Undiagnosed aspies

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I'm a self-diagnosed aspie and I was wondering what other people's reasons were for not being professionally diagnosed yet.

I am still waiting for my assessment. It wasn't until my daughter was diagnosed last year that I realised what it was with me. I went to my GP with a list of traits I believe I have and gave examples of situations why I believe I have ASD

Several reasons: my age; fear of the disruption from all the appointments, fear of being in a room for hours with an evaluator, and also fear of a diagnosis being official and then wondering if that will adversely affect other official things, like if I ever want to emigrate again, and have to disclose, car insurance, or if I wanted to adopt -- just other things that this being on my medical records might affect.

I also fear the sheer disruption of finding myself scheduled-into a whole string of appointments that will take two to three hours each. For me, that represents a huge disruption to my life even though it's me who will be initiating it all. How aspie is that...."My routine will be disrupted!" It sounds lame but I seriously fear getting that whole ball rolling -- appointment times that will be made for you and might cut into things I need to do, my work, and another schedule I have regarding a special interest. God that all sounds so lame, but I really worry about that.

My age is another aspect -- at 52 I wonder if there's any point. There is no help for me, and in a country that is already cutting welfare so severely that there was a case of a terminally ill person being told to "get back to work," I really don't see me even qualifying for disability, early retirement or any other financial help. I'm also self employed, thus there are no accommodations to be made in a workplace. There are no accommodations or beneficial aspects to my having a piece of paper at all. So there's almost no point.

Except for my own peace of mind in having my suspicions confirmed. I've already been told by a friend who is a clinical social worker that it seems likely I am and an evaluation would be strongly indicated as a good thing to pursue. She can't officially diagnose me but she knows enough to informally say it's worth it going by my history and traits. So I still may pursue it, I'm just trying to get up the courage to take that step.

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Last edited by BirdInFlight on 27 Aug 2014, 5:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

1. Diagnosed as autistic around 1963-1965.

2. Diagnosed with mental retardation around the same time.

3. Diagnosed with "brain-injury/brain-damage" around 1965-1966.

4. Diagnosed with Schizoid Personality Disorder 1976


Not diagnosed with Asperger's, though self-diagnosed with it.

Diagnosed as of this week!

Actually, being on the other side of it now, it doesn't feel as big of a deal as it did before (not that I'm not still happy). It's done away with that last little bit of uncertainty and I feel like I can tell others with more confidence and less fear of being questioned now. But the diagnosis didn't really deliver the thing that I was most hoping for, a better understanding of how autism affects me specifically.

In fact, out of the two, I'd say the deep introspection and self education that I did for my self diagnosis has been much more helpful and important to me than the official diagnosis. I'm starting to view the two processes as complements to each other rather than replacements.

gamerdad, congratulations on now being on the other side of the process! Yes, I agree with you -- I see my own self diagnosis not as a substitute but as a preliminary step. I call mine more a "self suspecting" rather than a self diagnosis. And I see it (and indeed all the deep reflection and self-education) as what happens before an official diagnosis, not always necessarily instead of at least in my own case, although that can be alright too.

Congrats again.

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i was 55 when i realized i had AS. my life is pretty set. a diagnosis would change nothing. not worth pursuing.

I first started looking into the possibility that I'm on the spectrum a little over 2 years ago. I self diagnosed about a year ago. I got an autism Dx last month.

I'm waiting for an appointment to be diagnosed.

I went to the GP last week to ask for a referral. He was really supportive and positive about it despite admitting he'd never referred an adult before, and as such he wasn't sure who to refer me to. Luckily I'd done my research and had even turned up with a referral form half filled in which he promised to finish and send off for me... just waiting for a response now! (I hope it happens soon, I'm already nervous!)

Formally diagnosed a number of years ago now...

I was diagnosed as an adult a few years back. Looking at the whole thing now, I see no point in it. With school age kids, your getting it so they can get concessions at school. I haven't seen any advantages to a diagnosis as a adult.

I'm diagnosed now, but was self-diagnosed for two years prior. My only reason for remaining that way so long was finances. If I had the money, I would have sought out testing the day I was told I might have autism.

Cost.
$3'000 for a private assessment and no insurance makes this an expensive attempt at introspection.

I spend my money on more productive things. Like motorcycles. Since when has big brother, or a psyche done anything positive for me, without taking away a bunch of car payments? I'm going with NEVER!

I am currently accepting donations for an evaluation.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

I will fix your car.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Didn't think so, thanks anyways.

Will you fix my truck - it's an '02 Duramax. Still runs great but starting to rust out from the bottom up. I live in Canada.

Your best bet would be driving it down south, and having someone put a southern cab and box on it. Wait until your feet go through the floor, your seat sinks, and you can see daylight through the rocker panels. It should be tired enough to sell it to a poor farmer by then.

Great truck!