Do Aspies generally accept the self-diagnosed?

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I really think a self diagnosis can be both more accurate and more important than a professional one. If you know the criteria, no one can know your personality as well as yourself, and it is also important because you can only do something about it if you believe you have it.

Ah, yes: "Self-Identified"! And, well said, dddhgg.

I experienced the same kinds of "positions" or arguments -- I detest them all -- during many years of A.A. There is good reason for a real alcoholic to know himself or herself as such, and there is good reason for discouraging other real alcoholics who do not yet underestand from listening to much at all from people who actually are not. However, it is never good for any person or group to consider himself, herself or themselves better than anyone else even though some clear identity can often be vital.

I have absolutely no problem with self diagnosed people. I was one only 2 years ago and I know how tough it is to be living with the symptoms of AS but everyone telling you that you are faking it (professionals and angry family members). I've had to go through the same thing with Tourettes. It's easy to find a condition which fits the majority of your symptoms and most of the time, the diagnosis is accurate. Heck, my psychiatrist diagnosed me with everything APART from AS at one point, absolutely refusing to pin it down to 1 thing! I think it is about time that people stop being so elitist and rude to the non-diagnosed Aspies because they are probably suffering a tougher time than we are. Not to mention the fact that there is no reason to exclude them from this site.

Here here Jellybean....I completely agree with you......and sometimes even with a diagnosis people don't believe it EVEN THEN....I feel sometimes I have to walk around with my medical records to prove it!! ! I empathise with all those non-diagnosed......we all deserve to know WHO WE ARE....providing of course it is the right diagnosis in the first place!! !

I put neurotypical in my profile because there is no category for people that are actually dxed with other neurological disorders. Maybe my other problems are causing my AS-like problems, I don't really know. But whatever is going on, I have legitimate problems, and I am sure most of the self-diagnosed do to. Seriously, I have meltdowns that are severe, I used to have a lady follow me around in school to control them, I had years of social skills counseling, etc...

I hope people have legitimate reasons why they suspect, the worst would be someone that was totally faking it for some twisted reason.

Like when I was the kid that loved birds so much I talked about birds non-stop, or like in high school where all I could think about was Pokemon and it interfered with my life, I didn't even think that was a sign of a potential disorder. I just thought I liked things a lot.

But I admit I'm obsessed with Asperger's to a sad degree. I try to stay away, and something pulls me back in.

I take each person on an individual basis. I have met a few who believed they had it, and I was positively skeptical. I have met others who refuse to accept that it's real, and they are most obviously an Aspie.

I know a man who would easily get a diagnosis, but he won't acknowledge his differences. It is his choice...

I remember, while lurking and reading various posts, I came across Makuranososhi's post about different levels of self-diagnosis. There is the level where you find out for yourself by reading things about it and doing the quizzes, there is the level where all of the people who are close to you come to accept that you have it, then the level where people in support groups accept that you have it. I don't remember how many levels he mentioned exactly, but it was something like that.

I've gone straight to the second level. I did not discover AS on my own online, because I've always refused to consider the possibility of me having some sort of a disorder. It took me a long time to be able to really accept the fact that I have it.

If your self-diagnosis is wrong, then the higher up the levels you get, the more likely it is that most (or all) or the members of each group will say that you do not have it. If that happens, then you have to reconsider your self-diagnosis.

In my opinion, you can't rely on absolute self-diagnosis, and by that, I mean not asking for anyone else's opinion. You have to talk to people who have an understanding of what AS is. Even your parents can be wrong, so you have to go out there and start asking people who are more likely to know about it. For example, my physics teacher mentioned it in class, so then I asked him. I asked my social sciences teacher, who would know about it more likely than any other teacher at school. My special ed teacher, too. But not anyone else, because I don't know how they would react. They may have never heard of it, so then I would have to tell them all about it, which would just be a waste of time.

I think you have a good point here. I will add that I think the person will have had to do a reasonable amount of study of AS, and not just read a single article.

Personally, I've done a huge amount of research on AS, since my son was dx 6 years ago. My problem, which a lot of others don't seem to have, is that I have no one who knew me as a younger person. There are no records of my childhood or people who can give accounts of what I was like, other than my mother, who has so many AS traits herself, that her thoughts would be colored by that. I don't even have any connection to people I've worked with previously, or ex-roommates. I currently know only a few people, and they only see such a limited bit of me, that they wouldn't be qualified to answer any questions about me. If a professional diagnosis requires input from other people, that's not an option for me. Any information would be based on my subjective answers to questions (which I can do on the apsie quiz or in conversations here), as well as how I came across to the professional. How I come across to the professional would depend on them, what they are looking for, and how comfortable I feel with them. That, too, is subjective.

I do. If one is sure of it. I would try going to get an official dx, though (I don't know how much that is). If it is too much, hopefully this current healthcare bill could help that.

Okay, I've just been weighing the cons and benefits of trying to get an official diagnosis. I've been leaning away from it even though I would like the added certainty. The more I hear, the less it seems worth it. Thanks.

Here just a little east of you, I called the local mental-health clinic and inquired about an assessment, and I was told it could cost "thousands of dollars". The initial testing is actually only a little over a thousand, but overall, it seems adults -- I am 59 -- with AS/HFA are of no great concern there, and especially if functioning in society at all. I do not know any actual details about the new socialized healthcare plan, but I would not expect much from it unless trying to help you will be of greater benefit to some other entity contracted by the government.

I think it's ok as long at the person does enough research to know what to look for, and has the objectivity to rule out similar things. Hence, only a non-aspie would make a self-misdiagnosis. Perhaps it would help if that person consulted with other aspies, preferably ones who are more on the objective-thinking end of the spectrum. Also, a diagnosis in america fro an adult is very expensive, it can be as much as a used car, so a professional diagnosis is not an option for many americans.

I accept them.

Aspies in denial I call it. Or denaspie I call it.

I can't believe some of the costs I hear relating to testing in America. Over here in Australia, even though it involved two specialists, mine was free - I got the whole cost back on Medicare.

As for testing - I think it's a personal issue. To me, some of the AS traits I had were severely affecting my functionality as a person. I needed some tools to help me out in that regards. I can only talk for my only personal case however, others may disagree and that's fine. It wasn't easy, but my lifestyle has improved significantly. I'm not perfect, but I'm functioning in society better than I was.

all the posts make some good point or other.

i came here because i feel the man i was living with was an aspie. in the course of researching it, i realized how very, very many traits i had myself. i took every test there was and all but one put me "definitely" as an aspie. my brother has been autistic since childhood. so i'm guessing i'm somewhere on the spectrum, tho since i've not had any opportunity for official confirmation (and see little point, anyway, for me at least), i list myself as "don't know whether i have it or not."

to me, it's puzzling why anyone would choose to be ok or not ok with "someone" based totally on a label, tho i guess a neurological finding would be more than just a label.

even so, i've found all my life that labels often mean something but not necessarily something crucial, in any context. if someone's contributing things of value, that's enough for me. if i like someone, i like them. they don't also need some special name or category. if an art piece moves me, who cares if it's by a famous artist, a child, a robot, or a happy accident some alert soul found and framed.

life is richer and better, not to mention easier, when you try to relate to what you find rather than to a name or label.