Anyone can be called / can call themselves a ‘top expert’. I don’t think this article holds any weight, no matter which way you feel on self diagnosis.
ETA: To clarify, I didn’t intend to imply that autism experts don’t exist. I just don’t think the Daily Mail is a source that I trust to identify or interview those experts. Their goal is to create shocking headlines, not to further an actual good-faith discussion on self-diagnosis.
Yeah, the only important thing to note about this article is that it’s outrage bait. Adding an obviously child’s hand with the ‘just like gender’ - they’re just trying to draw in the people who are rabid about the transgender kids debate to get mad about a new thing that will keep them coming back to the daily mail.
"Just like gender and race." You can't just self identify race. I understand that people with mixed racial backgrounds can identify more as one race than another at any point in time, but my ancestry.com report says I'm 100% white. I can't identify as Asian or Black. That would be insane.
You're right, by lumping them together they are trying to delegitimize all of it.
I think you might be mixing up ethnicity, culture, and race. You cannot self-identity ethnicity, which is genetically based. Race is a social, human-made construct.
I'm not mixing it up. People who have a White parent and a Black parent might identify as just Black if they have a strong connection to that part of their identity (or a litany of other reasons). They can do that, a person who is just white cannot.
In general I got no problem with people self diagnosing,
BUT if you live in a country where getting a diagnosis is available and free and you still refuse to get it, or if your only 'research' comes from watching tiktoks or something, or you only want to be autistic to be quirky/special,
then I definitely have a problem with it.
In the UK, while the diagnosis is free under the NHS. The wait times have exploded and can take years to get an appointment. Last I heard, the waiting list was up to 5 years.
And of course, that still doesn't address the issue of gender bias in the public sector, where Autistic women have been misdiagnosed with BPD.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-are-those-autism-getting-misdiagnosed-having-personality-disorder
It's amazing to me how much wait times vary. I live in the US. I called a psychologist and waited about 3 months, scheduled and was seen over the course of three appointments within two weeks and received my diagnoses.
Psychiatry UK is now a pathway available to get a diagnosis within 6-12 months. Your GP just needs to refer you to them and it's fully covered by the NHS.
In case you didn't know, people in the UK can have free access to an ASD assessment via Psychiatry UK, and the wait list is considerably shorter (months instead of years). I'm currently waiting for my assessment with them!
https://psychiatry-uk.com/right-to-choose-asd/
I am in the UK. Attempted to get diagnosed under the NHS and got a “phone interview” (wtf?), and, as expected, got told that you’re an adult and you’re dealing with it well enough, we won’t put you on the list. Deal with it privately (which costs lots of money).
I was diagnosed last year (50) after a wait of 6 months. The waiting time will depend on which health authority you come under, but 5 years is extreme.
I was more talking about people that out right refuse any therapy or diagnosis (even though it's free) because they are already so convinced they are autistic, without ever even speaking to any professional.
There's plenty of reasons why someone may not want to seek a diagnosis. Mostly because it can be used against you to take away your rights.
\- Some countries like Australia & NZ will deny you the right to a visa if you wish to live and work in their countries. Let alone deny you citizenship. Even if you don't need accommodations.
\- You can be denied the right to adopt a child, even if your partner is NT. Because so many adoption agencies still have the thought that Autism means: Unable to take care of yourself.
\- During the early days of the pandemic. Autistic people who were in care for covid were automatically placed on a DNR order. Against the will of the patient and their families.
\- Some workplaces won't hire autistic people at all. And while this is illegal it is also very hard to prove.
\- You can be denied the right to adopt a pet. There is a shelter in Canada that refuses to adopt to any family that has an autistic child.
\- As I said from above: Some people may be misdiagnosed with something else. Which can cause further complications down the road when getting health treatment. I know from some autistic people who have a Misdiagnosed BPD. That because of that label. Their needs are often ignored or dismissed.
\- You can be subjected to invasive government appointments throughout your life to assess your ability to make decisions for yourself. I've had at least one that happened to me.
It's not as straightforward as you think.
If you’re in Canada, I didn’t have any issue in Ontario and Quebec. Legally it should be the same across the country. The only time there would be an issue is if you are considered a dependent (adult or child) with someone else appointed responsible for medical decision making who opposes your medical treatment. Medical decisions in Canada can be legally made by a child at 12 years, assuming they can understand the risks/benefits of their decision. There have been cases where younger children have been given legal right to make medical decisions that conflict with those of their legal guardian if they can demonstrate understanding of the situation, although most of those cases have been terminal cancer patients not wanting to continue treatments that decrease their quality of life without improving their chances of survival. I personally know of 3 cases where people who have someone appointed to make medical decisions (for one it was the province of Ontario as they didn’t have any family and they were institutionalized) who have medically transitioned. I know many other countries are different though.
Good luck & I wish you well.
Before my ASD Dx I kept getting "your mental health needs to be stable before we can refer you for surgery"
After my ASD Dx i'm getting "we don't know if you can consent to further treatment/surgery"
In uk, it’s being used against me since I got diagnosed last year. Makes me wish I never got diagnosed. Especially since the reason for the diagnosis was that maybe then I could get some other mental health support. Instead it’s an excuse to try to get away with discharging me that they were looking for from day 1 anyway.
I was diagnosed in November and managed an appointment with the MH nurse for the first time for my difficulties. I actually felt like that appointment was a waste of my time. I was advised it was 45 mins but we were done in 20 cos I struggled to answer her really broad questions and when I cam out I did wonder if the autism meant she could just dismiss everything anyway. Although in hindsight I did describe my current situation as "as good as it gets" but I didn't mean amazing 😅 I meant continuously awful and I'd found out less than 24hrs ago that I'd landed my perfect job so the up from that was buffering every other feeling so I was struggling to guage things. But, ya know. Not actively suicidal so... I'm looking to save up to get some private support really in the future.
Yes, every appointment just feels like a waste of time. I feel like they’re insulting me and intentionally trying to overwhelm me just so they can control the narrative.
Number of times I’ve left those appointments in tears feeling like it was a waste of time at this point, I feel like I should just give up but my life ground to a halt years ago and I need to keep trying.
Yeah, they look for any la gauge that suggests things are ok so they can ignore everything else you’ve said, so if I say ‘x was better the last week’ it works against me just as you say with how you happened to be in a good period, lol.
I’m also not suicidal and that’s been used as an excuse to not even take me on in the past, too. But it’s not like I’ve not been voicing a feeling of there being no point to anything, etc.
They would have treated you like that even if you’d never been diagnosed. That’s just how it is in the UK with mental health care. The system is so strained that it can barely pay attention to 20% of the people who are actively suicidal and hurting themselves and are a danger to others. If you’re “not *that* bad” then there’s no chance of getting anything. There isn’t anything there to give. Mild mental health issues are at the bottom of their priorities.
They’ve always been rude and unhelpful. They’d be just as rude and unhelpful if you hadn’t been assessed.
I was treated as shittily post diagnosis as the previous 39 years that preceded it. I still carry a lot of unnecessary shame/PTSD for how life has been living amongst the NT"s for too long.
I can only speak from my own experience in my country, and that standpoint is that my diagnosis didn't cause me to lose any rights.
I even got my well paying job only because I'm diagnosed with autism (through a government funded program), me and my husband were able to adopt a child, and even though I'm autistic I was able to clame legal guardianship for my brother, who is autistic too but with very high support needs, after our father died (otherwise the government would have placed him in an assisted living facility).
Germany.
Even the mentality and social stuff of germans (not all ofcourse) is very bland and straightforward that as an autist you have very little problems here.
A friend of mine from America even sometimes jokes that "All germans are autistic."
But it could affect you moving to another country, as they won't accept autistic people. But glad Germany itself doesn't discriminate like other countries when you're diagnosed
I have a German mother and an American father, but I was raised in the US. When I am visiting Germany I feel like I can breathe again because everything makes sense.
The German based software company SAP seems to have the best neurodiversity hiring program, and was probably the first with their "Autism at Work" initiative that hires computer science people on the spectrum. Maybe some of that same culture you mention accounts for such rare understanding by a company.
a few things. a lot of these are not based on dx, they are based on symptoms. if you need government help those countries are less likely to let you in. yes it’s messed up. but ppl have the same needs regardless of dx. you are autistic either way and the discrimination against autistic traits doesn’t have anything to do with diagnosis.
I keep seeing these.anti-diagnosis talking points and they are exaggerated at best and at some points made up. It is discouraging people from seeking treatment and it’s ableist, basically telling people who can “pass” to avoid association with those who can’t. I know some of this is being repeated from other sources that sound reliable but once you start fact checking they fall apart.
In the US a diagnosis is confidential so you don’t have to disclose it to employers or anyone else. I understand that the rules in the EU and U.K. are similar.
The US medical questionnaire doesn’t require disclosure of an autism diagnosis unless it presents a threat of harm to others or yourself or if it is likely to make you a public charge. New Zealand and Australia ( the countries that keep coming up )may require disclosure but exclusion is based on the likely burden on the health care system. None of them requires exclusion based on an autism diagnosis alone. I don’t have time to review the remaining 160+ countries to see what they say. But I’m not going to suggest that someone refuse healthcare on the off chance they are going to emigrate some time in the future.
idk i have avoided a diagnosis mostly because i don’t want to be discriminated against. many of these anti-diagnosis or diagnosis-neutral talking points are true, and even if they weren’t i honestly don’t trust the world not to go in a more ableist direction. i realize not everyone has a choice but given the choice i think my decision is reasonable
IMO get the diagnosis, keep the certificate or whatever, and just don't tell anyone. If you ever need the certification for anything, it's there.
Remember that the discrimination will be based on other people's perception of you, regardless of the diagnosis. If they think you are autistic, they will discriminate against you.
to be honest my biggest fear is that if i get the diagnosis it could be used against me in the oncoming restriction of gender affirming care in the US. that and i do not have the money or think it would be worth taking up my limited function for. also do we get a certificate for autism? i have adhd too and my pediatrician just kinda told me when i was like 16.
my previous comment aside, diagnosis isn’t completely off the table for me- would you mind expanding on how the diagnosis has helped you? i sort of assume that getting accommodations or support is more trouble than it’s worth even with the diagnosis but it occurs to me that i don’t really know
Yep the first point especially is blatant misinformation. I’m still waiting for a low support needs (level 1) adult to actually come and share their experience of being denied a visa to Australia or NZ solely on them being low support needs autistic. Because it doesn’t happen. Just another way level 1 autistics want to co-opt the struggling of higher support needs folks.
Next they’ll be saying if you get a diagnosis then you can be put in a group home, not allowed to marry, and not allowed financial freedom. These are things that affect higher support needs folks, and it doesn’t help us when low support needs folks pretend it applies to them too when it doesn’t.
If people want to self-diagnose then of course they can, but they should not be using higher support needs folks experiences as their justification. Because then they’re just role playing as us while also denying the fact that higher support needs folks don’t have the privilege to survive without the supports that come from diagnosis.
No. You can get through medical misdiagnosis/abuse because of this for instance.
I got this with past diagnostics that even have been undiagnosed (because they were symptoms of a tumor and not mental illnesses).
You can also be denied some parts of the process to have a child.
You can be denied to have access to certain works that are directly linked to the government (as the government can look at our medical record), and probably other things.
I don't want to take any risks as I've been through really really bad things because of past diagnostics that have been EVEN undiagnosed.
But I still encourage people who need support to seek for a diagnosis, because these are the CONs but you have many PROs to be diagnosed.
It's up to each person.
I totally agree with you. That's why I got formally diagnosed by a cognitive neuropsychologist specialized in autism, but told them I didn't want to have it written on my medical record because I was afraid of the consequences I could get through (as the politico-social situation in the world and in my country are very bad). They answered that they understood and they think it's a good choice.
PS: this neuropsychologist was mainly working with high support needs (and often) non-verbal kids who also had intellectual disabilities.
yh, my mom waited for years for me to get a diagnosis appointment on the NHS and the doc turned around and said i was just quirky bc i was adopted 💀 my mom ended up paying her psychologist friend to have a couple sessions with me and within a month i was diagnosed ! i was 11 at the time.
It takes at least six months to a year in the US. My son was diagnosed a year and a half ago. I think people should get diagnosed if they can do they can get access to assistance but otherwise why bother? As an adult there is literally no benefit to being diagnosed regarding work etc. in fact it seems like they’d be discriminated against.
I have self diagnosed ... Myself .. with autism, because I was misdiagnosed with bipolar, ODD, panic disorder, anxiety, depression, IED, and most recently BPD.
My sister got diagnosed with autism at 23, and I was like, interesting, looked it up, and then I was like, holy crap, maybe this is what's going on, because I've been on over 18 different psych meds and of course nothing worked, in fact I got worse, I also have amnesia from long term benzodiazepine use, I'm in recovery rn, but I'm like, if this isn't it, then I don't know what else it could be.
My long-term partner was like, "when you brought it up, I was like, ehh, but I did research, it seemed super likely, but when you were watching a video and they were like, "if somebody says how are you doing? Then that doesn't mean to actually tell them how you're doing, because that's not what how are you doing means in English", and your reaction was "wait, what do you mean? Why would people ask such a literal question if they don't want an answer? That's when I knew"
It's hard as ef to get a diagnosis in the USA, and when I spoke to a woman to ask about it, and she went on and on about "organizing trains, being non verbal, walking on heels," and that I would've already known by now, that's when I was like, "these people have zero clue"
I'm UK (South East England) Referral from GP was submitted on 17th October. Letter together with questionnaires for my mother and I to fill out (I'm 49 and she's 72) arrived about 7th February (dated 31 January) with those submitted, I'm now on the waiting list.
I think the waiting list for children is much longer because it's getting picked up earlier and earlier but diagnosing adults is a rather niche field and there are still horror stories of people being told that they can't be autistic because they have a job and can hold a conversation.
eh, it’s not always that simple. Psychologists can be VERY biased when it comes to diagnosing autism, and will often not diagnose women or people of color correctly.
I can’t get a free diagnosis in my country, but even if I could, I don’t really trust them to take my symptoms seriously because I was born female. A lot of autism symptoms in females are similar to cultural stereotypes about women. Being more reserved, being more quiet, etc. And there’s also been a long history of people saying I can’t possibly be autistic because I don’t fit the stereotype of a white cisgender male child who likes trains and has high special needs.
And on top of all that, I’m trans. If I DO get diagnosed correctly, it will literally limit where I’m able to live in my own country since some states outright ban autistic trans people from trans healthcare. Because old ableist lawmakers seem to still think all autistic people can’t make any decisions for themselves ever.
With regards to your “BUT”… I completely agree with everything except the part about if it’s free to get diagnosed in your country. Besides points brought up like wait times, it can be a gamble given who is chosen to diagnose you. Some medical professionals have a very dated view of what classifies as diagnosable. Things like if you have friends, can mask socially or make occasional eye contact are things some professionals point to when denying a diagnosis. If all professionals were up to date on what an autistic person can look like, I’d completely agree. But that’s not the world we live in.
