is a diagnosis REALLY that important?

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... i relate to this, fully.

validation can come in many forms. i don't need a diagnosis to validate that i am a person. i can see that i am a person physically; however, i do feel as though when i go out in public i have to don what i call my "human suit".

when you've struggled to keep up with the rest of your peers for most of your life, and it is a constant mystery as to why you don't outperform them or care to be a part of what they do or how they see the world, the validation that you get from a diagnosis is that you are officially different from them, and it is no longer about you being lazy/stupid/alienated. granted, this isn't going to change the public perception of you: the baristas at the coffee shop may still think you are weird, that girl at the library may still think you're rude for not making eye contact, and your coworkers might still think that you're aloof and uninterested. when it comes down to it, if it is important to know for yourself, if only to "know" why you are different, then it is validating, and completely worth the process.

Me too--I have been told by a manager at work that I was the dumbest absolute genius they had ever met... I like the genius part, "dumbest" is not so nice. I think I know why I made this impression, but I want to know, not guess.

i've been on the receiving end of that "dumbest genius" term, too. we should hold a competition to see who's the dumber genius.

i don't like the term "genius" as a descriptor for a person. to me, genius isn't a type of person, it is a concept describing outcome of the application of ingenuity and thoughtfulness. describing someone as a genius implies to me that they are always ingenious and thoughtful. i doubt that term truly describes any collection of cells in the species "Homo Sapiens".

Well, I'm disabled because of it, so it's pretty damn important for me.

Of course. When you have spent your life being treated like the black sheep of the family, being told by others that you are a difficult person etc., you start to believe it, you think you must be bad in some way, so when you find out that you have a condition caused by different wiring of the brain, you feel that you are OK, it's not "your fault" and you are not bad. You can feel better about yourself and your differences. Isn't that a given?