Why in depth self diagnosis is complicated in AS

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ive known there was something wrong since i was 5 years old.

Little things, like the way i seemingly never had the kind of real emotions that others have, as evidenced by my reactions compared to the people around me.

As an example, sad news hits and i just stand there with no feelings as other people around me cry.

My brain not being spontaneous enough with conversation. its like im always reaching, always too slow for the pace of normal conversation. Everything i ever respond with has to be slowly put together in slowtime only for me to bring it out when its needed for a future conversation. So everything i say has to be thoroughly thought about beforehand otherwise i completely clam up and have no words to say.

i dont know how to react to new situations. i look at the things that are happening and compare them with situations ive already experienced rather than on the spot reacting. I look inward and not outward. Its the same as with conversation, i just dont react to the moment, i give the impression of reacting to the moment through doing what i should have done the first time i experienced the situation. Put me in something completely new and outside of my experience though and i fall to pieces.

which is another way of saying i get overwhelmed easily in new situations.

always preferring being on my own even though i could be accepted if i wanted to be. I could manage being around people but it never felt natural.

ive always just been a weird mix of slow and intelligent at the same time. i tried hard to hide my slowness from the people around me but i could never hide it from myself. My intelligence is a slow thoughtful intelligence rather than the kind that reacts.

things like the above told me something was wrong. I then spent years trying to out what it was that made me that way. I didnt see autism and think, thats me, i saw the autism in myself and found the explanation afterwards after twenty five years of looking.

Then when i found it i matched other things that i thought were normal/just me until that point. Obsessions. Food weirdness. People thinking i was rude when i was just being direct. Talking beyond the point of people listening. Being thought of as a "little professor" as a child. preference for logic. excessive formality. formal speech. light sensitivity.


I would say in depth self diagnosis is easy for someone thats an in depth person that sees the world the way an aspie does.

btw though. The dsm can be hard to convert into real life talk. Are you sure your problems arent just related to the language in the dsm?

The DSM is vague in the definition of the symptoms of ASD. Applied subjectively I think it is very difficult to know if yourself qualifies. It's more the informal lists of examples, reading stories by others, and so on that gives a better idea if the diagnosis suits. That being said, I think that many conditions by their formal definitions are very difficult to subjectively apply. The terms are generally quite open, or they are things that everyone does but for a particular condition one does them beyond an arbitrary amount. Really, only an observation by someone who's experienced will know how to interpret the definitions in real terms. Even then I think many of those who are qualified aren't very good at it.

I think too that it is important to separate a diagnosis from an identity. I don't know about the DSM V, but previously two conditions that must be met for AS is the symptoms must not be from any other cause, and they must be causing you problems. This can make it especially difficult for adults to get a diagnosis. You could go into the assessment never looking anyone in the eye, flapping like a bird, and watching things spin for hours just to amuse yourself. If you're managing to survive you still may not be diagnosed. In a lot of places there is also no practical point to a diagnosis which can add to the difficulty of getting it. If you're seeking a diagnosis for identity it can end up very frustrating.

Thousands of dollars we don't have. Not all of us have any form of health insurance, or money to pay for health insurance. Formal evaluations cost thousands of dollars. If we can't afford the health insurance, obviously we can't afford the evaluation without it, either. THAT is why neither I nor my second son have sought a formal diagnosis. (My nearly 20yo son is also concerned that a formal diagnosis might make it harder to get an accounting job when he finishes his college course.)

If I could afford it, I would go today to get a formal diagnosis, just to confirm to myself that I really am austistic, rather than generically weird and not fitting anywhere and not understanding people.

well, if you're lucky we might get brain scans telling all within a few years, so you're probably right to wait. The price is sure to come down when that change comes about.

I feel like I fit a lot of what I've read. I've been researching everything I possibly can for more info on Asperger Syndrome. It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, which kinda messes a bit of it up.

Not really. I felt the same way. It's more likely that as you learn more about Asperger traits, you're finding that you have more traits than you realize.

Go for things that are more benchmarkable.

Hypersensitivity was the one for me. Compare reactions to photosensitivity with others (whether indoors in various lighting, with a strobe/disco, at the beach or an overcast sky). Then theres pain threshold to sounds. If yours is substantially lower, thats more points towards possible ASD. Then repeat for the rest of the senses, ex. how much you hate tags on clothes. Do you have full scale meltdowns in response to hypersensitivity? (I personally do not)

Do you have depression? Social anxiety? ADHD? For each, increase the likelyhood marginally.

For social aspects and OCD aspects its much more difficulty to self quantify. Accurately, anyhow. Theres a reason why I had to see counselors for years, general MDs for years, a psychiatrist for a year and a psychologist for a special appointment before a formal diagnosis was given.

flat broke is a great reason for not getting it official. 90% of the people on the spectrum are unemployed so food and rent need to come first. After spending all that money, to the relative lack of services for adults and the stigma attached is another reason.

On the other hand some need that official confirmation otherwise the doubt and identity crises can become crippling by itself. Some need to seek a diagnosis so they can be told no so they can stop wasting time perusing solutions to a problem that does not exist and start to find the problem that does exist.

Based on what I have seen antidotely Attwood's figure seems right. In my opinion professional diagnoses by a specialist is better then self diagnoses. Self diagnoses when done thoroughly and with awareness of confirmation bias and as noted an awareness that we may miss stuff is much better then doing nothing if you do not have the resources for a formal diagnoses. Also in my view through self diagnosis is better then going to a General Practitioner. In my view going to GP is a crapshoot.