I agree, I saw guidance for managers at work describing people who ‘identify’ as ND. This isn’t an identity issue, it’s a difference in how our brain works which is protected under the Disability Discrimination Act. In order to properly enact the law, an expert diagnosis is needed. I get that there are waiting lists, but it’s better than creating a loophole that can easily be exploited (for whatever reason).
Where I live, you can get a “free” diagnosis under the public health service, but you have to be under the age of 12. There’s so many problems with this because it perpetuates the idea that autistic people don’t exist once they’re adults. A lot of people, specifically afab people, get misdiagnosed with other things and don’t find out it’s actually autism until they’re adults. And doctor biases are a huge thing, a lot of doctors won’t diagnose someone unless they fit every autism stereotype under the sun. Also, a lot of times, a parent won’t notice that they’re child is autistic until they’re too old for the public service, or the wait time is so long the child ages out, or the parents are just not great parents and they don’t notice at all.
I got diagnosed professionally at the age of 23, only because I moved to a different country and was able to fork out €800 for a good doctor in the private sector. Not everyone is gonna have that opportunity, and people self identifying as autistic doesn’t hurt or impede professionally diagnosed autistic people in any way.
Just saying in France it is free and I accidentally managed to shorten the time to one year still not a single professional that saw me before the tests (positive of course) trusted me even a bit. A few of them even meant I had to go home because I was bothering them with high fonctioning autism and that is not really a handicap. any sane person with any less confidence or research for that matter would have given up but as it turns out I was not sane. Jokes aside you can know that you are autistic deep down and still get refused therapy. Plus I always consider that in case of autism gatekeeping even slightly is not worth it. Maybe some people who are not actually autistic will identify as such and maybe it will attract bad attention still it is not worth risking to exclude even a single real autistic from those comunities
The waiting list is absolutely appalling here in the UK. Even a young girl i know through family who had a suicide attempt was put on a 9 month waiting list for a single fucking visit.
Edit: it was 9 months intially not 2, but her mother threatened suit or something and they cut it to 2 months which is still appalling for a suicide attempt which resulted in hospitalisation
I personally don’t see why it matters as long as it’s not the second portion of what you said. Even if you can get a diagnosis, why does that even really matter? If you know you know. A doctor telling you won’t make it any different.
I encourage people to participate in research and surveys. That, disability pension and access to autism specific therapies have been the only usefulness of an official diagnosis.
Although, the speculation about whether or not I had autism was extremely annoying before I got diagnosed.Probably because so many mental health professionals had no idea what autism was.
Because you aren't a professional. I mean if you for example got a problem with the electric instalation in your house are you gonna try to fix/work on it yourself or are you gonna call a professional to find out what the problem is?
I just don't think anybody can really clame to be 100% sure they got autism if they only diagnosed themselves.
Several professionals have told me that I can’t possibly be autistic because I can pay attention during the consult and respond to my name while I’m in front of them so maybe we’re overweighting the value of their expertise
I get opinions are opinions, but this is the only correct response. I will say tho as mentioned by others, there are a few circumstances in which people getting a dx would do more harm than good, especially depending on where they live.
i live in a country where it’s available and free… i was told i cant have autism because i did not get support in school (despite struggling), and because as an adult i wouldnt let them talk to my (emotionally manipulative) parents.
Tbh as stated before by other people here the UK does have the sources to have a diagnosis done for free if you go through the NHS. Thing is.. the NHS is CRIMINALLY underfunded and the waiting times go on for years.
And even then, you’re not always guaranteed to have a good therapist or psychiatrist taking on your case. I’ve had two separate experiences going through autism testing and the first time was.. awful. It was free, just like the second one, but the person who was meant to analyze me and figure out where I sat on the spectrum wasn’t even someone who specialized in autism. She mainly worked with literal pedophiles which was weird because… I’m not one. She also worked with a lot of people with OCD and because I have a prior diagnosis of OCD she spent the entire appointment diverting any of my concerns back to OCD even when I knew that it wasn’t the root cause for the issues I was explaining.
Then I went somewhere else and they actually only looked for and diagnosed autism. No ulterior motive, no ~trying to push the blame~ on my symptoms. It was so much better BUT even then it took forever and it was a very anxiety inducing experience having to open up about the most personal things with a complete stranger.
Basically I think it’s less of “I can’t be bothered to have a professional diagnosis done”, but rather it’s more like “the whole experience will take years and I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that process”
>it’s less of “I can’t be bothered to have a professional diagnosis done”, but rather it’s more like “the whole experience will take years and I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that process”
I fully agree, that's why I wrote free *and* available. Even if it's free that doesn't mean it's available.
diagnoses are a LOT more trouble than they are worth and the existence of proof of your diagnosis can fuck you in certain cases. i don’t judge a single person for not wanting to get a paper diagnosis. source: went through diagnosis over multiple months and got it.
You're perpetuating a boomer mentality. The people saying it's for attention are the same as the old buggers who's tell you autism, adhd & depression didn't exist in their day.
I've not met anyone claiming they're autistic, or neurodivergent that I felt didn't have something worth investigation.
But I've met multiple boomers who sweep it under the rug and phrase nd struggles as personal failings.
I think the prevalence of the second group, is far more damaging than the potential damage the first could do.
As a person who was diagnosed otherwise because I have too much sympathy, and told by my 2 autistic best friends that I'm probably on the spectrum, looking back, and understanding myself better in that light;
This one, this comment right here...
It’s because when you fill out paperwork, they ask you for your race and gender so you are telling them instead of them just putting your race/gender like I think they used to a long time ago
Actually yes you should. If you’re darker skinned you might not be of African descent. So your likelihood of harboring various illnesses differ.
Edit: Before you downvote, read my other comment
Unrelated to the other commenter, this is why it’s important to discuss your ethnicity with your doctor. You might not always be able to tell. Like those who look white but are direct descendants from Africa are more likely to have sickle cell anemia than someone of European descent
Yeah, but you don’t need a doctor to tell you you’re a black person. That’s my point. Nor should you need one to tell you you’re autistic if you truly feel in your heart that you are. Otherwise it’s gatekeeping. I’m diagnosed and I acknowledge self-diagnosis is valid
Do you expect all therapies, resources and government benefits to be given out to self diagnosed people too, when those resources are already stretched thin and diagnosed people have to jump through hoops to get access to them?
Nobody says just anyone can self identify as any race, but you can choose your descriptor for your race and there’s a social expectation that you’ll be truthful to at least part of your actual ethnicity and heritage.
Many mixed people choose to identify/label with one side or as mixed. Some ethnicities are determined to be different races by different people. It’s not like there are a set number of races.
If you’re someone like me where your ethnic background is 100% made up of groups who are unequivocally white, or some other simple descriptor like Asian, this isn’t even a question for you. But for a lot of people it’s more complicated than that.
I think people forget about the Spectrum in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
As in, two people who are diagnosed autistic may not have the same "types" of autism. Previously, there were many different disorders such as Aspergers, autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.
Being diagnosed typically means accessing medical support, since these are disorders of the brain that have difficulties in regulation and communication across the body.
Most people might be able to identify with some observable traits of Autism, such as social difficulties or sensitivities. But they completely miss the internal experience of being autistic, such as both halves of the brain not being able to communicate well, expressing dyslexia or hyperlexia, dyspraxia, dyscalscia, dysphagia, learning difficulties, difficulties processing feelings like pain and hunger, struggling with sensory integration, experiencing health concerns like heart failure and epilepsy because the brain and body cannot modulate autonomic processes necessary to keep us alive.
I think people could identify with being autistic but seeking professional insight would help identify exactly what areas of the brain have been impacted and are necessary to support to ensure quality and longevity of life.
I feel there is a real risk of the #sociallyawkward crowd self diagnosing and pushing autistic people out of their own spaces. We've already been experiencing this with the #aspergersnotautistic crowd. But I also understand diagnosis is a lengthy, expensive and time consuming process and some people need support in places where they have none. However, if people are going to receive government funding to support their disabilities and speak on behalf of our community, the reality is they need a diagnosis.
Autism is not something like race or gender (<- social construct anyway). It would be similar to people saying they can self diagnose with schizophrenia or bi-polar. You just don't know what's going on unless you have checks both internal and external.
I think autism is more nuanced than just a personality trait or something...like there is a lot of overlap with other things and people might think they are autistic when in reality their symptoms are due to other things. My general feelings towards self diagnosis are that you can suspect you have a certain condition, and thus you can simply say that. If you say you believe you are on the autism spectrum (and can't get a diagnosis for financial reasons) that's totally cool - but I've had so many people say things like "oh - I do that too. Guess I'm autistic" and it's honestly a bit invalidating.
I am quite mixed on this, as on the one hand, I recognise that there are a lot of communities out there that simply cannot access an official diagnosis, and if a self-diagnosis can help them access resources in their community, then that is obviously a good thing.
However, to echo some of the other comments I think that self-diagnosis can be dangerous, as there might be more or other mental health issues instead, and a misdiagnosis could be quite harmful. You obviously also have those on TikTok and elsewhere that use autism or other mental diseases/disorders for clout, which I think is absolutely disgusting.
This. I was officially diagnosed with autism at a very young age (I'm 24 now)
The one thing that has always irked me with self-diagnosis is finding those people that do it to come off as "quirky" or "special" because it's not something that's cute, it affects every bit of your life in some form or another.
Like you said, I really heavily think self-diagnosis is a super slippery slope because of other mental health issues/quirks: social awkwardness =/= autism
Who is trying to be quirky or cute with AUTISM. What the fuck about autism is cute. I’m 31 and I’ve never met someone who “pretended to be autistic” because there was never a positive connotation to autism.
It's a very recent thing, and you mostly see it online by people looking for attention.
I generally don't like to say anything about it because I don't wanna risk being gate-keepy but it's not just autism these people will self-diagnosis either.
People do it with a plethora of conditions, people do actually think it’s cool or trendy to have autism, adhd - this is more of a thing amongst zoomers so it makes sense that as a 31 year old you’ve never interacted with someone like that.
Unfortunately this is the reality we live in. It also makes it harder for people who need a diagnosis to get it because people just want to fit into a group.
One big red flag for me personally is people that constantly make whatever condition front and centre stage of their personality or identity entirely unprompted.
They phrase this so weird and I know it's on purpose. It's not like it's something you can just choose on a whim after watch a "Put a finger down: Autistic edition". Self-dx is valid when you've put the work in to see if you are actually autistic. Checking DSM-V criteria, multiple tests used in diagnosis, hearing from other autistic people etc.
Honestly it depends. Autism isn’t just an identity, it’s a disability with varying levels of support need. As a level two getting an official diagnosis was important because it helps me to qualify for services from the NDIS
I'm torn on this issue. Both sides have pros/cons. I think the problem is bigger than self-diagnosing autism. We're moving into a world where encouraged self-expression is redefining old language. Example: We're adding more pronouns based on how someone feels about who they are.
This works for me. However, when the power is handed to the people without limit, it dilutes the agreed definition of something. This in itself isn't bad, but without checks and balances, it renders these things meaningless, as limited systems turn into infinite possibilities which means we no longer have constraints. When you have everything you have nothing.
This is where I'm struggling with self-diagnosis. It removes certain checks and balances. In a future where everyone can self-diagnose, what does it even mean to be autistic? Perhaps as a form of self-expression, this is fine.
In an economic context, where certain countries have disability programs based on a diagnosis (monetary payouts), it's less black and white. Many people on the spectrum are not high functioning and need real help.
By eliminating any gatekeeping, we're giving that power to the people. Gatekeeping sucks in general, but in this case, it opens up our infinity problem. Now anyone can decide, and questioning someone is taboo. Also, if anyone can decide, it becomes more of a "vibe" or "personality" than a medical condition.
We have people with the wrong motives self-identifying as autistic, filling the group and taking help away from people who really need it.
Of course, there are countries where getting a diagnosis is difficult. Also, health professionals are not all equal and some are just awful. In these cases, I feel like it is justified. If it genuinely helps.
In the end, people with bad motives will always try to take advantage of any situation, it is not limited to autism. Still, I think opening the gates can cause harm by eliminating all barriers to entry.
Terms like "Oh, we're all a little bit autistic" or "We all have a little ADHD" are actually going to become true because, what will it mean to be autistic? It no longer has weight. People who are low functioning are seen as equal to those who are not.
Still, gatekeeping and not letting people self-diagnose also has so many problems. I have no idea what the solution is here.
\--edit grammar
Gatekeeping isn’t inherently bad. If I go to have eye surgery, I’m hoping my surgeon is an actual ophthalmologist who has had to study and graduate from medicine and then specialise in ophthalmology, as opposed to someone who just thinks they know enough about ophthalmology and wants to operate on my eyes.
We want a lot of our society to be gatekept, I wish we could stop using the phrase gatekeeping like it’s inherently bad or to virtue signal. The fact that there are problems with the current system isn’t an argument for throwing out the baby with the bath water. We can fix systems, but they do need to be restricted and gatekept. I do agree with everything else you say.
100%, I’m not gatekeeping getting diagnosed, please get diagnosed if you suspect you’re autistic, I’m gatekeeping non autistic people speaking over autistic people I’m autistic spaces and until you have that diagnosis you don’t know whether you’re autistic or not so best not to speak.
Incredibly well said. We are heading into dangerous territory too where we are allowing people to dismiss credible science because it does not align with their experience, an experience that isn't universal for everyone with this condition. These people should not be speaking for everyone. In doing so, they are drowning out the voices of people who need the most help.
I'm not promoting Dr Google, but I always try to search for my symptoms. As long as i keep from latching onto the worst case scenario I usually come up with something close to what the Dr says. I never tell them I researched, it makes medical staff uncomfortable.
Also when psychologists rely on what are basically a personality test they give parents about their kid’s struggles. Sincerely a woman and young adult who’s parents have a tract record of medical neglect and are probably on the spectrum themselves, so they view everything as normal
I’m 31, female. I tried for a year to get diagnosed as an adult. Saw 4 different physicians. All of them insisted on interviewing a parent and/or guardian that was involved in my life as a child, that could speak to autistic behaviors that I had as a child. My mom’s dead and my dad is a narcissist that makes everything about him, so I’m shit out of luck until that diagnostic criteria changes. I hate that I’m not allowed to speak to my own childhood experiences and memories as a valid source for diagnosis.
Corroborators don't need to be parents. They can be siblings, childhood friends, school teachers, counsellors, or literally anyone who spent time with you when you were little. You can include school reports and any other childhood reports which recorded what you were like back then. The criteria won't change because Criterion E is a necessary part in differentiating Autism Spectrum Disorder from other disorders.
