Is it REALLY that important to be "diagnosed?"

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Good luck Argon. A big part of why I have not sought diagnosis is I cannot imagine talking about such personal things with a stranger. You are very brave.

The Dx files topic

For adult self-understanding and employment assistance, have a diagnosis is invaluable.

Yeah I've read the horror stories here, but I have to say for myself it was never hard getting diagnosed and in fact was diagnosed 3 times. It has helped me to get services that I would not get otherwise. Insurance will typically not pay for OT's and social training. Even if you went to an OT and paid cash you need a professional DX or they will not even make an appointment with you.

I somewhat think the adults that self diagnose and adamantly refuse a formal diagnosis are really just scared to hear the truth because they may have something else other than Aspergers. But a person really needs a diagnosis as they may have other things such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder that honestly need to be treated.

As far as the medicines go its never been suggested I need to take pills for having Aspergers. So I don't buy that argument either for not getting a diagnosis.

For me it was a need to have a formal disgnosis once someone pointed it out and I had started to read about it. things have to be completed for me and I guess I just wanted to have what I already knew rubber stamped to say that I was not making it up. I must say it was a bit of a joke though, as I could have done a better job of it myself. It cost me £470 for a 2 hr chat and a badly written report. I was also told that I was welcome back to 'chat' at £90 per hour (F**k *ff).

It's a personal choice really. I must say that no one has suggested that I take meds. Not that I would anyway. I don't have a porblem, the NTs do because they can't face the truth about things and have to dress it up in fluffy social crap.

I am glad to have gotten the diagnosis only because of knowing why I have always struggled and been so "different" from my peers. I just wish that the help that is out there today was out there back when I was a kid. I would probably be less anxious and more together. I am grateful my son is getting the help!

I can relate. I only go to the doctor when I feel like I'm dying, to the dentist when I have a lasting toothache, and to the psych. when I can't get out of bed or can't sleep for 3 weeks straight. If I NEED a DX, I'll go.
I'm getting my son evaluated, mainly because where I live there are free specially-geared educational services offered through the school system. I have no idea how good they are, but it's a place to start.

And I can imagine that for a lot of psychs, recognizing Aspergers in an adult, one complete with learned social behaviors and coping mechanisms, would be difficult. I have a theory that as soon as they market a drug for it, they'll be diagnosing everyone who even mentions it.

Don't beat yourself up over the DX, Argon, whatever it is.

I suggest that the strong similarities you see are precisely because some members who believe themselves to be autistic are not. I have seen some of the most autistic people of all very marginalized on autism forums because of their autistic characteristics rather than receiving tolerance for abrasive ways of communicating.

I got tired of being called lazy and stupid all my life.

Well, personally I think that it depends on the definition of "diagnosed."

The primary reasons of being diagnosed is so that doctors, workplaces, and other people you don't particularly choose know how to work with your issue. PDD-NOS with likely Asperger's is a plenty fine diagnoses for this, particularly if they go into detail about other "side disorders" such as OCD or Bipolar, that may interact. I know some people will disagree with me on this, and have every right to do so. However. I will try to explain why.

I actually find that my full diagnoses of Asperger's is often an impedance, as people don't understand the limitations that come with my Savant Syndrome pattern that is listed in with Asperger's syndrome, nor do they realize that I cannot communicate when I have hit that limitation.

For instance, I can sort and collate papers for about 2 hours on end, but if I'm asked to go further I will dramatically slow down, grow tired and get distracted. The manager will then pick on me for this, even though I'm still working faster than an ordinary person doing the same task. If the manager did not know that my disorder was assosiated with savant syndrome, they'd probably pay more attention to the fact that it is assosiated with ADHD, and allow accomidations in the manner of reducing distractions and giving shorter breaks more frequently.

ok but im am 23. is that too late for a diagnosis, is there anything that can be done for me.
do they do social skills training for adults or anything else??
im australian, so this may be something that only aussies can answer.

Perhaps the most useful aspect of getting my DX (which I got only 4 or 5 months ago) was the IQ test part which revealed some of the ways that my kind of intelligence differs from others (both NTs and other NDs). The thing is, there are Aspies and there are Aspies, and they can differ vastly (this is now obvious to me as I have since met a few in person).

