Why Do People Hate Self-Diagnosers?

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I think it comes from the fact that a common thread of attack against a lot of us is to cast doubt on diagnosis and to claim that it is an invented overdiagnosed disorder(some people hold ADHD in a similar light) so I can see how self-diagnosed might be frowned upon by some who feel insecure because of those attacks. I don't care really, an official diagnosis is useful for seeking services and getting accomedation but if you don't need that and have a pretty good handle on your life then there is very little reason besides peace of mind to pursue it.

Because the human mind is complex and there are a variety of things that have autism-like symptoms that self-diagnosers haven't even considered I guess. Or that people have little basis for thinking they have autism. Not sure.

Like I've stated many times, autism is not something that's glamorous.

The diagnosis (or self-diagnosis) doesn't offer prestige, or the chance to make money in and of itself.

The fast majority of the time, one "self-diagnoses" in order to find a reason for one's eccentricities. To make sense of their "unusual" reaction to the world and its contents.

My journey started 4 years ago. I heard about Asperger's Syndrome and it sounded someone like my brother. I found a scholarly article about it and thought I would see if my Engineer brother would qualify. What I found absolutely shocked me. I spent my whole life with literally nobody understanding me and my life story was spelled out not his.

Fast forward to today and I tried, I really tried to get an official diagnosis. On the plus side, everyone I spoke to said that it was "highly likely" I would meet the DSM IV criteria but almost nobody diagnoses adults without a complete evaluation (over $1000). My anxiety and depression is much more critical so I treat those instead. There is also the 'we need a parental interview'. Good luck getting an unbiased report from a parent in denial and another who refuses to even discuss or consider it. Guess orphans don't have Aspergers?

Ultimately, two of my counselors told me flat out "what's the point?" and acted like I asked to be put in a prison cell. All that's going to happen is that I will either be told what I already know or that I am so delusional I am making it up. I will let you guess what the obvious answer is. As a skeptical person by nature who hates ambiguities, I am still 100% sure I meet the criteria for Aspergers or HFA level 1.

My biggest issue is that I am too 'normal' to most so called experts. If only they knew how bad my anxiety really was! Back to the OPs question, I have never had anyone doubt me here or in real life but I am about as stereotypical as you can get.

I don't hate people who self-diagnose.
Instead, I view the process of self-diagnosis as invalid.
I don't like how people say that they are autistic without diagnosis.

I'm self-diagnosed because I have most of the characteristics of AS. I've made it far enough without outside help so a formal diagnosis wouldn't gain anything for me. Before I started posting on WP I did lots and lots of just reading threads and it turned out that several people had been misdiagnosed by mental health practitioners, anyway. That tells me that even a formal diagnosis is not 100% certain.

I have noticed some dismissiveness if not outright hatred towards self diagnosers on the forums. I can kind of understand it, people do jump on the bandwagon, and the entertainment industry has made it kind of attractive over the last couple of years. But I wish there was a little more understanding about the fact that circumstances greatly affect whether people are diagnosed or not, especially age as autism was not widely known/understood and many people whose behavior as children/young adults would have caught the attention of the parents/teachers/counselors were either overlooked or misdiagnosed.

I only heard of Asperger's in my twenties. The introduction was through entertainment and I noticed some similarities, but I dismissed the possibility. As I learned more about autism over the years I saw more traits that rang true to me, but I didn't pursue a diagnosis because I was ashamed. All I wanted to be was normal and if I could live a seemingly normal life without a label that's what I wanted, so I denied it to myself for years saying 'I'm just a little odd' 'I have a couple quirks' 'It's just the way I am'.

After a while though, it just became impossible to deny that something was wrong (or different) with me, and I struggled to come to terms with that for a long time. I only told my parents about it within the last two years, and the few friends I've been able to make I've only told over the last few months.

I am seeking a diagnosis, more for my own satisfaction rather than any benefits (though legal protections would be nice), but I'll only be able to do so if my insurance covers it (and I can only afford insurance within the last two years because of the Affordable Care Act). The American health care system is all messed up and insanely expensive.

I don't have problems with people who lack official diagnosis, if they say that they have autistic traits but don't say that they have autism or are autistic.

Oh yes, I had forgotten about the parental interview part.

Presumably because your parents would be less biased than you.

My mom has been know to deny bad things that happened. Like when I was 12 I had this really huge tantrum while on a family vacation because my dad changed his mind about the schedule. When I brought it up later, she said "that never happened."

So if I needed parent's agreement that I had the symptoms I would never be able to get it.

The purpose of the parent interview is to get information about childhood behaviors.
Its purpose is not to eliminate bias, which is part of any subjective observation, but to get a view of childhood behaviors from outside the person's mind.
The purpose of clinical observation is also to get outside observation, not to eliminate bias, which is an inherent part of assessment for mental disorders.

In my case, I actually have a number of diagnosis that all agree that I have Aspergers--just not an official one.

It has been brought up that I'm really a polymath, someone who can learn multiple disciplines and do well in all of them. It makes sense--I've been involved in competitive aspects of widely different hobbies and done extremely well--lots of certificates, trophies and plaques.

My parents are both dead so wouldn't be much help with describing my childhood behaviour. I don't even have things like school reports anymore. Pretty much the only information I have is what I can personally remember.