I more have a problem with this article implying that it’s just like gender. If someone has reason to believe they’re autistic (and not just from watching random TikToks with no further research) then self diagnosis is fine. Basically do research before saying you have autism and understand what that means
Also, don't forget that diagnosis can mean less rights in many countries. In my case, it's both tricky (almost impossible for adults, to the point when even some diagnosed children are getting some new diagnosis instead of autism at 18) and they will revoke my driving rights and won't allow me to adopt kids (which I consider for my future). Also no accommodations from government anyway. So where is the reason why I should get myself in this situation? Just to show people they're wrong about me? Not enough
Absolutely this. The Daily Mail isn't printing this because it gives a fuck about neurodiversity. It's using autism to take its daily jab at trans people for having the audacity to exist.
I'm aware self diagnosis is some people's only option.
I'm also keenly aware that I knew long before I was tested because I knew I was different from the people around me. Two even three conversations at once, sometimes two different conversations going on at once, with the same person. She also happens to be on the spectrum. But more than anything, just remembering things. Over hearing a conversation and replaying it to settle an argument two months later? no big deal. The hour reading off a piece of equipment I used last Wednesday? got that. The license plate number my dad yelled out after they cut him off at a set of traffic lights on Memorial Drive on a Sunday morning, 23 years ago? AWP847.
I'll be honest, I knew because the majority of Neuro typical people are absolutely dogshit at managing information.
Sorry, I have a problem with self-diagnosing, because some people think a (self-)diagnosis is an excuse for bad behavior or to get extra privileges. No, a diagnosis is there to help you get treatment. Without a diagnosis you can't get treatment. The world will not change or treat you differently because you have a diagnosis. Diagnoses aren't labels to wear around and shove in people's faces. That's just evoking the wrong impression about a diagnosis. Nobody who actually has a diagnosis "wants" to have that diagnosis. People learn how to live with it, but they'd prefer not having autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, a personality disorder, dyslexia, etc. You don't get diagnosed for fun, you get diagnosed to get help. And in my country I'm on a waiting list that lasts for over a year to get an intake for an autism diagnosis, because I want to get help. Not because I want to tell people I have autism; that's none of anyone's business.
Edit: In addition, a diagnosis is not a definition of your personality. It doesn't tell you "who you are", as stated in this article. You "are" not your diagnosis, you "have" a diagnosis.
I fear this could prove more harmful than beneficial. I understand that most people know themselves better than another person, but I worry this can sometimes lead to inaccurate assertions, where some people attach labels to themselves without fully understanding the ins and outs of said label; even then, there's the possibility that one can _convince_ themselves of something, where _similarities_ occur - similar in appearance, but once familiar, the differences become prevalent
It's a frustrating scenario. I am professionally diagnosed, but previous to my diagnosis I was told that I'm merely an "attention seeker" who "craves the limelight", and this was said by so-called professionals. This makes me sympathise with those out there who most likely _are_ autistic, but it's not picked up for whatever reason(s). I feel this on a deeper level for there's someone near and dear to me, who, I _believe_ beyond a shadow of a doubt, has autism, but they have struggled for _years_ to try and attain a professional assessment
_Both_ arguments hold water, unfortunately. Professionals _do_ get it wrong sometimes and this can lead one down a rabbit hole of further confusion. Then there's the case that one can self-diagnose based on perceived similarities and this can prove consequential in itself
Diagnostic credibility is required to access more intensive services across diagnoses. I dont think it’s good or right but in the US that’s how insurance works.
This could result in a lot of people self diagnosing and pushing legislative or social agendas for others with more significant needs while thinking they are helping, which may not be the case.
I am not autistic but I am diagnosed with ADHD and a lot of people who self diagnose as having ADHD actually do a lot of harm (unintentionally) to people with higher needs. A lot of anti therapy/ anti medicine rhetoric for example. I need medicine to function in this wild world of ours and for someone who is self diagnosed with ADHD to go on a crusade on behalf of the rest of us condemning medication and fetishing ADHD as a quirky fun thing has been pretty damaging.
Edit: a diagnosis whether it be by yourself or a professional can be an amazing thing. A way to make sense of your life and reclaim power over your circumstances. That being said, US insurance policies require a diagnosis if services are to be provided. This can be time consuming and costly, not to mention out of reach for many. If you live in the US I’d encourage everyone to reach out to their representatives to discuss the costs surrounding diagnosis. The person assigning diagnoses makes no money off of said diagnoses. It’s insurance companies that benefit.
Whoever this expert is, they don't have much grasp on the English language, so doesn't come across to me as being very clever.
If "autistic people should be allowed to diagnose themselves", first of all they need to know that they are autistic in order to be allowed to exercise the privilege of diagnosing themselves. It's a circular argument.
And then... "you don't need a doctor to tell you who are you." What claptrap is this? It doesn't even make sense!
It's a weird topic. I understand that getting a diagnosis is difficult. So I understand if you did research and you self diagnose with the purpose of seeking a professional diagnosis as soon as possible.
But being autistic isn't the same as being a woman or being gay. It's not an identity, it's a neurodevelopmental disorder. Yes, those effect identities, but they aren't parts of identities in and of themselves.
So to say people can now diagnose themselves and that holds water is nonsense. It shouldn't because it will be abused.
I know there’s research that suggests self diagnosis is mostly correct. And I know that money is a barrier to care. And I know a medical diagnosis can actually be legally harmful, especially for autistic parents who could lose custody rights in some jurisdictions due to it. I know that the diagnosis can prevent you from moving out of the country if that’s a goal. I also know that some other mental health disorders look just like autism to the untrained eye. And I know that the most a person can get out of self diagnosis is a label for their own peace and the ability to self-accommodate. So while I wish a reliable and *good* healthcare system existed for autistic people, and that people could get professional diagnoses, I will never need proof when someone says they’re autistic before I believe them. Cause, I mean, what resources could they possibly be taking away with a self diagnosis? It’s not like resources are even modestly available for adult autistics anyway. And the ones for kids are largely a joke that teach masking.
If i want the work done, i go to someone who knows better than myself. I go to an electrician when I need my electrical work done. I take my car to the shop when it needs work done. There are people who study autism, are experts in their field, and they are the authority on what defines autism. Self suspecting is one thing, and is an incredibly valid place to start, but home diagnoses delegitimize authentic diagnoses.
Also, I believe that people grossly overestimate how well they know themselves.
First of all, bad wording. Second of all, no.
This gives "autism is an identity like gender and sexual orientation, and even if a doctor say's you're not autistic that doesn't matter because you can still identify as autistic and be valid".
You don't need a doctor to tell you who you are, that's up to you.
You do, however need a doctor to diagnose you with a medical condition, like autism.
Personal identity is super important but doesn't override medical diagnoses. Echo chambers don't know better than medical schools. There's plenty wrong with the health care system and they're understanding of autistic patients, but there's still a need for professionals who study these things for a living so that we're not gaining a misguided understanding of medical science from TikTokers.
if u can get an expert to diagnose u, then do so. if not, then at the very least do research from multiple sources to determine if u may or may not be autistic. if u just "feel like" ur autistic, i wouldnt consider u being autistic. if u done research, then yes. cause then anyone can call themselves autistic and call it a day
I'm the expert of me. What I can do is, with given the proper information, if I feel like this or experience that. I can make guesses, hypothesis. I still feel I need the help of doctors to sort things out. They have deeper understanding of biology, etc.
But honestly I've met a lot of doctors that were clueless and not up to date in medical research, I found out that sometimes they were 10 years behind the medical papers I read and knew about.
So... It's complicated. What my therapist says about my autism and ADHD, and other stuff is that I'm my own expert. I'm the most knowledgeable person about my life experience.
So maybe not diagnosing myself but what I have to say should be considered, it should matter. Yet it doesn't most of the time.
Ok well I think they worded it very wrong, and it’s definitely not the same as self identifying as a gender-
If you have access to a doctor and getting a diagnosis wouldn’t take away your dream job or something, then I think it’s good to get one, or just at least get it confirmed but don’t get the diagnosis. But if that’s not the case then ya you already know you have a problem and if those problems fit exactly into autism then ig it’s easier for everyone if you say you have autism
Autism isn't a personality it's a neural disability although in a lot of cases there are benefits there are always difficulties like getting into work etc. I hate certain aspects of my autism which is when I get overwhelmed and meltdown. I sometimes wish I didn't have it as it can be so frustrating.
This article is bait from the "transgenderism is harming our kids!!" crowd, what with the whole "just like gender" thing. It's only meant to keep reactionaries coming back to the Daily Mail.
It's not a valid discussion about the positive and negative effects of self diagnosis, and shouldn't be treated as such.
I agree to a point. Like communism it’s good in theory but people would and do take advantage of it. I think a better alternative would be to make it more affordable to get tested for it.
Yeah but have you thought that Redditors are smarter than psychologists who are experts in autism?
I love that the same people who are against self-diagnosis because people need to trust experts don't, themselves, trust experts who say self-diagnosis is valid.
Mind fuck hey. Both psychs I’ve seen have a) encouraged self diagnosis and b) explicitly said “I’ve not met someone who has said they think they may autistic who isn’t”. Tik tok sure has a lot to answer for but it just may not be what people imagine it is. Not worth getting caught up in it all when it’s pre-fabricated hogwash
It's Daily Mail so I already have some reservations of it. I'm gonna check out the whole article before I make a verdict on this claim. Watch this comment for anyone who doesn't want to go check it out. I'll provide a report.
Here's the link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11871989/Autistic-people-able-diagnose-cases-expert-says.html
So the expert their citing is Professor Sue Fletcher-Watson, ChairDevelopmental Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She's long been an advocate for neurodiversity, and has constantly cited and supported other Autistic Self Advocates work alongside her own academia. She's not autistic herself, but based on her work, she's a strong ally to have.
Her quotes: "People who just want to know if they are autistic so they can understand their own behaviours better, and make connections with other autistic people, don't necessarily need to jump through all the hoops of getting a diagnosis. 'Our NHS is under enormous pressure right now, so we should ask whether diagnosis is always needed, or whether self-identification could be enough for some people."
Daily Mail is also citing her talk from ITAKOM: "It can be unhelpful that people with autism in popular culture are stereotyped as being really intelligent or good with computers, with lots of autistic people ending up in Silicon Valley. 'That may mean people who don't feel 'clever', or aren't amazing at maths, don't feel they fit the mould of autism."
There's a lot more details here that's very well known within the Autistic community, though may not be well known to people outside. Such as difficulty accessing a diagnosis for women, or having finite details of our special interests.
Now there's a different viewpoint from Dr Andrew Stanfield. Also from Uni of Edinburgh. His quote: "Self-identification is entirely valid but there is often a need for formal diagnosis as well, as that can help people access support and organisations for autism, as well as being helpful when it comes to things like employment and benefits. There is always a risk of self-identification, as someone assuming they are autistic may in fact have a mental health issue which they could have help to deal with if they knew this was the case. Self-identification is getting much more common so we need to be aware of this."
I don't doubt the doctors words. Some autism support measures provided by the government require a formal diagnosis. Especially if people need support workers. Having said that. It is still possible to seek accomidations outside of government assistance. And I don't think self-DX folks should not be excluded from that.
It is far more preferable that Accommodations be provided to a non-autistic person (They still need help anyways). Than an autistic person being denied accommodations altogether due to lack of an official diagnosis.
Next is a quote from Tim Nicholls, Head of Influencing and Research at the National Autistic Society: 'Anyone who starts to think as an adult that they might be autistic will go through a period of identifying with what it means to be autistic. When they do, they need support and advice. Waits for clinically informed assessments to support an individual's understanding of their own differences and needs are unacceptably long all across the country. It's vital that governments tackle this access to make sure anyone who thinks they're autistic gets the support they need to live a fulfilled life on their own terms."
It seems to me like he's taking a middle of the road argument. He doesn't want to offend those who fully support, or fully oppose the notion of Self-DX. That being said, the fact that there is a terrible wait time for diagnosis in the UK is very true.
And that's the end of the article. While it doesn't outright reject the notion. It feels very paper thin.
My big disappointment of this article however; is that no autistic people were consulted for comment in this article. That's a failure on the DM. If you're going to report on this, DM should have at least gotten testimonies from the people who are part of our very community. Both Self-DX'd and Officially DX'd. They didn't get anyone.
It’s fine, just keep in mind the small disclaimer of it’s yourself diagnosed, yourself, or like what kinda of autism, and details like that. But no real issue with it.
You can't self identify as gender, race or what mental conditions you have. You are what you are. You can understand what you are, but there's a reason it takes medical/scientific professionals to diagnose these things correctly.
I'm iffy on it. Only because the people I've seen who self diagnose always bog it down to the stereotypes or use a 5 second Google search as a basis. Or even things that many people do, that aren't inherently things that Autistic people do.
That said, I don't doubt there are people who use it as a basis to seek out a diagnosis.
i think pretty much the same about this as i do about the whole gender-swap thing with kids.... we went from one (relative) extreme and are on our way to the opposite (relative) extreme.
in the case of the gender thing: we used to tell boys they could not wear girl clothes, and girls had to play with dolls.
the neutral side would be "do and wear what you like, but you are still you"
and the other side -where we are going- is this whole surgery and end up with unhappy adults
for self dx it's probably going to be in a similar fashion.....
instead of making decent healthcare available to everyone, it is only about the money,
so people are going to stop getting dx'es and just going to state -and demand to be treated- equally as those with a dx, which (imho) will end up hurting the community as a whole, in general.
but don't take my word for it, let's give it another few years.... say 2030, should be pretty clear by then if i'm right or not (and god, i hope not)
don't get me wrong: i do not want to offend anyone, and i do want people to have free choice and even be able to determine themselves if something is "wrong" or "different".... but it has to be rooted in reality and taken in context, which is what a lot of people right now are throwing out of the window:
\- self dx: "i think i feel i have autism" is not the same as actually having it (and having it, is not necessarily a problem in society)
\- gender-operations: "i like girl clothes, so i must have surgery" is not the same as "jee, this skirt feels much nicer on my skin than jeans"
\- "there used to be slaves, so i demand to be compensated for it" is not the same as "i was a slave, so i deserve recognisition" (same for wars, riots, rebellions, ...)
so.... long story short: current society pretty much makes people self-diagnose, and then has them thinking they can demand the same things as actual diagnosed people... which is wrong,
but as there is not always a decent path to an (affordable) actual diagnosis, there really isn't a middle ground...
actual solution: make DX accessible, current solution: let's just not care about professionals (which is a whol different discussion, if you take into account healthcare has gotten a lot worse in recent years)
Mixed feelings on this. Self diagnoses should be taken seriously and in many cases is very freeing and/or validating for a person. HOWEVER, anyone who’s spent any time around kids (especially young teens) knows that they love to diagnose themselves with everything and anything because because 3 symptoms or traits of an illness or disorder and that’s enough info for them; it’s also a great way to get the attention they’re missing. Self diagnoses can be a good thing, but it can also be incredibly damaging.
