Self Diagnosis?

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I don't think that seeking a diagnosis is worth the trouble.

This comes from someone diagnosed with AS and attention deficit disorder as a child, if I wasn't diagnosed and I suspected I could have AS I wouldn't seek a diagnosis.

First of all, if you are diagnosed, it is not 100% cerain that you have AS.
As far as I know, I even could only have ADHD, or something else that is not AS+ADHD.

Also, unlike what many self-diagnosed people on this forum seem to think, therapy is not effective for everyone.

I've had therapy sessions as a child and it didn't help me. I could learn nothing from it. I am unable to change my behaviour and the way I act and think, and therefore therapy is useless for me.

BTW, professionals suggested me to seek a diagnosis for OCD, because I have a lot of traits from it, and told me that I have strong schizoid features and some schizotypal traits.
I just don't want to seek a diagnosis, neither for OCD, nor for schizoid or schizotypal PDs. It's just not worth the trouble.

Whatever label they put on me, will it change anything? No.
Is therapy going to help me? No.

Then what's the point in it?

I'm just fine by acting on instinct.

I believe also (now) that an official diagnosis for someone in their 60s or 70s, unless for Medicare or Medicaid, etc., would be a waste of time. Like Kabouter I feel the benefit comes when you first discover the term AS applies to you. I don't believe a psychiatrist could do a better job of going through your memories and validating them than you can do yourself; and with 60 or 70 years behind you the evidence is just too overwhelming. Kabouter, I know exactly what you mean....great post.

People seem to frown upon self-diagnosis. I don't see any serious issue with it, as long as if you're being serious and careful with what you're looking at in ASD.

One of the reasons I continued my research into HFA and AS was that one of the articles I read stated that most people are self diagnosed, and another that said that if you have continued reading this far, you probably are. At this point in my life, I don't see a need for an actual diagnoses. There may come a time in my future though.

Ditto--and I'm 34. I self-diagnosed at 31, and it seemed to answer many of the previously unanswered "whys" regarding "odd" behaviors and so forth.

Afterwards, when I told a couple of people, they said they knew it before I did.



Same here. I wasn't looking for external validation--just a personal explanation for a lot of things about myself.

I 100% agree (that it was liberating to discover Aspergers).

Interestingly, I continue to go back and forth on whether it makes sense for an adult to be diagnosed. Mostly because I think there’s a lot of “black magic” behind the diagnostic process.

It was "liberating" for me also to "discover" Aspergers, and to eventually find WP.

My top reason to be "official" is so my pdoc knows in case of any meds best practices for the situation.

There is nothing wrong with evaluating your life experiences for signs of autism and concluding that you are autistic (as long as your life experiences support that conclusion).

Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something. However, if you do self-diagnose, at least be clear that this is what you are doing.

If you decide you need a professional diagnosis, for whatever reason, go for it. Don't let anyone demand it of you just to accept your autism, however.