Why put a label on yourself?

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I agree with all labels except for gender. Not everybody fits the Gender Binary. I agree that AS or autism is a label that serves its purpose. I see it more as a way of being than a label, but I also feel the labels fit their purpose.

One doctor might diagnose someone with autism and the next doctor would not. So what? There's nothing magical about a diagnosis or the lack of one.

If you have autism, you pretty much know it. You know there's something going on. If it's later in life, you might have that "Oh, right, that FITS" feeling. Or the feeling that things that happened in the past make sense in light of this new label. You read threads here and you're like "Oh my God, I could have written that."

I have no issue at all about people not having a formal diagnosis, but self-identifying. A diagnosis is for a disease, anyway. I don't want treatment. There's nothing wrong with the way I am. I have little patience, however, with people assuming that everyone "should" get a diagnosis. Common sense should carry some weight as well.

Disability pension

So you wouldn't start identifying as a cavity sufferer if it got to an extreme where you couldn't eat any whole foods or something, such that a large amount of your life would involve you explaining to people 'oh no I can't eat that'?
It depends on how often that label applies to someone and how much it affects one's life I think for how much the label can define a person, if someone's going to adopt a label.

A diagnosis boils down to two things.

Doctor = medical for treatment
Diagnosed Person = Self identity

Being obsessed with obtaining a diagnosis or giving yourself one is just trying to belong to something, even if you aren't it. It's like someone putting on a bunch of black makeup and skinny jeans and calling themselves "emo", it's nothing more than to belong to something, which in my opinion is not the reason you should be trying to get a diagnosis.

I received my diagnosis as an adult because I wanted help and treatment, it had nothing to do with some emotional need for belonging to a group of humans, that is weak IMO. Diagnosis should purely be for medical reasoning and benefits/treatment. Using it for emotional reasons by self diagnosing is ridiculous and uneducated I believe.

I've had this EXACTLY experience.



I don't need feel I need "treatment" for aspergers itself, but having an ASD Dx would facilitate access to services that would make my life easier. As I said earlier, if I do decide to go back to school, I would probably need assistance with keeping up with everything that needs to be done and dealing with the stress involved in school.

^^^

That is exactly what my last post referred to. Wanting a diagnosis for medical treatment and benefits for support for your ASD is the REASON you should want a Dx.

Well, for me, it involves both of these. It's partly because I understand that I do need assistance in certain things and being diagnosed would allow access to that, and partly because I've been obsessing over the question of do I really have AS or not, and needing validation of my suspicions.

Police officer:
"The person you saw stealing the woman's handbag... Were they a man or a woman?"

Bystander:
"I'm sorry, I don't agree with gender labels."

Police officer:
"Don't give me any of that nonsense. Was it a man or a woman? Why won't you answer? Do you know them? Are you covering up for them?"

I'm sorry, but even gender identifiers are necessary in life.

You might say "I'm not sure," but then the officer might ask "Well, if you had to say, did they look more male, or more female?"

You'll have to answer, or you could even get to know the interior of the local police station.

There are men, and there are women. This is the norm in life, and these are terms people use. The fact some people want to have their bodies changed to be that of another gender makes no difference.

They're choosing a gender, and are taking steps to LOOK like that gender.

Intersexed, people? They're the exception, but would still be described as either one or the other, unless their appearance so straddles the line an observer would have to say "I'm really not sure". In that case, they're still saying the person looks like both genders, combined.

Sorry, but there are gender terms in life that get used, and people generally fall into one catagory or the other, unless they have to be described as hermaphroditic.

You can't give up gender "labels". They're a part of life.

Finally knowing for a certainty and having a name to call this by. A sure explanation for...things.

That's what professionals are for. I know it's not easy to find one, or cheap, however if it's what you really need you will find a way. I only say that because I know from experience, as an adult with no money or job I was able to receive a $2000 assessment and diagnosis for absolutely free just by reaching out to everybody an anybody in the field and asking for help.

I don´t know about that. Isn´t it a bit categorical?



I have had exactly the same feeling. Actually, I suspected a hyper-minimal brain damage,

Many of us have have been subjected to bullying and irritation and perhaps have been given many odd labels, we cannot identify with. It creates quite a chaos in ones identity, makes you wonder, - and how about the anxiety and the depressive moods?
The day you stumble upon one single description, that blows away all the layers of more or less confusing labels, simply because it fits, - it is natural to look into it and talk to a professional about it.
Getting that little piece of paper saying "Aspie" is a liberation from a lot of the negative identity and the start of a re-definition and self understanding, which of course, for a period of time, may be a little hyper focused, and, yes, there is identity in it in the sense, that you discover, that there are others more or less like you out there.
1 out of 80, - maybe more, seem to be on the autism spectrum, so it isn´t exactly rare.