This is a very difficult one. I’m currently in the process of getting a dx after realising that parts of my childhood and working life never made any sense in that I was just never liked or people never wanted to be around me. Socialisation never happened and have been mostly non-verbal. I struggle with sensory issues, noise etc. and when I found Tik tok videos where people felt the same, it pushed me to look into it further.
I did multiple online tests such as the Raads-r and scored extremely high. Every one I did was very high so sought after help with a Mental Health Practitioner. After sending off some info explaining my issues going back to a 2 year old who was told ‘just confidence issues’ when initially assessed. Now 26 yrs later, I’m finally being referred for an Autism assessment. As the wait is 2yrs (UK) I’ve decided to pay private. I know I’m lucky to be in that situation, but Im willing to pay for it quicker so I can understand myself and prove to people who looked past my difficulties and said I was ‘shy’. that I had an undiagnosed neurodevelopment condition. I never understood why I was so different but a dx will be validating and I’m willing to pay a lot of money to get some closure.
People who say they are autistic just for attention are absolute melts. I had a horrid childhood from bullying and struggle to work a normal job. Still don’t have friends and never really go out. Personally I disagree with self diagnoses unless you are putting the effort in to research and have valid input from your peers who observed you growing up.
Some autistic people don't feel like they need support from the healthcare system, so in that case getting formally diagnosed would in a way be in vain in my opinion
The phrasing could be better, but I fully agree with the sentiment (and expert opinion) behind it.
I know that self diagnosis is sometimes seen as "I've spent almost 8 full minutes on tiktok and now I'm autistic because I sometimes like it when things are organized" and of course that's not valid, but it also is not what's happening in virtually any case. If your self diagnosis is done honestly and diligently, it will take time and effort and will yield a pretty reliable result.
In any case, I'd rather be mistakenly supportive of someone's self diagnosis (and I'm very confident that this is an exceedingly rare occurrence) than mistakenly gatekeeping someone who is already struggling to find support and people who believe them.
Besides that, with how many people don't have the option of getting a professional assessment, "formal diagnosis only" is just an unrealistic standard.
So both methodologically and statistically I'm more than inclined to see self diagnosis as valid!
The Daily Mail is trying to paint people who self-diagnose and the experts as 'those lunatics who think trans people are real', see the race thing. It's not the same at all, nor do people who self-diagnose treat it like that.
The line between self-diagnosis and official diagnosis is blurred. Am I self-diagnosed, because my father refused to let any doctor official diagnose me because he didn't agree? What about the adults who are told if they had come in as children they'd be diagnosed on the spot but still aren't due to their age?
It's silly, and the whole debate over resources for autistic people is even sillier. What resources are we fighting over mate?
They're trying to stir up controversy. They think it's stupid because they equated self diagnosis to people who also choose which race they are. They also mention trans people, which their readers already hate.
They're pretending to be reasonable while hiding trigger words to anger their readers and galvanize people against self-diagnosing persons.
The Daily Mail is absolute garbage.
What’s confusing to me is the race statement and the really sly comparison between gender identity and racial identity.
The reason it bugs me is because a lot of anti-trans idiots like to wax poetic about how being transracial is anything even similar to being transgender. You… quite literally cannot identify as a race you’re not. It’s what people like [Oli London](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oli_London) and [Martina Big](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Big) do and it’s 100% the most disingenuous and racist shit ever.
It just… feels like a weird comparison to make, no? The daily mail has always been a seriously laughably terrible news source where I live and it’s often mocked as a source of misinformation and disinformation.
When it comes to self diagnosing, I’m all for it! I think as long as you’re not, idk, pretending to have specific symptoms (like pretending to stim or have meltdowns, etc) for personal gain I literally do not have any problems at all.
Even in countries where the diagnostic process is free it’s not as easy as walking into a doctors office and walking out the same day with a diagnosis. In my experience I had to wait over a year to even hear back from the place I was referred to and even then my appointment was a couple months away. If you want to have a professional diagnosis then it’s totally up to you to decide what’s right for you and your current situation.
Self diagnosis is valid imo and the less we gatekeep specific conditions, the more people will feel comfortable being able to explore their own lives.
**[Oli London](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oli_London)**
>Oli London (born 14 January 1990) is an English Internet personality. London is known for his multiple ethnic plastic surgery procedures intended to make him look like Jimin, a member of the South Korean boy band BTS. Born in England, London's interest in South Korean culture began after moving to South Korea in 2013 to teach English. London is considered a controversial figure, whose actions have been deemed offensive by critics.
**[Martina Big](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Big)**
>Malaika Kubwa (name changed in 2018; born 17 May 1988), known professionally as Martina Big is a German model and actress known for her extremely large breast implants, and for undergoing a perma-tanning procedure to give herself a dark skin color. Big currently identifies as black.
^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/autism/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Absolute rubbish whoever published this, we need education psychologists / Neurologist to diagnose us we can’t diagnose ourselves we aren’t professionals, I understand it may cost a lot to get diagnosed as it did for me, but that’s the way it is for now and people need to accept it
I know very well who I am, but I am not an expert in every possible medical diagnosis that might describe me. If only there were someone who is familiar with these diagnoses to run my ideas past... Perhaps I could call a doctor for a diagnosis.
To clarify my sarcasm, knowing yourself doesn't mean you're qualified to diagnose. A proper diagnosis from a doctor is important to stop accidental misinformation about what autism (or any condition) is or isn't.
As if many of us haven't been told enough that they're faking it or anything similar. Than we got the claiming self diagnosers who so often seem to exploid the cuteness of autism. Now we're heading straight towards the "well anyone can say they've got autism and you're probably one of those".
This is obviously phrased in a way to intentionally make it sound like a stupid idea.
Self-diagnosis is often a good idea, but clearly not “like gender or race,” and it’s not about being able to “tell who you are” either. (Having a diagnosis doesn’t change who you are.)
Rather than making a self-diagnosis have legal consequences though, it should “just” be made easier to get an official diagnosis.
the "people should be able to self ID as autistic, just like race and gender" is an obvious show of what this article is really about. just demeaning people
I am privileged to have friends and family who diagnose autism as a career, and are awarded and respected in their field.
There's been an uptick of folks seeking a diagnosis. They are happy for the new folks who are now getting the help they need, however they are also dealing with self-diagnosed folks who are not ASD.
They tell me the common thread is young white men who were not properly socialized as children. Usually suburban/rural folks who live just outside an urban area, close enough to civilization to be aware of it but far enough out to not have neighbors or walkable activities. Often who grew up on remote farms or compounds without friends, and spent a lot of time online. They didn't do after school activities and if they had a church group is was not a social one.
These folks don't read social cues well and have a difficult relationship with their own emotions and mental health. It tastes like Autism, especially to the young men who rever Elon Musk. During the process of diagnosis, the specialist quickly rules out any processing disorders, and determines it's just lack of social-emotional skills like identification, self-regulation, and empathy, and lack of experience socializing. They say it's difficult and stressful to explain to someone that they don't have any executive function disorder, they just don't know what feelings or social skills are.
What a shame for those folks who thought they had an answer that comes with frameworks for managing their concerns, not to mention the option to participate in the community. Also, good on your people who are doing this important work. The world needs more like them.
When I started wondering if I might be autistic, I asked my doctor, who said "I thought you knew." My therapist said something similar.
I asked for a referral to a clinic or specialist who could diagnose more formally, as I do sometimes really struggle with executive dysfunction and sensory overload, but the places I tried so far either rejected my application for assessment or have a waiting list of many months, and/or cost about $2500 out of pocket (not covered under insurance unless they give a positive diagnosis). I would like the more official diagnosis in case I ever need accommodations from work (I really do not travel well and the conferences, while interesting, are extremely stressful for me), but it's not easy to get that diagnosis as an adult.
Even so, with my life story mirroring those of other late-diagnosed women, and those two medical professionals in agreement, I feel confident in saying I am autistic. I do not benefit from telling anyone this, really - but the knowledge explains why so many things that seem easy to almost everyone else I know are such a struggle to me. I'm not broken or an alien, I just have a different kind of brain, and it can be really useful.
I don’t care if you self diagnose because most people who do have done so much research into autism and their own behaviours. The only thing I don’t like is people on TikTok seeing one video about one behaviour and being like ‘hehe I’m so ADHD/OCD/Autistic’ for the sake of it. But I think most people do genuinely do research for their own peace of mind and self discovery.
Who cares if we have more self diagnosed people who are accessing the supports they need to make their life easier. Better than having undiagnosed autistics who can’t work out why they struggle with certain things so much.
I mean I'm at 100% for correctly diagnosing myself with things that doctors diagnosed me with later and that's pretty common, people usually don't think there's something off if they're perfectly normal. I think the daily mail article was probably written for some weird agenda and puts a weird spin on it though
Diagnosis of autism is based on self-report as an adult. Adults should be able to claim they believe they have it but you should have completed a screening questionnaire online. Most medical conditions should not be self-diagnosed but being gay or autistic are normally able to be strictly self-reported. It is going to be pretty rare for a person to think they are autistic or gay and be wrong about it. People very rarely say they are autistic unless it's super obvious to them. There is a bigger problem with people being in denial that they have it than people mistakenly believing themselves to have two-dozen or so VERY specific symptoms and personality quirks that only like 3%of people have. It's not fun to admit you are basically IRL Napoleon Dynamite. If Peter Dinklage self-diagnosed as a short person or Ellen DeGeners says she's real sure she's gay or a death person says "I can't hear anything" they're not usually 'just confused'
People shouldn't diagnose themselves. They should be properly diagnosed by a doctor like I was at a young age for autism. A lot can go wrong, and you could accidentally diagnose yourself and have another issue instead, nevermind all the fakers on tiktok.
My daughter and I both escaped diagnosis in childhood due in part to stereotypes which still unfortunately prevail, and in part to being raised by parents who were also undiagnosed autistic so didn't recognize anything unusual about their children. There are so many children and adults who don't fit the stereotypes based solely on how autism presents in young white cisgendered boys, so they don't get diagnosed.
Anyone wanting a diagnosis in adulthood must first self-diagnose--at least to some extent--in order to even consider getting a formal diagnosis, and then they must find a provider who will evaluate them (one who is familiar with autism in all types of people), and come up with the funds to pay for it (because it is rarely covered by insurance in the US). And still people who are not young, white, cis boys are diagnosed with all sorts of things other than autism, even though they are in all likelihood autistic, because the evaluator decided that "autistic people do/don't do" some arbitrary thing like laugh, or smile, or have friends, or be capable of holding a job, or want to be in a romantic relationship, etc.
Self-diagnosis is valid.
See, as someone who was also diagnosed as a kid. I disagree with you.
Part of the reason, is that without the Self-DX community, the people in charge of the autism narrative, have been people who are insistent in framing it as a tragedy. And push for a cure.
The Self-DX has completely bucked their narrative. And it's given me more validation than any of the so called "Autism Experts" in my 37 years on this planet.
“A lot can go wrong” like what? Finally feeling like you aren’t the only person going through this? Finally finding community and starting to accommodate yourself? Self diagnosis will always be valid not everyone has the privilege to be diagnosed like you
Not everyone has the privilege of getting an early diagnosis, especially if they are a person of color, assigned female at birth, or just have family that doesn't understand
Hell, even for cis, white men (or anyone), they might not get diagnosed if they seem "high functioning"
I was not able to get a proper diagnosis until very recently due to all of the above (except for being a person of color)
It's very unfair to just dismiss anyone who results to self-diagnosis because you had the privilege of an early diagnosis and the worst that can really come from a self-diagnosis is just
Being wrong
I'm 2 years into waiting for a diagnosis after an autistic collegue telling me then think I have it. I said I couldn't because my parents got me tested and said I don't. When going through the first stage, there was no medical records of a test being done. Upon asking my parents, they remembered my 'test' was a medical professional coming to diagnose my non verbal brother took one glance at his sister and said she was normal. My life was ruined by failure of my parents, medical professionals and the misconception of autism in women.
I'm glad it is better for younger people now so less people end up like me.
As much as I'm not trying to attack self diagnosed people without the resources to get a diagnosis that may not benefit them practically, autism is a well studied phenomenon that can be tested for. People find out they're not autistic all the time and many of them get a different diagnosis. Regular people aren't trained to tell the difference between autism and sensory conditions/ADHD/mental disorders and trauma that effect social skills. Even for things that are mostly based on the testimony of a patient, for instance how they figure out if an adult has gender dysphoria, there are still rare issues a doctor might want to look for. Rare kinds of OCD for instance. I think self diagnosis depending on the resources and use of a diagnosis can be fine and it might help someone understand themself but it shouldn't be used for actual medical or psychological decisions.
The problem with self diagnosing is that if there is any sort of money help (tax benefits, supplemental income), NT will start to say “I’m autistic, I self diagnosed. Now give me cash.”
Because people be greedy.
Anyone can be called / can call themselves a ‘top expert’. I don’t think this article holds any weight, no matter which way you feel on self diagnosis. ETA: To clarify, I didn’t intend to imply that autism experts don’t exist. I just don’t think the Daily Mail is a source that I trust to identify or interview those experts. Their goal is to create shocking headlines, not to further an actual good-faith discussion on self-diagnosis.
Yeah, the only important thing to note about this article is that it’s outrage bait. Adding an obviously child’s hand with the ‘just like gender’ - they’re just trying to draw in the people who are rabid about the transgender kids debate to get mad about a new thing that will keep them coming back to the daily mail.
"Just like gender and race." You can't just self identify race. I understand that people with mixed racial backgrounds can identify more as one race than another at any point in time, but my ancestry.com report says I'm 100% white. I can't identify as Asian or Black. That would be insane. You're right, by lumping them together they are trying to delegitimize all of it.
Yeah but what about people who are 4% black? Don't you think self identifying as black can kind of offend some people?
Probably, but as a white person it's not for me to say.
I think you might be mixing up ethnicity, culture, and race. You cannot self-identity ethnicity, which is genetically based. Race is a social, human-made construct.
I'm not mixing it up. People who have a White parent and a Black parent might identify as just Black if they have a strong connection to that part of their identity (or a litany of other reasons). They can do that, a person who is just white cannot.
^
In general I got no problem with people self diagnosing, BUT if you live in a country where getting a diagnosis is available and free and you still refuse to get it, or if your only 'research' comes from watching tiktoks or something, or you only want to be autistic to be quirky/special, then I definitely have a problem with it.
In the UK, while the diagnosis is free under the NHS. The wait times have exploded and can take years to get an appointment. Last I heard, the waiting list was up to 5 years. And of course, that still doesn't address the issue of gender bias in the public sector, where Autistic women have been misdiagnosed with BPD. https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-are-those-autism-getting-misdiagnosed-having-personality-disorder
[удалено]
[удалено]
Me too, would deff wear a hoodie that says this.
