can't really go wearing the aspie badge and parading it around until it's been made official.

You don't. You don't if a doctor says so either. They aren't infallible.

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it still make a noise?


There are two questions here. One is about formal diagnosis and one is about reality.

A person is on the spectrum regardless of the status of their diagnosis. I can be diagnosed schizophrenic. But if this diagnosis is incorrect and I am actually autistic, the diagnosis does not have some magical power that negates my autism. A self diagnosis has no more power than an incorrect diagnosis or correct diagnosis. I am autistic or I am not (I am not going to go into where the I am/I am not line should be drawn).

The important question is how does a self-diagnosis help or hurt the person making it and further help or hurt the autism community as a whole?

I'd think that having a check box desisignation as " not sure"or "Undiagnosed" wouldn't cause problems with the reputation of the community?

I self diagnosed at 16 and went for an official diagnosis when I was approx 18. I knew something was different with me and Aspergers matched the issues I felt I was having.

I'm of the viewpoint that an official diagnosis usually only matters when you have to disclose the difficulties you have to a government official.

There are probably a few people self or officially diagnosed that don't have AS but I feel that people generally know their own issues thus self diagnosed people (in my opinion) are more lightly to be correct about themselves. I believe this especially regarding those who say they believe they have AS when they have some life experience to compare with the criteria.

I remember meeting a girl (who was officially diagnosed) who didn't seem to have AS, she seemed to have a social difficulty of some kind but I think it's possible that she didn't have AS (or at least she didn't just have AS).

You can have Asperger's Syndrome without a diagnosis from a doctor. You can also have Cancer without a diagnosis from a doctor. If you have it, you have it regardless of diagnosis. If you are experiencing symptoms that interfere with your life, it is best to see a doctor to find out what these symptoms mean and what can be done to treat any condition/conditions.

So my answer is yes and no.

Which community? The community of autistics or the community that services autistics? While those two communities are inextricably linked, they have different motivations. It does me no harm for someone to consider themselves autistic based on a self diagnosis. It might harm me in some secondary way if funding and services are incorrectly allocated because of self diagnosis. But this is why most services are offered only to those with a formal DX.

Sometimes I get the sense "here"( not necessarily you wavefreak) that "these" should be used as stepping stones to a formal DX . It would seem the best thing to do, but funds are limited for some( not me)--and finding someone competent in this for an adult Dx is scanty.
I'm right at the border and most of the time I do O.K. but there are times to where the symptoms flare up and I get close to "that edge."

I went to visit a phychologist last year and she said "Asperger people can't see the road to even drive here." And added, " You are able to make too good of eyecontact, and I think you have G.A.D. and O.C.D. and stop looking at all that web M.D. stuff."

She said she had experience with "this" and I asked about it, and she commented that she only works with kids. My fault at the time because I knew this going in, but I assumed there would be competency here. She tried some relaxtion technique on me and it didnt work and she then made a referall to a Doctor. She cried in the session when I told her of the suicides and Schizophrenia in 'the family.' I sat there stoned faced as usual and thought, "wait a minute, arent I the one that should be crying?" I payed the copay, and in the next two weeks I get an insurance summary with brochures on how to deal with depression and that I need to go in for this. I think she wrote it "in" as this. I didnt go to see the Doc. either. Ive tried all the meds before, and they do more harm than good for me.

Short of "Imaging" this is way too subjective for me for now.

Stories like this make me cranky. That's why when I went in for a diagnosis I didn't just bring in my online tests. I researched the hell out of it and brought all my "aspie super powers" to bear.



I would have been very agitated.



She cried? Good grief. She needed to adjust her meds.

All therapists should be handed a card at the first session that says:

"The road to my hell is paved with your good intentions."

To some, an official diagnosis might come as a relief, because the individual will feel glad that they're now able to put a name to that feeling of being 'somewhhat different'. Others might self-diagnose and get that same feeling of relief that an official diagnosis provides. Yet other people mght not want to be labeled at all, and could care less about being diagnosed.

Mdyar, she sounds like she really, really hasn't got a clue about AS. I mean, the non-verbal cues are difficult to learn and some of us can't learn them but that doesn't make any of us legally blind, most of us can learn how to drive due not being that physically disabled.

She was very unprofessional. Are you able to go elsewhere?

From the posts I have read the people who self-diagnose are confirmed by official diagnosis if they persist. So, although not a scientific study the evidence seems to suggest that self-diagnosis is probably better than professional diagnosis in adults. I am subtracting the incorrect diagnosis of other conditions from the professionals total, its only fair.

The reason for this self-diagnosis is that the medical professionals are an epic fail in this area who should be ashamed of themselves. They took sixty years to get from Freud to the refrigerator mother theory. Stop assuming they have much credibility here.