"It seems really random..."

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I am also a blogger. I would just say that "I'm quirky" or something like that. It's hard enough to get some people to take blogging seriously without them trying to figure people out. It seems like it would be a hindrance unless it was an autism related blog. I have been told in my comments that I wasn't explaining things enough and people who didn't know everything that I was referencing wouldn't catch it. At first I didn't have any interest in changing my writing style. However I now write abut certain topics in certain ways because I want as many people as possible to benefit from what I'm sharing.

Sorry if it came across as trying to be harsh, I just meant to point out one of the hidden dangers.

I also forgot that outside the uk you need insurance to get anything diagnosed, if it is for financial reasons I'd be ok as long as it was made very clear in any post or discussion that you are self diagnosed.

As for saying that most people who self diagnose are correct, you must remember that there is going to be a significant sample bias here, in truth it's something like most people who self diagnose, and then seek a diagnosis are correct, as a large number of self diagnosed people will never be tested to be included in the statistic.

Simply put it's because as far as I am aware there has been no formal studies on the validity of self-diagnosis, so the odds are that it is merely an observation based on the experiences of Tony Attwood, and his colleagues.

So in reality it the quote should be most people who are self diagnosed, and then seek diagnosis are correct, rather than most people who are self diagnosed are correct.

I'm not disputing it as much as saying that it isn't solid enough evidence to verify a self diagnosis.

I do believe that the majority of people who self diagnose will be correct, but at the same time I think that there is a large
enough risk of wrong self diagnosis that it is worth seeking a professional opinion, partly as there is some overlap
in symptoms between Aspergers and other disorders.

If you are in the process of getting a diagnosis you should probably wait for it.

Personally, I have no intention of getting a diagnosis as I don't see any benefit to me. I've only told a couple of people and when I do I only say "I believe ..." not that it's a fact - even though there's no doubt in my mind.

I don't think it is easy to extrapolate as you have 2 different data sets, people who self diagnose and seek diagnosis, and people who just self diagnosed, but only the first set is being commented on, without a proper study on this (which may be useful) it lacks evidence.

I think the reason that many self diagnosis are correct is because aspergers is a relatively new diagnosis still, and is a developmental disorder, so
the only way to get a diagnosis for many adults, is to acknowledge that you may have it.

I don't dispute a persons right to self diagnose, but the burden of proof is yours should you choose to speak about it, as once you speak about it, it is inevitable that people will listen, some of those people may also be in the process of self diagnosing, so i think for informational purposes it is the individuals responsibility to make sure that it is clear that they are self diagnosed to avoid "watering down" the criteria that people self diagnose on.

I too went through the process of self diagnosis, the difference is, is that I waited 3 years, until I had a diagnosis, to actually speak about it, this didn't stop me from reading about aspergers and applying what I'd learnt to myself.

Again I forgot about other difficulties in getting a diagnosis, the issue is clearly not a simple one, I think ultimately I would just like to see people clarify if they are self diagnosed, or officially diagnosed as aspergers is a disorder, not a personality type.

Well, do you think that the risk of being wrong is unacceptable or bad?

The thing is that I have seen people who self-diagnosed later change their minds, and say "I think this is better accounted for with this other thing that makes more sense to me." And what I have seen happen is that other people in those particular communities basically said "That's fine." and I've never seen any expressed hard feelings.

The other thing is, as a community instead of warning people off, we can actually help - I know there are several conditions that can have similar outward symptoms (avoidant, schizotypal and schizoid PD, schizophrenia, complex PTSD, depression, ADHD, social anxiety...just to name a few), and I know there are likely others. Would it be worse to put together a list of conditions that can be mistaken for autistic spectrum disorders than it would be to caution people that they can't possibly know all of these things?

When I was researching whether or not I could be autistic, I looked up most of the above and read accounts by people who had them to see if I had those as well. I read about them as extensively as I could. The thing is that no matter what I did, the only people who described thinking in a manner that was familiar to me were other autistic people. Even if I feel I fit some of the criteria for schizoid personality disorder, there are a lot of things it simply does not explain.

I guess my experience is that a large number of people I have encountered online tend to be fairly proactive, educated about their conditions, frequently self-diagnosed before seeing someone, and had their self-diagnoses professionally confirmed (for what it's worth, I've had every single self-diagnosis I have ever made professionally confirmed). I don't just mean autistic spectrum disorders, but a variety of conditions physical, psychological, and neurological. To me, the possibility of being wrong is something that we all risk whenever we make a decision or get into an argument. I think anyone who self-diagnoses should be aware of that possibility and take responsibility for it, but I do not think it is necessary to decide who gets to call themselves properly autistic on the basis of a piece of paper that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to obtain.