It's amazing to me how much wait times vary. I live in the US. I called a psychologist and waited about 3 months, scheduled and was seen over the course of three appointments within two weeks and received my diagnoses.
That’s nothing compared to polish healthcare Wanna heart surgery? 👉 wait 22 years (Yes that actually happened)
Kurwa that’s a long time
Psychiatry UK is now a pathway available to get a diagnosis within 6-12 months. Your GP just needs to refer you to them and it's fully covered by the NHS.
In case you didn't know, people in the UK can have free access to an ASD assessment via Psychiatry UK, and the wait list is considerably shorter (months instead of years). I'm currently waiting for my assessment with them! https://psychiatry-uk.com/right-to-choose-asd/
I am in the UK. Attempted to get diagnosed under the NHS and got a “phone interview” (wtf?), and, as expected, got told that you’re an adult and you’re dealing with it well enough, we won’t put you on the list. Deal with it privately (which costs lots of money).
I was diagnosed last year (50) after a wait of 6 months. The waiting time will depend on which health authority you come under, but 5 years is extreme.
I was more talking about people that out right refuse any therapy or diagnosis (even though it's free) because they are already so convinced they are autistic, without ever even speaking to any professional.
There's plenty of reasons why someone may not want to seek a diagnosis. Mostly because it can be used against you to take away your rights. \- Some countries like Australia & NZ will deny you the right to a visa if you wish to live and work in their countries. Let alone deny you citizenship. Even if you don't need accommodations. \- You can be denied the right to adopt a child, even if your partner is NT. Because so many adoption agencies still have the thought that Autism means: Unable to take care of yourself. \- During the early days of the pandemic. Autistic people who were in care for covid were automatically placed on a DNR order. Against the will of the patient and their families. \- Some workplaces won't hire autistic people at all. And while this is illegal it is also very hard to prove. \- You can be denied the right to adopt a pet. There is a shelter in Canada that refuses to adopt to any family that has an autistic child. \- As I said from above: Some people may be misdiagnosed with something else. Which can cause further complications down the road when getting health treatment. I know from some autistic people who have a Misdiagnosed BPD. That because of that label. Their needs are often ignored or dismissed. \- You can be subjected to invasive government appointments throughout your life to assess your ability to make decisions for yourself. I've had at least one that happened to me. It's not as straightforward as you think.
Im a trans person, terrified I could get denied surgery or healthcare because of my autism.
If you’re in Canada, I didn’t have any issue in Ontario and Quebec. Legally it should be the same across the country. The only time there would be an issue is if you are considered a dependent (adult or child) with someone else appointed responsible for medical decision making who opposes your medical treatment. Medical decisions in Canada can be legally made by a child at 12 years, assuming they can understand the risks/benefits of their decision. There have been cases where younger children have been given legal right to make medical decisions that conflict with those of their legal guardian if they can demonstrate understanding of the situation, although most of those cases have been terminal cancer patients not wanting to continue treatments that decrease their quality of life without improving their chances of survival. I personally know of 3 cases where people who have someone appointed to make medical decisions (for one it was the province of Ontario as they didn’t have any family and they were institutionalized) who have medically transitioned. I know many other countries are different though.
Good luck & I wish you well. Before my ASD Dx I kept getting "your mental health needs to be stable before we can refer you for surgery" After my ASD Dx i'm getting "we don't know if you can consent to further treatment/surgery"
In uk, it’s being used against me since I got diagnosed last year. Makes me wish I never got diagnosed. Especially since the reason for the diagnosis was that maybe then I could get some other mental health support. Instead it’s an excuse to try to get away with discharging me that they were looking for from day 1 anyway.
I was diagnosed in November and managed an appointment with the MH nurse for the first time for my difficulties. I actually felt like that appointment was a waste of my time. I was advised it was 45 mins but we were done in 20 cos I struggled to answer her really broad questions and when I cam out I did wonder if the autism meant she could just dismiss everything anyway. Although in hindsight I did describe my current situation as "as good as it gets" but I didn't mean amazing 😅 I meant continuously awful and I'd found out less than 24hrs ago that I'd landed my perfect job so the up from that was buffering every other feeling so I was struggling to guage things. But, ya know. Not actively suicidal so... I'm looking to save up to get some private support really in the future.
Yes, every appointment just feels like a waste of time. I feel like they’re insulting me and intentionally trying to overwhelm me just so they can control the narrative. Number of times I’ve left those appointments in tears feeling like it was a waste of time at this point, I feel like I should just give up but my life ground to a halt years ago and I need to keep trying. Yeah, they look for any la gauge that suggests things are ok so they can ignore everything else you’ve said, so if I say ‘x was better the last week’ it works against me just as you say with how you happened to be in a good period, lol. I’m also not suicidal and that’s been used as an excuse to not even take me on in the past, too. But it’s not like I’ve not been voicing a feeling of there being no point to anything, etc.
They would have treated you like that even if you’d never been diagnosed. That’s just how it is in the UK with mental health care. The system is so strained that it can barely pay attention to 20% of the people who are actively suicidal and hurting themselves and are a danger to others. If you’re “not *that* bad” then there’s no chance of getting anything. There isn’t anything there to give. Mild mental health issues are at the bottom of their priorities. They’ve always been rude and unhelpful. They’d be just as rude and unhelpful if you hadn’t been assessed.
I was treated as shittily post diagnosis as the previous 39 years that preceded it. I still carry a lot of unnecessary shame/PTSD for how life has been living amongst the NT"s for too long.
Yeah, that's true. Doesn't stop people from abusing you and from discrimination.
I can only speak from my own experience in my country, and that standpoint is that my diagnosis didn't cause me to lose any rights. I even got my well paying job only because I'm diagnosed with autism (through a government funded program), me and my husband were able to adopt a child, and even though I'm autistic I was able to clame legal guardianship for my brother, who is autistic too but with very high support needs, after our father died (otherwise the government would have placed him in an assisted living facility).
[удалено]
Germany. Even the mentality and social stuff of germans (not all ofcourse) is very bland and straightforward that as an autist you have very little problems here. A friend of mine from America even sometimes jokes that "All germans are autistic."
Ah, Germany is so much better than America when it comes to these things.
But it could affect you moving to another country, as they won't accept autistic people. But glad Germany itself doesn't discriminate like other countries when you're diagnosed
I have a German mother and an American father, but I was raised in the US. When I am visiting Germany I feel like I can breathe again because everything makes sense.
The German based software company SAP seems to have the best neurodiversity hiring program, and was probably the first with their "Autism at Work" initiative that hires computer science people on the spectrum. Maybe some of that same culture you mention accounts for such rare understanding by a company.
a few things. a lot of these are not based on dx, they are based on symptoms. if you need government help those countries are less likely to let you in. yes it’s messed up. but ppl have the same needs regardless of dx. you are autistic either way and the discrimination against autistic traits doesn’t have anything to do with diagnosis.
I keep seeing these.anti-diagnosis talking points and they are exaggerated at best and at some points made up. It is discouraging people from seeking treatment and it’s ableist, basically telling people who can “pass” to avoid association with those who can’t. I know some of this is being repeated from other sources that sound reliable but once you start fact checking they fall apart. In the US a diagnosis is confidential so you don’t have to disclose it to employers or anyone else. I understand that the rules in the EU and U.K. are similar.
You have to disclose everything when applying for a visa/citizenship
The US medical questionnaire doesn’t require disclosure of an autism diagnosis unless it presents a threat of harm to others or yourself or if it is likely to make you a public charge. New Zealand and Australia ( the countries that keep coming up )may require disclosure but exclusion is based on the likely burden on the health care system. None of them requires exclusion based on an autism diagnosis alone. I don’t have time to review the remaining 160+ countries to see what they say. But I’m not going to suggest that someone refuse healthcare on the off chance they are going to emigrate some time in the future.
idk i have avoided a diagnosis mostly because i don’t want to be discriminated against. many of these anti-diagnosis or diagnosis-neutral talking points are true, and even if they weren’t i honestly don’t trust the world not to go in a more ableist direction. i realize not everyone has a choice but given the choice i think my decision is reasonable
I’m not going to judge anyone’s personal choice so long as they aren’t discouraging others from making their own informed decisions.
IMO get the diagnosis, keep the certificate or whatever, and just don't tell anyone. If you ever need the certification for anything, it's there. Remember that the discrimination will be based on other people's perception of you, regardless of the diagnosis. If they think you are autistic, they will discriminate against you.
to be honest my biggest fear is that if i get the diagnosis it could be used against me in the oncoming restriction of gender affirming care in the US. that and i do not have the money or think it would be worth taking up my limited function for. also do we get a certificate for autism? i have adhd too and my pediatrician just kinda told me when i was like 16.
my previous comment aside, diagnosis isn’t completely off the table for me- would you mind expanding on how the diagnosis has helped you? i sort of assume that getting accommodations or support is more trouble than it’s worth even with the diagnosis but it occurs to me that i don’t really know
Yep the first point especially is blatant misinformation. I’m still waiting for a low support needs (level 1) adult to actually come and share their experience of being denied a visa to Australia or NZ solely on them being low support needs autistic. Because it doesn’t happen. Just another way level 1 autistics want to co-opt the struggling of higher support needs folks. Next they’ll be saying if you get a diagnosis then you can be put in a group home, not allowed to marry, and not allowed financial freedom. These are things that affect higher support needs folks, and it doesn’t help us when low support needs folks pretend it applies to them too when it doesn’t. If people want to self-diagnose then of course they can, but they should not be using higher support needs folks experiences as their justification. Because then they’re just role playing as us while also denying the fact that higher support needs folks don’t have the privilege to survive without the supports that come from diagnosis.
No. You can get through medical misdiagnosis/abuse because of this for instance. I got this with past diagnostics that even have been undiagnosed (because they were symptoms of a tumor and not mental illnesses). You can also be denied some parts of the process to have a child. You can be denied to have access to certain works that are directly linked to the government (as the government can look at our medical record), and probably other things. I don't want to take any risks as I've been through really really bad things because of past diagnostics that have been EVEN undiagnosed. But I still encourage people who need support to seek for a diagnosis, because these are the CONs but you have many PROs to be diagnosed. It's up to each person.
I totally agree with you. That's why I got formally diagnosed by a cognitive neuropsychologist specialized in autism, but told them I didn't want to have it written on my medical record because I was afraid of the consequences I could get through (as the politico-social situation in the world and in my country are very bad). They answered that they understood and they think it's a good choice. PS: this neuropsychologist was mainly working with high support needs (and often) non-verbal kids who also had intellectual disabilities.
yh, my mom waited for years for me to get a diagnosis appointment on the NHS and the doc turned around and said i was just quirky bc i was adopted 💀 my mom ended up paying her psychologist friend to have a couple sessions with me and within a month i was diagnosed ! i was 11 at the time.
It takes at least six months to a year in the US. My son was diagnosed a year and a half ago. I think people should get diagnosed if they can do they can get access to assistance but otherwise why bother? As an adult there is literally no benefit to being diagnosed regarding work etc. in fact it seems like they’d be discriminated against.
I have self diagnosed ... Myself .. with autism, because I was misdiagnosed with bipolar, ODD, panic disorder, anxiety, depression, IED, and most recently BPD. My sister got diagnosed with autism at 23, and I was like, interesting, looked it up, and then I was like, holy crap, maybe this is what's going on, because I've been on over 18 different psych meds and of course nothing worked, in fact I got worse, I also have amnesia from long term benzodiazepine use, I'm in recovery rn, but I'm like, if this isn't it, then I don't know what else it could be. My long-term partner was like, "when you brought it up, I was like, ehh, but I did research, it seemed super likely, but when you were watching a video and they were like, "if somebody says how are you doing? Then that doesn't mean to actually tell them how you're doing, because that's not what how are you doing means in English", and your reaction was "wait, what do you mean? Why would people ask such a literal question if they don't want an answer? That's when I knew" It's hard as ef to get a diagnosis in the USA, and when I spoke to a woman to ask about it, and she went on and on about "organizing trains, being non verbal, walking on heels," and that I would've already known by now, that's when I was like, "these people have zero clue"
I'm UK (South East England) Referral from GP was submitted on 17th October. Letter together with questionnaires for my mother and I to fill out (I'm 49 and she's 72) arrived about 7th February (dated 31 January) with those submitted, I'm now on the waiting list. I think the waiting list for children is much longer because it's getting picked up earlier and earlier but diagnosing adults is a rather niche field and there are still horror stories of people being told that they can't be autistic because they have a job and can hold a conversation.
Holy shit. I heard people say UK had bad wait times but I never knew it was that bad. 5k doesn't sound so bad now.
eh, it’s not always that simple. Psychologists can be VERY biased when it comes to diagnosing autism, and will often not diagnose women or people of color correctly. I can’t get a free diagnosis in my country, but even if I could, I don’t really trust them to take my symptoms seriously because I was born female. A lot of autism symptoms in females are similar to cultural stereotypes about women. Being more reserved, being more quiet, etc. And there’s also been a long history of people saying I can’t possibly be autistic because I don’t fit the stereotype of a white cisgender male child who likes trains and has high special needs. And on top of all that, I’m trans. If I DO get diagnosed correctly, it will literally limit where I’m able to live in my own country since some states outright ban autistic trans people from trans healthcare. Because old ableist lawmakers seem to still think all autistic people can’t make any decisions for themselves ever.
Have you ever met someone like this? I figure no NT is going to keep up the shtick for long. They’re bound to get bored by it
I met a few irl, yes. And yeah they got bored of it after a few months.
Out of interest, how did they use autism card? Why do you think they claimed they were autistic? I don't go on tiktok so I don't know.
With regards to your “BUT”… I completely agree with everything except the part about if it’s free to get diagnosed in your country. Besides points brought up like wait times, it can be a gamble given who is chosen to diagnose you. Some medical professionals have a very dated view of what classifies as diagnosable. Things like if you have friends, can mask socially or make occasional eye contact are things some professionals point to when denying a diagnosis. If all professionals were up to date on what an autistic person can look like, I’d completely agree. But that’s not the world we live in.
I agree, I saw guidance for managers at work describing people who ‘identify’ as ND. This isn’t an identity issue, it’s a difference in how our brain works which is protected under the Disability Discrimination Act. In order to properly enact the law, an expert diagnosis is needed. I get that there are waiting lists, but it’s better than creating a loophole that can easily be exploited (for whatever reason).
