Is self-diagnosis okay/valid/a good thing?

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I'm not sure if I understand what you are asking.

Most people posting here have some difficulties with communication. But not everyone has the exact same difficulties or the same traits. Sometimes they clash.

I suppose it can be seen that way, but it doesn't have to be. I didn't see it that way.

What purpose does it serve to see it that way?

The right to free speech does not have to be exercised and proven at every opportunity. I know I have the right to speak my mind pretty much whenever I want to, but that doesn't mean I will always choose to do so. I don't feel like my rights are being threatened just because someone disagrees with me, or dislikes what I have to say, or doesn't want to discuss something with me.

Quite.

Hence it's best to keep points related to self-diagnosis on a thread related to self-diagnosis.

I don't, I feel utterly indifferent.

Whoever this supposed person is, it's not anybody I've lashed out or personally insulted. It's entirely their own decision, just as it would be entirely my own decision if I decided to leave WP - for whatever reason.

Please let me emphasize. There's no one to blame.

I was just stating generalities.

I don't see any point where, in an objective sense, somebody should have been "driven" from the Forum. I certainly wouldn't have been.

But there are people who are rather sensitive on this Site. This is not to say that a healthy debate is not healthy, though.

It's sad, though, that the person was "driven" from the Site--because this is a good Site.

Same.

@Kraftie - I love your new avatar, it's very suave. Guess you could say the weather over there is 'hot' today.

Somebody on the Forum sent me this. It's the same guy that was there previously, but clearer.

He looks a little like me. I don't have the strong chin. My hair is graying. The eyes are that color, though. My glasses are kind of similar to those glasses. My smile is somewhat similar, too.

I've been "self-diagnosed" as a nut since I was a little kid.

I don't have a strong chin either.

My username is actually my 'self-diagnosis'. I self-diagnosed with that nickname when I was 5 years old. I hadn't used it in a long time, and that's why I used it when I registered here, because I was exploring back into my childhood.

I suppose now that I am an adult it can mean 'nervous and horny'.

If everybody had the same outlook, this would be a boring Forum.

We have the Staunch Semantic group on one side.

We have the Linguistic Extenders on the other.

It's always nice to have an amiable discussion, and come to some kind of compromise.

Earlier (in this thread or one similar), someone suggested that self-diagnosis involves an individual having no less than 100% confidence that they are suffering from a certain condition/disorder (in this case ASD). That is, the person doesn’t suspect it or believe it or think it. They know it.

If that is the case, I simply don't understand why anyone who described themselves as self-diagnosed would ever proceed to have that confirmed by another. Unless that individual is seeking services.

But, perhaps that definition is wrong. My guess is that we each have our own definition for what self-diagnosis means. That alone makes this discussion odd. What would make it even more bizarre (and appropriate for members of an odd planet), is if each of us had our own definition of what ASD is. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is likely the case. Not just here. But everywhere.

I get the sense that most self-diagnosers are, on average, "very sure" that they have an ASD--perhaps not 100%, though.

All of us have a subjective view of what autism is; I believe a compilation of all the views would yield many similarities, but perhaps a few significant differences.

There also exists a more objective standard: that which is used by DSM IV and V, and the ICD's. Many self-diagnosers refer to these diagnostic manuals

Diagnosing mental conditions isn't like diagnosing a physical disability or condition because there are no guarantees, only ever a 'best guess', but this guess is based on what we currently think we know about (in this case) autism. It's almost like a theory - nobody knows if a big bang occurred, but there is a lot of evidence and supporting information to suggest that it did, so it's widely accepted at the moment.

That's why when an individual self-diagnoses, I believe they are as sure as they can be, that they have the condition. It's not 100% (as nothing is), but it's like a court of criminal law, beyond reasonable doubt >99%.

If a person has self-diagnosed with a condition and they're only 80-90% sure that they have it, that seems unreasonable to me. Though I do admit, percentages quantify a qualitative experience and so they aren't truly translatable, but from my point of view it's accurate enough.

Professional diagnosis is very much the same in this regard, only objective measures also contribute to the certainty of the presence of the condition/disorder, hence why you cannot really do anything with a self-diagnosis, other than identify with those that have a clinical diagnosis - which is OK, I never had a major problem with this. I don't mind at all if somebody chooses to self-diagnose and explain that to others, provided they don't neglect to mention the fact that it is a self-diagnosis.

What does it mean, "driven" from this site?
Why is "driven" in quotation marks instead of driven from this site?
What is the difference between driven and "driven"?
I am confused.
Does "driven" ackshuly mean not driven?

I believe they came here on a bus, but a forum member drove them home. I'm not 100% sure... my eyes could be lying to me.

Has that driven you mad?

"Driven," in this case, is a figurative/metaphorical term.

It means, in this case, that someone or some people (from the viewpoint of the person so driven) impelled him/her (forced him/her) to leave to site.

That's why I put it in quotes. I don't agree that he/she was "driven" from the Site forceably. I believe he/she felt that he/she was "driven," though.

The only people that could force a person off an internet site are the person his/herself, or a person who steals/takes away the person's computer.