Self-diagnosis that was subsequently proven correct?

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I've just seen yet another "OMG TEH SELF-DIAGNOSED IS FAKING AND RUINING IT FOR THE REAL ASPIES!" thread, and that fuelled my curiosity about how many people who self-diagnose go on to be professionally diagnosed.
The poll is for all forms of autism, not just Asperger's.

Holding out on voting because I am seeking an official diagnosis (or at least as official as I can manage) right now.

I won't be seeking a diagnosis - I deal well with life and I won't gain any benefit by getting diagnosed. I'm glad I know because it explains why I'm different to other people, which I've always been concerned by, but I don't need a professional to confirm to make me happy with my life.

I'm old, and I won't be seeking a diagnosis. I don't trust those "therapists"... they just want to push pills, and get you coming back on some schedule... Between the shrinks and the doctors they have 75% of the nation taking daily pills for some problem... and most everyone is over weight... (down boy!)

I stumbled across Asperger's because I had a couple of insights after I had a big C battle and thought maybe I was suffering PTSD afterwords (I never talked about how I felt, or what were possible outcomes with anyone...ever), and took an online personality test, and that led me to other things like the DSM, and that led to other tests, and articles, and eventually the test where the result says, "It is likely you are an Aspie." That was a few years ago.

I came here because I heard or saw WP mentioned in a news article... I find it all very comforting... all the posts and stories, and I saw the maybe troll post about how self-diagnosers are giving REAL diagnosed Aspies a bad name... well, Im not telling anyone except the folks who read here that Im likely an Aspie.

I diagnosed myself and it was confirmed by a clinical psychologist. But as a scientist, I never felt that I was absolutely certain. All I knew was that my questionnaire scores were quite high and that a lot of things about me seemed clearer in terms of Aspie theory. I wouldn't call my professional DX "proof" of having AS either........at the time, I was getting (apparently) AS-related problems at work, and needed something to release me from their impossible demands. The last thing I needed was to pay out hundreds of pounds just to be told that I had some of the traits but not enough for a DX. So, given the mainly subjective, self-assessed nature of the procedure, and the pressure I was under to fudge it, I can't really see the DX as definitive. Though some of the content of my old diaries shows that I knew of a lot of Aspie things about myself, and when I wrote those I knew nothing of AS, so that evidence isn't tainted with the suspicion of fudging.

Self diagnosed, proven right twice. It's pretty obvious with me anyway.

i have been diagnosed by a learning support psychologist as having autism-related learning difficulties.

awaiting confirmation from my GP to see if its actually aspergers.

I am about 99% confident that, had the diagnosis of Asperger's existed 30 years earlier, I would have been diagnosed in childhood.

Instead, I never knew what it was until I was 50 (ok, 49 years, 9 months, and 28 days, if you want to be picky! (and we all know you do! )). I looked it up on a whim one day, and was shocked to find a near perfect description of me - I mean, seeing word for word quotes of ways I have been described, both by myself and others. I've taken all of the tests in the sticky on here, and my results consistently point to Asperger's. Aspie Quiz results 162 / 27 NT; BAP results of 124 aloof, 120 rigid and 107 pragmatic - "Clearly, you are either autistic or on the broader autistic phenotype."; AQ 30; EQ / SQ of "extreme systemizing"; etc.

At this point, I have no intention of seeking a formal diagnosis. Money is part of that - $300 per session, and they don't take insurance. A complete lack of any services for adults is part of it, too. The possibility that it could "negatively impact" my employability comes into play, too. A lot of downsides, and I'm not really seeing an upside, other than deflecting criticism from narrow-minded nitwits like the one referred to by the OP.

Also, how would I know I was getting an accurate evaluation? If I were to get a diagnosis, fine and dandy. I'd finally have a definitive explanation, and professional confirmation of it, for . . . well, everything. But, if they said no, where would I be? Could I trust that diagnosis? If I could see Tony Atwood, or Simon Baron-Cohens, sure. But, realistically, I'm not going to be seeing an internationally recognized expert in the field. After reading so many threads on here about "experts" who actually don't have a clue, I probably wouldn't be able to fully accept a diagnosis (of either yes or no) unless I got the same one from 2 out of 3 shrinks. I see no reason to go to the trouble and expense of seeking a diagnosis to end up no more certain about my condition than I was when I started.

Last but not least is the question of whether I even meet the diagnostic criteria anymore. There is no question that I have many traits (or "symptoms," if you prefer), but I'm not sure that they reach the required level of being "clinically significant impairment" now, although they certainly did when I was 12, or 16, or 23. I think they still do, but even if I'm right - so what? I'd still have to pay large sums of money for any help I was able to find.

Instead, I intend to continue researching the topic myself, looking for ways others have successfully used to minimize the impact of issues they and I share. It just seems to make more sense.

That ended up a good bit longer than I expected. Sorry.

I self-diagnosed my AS, told my psychologist about it, and I was later professionally diagnosed. Too bad I found out about AS eight years after I started seeing a psychologist, and spent all those years in treatment for something I didn't have. No wonder it didn't work!

I was self-diagnosed before being professionally diagnosed.

Self-diagnosed and seeing a psychologist in early Feb to start the formal diagnosis.

For me it is a no-brainer that I have it. With every passing day since starting to look into it. But I feel I need the diagnosis because it is not sufficiently honest of me to say to someone that I have it without something to back it up.

Self dxed and then professionally DXed.

self-diagnosed then professionally diagnosed

I self-diagnosed my Asperger's, then got an official diagnosis a few months later.

Unofficially diagnosed by educational professionals and not psychiatrists, etc. and I agreed.

I'm self-diagnosed, in the process of official diagnosis.

Everyone agrees I'm on the spectrum, not just people who know me personally, but the medical professionals based on what they've seen of me and my medical records that show asperger's was suspected several times throughout my childhood...they tested out the social anxiety theory first, made me go to group work, so I would leave telling them it improved things when it didn't, thus no diagnosis earlier in life. This is why I'm being speeded through the whole process as quick as possible, they however can't decide if I'm actually an aspie, or there's a possibility of HF autism given what I was like as a kid.

I'm so desperate to get that official diagnosis.