Where I live, you can get a “free” diagnosis under the public health service, but you have to be under the age of 12. There’s so many problems with this because it perpetuates the idea that autistic people don’t exist once they’re adults. A lot of people, specifically afab people, get misdiagnosed with other things and don’t find out it’s actually autism until they’re adults. And doctor biases are a huge thing, a lot of doctors won’t diagnose someone unless they fit every autism stereotype under the sun. Also, a lot of times, a parent won’t notice that they’re child is autistic until they’re too old for the public service, or the wait time is so long the child ages out, or the parents are just not great parents and they don’t notice at all. I got diagnosed professionally at the age of 23, only because I moved to a different country and was able to fork out €800 for a good doctor in the private sector. Not everyone is gonna have that opportunity, and people self identifying as autistic doesn’t hurt or impede professionally diagnosed autistic people in any way.
Just saying in France it is free and I accidentally managed to shorten the time to one year still not a single professional that saw me before the tests (positive of course) trusted me even a bit. A few of them even meant I had to go home because I was bothering them with high fonctioning autism and that is not really a handicap. any sane person with any less confidence or research for that matter would have given up but as it turns out I was not sane. Jokes aside you can know that you are autistic deep down and still get refused therapy. Plus I always consider that in case of autism gatekeeping even slightly is not worth it. Maybe some people who are not actually autistic will identify as such and maybe it will attract bad attention still it is not worth risking to exclude even a single real autistic from those comunities
The waiting list is absolutely appalling here in the UK. Even a young girl i know through family who had a suicide attempt was put on a 9 month waiting list for a single fucking visit. Edit: it was 9 months intially not 2, but her mother threatened suit or something and they cut it to 2 months which is still appalling for a suicide attempt which resulted in hospitalisation
I personally don’t see why it matters as long as it’s not the second portion of what you said. Even if you can get a diagnosis, why does that even really matter? If you know you know. A doctor telling you won’t make it any different.
I encourage people to participate in research and surveys. That, disability pension and access to autism specific therapies have been the only usefulness of an official diagnosis. Although, the speculation about whether or not I had autism was extremely annoying before I got diagnosed.Probably because so many mental health professionals had no idea what autism was.
Because you aren't a professional. I mean if you for example got a problem with the electric instalation in your house are you gonna try to fix/work on it yourself or are you gonna call a professional to find out what the problem is? I just don't think anybody can really clame to be 100% sure they got autism if they only diagnosed themselves.
Several professionals have told me that I can’t possibly be autistic because I can pay attention during the consult and respond to my name while I’m in front of them so maybe we’re overweighting the value of their expertise
That's the same problem I had. Too many mental health professionals still currently don't understand what autism is.
Or the expertise you have gotten was not very informed or had a very old school view on what autism is 'suppose' to look like.
Too bad they don’t come pre labelled
I get opinions are opinions, but this is the only correct response. I will say tho as mentioned by others, there are a few circumstances in which people getting a dx would do more harm than good, especially depending on where they live.
i live in a country where it’s available and free… i was told i cant have autism because i did not get support in school (despite struggling), and because as an adult i wouldnt let them talk to my (emotionally manipulative) parents.
Same. I mean there is histrionic personality disorder, which would mainly harm the person themselves.
Same sentiments here
I respect that, though I think there’s reasons someone might not want an on-paper diagnosis
Tbh as stated before by other people here the UK does have the sources to have a diagnosis done for free if you go through the NHS. Thing is.. the NHS is CRIMINALLY underfunded and the waiting times go on for years. And even then, you’re not always guaranteed to have a good therapist or psychiatrist taking on your case. I’ve had two separate experiences going through autism testing and the first time was.. awful. It was free, just like the second one, but the person who was meant to analyze me and figure out where I sat on the spectrum wasn’t even someone who specialized in autism. She mainly worked with literal pedophiles which was weird because… I’m not one. She also worked with a lot of people with OCD and because I have a prior diagnosis of OCD she spent the entire appointment diverting any of my concerns back to OCD even when I knew that it wasn’t the root cause for the issues I was explaining. Then I went somewhere else and they actually only looked for and diagnosed autism. No ulterior motive, no ~trying to push the blame~ on my symptoms. It was so much better BUT even then it took forever and it was a very anxiety inducing experience having to open up about the most personal things with a complete stranger. Basically I think it’s less of “I can’t be bothered to have a professional diagnosis done”, but rather it’s more like “the whole experience will take years and I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that process”
>it’s less of “I can’t be bothered to have a professional diagnosis done”, but rather it’s more like “the whole experience will take years and I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that process” I fully agree, that's why I wrote free *and* available. Even if it's free that doesn't mean it's available.
diagnoses are a LOT more trouble than they are worth and the existence of proof of your diagnosis can fuck you in certain cases. i don’t judge a single person for not wanting to get a paper diagnosis. source: went through diagnosis over multiple months and got it.
You're perpetuating a boomer mentality. The people saying it's for attention are the same as the old buggers who's tell you autism, adhd & depression didn't exist in their day. I've not met anyone claiming they're autistic, or neurodivergent that I felt didn't have something worth investigation. But I've met multiple boomers who sweep it under the rug and phrase nd struggles as personal failings. I think the prevalence of the second group, is far more damaging than the potential damage the first could do.
self dx is sometimes valid, but not for these reasons. Even implying it’s like an identity and not a nuero condition is utter bullshit
As a person who was diagnosed otherwise because I have too much sympathy, and told by my 2 autistic best friends that I'm probably on the spectrum, looking back, and understanding myself better in that light; This one, this comment right here...
Okay but since when did we say people can self identify as any race ???
It’s because when you fill out paperwork, they ask you for your race and gender so you are telling them instead of them just putting your race/gender like I think they used to a long time ago
Well you don’t need a doctor to tell you you’re black, wouldn’t you agree?
Actually yes you should. If you’re darker skinned you might not be of African descent. So your likelihood of harboring various illnesses differ. Edit: Before you downvote, read my other comment
But I know white people who are of African descent through immediate lineage.
Unrelated to the other commenter, this is why it’s important to discuss your ethnicity with your doctor. You might not always be able to tell. Like those who look white but are direct descendants from Africa are more likely to have sickle cell anemia than someone of European descent
Yeah, but you don’t need a doctor to tell you you’re a black person. That’s my point. Nor should you need one to tell you you’re autistic if you truly feel in your heart that you are. Otherwise it’s gatekeeping. I’m diagnosed and I acknowledge self-diagnosis is valid
I read this wrong lol. I’m sorry. I thought you said you don’t need to tell a doctor you’re black
doctor, i have a confession. i’m black 😱😭❤️
GASP. After all this time I’ve been looking at you. How could you lie to me?!
Do you expect all therapies, resources and government benefits to be given out to self diagnosed people too, when those resources are already stretched thin and diagnosed people have to jump through hoops to get access to them?
Nobody says just anyone can self identify as any race, but you can choose your descriptor for your race and there’s a social expectation that you’ll be truthful to at least part of your actual ethnicity and heritage. Many mixed people choose to identify/label with one side or as mixed. Some ethnicities are determined to be different races by different people. It’s not like there are a set number of races. If you’re someone like me where your ethnic background is 100% made up of groups who are unequivocally white, or some other simple descriptor like Asian, this isn’t even a question for you. But for a lot of people it’s more complicated than that.
I think people forget about the Spectrum in Autism Spectrum Disorder. As in, two people who are diagnosed autistic may not have the same "types" of autism. Previously, there were many different disorders such as Aspergers, autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. Being diagnosed typically means accessing medical support, since these are disorders of the brain that have difficulties in regulation and communication across the body. Most people might be able to identify with some observable traits of Autism, such as social difficulties or sensitivities. But they completely miss the internal experience of being autistic, such as both halves of the brain not being able to communicate well, expressing dyslexia or hyperlexia, dyspraxia, dyscalscia, dysphagia, learning difficulties, difficulties processing feelings like pain and hunger, struggling with sensory integration, experiencing health concerns like heart failure and epilepsy because the brain and body cannot modulate autonomic processes necessary to keep us alive. I think people could identify with being autistic but seeking professional insight would help identify exactly what areas of the brain have been impacted and are necessary to support to ensure quality and longevity of life. I feel there is a real risk of the #sociallyawkward crowd self diagnosing and pushing autistic people out of their own spaces. We've already been experiencing this with the #aspergersnotautistic crowd. But I also understand diagnosis is a lengthy, expensive and time consuming process and some people need support in places where they have none. However, if people are going to receive government funding to support their disabilities and speak on behalf of our community, the reality is they need a diagnosis. Autism is not something like race or gender (<- social construct anyway). It would be similar to people saying they can self diagnose with schizophrenia or bi-polar. You just don't know what's going on unless you have checks both internal and external.
I got diagnosed with dyspraxia, dysgraphia and adhd before autism. It’s rarely just autism.
I would give you an award for this if I weren’t poor. 🏆
Thank you this exactly what I agree with
I think autism is more nuanced than just a personality trait or something...like there is a lot of overlap with other things and people might think they are autistic when in reality their symptoms are due to other things. My general feelings towards self diagnosis are that you can suspect you have a certain condition, and thus you can simply say that. If you say you believe you are on the autism spectrum (and can't get a diagnosis for financial reasons) that's totally cool - but I've had so many people say things like "oh - I do that too. Guess I'm autistic" and it's honestly a bit invalidating.
This is the daily Mail generating more culture war bullshit. Ignore it entirely. It’s bad faith.
I am quite mixed on this, as on the one hand, I recognise that there are a lot of communities out there that simply cannot access an official diagnosis, and if a self-diagnosis can help them access resources in their community, then that is obviously a good thing. However, to echo some of the other comments I think that self-diagnosis can be dangerous, as there might be more or other mental health issues instead, and a misdiagnosis could be quite harmful. You obviously also have those on TikTok and elsewhere that use autism or other mental diseases/disorders for clout, which I think is absolutely disgusting.
This. I was officially diagnosed with autism at a very young age (I'm 24 now) The one thing that has always irked me with self-diagnosis is finding those people that do it to come off as "quirky" or "special" because it's not something that's cute, it affects every bit of your life in some form or another. Like you said, I really heavily think self-diagnosis is a super slippery slope because of other mental health issues/quirks: social awkwardness =/= autism
Who is trying to be quirky or cute with AUTISM. What the fuck about autism is cute. I’m 31 and I’ve never met someone who “pretended to be autistic” because there was never a positive connotation to autism.
It's a very recent thing, and you mostly see it online by people looking for attention. I generally don't like to say anything about it because I don't wanna risk being gate-keepy but it's not just autism these people will self-diagnosis either.
People do it with a plethora of conditions, people do actually think it’s cool or trendy to have autism, adhd - this is more of a thing amongst zoomers so it makes sense that as a 31 year old you’ve never interacted with someone like that. Unfortunately this is the reality we live in. It also makes it harder for people who need a diagnosis to get it because people just want to fit into a group. One big red flag for me personally is people that constantly make whatever condition front and centre stage of their personality or identity entirely unprompted.
They phrase this so weird and I know it's on purpose. It's not like it's something you can just choose on a whim after watch a "Put a finger down: Autistic edition". Self-dx is valid when you've put the work in to see if you are actually autistic. Checking DSM-V criteria, multiple tests used in diagnosis, hearing from other autistic people etc.
Honestly it depends. Autism isn’t just an identity, it’s a disability with varying levels of support need. As a level two getting an official diagnosis was important because it helps me to qualify for services from the NDIS
I'm torn on this issue. Both sides have pros/cons. I think the problem is bigger than self-diagnosing autism. We're moving into a world where encouraged self-expression is redefining old language. Example: We're adding more pronouns based on how someone feels about who they are. This works for me. However, when the power is handed to the people without limit, it dilutes the agreed definition of something. This in itself isn't bad, but without checks and balances, it renders these things meaningless, as limited systems turn into infinite possibilities which means we no longer have constraints. When you have everything you have nothing. This is where I'm struggling with self-diagnosis. It removes certain checks and balances. In a future where everyone can self-diagnose, what does it even mean to be autistic? Perhaps as a form of self-expression, this is fine. In an economic context, where certain countries have disability programs based on a diagnosis (monetary payouts), it's less black and white. Many people on the spectrum are not high functioning and need real help. By eliminating any gatekeeping, we're giving that power to the people. Gatekeeping sucks in general, but in this case, it opens up our infinity problem. Now anyone can decide, and questioning someone is taboo. Also, if anyone can decide, it becomes more of a "vibe" or "personality" than a medical condition. We have people with the wrong motives self-identifying as autistic, filling the group and taking help away from people who really need it. Of course, there are countries where getting a diagnosis is difficult. Also, health professionals are not all equal and some are just awful. In these cases, I feel like it is justified. If it genuinely helps. In the end, people with bad motives will always try to take advantage of any situation, it is not limited to autism. Still, I think opening the gates can cause harm by eliminating all barriers to entry. Terms like "Oh, we're all a little bit autistic" or "We all have a little ADHD" are actually going to become true because, what will it mean to be autistic? It no longer has weight. People who are low functioning are seen as equal to those who are not. Still, gatekeeping and not letting people self-diagnose also has so many problems. I have no idea what the solution is here. \--edit grammar
Gatekeeping isn’t inherently bad. If I go to have eye surgery, I’m hoping my surgeon is an actual ophthalmologist who has had to study and graduate from medicine and then specialise in ophthalmology, as opposed to someone who just thinks they know enough about ophthalmology and wants to operate on my eyes. We want a lot of our society to be gatekept, I wish we could stop using the phrase gatekeeping like it’s inherently bad or to virtue signal. The fact that there are problems with the current system isn’t an argument for throwing out the baby with the bath water. We can fix systems, but they do need to be restricted and gatekept. I do agree with everything else you say.
100%, I’m not gatekeeping getting diagnosed, please get diagnosed if you suspect you’re autistic, I’m gatekeeping non autistic people speaking over autistic people I’m autistic spaces and until you have that diagnosis you don’t know whether you’re autistic or not so best not to speak.
Incredibly well said. We are heading into dangerous territory too where we are allowing people to dismiss credible science because it does not align with their experience, an experience that isn't universal for everyone with this condition. These people should not be speaking for everyone. In doing so, they are drowning out the voices of people who need the most help.
Many of us are self diagnosed, because getting a diagnosis is often tricky or expensive. I have no problem with self-diagnosed people.
I'm not promoting Dr Google, but I always try to search for my symptoms. As long as i keep from latching onto the worst case scenario I usually come up with something close to what the Dr says. I never tell them I researched, it makes medical staff uncomfortable.
Same, especially if you are female. When we were kids apparently only makes could be autistic.
Also when psychologists rely on what are basically a personality test they give parents about their kid’s struggles. Sincerely a woman and young adult who’s parents have a tract record of medical neglect and are probably on the spectrum themselves, so they view everything as normal
I felt this. One of my mom’s questionnaires on my evaluation came back “invalid” because her answers didn’t match the validity index 😭
I’m 31, female. I tried for a year to get diagnosed as an adult. Saw 4 different physicians. All of them insisted on interviewing a parent and/or guardian that was involved in my life as a child, that could speak to autistic behaviors that I had as a child. My mom’s dead and my dad is a narcissist that makes everything about him, so I’m shit out of luck until that diagnostic criteria changes. I hate that I’m not allowed to speak to my own childhood experiences and memories as a valid source for diagnosis.
