Rediagnosed

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Yes, and this is why I don't want to get diagnosed. I don't want to give up the life I worked so hard to build. I will continue to do the things I'm doing now.

Thank you for starting this thread Star Trekker.
I reckon your hunch around the different circumstances at each diagnosis is correct.
While there are now a number of tools to aid identifying an autistic profile with some sort of consistitency, the level of severity, which in the current diagnostic manuals is a measure of the amount of support needed, this is likely to be a judgement call.
I think it quite possible that level 2 has always been the correct severity estimate, But, at the time of the first diagnosis a lot of that support was already in place Informally through living with family, the environment of education as opposed to the workplace, and so the need for it was not visible to the assessor. At the second diagnosis, that informal support was not in place, making the need for it much easier to see at the assessment.

In regard to questions by other posters regarding the vexed question of functioning levels, these are from diagnstic references no longer current, and were not measures of how well or otherwise one functioned in the world. They were crude estimates as to whether there was a learning disability as well as the Autism spectrum. The means to determine was crude. Standard intelligence (quota) test, IQ greater than 70 and one would be called high functioning, otherwise low functioning. Nothing at all to do with being able to function in the world.

A phrase I've heard quite often is 'adaptive functioning' . It seems with ASD there can be quite a gap between a person's level for that and a person's IQ.

https://www.communitylivingbc.ca//wp-co ... .-2011.pdf

Thanks for your replies everyone, they're very interesting to read. It makes sense to me that the appearance of functioning levels can change dramatically based on one's environment.

Livingwithautism, practically speaking, I'm hoping the update will increase my access to supports. I have a lot of off-site (i.e not at home) therapies that help me with everything from emotional regulation to sensory and eating issues to job supports, but what I really need is in-home supports that help me with daily living tasks like doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, reminding me to eat and manage my hygiene, etc. I'm also interested in finding a day program that provides disabled people with an opportunity to get out and do activities with others, like bowling or swimming or trips to the library. Right now the only things I ever leave the house for are my therapies or my new part-time job that's only 10 hours a week.

Breaks0, I think the levels are really only used to measure roughly what kinds of services a person is expected to need. I don't know how scientific they are, since they're largely qualitative statements found in the DSM 5, and as you can see from the responses to this thread, knowing precisely what level a given person falls at can often be tricky and imprecise. I kind of like them just because I have a need for detailed structure, and they make the nebulous "autism spectrum" seem less wide and daunting, but I agree they definitely have limitations, and the potential to put people in restrictive boxes.

I have no idea what my functioning level might be from an ASD perspective , as I may or may not be given a dx of ASD.
I can speak from a mental health perspective. I asked the nurse who does my depot injection. She said with the support I'm getting it's medium-high/high-medium but before I moved here ,and was not getting the support, it was much lower.