New user: to dx or not to dx?

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Hi, everyone. This is my first post to the forum. To quickly introduce myself, I am a 26 year old male. I felt that this was the most appropriate section of the forum to introduce myself, despite being under 30. I definitely live a "functional" adult life, including a full time job and a girlfriend I've been with for a year and a half today. I am an extremely intelligent and intellectual person. I don't know my IQ, but my scores on standardized tests consistently place me in the top 99th percentile, especially in math and reasoning related areas. I scored a 34 on the AQ, and a 13/107 (extreme systematizer) on the EQ/SQ. I have never been diagnosed with an ASD, and I'm considering the benefits and drawbacks of receiving the dx. I feel successful in my life, but it's possible that CBT or some other therapy could help me do even better. I am still considering my options for grad school, and one of my major concerns is that I tend to do poorly with interviews and social politics.

So, to other adults out there who have been through this, what are the benefits and drawbacks of diagnosis? Will medical insurance typically cover treatment for people who are as high functioning as I am? In the future, will a diagnosis of AS make it harder to purchase health insurance? Will grad schools have access to my medical records? If so, would the dx be a good thing or a bad thing?

Thanks for any advice that comes up.
-ck

The jobs forum here is full of stories about how no one ever receives a job offer after revealing they have asperger's on the application form. You don't have to reveal it on the job application, but there are also quite a few stories about how people get into workplace social trouble when they let their diagnosis slip after not having revealed it.

Mainly for that reason, I think it's better for you not to get diagnosed in your situation right now. I think it's better to retain the plausible deniability of being able honestly to say, "I haven't been diagnosed with Asperger's." If you get to a point where a diagnosis is needed to get you some specific help that you want, you can always get the diagnosis then.

Hi there,

I was dx by accident of sorts.......I have been on disability payments for the last 2 years and was officially dx AS about 3 months ago. I have a psychologist and psychiatrist. Previously, I was undertaking my physics degree and working full time in Pathology in a major hospital.

If you feel you need some help with certain issues, some CBT may help you. It has certainly helped me.

Feel free to pick my brain about the benefits.

Take care,

Mics

Now that you've made it to 26, why not keep going? I was twice that age before the diagnosis caught up with me, and even now it hasn't done me a lot of good.

Of course, once you're not a youngster any more it's a bit of a downhill trend.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I hadn't even considered the possibility that my symptoms would worsen with age, though that makes perfect sense. At present it seems like the symptoms are improving, in part due to increased self-knowledge. In the past few weeks I've been making a conscious effort to use eye contact, which is going really well. As for therapy or other medication, my goal would not be to change myself. I do not feel that my condition is a disorder. However, it would be great to develop more tools and skills to act more like a neurotypical in situations where it is advantageous to do so, such as meeting new people, participating in group conversations, or having some idea what my girlfriend is talking about when she asks me about my emotional life. It's not that I think I *need* help, but there are plenty of sane and functional who see psychiatrists.

Another reason that I'm considering evaluation is that I work full time as a paraeducator in a program for autistic students. One of the most important things I try to impress on the students is that their disability doesn't have to ruin their lives, and that there are actually positive traits associated with autism. I would love for them to see me as not just a teacher, but as someone like them who is able to function in adult society. However, I feel uncomfortable outing myself to them without an official diagnosis. Does anyone have any comments or advice in this area as well?

Thanks.
-ck

Everyone's made very good points and you may want to deliberate on them for a while. I've never had a problem with an employer finding out my personal medical info without my consent, or pushing me into a corner. I have however, had to prove diagnosis in order not to lose a job. Once I had done that, I was protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It's a double edged sword, really. Over all, though, I wish I had known about AS early on - it could have made life maybe a little more manageable and not so seemingly chaotic. Even if I had only learned about it at 26 it might have helped prevent me from running my career into the ground.

I'm pursuing diagnosis, and I'm willing to take the risk with insurance companies, etc. I think it's important to be diagnosed - at least for me. It can take a long time though, so you could get things started and probably have a long stretch of time to really decide if you want to go through with it. It's taking me 4 months just to be seen for assessment.