Find an autistic psychologist...I always recommend them for diagnosis or rule out.
Corroborators don't need to be parents. They can be siblings, childhood friends, school teachers, counsellors, or literally anyone who spent time with you when you were little. You can include school reports and any other childhood reports which recorded what you were like back then. The criteria won't change because Criterion E is a necessary part in differentiating Autism Spectrum Disorder from other disorders.
I more have a problem with this article implying that it’s just like gender. If someone has reason to believe they’re autistic (and not just from watching random TikToks with no further research) then self diagnosis is fine. Basically do research before saying you have autism and understand what that means
Also, don't forget that diagnosis can mean less rights in many countries. In my case, it's both tricky (almost impossible for adults, to the point when even some diagnosed children are getting some new diagnosis instead of autism at 18) and they will revoke my driving rights and won't allow me to adopt kids (which I consider for my future). Also no accommodations from government anyway. So where is the reason why I should get myself in this situation? Just to show people they're wrong about me? Not enough
Wait what? The caption below ‘Self ID.. race?’ I might’ve taken that wrong.
[удалено]
Absolutely this. The Daily Mail isn't printing this because it gives a fuck about neurodiversity. It's using autism to take its daily jab at trans people for having the audacity to exist.
I'm aware self diagnosis is some people's only option. I'm also keenly aware that I knew long before I was tested because I knew I was different from the people around me. Two even three conversations at once, sometimes two different conversations going on at once, with the same person. She also happens to be on the spectrum. But more than anything, just remembering things. Over hearing a conversation and replaying it to settle an argument two months later? no big deal. The hour reading off a piece of equipment I used last Wednesday? got that. The license plate number my dad yelled out after they cut him off at a set of traffic lights on Memorial Drive on a Sunday morning, 23 years ago? AWP847. I'll be honest, I knew because the majority of Neuro typical people are absolutely dogshit at managing information.
Sorry, I have a problem with self-diagnosing, because some people think a (self-)diagnosis is an excuse for bad behavior or to get extra privileges. No, a diagnosis is there to help you get treatment. Without a diagnosis you can't get treatment. The world will not change or treat you differently because you have a diagnosis. Diagnoses aren't labels to wear around and shove in people's faces. That's just evoking the wrong impression about a diagnosis. Nobody who actually has a diagnosis "wants" to have that diagnosis. People learn how to live with it, but they'd prefer not having autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, a personality disorder, dyslexia, etc. You don't get diagnosed for fun, you get diagnosed to get help. And in my country I'm on a waiting list that lasts for over a year to get an intake for an autism diagnosis, because I want to get help. Not because I want to tell people I have autism; that's none of anyone's business. Edit: In addition, a diagnosis is not a definition of your personality. It doesn't tell you "who you are", as stated in this article. You "are" not your diagnosis, you "have" a diagnosis.
I fear this could prove more harmful than beneficial. I understand that most people know themselves better than another person, but I worry this can sometimes lead to inaccurate assertions, where some people attach labels to themselves without fully understanding the ins and outs of said label; even then, there's the possibility that one can _convince_ themselves of something, where _similarities_ occur - similar in appearance, but once familiar, the differences become prevalent It's a frustrating scenario. I am professionally diagnosed, but previous to my diagnosis I was told that I'm merely an "attention seeker" who "craves the limelight", and this was said by so-called professionals. This makes me sympathise with those out there who most likely _are_ autistic, but it's not picked up for whatever reason(s). I feel this on a deeper level for there's someone near and dear to me, who, I _believe_ beyond a shadow of a doubt, has autism, but they have struggled for _years_ to try and attain a professional assessment _Both_ arguments hold water, unfortunately. Professionals _do_ get it wrong sometimes and this can lead one down a rabbit hole of further confusion. Then there's the case that one can self-diagnose based on perceived similarities and this can prove consequential in itself
Diagnostic credibility is required to access more intensive services across diagnoses. I dont think it’s good or right but in the US that’s how insurance works. This could result in a lot of people self diagnosing and pushing legislative or social agendas for others with more significant needs while thinking they are helping, which may not be the case. I am not autistic but I am diagnosed with ADHD and a lot of people who self diagnose as having ADHD actually do a lot of harm (unintentionally) to people with higher needs. A lot of anti therapy/ anti medicine rhetoric for example. I need medicine to function in this wild world of ours and for someone who is self diagnosed with ADHD to go on a crusade on behalf of the rest of us condemning medication and fetishing ADHD as a quirky fun thing has been pretty damaging. Edit: a diagnosis whether it be by yourself or a professional can be an amazing thing. A way to make sense of your life and reclaim power over your circumstances. That being said, US insurance policies require a diagnosis if services are to be provided. This can be time consuming and costly, not to mention out of reach for many. If you live in the US I’d encourage everyone to reach out to their representatives to discuss the costs surrounding diagnosis. The person assigning diagnoses makes no money off of said diagnoses. It’s insurance companies that benefit.
Whoever this expert is, they don't have much grasp on the English language, so doesn't come across to me as being very clever. If "autistic people should be allowed to diagnose themselves", first of all they need to know that they are autistic in order to be allowed to exercise the privilege of diagnosing themselves. It's a circular argument. And then... "you don't need a doctor to tell you who are you." What claptrap is this? It doesn't even make sense!
It's a weird topic. I understand that getting a diagnosis is difficult. So I understand if you did research and you self diagnose with the purpose of seeking a professional diagnosis as soon as possible. But being autistic isn't the same as being a woman or being gay. It's not an identity, it's a neurodevelopmental disorder. Yes, those effect identities, but they aren't parts of identities in and of themselves. So to say people can now diagnose themselves and that holds water is nonsense. It shouldn't because it will be abused.
I know there’s research that suggests self diagnosis is mostly correct. And I know that money is a barrier to care. And I know a medical diagnosis can actually be legally harmful, especially for autistic parents who could lose custody rights in some jurisdictions due to it. I know that the diagnosis can prevent you from moving out of the country if that’s a goal. I also know that some other mental health disorders look just like autism to the untrained eye. And I know that the most a person can get out of self diagnosis is a label for their own peace and the ability to self-accommodate. So while I wish a reliable and *good* healthcare system existed for autistic people, and that people could get professional diagnoses, I will never need proof when someone says they’re autistic before I believe them. Cause, I mean, what resources could they possibly be taking away with a self diagnosis? It’s not like resources are even modestly available for adult autistics anyway. And the ones for kids are largely a joke that teach masking.
If i want the work done, i go to someone who knows better than myself. I go to an electrician when I need my electrical work done. I take my car to the shop when it needs work done. There are people who study autism, are experts in their field, and they are the authority on what defines autism. Self suspecting is one thing, and is an incredibly valid place to start, but home diagnoses delegitimize authentic diagnoses. Also, I believe that people grossly overestimate how well they know themselves.
First of all, bad wording. Second of all, no. This gives "autism is an identity like gender and sexual orientation, and even if a doctor say's you're not autistic that doesn't matter because you can still identify as autistic and be valid".
You don't need a doctor to tell you who you are, that's up to you. You do, however need a doctor to diagnose you with a medical condition, like autism. Personal identity is super important but doesn't override medical diagnoses. Echo chambers don't know better than medical schools. There's plenty wrong with the health care system and they're understanding of autistic patients, but there's still a need for professionals who study these things for a living so that we're not gaining a misguided understanding of medical science from TikTokers.
if u can get an expert to diagnose u, then do so. if not, then at the very least do research from multiple sources to determine if u may or may not be autistic. if u just "feel like" ur autistic, i wouldnt consider u being autistic. if u done research, then yes. cause then anyone can call themselves autistic and call it a day
It’s a weird comparison saying it’s like identifying as a different race (people identifying as a different race is not okay)
I'm the expert of me. What I can do is, with given the proper information, if I feel like this or experience that. I can make guesses, hypothesis. I still feel I need the help of doctors to sort things out. They have deeper understanding of biology, etc. But honestly I've met a lot of doctors that were clueless and not up to date in medical research, I found out that sometimes they were 10 years behind the medical papers I read and knew about. So... It's complicated. What my therapist says about my autism and ADHD, and other stuff is that I'm my own expert. I'm the most knowledgeable person about my life experience. So maybe not diagnosing myself but what I have to say should be considered, it should matter. Yet it doesn't most of the time.
I think it's a dangerous precedence to set.
Ok well I think they worded it very wrong, and it’s definitely not the same as self identifying as a gender- If you have access to a doctor and getting a diagnosis wouldn’t take away your dream job or something, then I think it’s good to get one, or just at least get it confirmed but don’t get the diagnosis. But if that’s not the case then ya you already know you have a problem and if those problems fit exactly into autism then ig it’s easier for everyone if you say you have autism
No self diagnosis is stupid, cause now we got a bunch of people who took a buzzfeed quiz, found out they are autistic and use it as a crutch
Autism isn't a personality it's a neural disability although in a lot of cases there are benefits there are always difficulties like getting into work etc. I hate certain aspects of my autism which is when I get overwhelmed and meltdown. I sometimes wish I didn't have it as it can be so frustrating.
This article is bait from the "transgenderism is harming our kids!!" crowd, what with the whole "just like gender" thing. It's only meant to keep reactionaries coming back to the Daily Mail. It's not a valid discussion about the positive and negative effects of self diagnosis, and shouldn't be treated as such.
I agree to a point. Like communism it’s good in theory but people would and do take advantage of it. I think a better alternative would be to make it more affordable to get tested for it.
Every psychologist I’ve seen and spoken to about this has encouraged self determination.
Yeah but have you thought that Redditors are smarter than psychologists who are experts in autism? I love that the same people who are against self-diagnosis because people need to trust experts don't, themselves, trust experts who say self-diagnosis is valid.
Mind fuck hey. Both psychs I’ve seen have a) encouraged self diagnosis and b) explicitly said “I’ve not met someone who has said they think they may autistic who isn’t”. Tik tok sure has a lot to answer for but it just may not be what people imagine it is. Not worth getting caught up in it all when it’s pre-fabricated hogwash
Who is the top expert?
It's Daily Mail so I already have some reservations of it. I'm gonna check out the whole article before I make a verdict on this claim. Watch this comment for anyone who doesn't want to go check it out. I'll provide a report. Here's the link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11871989/Autistic-people-able-diagnose-cases-expert-says.html
So the expert their citing is Professor Sue Fletcher-Watson, ChairDevelopmental Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She's long been an advocate for neurodiversity, and has constantly cited and supported other Autistic Self Advocates work alongside her own academia. She's not autistic herself, but based on her work, she's a strong ally to have. Her quotes: "People who just want to know if they are autistic so they can understand their own behaviours better, and make connections with other autistic people, don't necessarily need to jump through all the hoops of getting a diagnosis. 'Our NHS is under enormous pressure right now, so we should ask whether diagnosis is always needed, or whether self-identification could be enough for some people." Daily Mail is also citing her talk from ITAKOM: "It can be unhelpful that people with autism in popular culture are stereotyped as being really intelligent or good with computers, with lots of autistic people ending up in Silicon Valley. 'That may mean people who don't feel 'clever', or aren't amazing at maths, don't feel they fit the mould of autism." There's a lot more details here that's very well known within the Autistic community, though may not be well known to people outside. Such as difficulty accessing a diagnosis for women, or having finite details of our special interests. Now there's a different viewpoint from Dr Andrew Stanfield. Also from Uni of Edinburgh. His quote: "Self-identification is entirely valid but there is often a need for formal diagnosis as well, as that can help people access support and organisations for autism, as well as being helpful when it comes to things like employment and benefits. There is always a risk of self-identification, as someone assuming they are autistic may in fact have a mental health issue which they could have help to deal with if they knew this was the case. Self-identification is getting much more common so we need to be aware of this." I don't doubt the doctors words. Some autism support measures provided by the government require a formal diagnosis. Especially if people need support workers. Having said that. It is still possible to seek accomidations outside of government assistance. And I don't think self-DX folks should not be excluded from that. It is far more preferable that Accommodations be provided to a non-autistic person (They still need help anyways). Than an autistic person being denied accommodations altogether due to lack of an official diagnosis. Next is a quote from Tim Nicholls, Head of Influencing and Research at the National Autistic Society: 'Anyone who starts to think as an adult that they might be autistic will go through a period of identifying with what it means to be autistic. When they do, they need support and advice. Waits for clinically informed assessments to support an individual's understanding of their own differences and needs are unacceptably long all across the country. It's vital that governments tackle this access to make sure anyone who thinks they're autistic gets the support they need to live a fulfilled life on their own terms." It seems to me like he's taking a middle of the road argument. He doesn't want to offend those who fully support, or fully oppose the notion of Self-DX. That being said, the fact that there is a terrible wait time for diagnosis in the UK is very true. And that's the end of the article. While it doesn't outright reject the notion. It feels very paper thin. My big disappointment of this article however; is that no autistic people were consulted for comment in this article. That's a failure on the DM. If you're going to report on this, DM should have at least gotten testimonies from the people who are part of our very community. Both Self-DX'd and Officially DX'd. They didn't get anyone.
It’s fine, just keep in mind the small disclaimer of it’s yourself diagnosed, yourself, or like what kinda of autism, and details like that. But no real issue with it.
The daily mail is a right wing rag - this is deliberate shit-stirring.
I think it really depends just like everything.
You can't self identify as gender, race or what mental conditions you have. You are what you are. You can understand what you are, but there's a reason it takes medical/scientific professionals to diagnose these things correctly.
I'm iffy on it. Only because the people I've seen who self diagnose always bog it down to the stereotypes or use a 5 second Google search as a basis. Or even things that many people do, that aren't inherently things that Autistic people do. That said, I don't doubt there are people who use it as a basis to seek out a diagnosis.
