Are you officially diagnosed?

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Just a simple poll.

You may say what you think about being diagnosed in the comments if you want to.

I know that I'm an aspie, there's really no reason to prove it. It's just not worth the hassle.

No option for unofficially diagnosed?

I'm self-diagnosed, but pretty damn sure I have it.

I've had an official diagnoses for 13 years. I don't have to worry about getting tested or anything.

My psychiatrist's professional opinion is "maybe".

Where is the "neither" or "other" option? I am not self-diagnosed, but I am not officially (on paper) diagnosed either.

I wanted this poll to only be for people who either are almost completely sure they have it (self-diagnosed) or have been diagnosed.

If you are an "other", please mention it in the comments.

I really do not understand this logic. Why say "yes I have it I don't need a medical professional to tell me that"? If you think you need to have this diagnosis, but not receive help for it, surely there was something bothering you enough to seek an explanation to your behavior, why then, would you not receive a positive confirmation of your suspected autistic spectrum disorder, and get some further help?

No, and before anyone gets their knickers in a knot, I am NOT belittling anyone, or saying either way is right or wrong, but I honestly just want to know why.

I am officially diagnosed with Asperger's.

I actually am diagnosed, even though I am only on the spectrum and not strictly AS. The reason I am responding to your post is the notion that there can be further help. I have not been able to get any help. I don't mean special accommodations, which I don't need because I am not in school nor working, but I haven't been able to find any therapists I can afford who know anything about AS. And this seems to be common here on WP. Where is there help and how does one find it?

Well, let's see.

I'm 50. Given the fact that it's difficult for even qualified folks to diagnose AS in adults, and the fact that there is no one in this town that even claims to be qualified to do so, I don't feel particularly confident that I would be able to get an accurate evaluation of my probable AS.

Then, even if I traveled to another state to see someone who is qualified, there's the minor detail of not having any way to confirm that I've had issues since I was a little kid. My parents have both been dead for over 20 years. My brother is only 3 years older than me, so he isn't going to be able to talk about how I was at 2 or 3 or 4 years old - and even later, we weren't exactly close. I have no old report cards or things like that, and schools don't keep copies of them for 40+ years.

Next . . . you assume that there is "further help" available. Maybe there is, where you live. Here, there isn't. Well, I suppose I could find a shrink to work with me - assuming I could pay them $200+ per session, of course!


Cliff's Notes version:
1. Getting an accurate diagnosis as an adult is a crapshoot.
2. No documentation to demonstrate that my issues have existed since early childhood.
3. Complete absence of any services, even if I do obtain a diagnosis.

One more thing:

Assuming that I found someone qualified to diagnose an adult, and that my lack of documentation didn't disqualify me from a diagnosis, and that I didn't care that being diagnosed would not have any advantages . . . it is known that people can "grow out of" a diagnosis. I know that I have impairments, and that they stem from traits which match Asperger's. I also know that many traits have been quashed so thoroughly that I've nearly forgotten that they ever existed, and that many which remain are far less problematic that they used to be. I am 90%+ sure that I do meet the criteria now, and 100% sure that I did when I was younger - except for the fact that the criteria weren't defined until I was 34 years old. I'm convinced that I am somewhere on the spectrum. What good would it do me to spend a lot of money to be told, "You undoubtedly met the criteria when you were younger, but at this point in your life you juuuuuuuuuust miss having 'clinically significant' impairment."

BAP ??

I had a lot of social confusion when an early adult. The "confusion" that many have here now. I at one time attributed a lot of this to a chemical imbalance, but there were instances to where I thought I was just plain stupid, with only a talent for things outside the domain of people.

I say BAP or sub clinical because I feel I don't need services. I don't do or think the way I did. Some things have made their way into me.

Professionally diagnosed.

I am self-diagnosed. I am nearly 50 and Asperger's syndrome was unheard of when I was a child.

I was diagnosed with HFA at the age of 5 and a half. I wonder what my diagnosis would be today.