By offering a breakdown of how I performed in the various tests and the intelligence types they measured, I got an insight into my particular intelligence profile. For instance, I learned that while I appear to be relatively lacking in visual processing speed, I have exceptional verbal IQ and working memory, as well as very high spatial organization and mathematical ability. Although I already knew I had significant strengths in some of these areas, this is very useful information to me as it is leading me to a better understanding of myself, how I think, how I compare to others, and as a result, how others differ from me.

I'm now 35 (34 when DXed), and non-pressure social situations (ie where I'm not expected to perform NT) haven't been much of an issue for many years as I have developed my social awareness and social 'agility' in my own way (and before I knew I was an Aspie). Indeed I often thrive in such conditions as I have learned to harness my quirks to great social benefit - particularly among open-minded left-of-field types who appreciate unconventionality.

There are times, however, when my idiosyncrasies can put me out-of-sync with other people, and if it seems like it might be a problem I can simply enlighten them as to my strengths and weaknesses in a matter-of-fact way. If I don't know them that well I usually don't even mention the Asperger's unless they are curious, since the label isn't likely to be informative or helpful in and of itself (unless they are quite familiar with the ND world). Although it does apply to me, I'd rather that people familiarize themselves with me as a distinct individual first instead of seeing me simply as an 'Aspie', bringing whatever assumptions (if any) they associate with the term.

australian person here. The reply by Axon tells you many of the benefits of dx. Another benefit is that if you go to a good diagnositician, you know for sure. That is important, becuase if your issues are due to another condition or way of being, or something in addition to AS, you can receive the appropriate support. Fortunately we have some good ones here and your local autism society would be able to give you a list of names to choose from. The Autism societies can also point you in the direction of adult support groups, some of which do have a social skills component for people who want that. If you want the information about those, i am ok with you emailing me privately.

I'm 34 and got the diagnosis age 30, the main benefit to me has been Centrelink finally granting me the pension, and also getting nicer government housing. I disclosed to an employer but that wasn't much help. The other assistance I've had has been through Qld Health, they have been helpful as well. Once you fall into the "disabled" category as much as I don't like that label there are more services and benefits available to help people out a little bit.

In my early 20's I had no trouble getting work as I had a car, and because I am quite verbal I managed to work in two call centres for four years in total. However I got "burnt out" from doing that.

Just do what works for you, if you need a diagnosis for a bit of extra help, why not? But do go to ones that specialise in ASD people.

I know what you mean about the sink or swim thing. That's exactly how I see it. Even though I was professionally diagnosed as a child, psychologists and all that disability stuff never really helped that much. In the end it nearly always became a sink or swim thing as in the end it was up to me to somehow figure out ways to cope. My mum completely disagrees with me on the "sink or swim" thing cause she thinks it's too harsh and there are gentler ways to ease into things, but I think that it's the only real way you make progress. I tend to see the world in absolutes anyway. I think reading this site is a lot more helpful than the stuff psychologists have told me over the years, not enough is known yet about aspergers anyway and as they don't have it themselves, and the symptoms are never clear cut, their advice is rarely that useful.
I think for peace of mind it might be good to get a diagnosis anyway. I wouldn't know cause i was diagnosed before I was old enough to really truly register that there was something different about me (I was 12, but so vague i might as well have been 6). But I can see how it would be. God, my teenage years wouldn've been hell if I hadn't known I had aspergers and I'd thought I was supposed to be "normal". I wouldn't have understood why I couldn't just fit in, and do the right things, (even though i tried SO hard), and my mum (who I'm starting to suspect has OCPD) would've blamed things even more on me "being lazy" or not "bothering to try harder" or "doing it on purpose" than she did anyway.

[quote="sunshower"][quote="reika"]because we've developed such good coping mechanisms, and refined our emulation of NTs because no help was available to us when we grew up so it became a "sink or swim" situation for us. The swimmers are still here.
quote]

sink or swim is fine if you swim, but suicide is the fate for sinkers and none of us know when it will just get too hard.