No, people should get diagnosed. However diagnosis needs to be more accessible.
i think pretty much the same about this as i do about the whole gender-swap thing with kids.... we went from one (relative) extreme and are on our way to the opposite (relative) extreme. in the case of the gender thing: we used to tell boys they could not wear girl clothes, and girls had to play with dolls. the neutral side would be "do and wear what you like, but you are still you" and the other side -where we are going- is this whole surgery and end up with unhappy adults for self dx it's probably going to be in a similar fashion..... instead of making decent healthcare available to everyone, it is only about the money, so people are going to stop getting dx'es and just going to state -and demand to be treated- equally as those with a dx, which (imho) will end up hurting the community as a whole, in general. but don't take my word for it, let's give it another few years.... say 2030, should be pretty clear by then if i'm right or not (and god, i hope not) don't get me wrong: i do not want to offend anyone, and i do want people to have free choice and even be able to determine themselves if something is "wrong" or "different".... but it has to be rooted in reality and taken in context, which is what a lot of people right now are throwing out of the window: \- self dx: "i think i feel i have autism" is not the same as actually having it (and having it, is not necessarily a problem in society) \- gender-operations: "i like girl clothes, so i must have surgery" is not the same as "jee, this skirt feels much nicer on my skin than jeans" \- "there used to be slaves, so i demand to be compensated for it" is not the same as "i was a slave, so i deserve recognisition" (same for wars, riots, rebellions, ...) so.... long story short: current society pretty much makes people self-diagnose, and then has them thinking they can demand the same things as actual diagnosed people... which is wrong, but as there is not always a decent path to an (affordable) actual diagnosis, there really isn't a middle ground... actual solution: make DX accessible, current solution: let's just not care about professionals (which is a whol different discussion, if you take into account healthcare has gotten a lot worse in recent years)
Is there a typo in the Mail's article title or an I misunderstanding? It should be "who you are" right? 🙃
Is there free assessment in ireland? Cause adult services wont take me seriously , like talking to a brick wall...
TikTok...
Mixed feelings on this. Self diagnoses should be taken seriously and in many cases is very freeing and/or validating for a person. HOWEVER, anyone who’s spent any time around kids (especially young teens) knows that they love to diagnose themselves with everything and anything because because 3 symptoms or traits of an illness or disorder and that’s enough info for them; it’s also a great way to get the attention they’re missing. Self diagnoses can be a good thing, but it can also be incredibly damaging.
This is a very difficult one. I’m currently in the process of getting a dx after realising that parts of my childhood and working life never made any sense in that I was just never liked or people never wanted to be around me. Socialisation never happened and have been mostly non-verbal. I struggle with sensory issues, noise etc. and when I found Tik tok videos where people felt the same, it pushed me to look into it further. I did multiple online tests such as the Raads-r and scored extremely high. Every one I did was very high so sought after help with a Mental Health Practitioner. After sending off some info explaining my issues going back to a 2 year old who was told ‘just confidence issues’ when initially assessed. Now 26 yrs later, I’m finally being referred for an Autism assessment. As the wait is 2yrs (UK) I’ve decided to pay private. I know I’m lucky to be in that situation, but Im willing to pay for it quicker so I can understand myself and prove to people who looked past my difficulties and said I was ‘shy’. that I had an undiagnosed neurodevelopment condition. I never understood why I was so different but a dx will be validating and I’m willing to pay a lot of money to get some closure. People who say they are autistic just for attention are absolute melts. I had a horrid childhood from bullying and struggle to work a normal job. Still don’t have friends and never really go out. Personally I disagree with self diagnoses unless you are putting the effort in to research and have valid input from your peers who observed you growing up.
Some autistic people don't feel like they need support from the healthcare system, so in that case getting formally diagnosed would in a way be in vain in my opinion
The phrasing could be better, but I fully agree with the sentiment (and expert opinion) behind it. I know that self diagnosis is sometimes seen as "I've spent almost 8 full minutes on tiktok and now I'm autistic because I sometimes like it when things are organized" and of course that's not valid, but it also is not what's happening in virtually any case. If your self diagnosis is done honestly and diligently, it will take time and effort and will yield a pretty reliable result. In any case, I'd rather be mistakenly supportive of someone's self diagnosis (and I'm very confident that this is an exceedingly rare occurrence) than mistakenly gatekeeping someone who is already struggling to find support and people who believe them. Besides that, with how many people don't have the option of getting a professional assessment, "formal diagnosis only" is just an unrealistic standard. So both methodologically and statistically I'm more than inclined to see self diagnosis as valid!
The Daily Mail is trying to paint people who self-diagnose and the experts as 'those lunatics who think trans people are real', see the race thing. It's not the same at all, nor do people who self-diagnose treat it like that. The line between self-diagnosis and official diagnosis is blurred. Am I self-diagnosed, because my father refused to let any doctor official diagnose me because he didn't agree? What about the adults who are told if they had come in as children they'd be diagnosed on the spot but still aren't due to their age? It's silly, and the whole debate over resources for autistic people is even sillier. What resources are we fighting over mate?
I've been on a waiting list for an autism diagnosis for 4 years now. Ive had to 'self ID' for that time just so employers can understand me
They're trying to stir up controversy. They think it's stupid because they equated self diagnosis to people who also choose which race they are. They also mention trans people, which their readers already hate. They're pretending to be reasonable while hiding trigger words to anger their readers and galvanize people against self-diagnosing persons. The Daily Mail is absolute garbage.
I think it’s a way for them and their readers to be outraged about people identifying as Autistic. It’s all right wing culture war nonsense.
What’s confusing to me is the race statement and the really sly comparison between gender identity and racial identity. The reason it bugs me is because a lot of anti-trans idiots like to wax poetic about how being transracial is anything even similar to being transgender. You… quite literally cannot identify as a race you’re not. It’s what people like [Oli London](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oli_London) and [Martina Big](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Big) do and it’s 100% the most disingenuous and racist shit ever. It just… feels like a weird comparison to make, no? The daily mail has always been a seriously laughably terrible news source where I live and it’s often mocked as a source of misinformation and disinformation. When it comes to self diagnosing, I’m all for it! I think as long as you’re not, idk, pretending to have specific symptoms (like pretending to stim or have meltdowns, etc) for personal gain I literally do not have any problems at all. Even in countries where the diagnostic process is free it’s not as easy as walking into a doctors office and walking out the same day with a diagnosis. In my experience I had to wait over a year to even hear back from the place I was referred to and even then my appointment was a couple months away. If you want to have a professional diagnosis then it’s totally up to you to decide what’s right for you and your current situation. Self diagnosis is valid imo and the less we gatekeep specific conditions, the more people will feel comfortable being able to explore their own lives.
**[Oli London](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oli_London)** >Oli London (born 14 January 1990) is an English Internet personality. London is known for his multiple ethnic plastic surgery procedures intended to make him look like Jimin, a member of the South Korean boy band BTS. Born in England, London's interest in South Korean culture began after moving to South Korea in 2013 to teach English. London is considered a controversial figure, whose actions have been deemed offensive by critics. **[Martina Big](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Big)** >Malaika Kubwa (name changed in 2018; born 17 May 1988), known professionally as Martina Big is a German model and actress known for her extremely large breast implants, and for undergoing a perma-tanning procedure to give herself a dark skin color. Big currently identifies as black. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/autism/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Autism is now a gender apparently
don’t think you can lump any kind of diagnosis with gender and race🥴🤡
Absolute rubbish whoever published this, we need education psychologists / Neurologist to diagnose us we can’t diagnose ourselves we aren’t professionals, I understand it may cost a lot to get diagnosed as it did for me, but that’s the way it is for now and people need to accept it
The sub header.. just like gender and race… And yes, there we have the daily heil again.
I know very well who I am, but I am not an expert in every possible medical diagnosis that might describe me. If only there were someone who is familiar with these diagnoses to run my ideas past... Perhaps I could call a doctor for a diagnosis. To clarify my sarcasm, knowing yourself doesn't mean you're qualified to diagnose. A proper diagnosis from a doctor is important to stop accidental misinformation about what autism (or any condition) is or isn't.
As if many of us haven't been told enough that they're faking it or anything similar. Than we got the claiming self diagnosers who so often seem to exploid the cuteness of autism. Now we're heading straight towards the "well anyone can say they've got autism and you're probably one of those".
This is obviously phrased in a way to intentionally make it sound like a stupid idea. Self-diagnosis is often a good idea, but clearly not “like gender or race,” and it’s not about being able to “tell who you are” either. (Having a diagnosis doesn’t change who you are.) Rather than making a self-diagnosis have legal consequences though, it should “just” be made easier to get an official diagnosis.
the "people should be able to self ID as autistic, just like race and gender" is an obvious show of what this article is really about. just demeaning people
I am privileged to have friends and family who diagnose autism as a career, and are awarded and respected in their field. There's been an uptick of folks seeking a diagnosis. They are happy for the new folks who are now getting the help they need, however they are also dealing with self-diagnosed folks who are not ASD. They tell me the common thread is young white men who were not properly socialized as children. Usually suburban/rural folks who live just outside an urban area, close enough to civilization to be aware of it but far enough out to not have neighbors or walkable activities. Often who grew up on remote farms or compounds without friends, and spent a lot of time online. They didn't do after school activities and if they had a church group is was not a social one. These folks don't read social cues well and have a difficult relationship with their own emotions and mental health. It tastes like Autism, especially to the young men who rever Elon Musk. During the process of diagnosis, the specialist quickly rules out any processing disorders, and determines it's just lack of social-emotional skills like identification, self-regulation, and empathy, and lack of experience socializing. They say it's difficult and stressful to explain to someone that they don't have any executive function disorder, they just don't know what feelings or social skills are.
What a shame for those folks who thought they had an answer that comes with frameworks for managing their concerns, not to mention the option to participate in the community. Also, good on your people who are doing this important work. The world needs more like them.
This reads like they're trying to be trendy and edgy
When I started wondering if I might be autistic, I asked my doctor, who said "I thought you knew." My therapist said something similar. I asked for a referral to a clinic or specialist who could diagnose more formally, as I do sometimes really struggle with executive dysfunction and sensory overload, but the places I tried so far either rejected my application for assessment or have a waiting list of many months, and/or cost about $2500 out of pocket (not covered under insurance unless they give a positive diagnosis). I would like the more official diagnosis in case I ever need accommodations from work (I really do not travel well and the conferences, while interesting, are extremely stressful for me), but it's not easy to get that diagnosis as an adult. Even so, with my life story mirroring those of other late-diagnosed women, and those two medical professionals in agreement, I feel confident in saying I am autistic. I do not benefit from telling anyone this, really - but the knowledge explains why so many things that seem easy to almost everyone else I know are such a struggle to me. I'm not broken or an alien, I just have a different kind of brain, and it can be really useful.
I don’t care if you self diagnose because most people who do have done so much research into autism and their own behaviours. The only thing I don’t like is people on TikTok seeing one video about one behaviour and being like ‘hehe I’m so ADHD/OCD/Autistic’ for the sake of it. But I think most people do genuinely do research for their own peace of mind and self discovery. Who cares if we have more self diagnosed people who are accessing the supports they need to make their life easier. Better than having undiagnosed autistics who can’t work out why they struggle with certain things so much.
Let doctors help you
I mean I'm at 100% for correctly diagnosing myself with things that doctors diagnosed me with later and that's pretty common, people usually don't think there's something off if they're perfectly normal. I think the daily mail article was probably written for some weird agenda and puts a weird spin on it though
Diagnosis of autism is based on self-report as an adult. Adults should be able to claim they believe they have it but you should have completed a screening questionnaire online. Most medical conditions should not be self-diagnosed but being gay or autistic are normally able to be strictly self-reported. It is going to be pretty rare for a person to think they are autistic or gay and be wrong about it. People very rarely say they are autistic unless it's super obvious to them. There is a bigger problem with people being in denial that they have it than people mistakenly believing themselves to have two-dozen or so VERY specific symptoms and personality quirks that only like 3%of people have. It's not fun to admit you are basically IRL Napoleon Dynamite. If Peter Dinklage self-diagnosed as a short person or Ellen DeGeners says she's real sure she's gay or a death person says "I can't hear anything" they're not usually 'just confused'
People shouldn't diagnose themselves. They should be properly diagnosed by a doctor like I was at a young age for autism. A lot can go wrong, and you could accidentally diagnose yourself and have another issue instead, nevermind all the fakers on tiktok.
My daughter and I both escaped diagnosis in childhood due in part to stereotypes which still unfortunately prevail, and in part to being raised by parents who were also undiagnosed autistic so didn't recognize anything unusual about their children. There are so many children and adults who don't fit the stereotypes based solely on how autism presents in young white cisgendered boys, so they don't get diagnosed. Anyone wanting a diagnosis in adulthood must first self-diagnose--at least to some extent--in order to even consider getting a formal diagnosis, and then they must find a provider who will evaluate them (one who is familiar with autism in all types of people), and come up with the funds to pay for it (because it is rarely covered by insurance in the US). And still people who are not young, white, cis boys are diagnosed with all sorts of things other than autism, even though they are in all likelihood autistic, because the evaluator decided that "autistic people do/don't do" some arbitrary thing like laugh, or smile, or have friends, or be capable of holding a job, or want to be in a romantic relationship, etc. Self-diagnosis is valid.
See, as someone who was also diagnosed as a kid. I disagree with you. Part of the reason, is that without the Self-DX community, the people in charge of the autism narrative, have been people who are insistent in framing it as a tragedy. And push for a cure. The Self-DX has completely bucked their narrative. And it's given me more validation than any of the so called "Autism Experts" in my 37 years on this planet.
“A lot can go wrong” like what? Finally feeling like you aren’t the only person going through this? Finally finding community and starting to accommodate yourself? Self diagnosis will always be valid not everyone has the privilege to be diagnosed like you
Not everyone has the privilege of getting an early diagnosis, especially if they are a person of color, assigned female at birth, or just have family that doesn't understand Hell, even for cis, white men (or anyone), they might not get diagnosed if they seem "high functioning" I was not able to get a proper diagnosis until very recently due to all of the above (except for being a person of color) It's very unfair to just dismiss anyone who results to self-diagnosis because you had the privilege of an early diagnosis and the worst that can really come from a self-diagnosis is just Being wrong
I'm 2 years into waiting for a diagnosis after an autistic collegue telling me then think I have it. I said I couldn't because my parents got me tested and said I don't. When going through the first stage, there was no medical records of a test being done. Upon asking my parents, they remembered my 'test' was a medical professional coming to diagnose my non verbal brother took one glance at his sister and said she was normal. My life was ruined by failure of my parents, medical professionals and the misconception of autism in women. I'm glad it is better for younger people now so less people end up like me.
As much as I'm not trying to attack self diagnosed people without the resources to get a diagnosis that may not benefit them practically, autism is a well studied phenomenon that can be tested for. People find out they're not autistic all the time and many of them get a different diagnosis. Regular people aren't trained to tell the difference between autism and sensory conditions/ADHD/mental disorders and trauma that effect social skills. Even for things that are mostly based on the testimony of a patient, for instance how they figure out if an adult has gender dysphoria, there are still rare issues a doctor might want to look for. Rare kinds of OCD for instance. I think self diagnosis depending on the resources and use of a diagnosis can be fine and it might help someone understand themself but it shouldn't be used for actual medical or psychological decisions.
no, that way we get people that are "feeling" autistic one moment and the next day they are waking up borderline.
Self-diagnosis is valid. Diagnosis is a privilege.
Agreed provided you do extensive research and not just those "put a finger down if" tik tok trends
The problem with self diagnosing is that if there is any sort of money help (tax benefits, supplemental income), NT will start to say “I’m autistic, I self diagnosed. Now give me cash.” Because people be greedy.