Is self-diagnosis okay/valid/a good thing?

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It is a necessary stop-gap, for many people.

You are very unlikely to have a mainstream psychiatrist think, "Oh, let's test him to see if he has an ASD!" Instead, you are likely to spend years trying to get to a clinic that has the resources to perform empirical evaluations and figure out exactly what is going on with you. Most psychiatrists do not have either the means or the will to actually apply real empirical tests.

And this necessitates relying, for a while, on self-assessment, taking online surveys and questionnaires, and weighing in your own mind whether it's really "worth it" to travel halfway across the country to get to a good clinic that has the will and ability to perform genuine empirical tests. By the time you get to that point, you probably know more about it than most people who hold a Psy.D., but you need the diagnosis in order to get access to services like career counseling and things of that nature.

A lot of people who got some five-and-dime shrink to certify that they have an ASD have relatively little wrong with them, much less a real disorder. I hate to break it to you, but if you have the attitude of "My ASD is more of an ASD than yours!" then that's very much a neurotypical "king of the mountain" type of mindset...not that this means you have anything wrong with you. That's the point.

Furthermore, I don't see any reason to obtain an official diagnosis at all unless you are clear on why you are seeking it. Self-validation? Well, we could keep more money in our pockets and less of it running into the pockets of five-and-dime shrinks if people looking for self-validation would stick to taking five-minute online assessments. Many of these online assessments are actually quite good, or at least they are better than what you would get without traveling halfway across the country to get to a top-notch clinic, which people really serious about improving their lives ought to be prepared to do. On the other hand, many people have a substantial problem, and they actually need the services that are available to people with ASD.

The purpose of seeking clinical care is not to find out what disorder you have. That's the easy part. However, in the practice of medicine, there is such a thing as triage, and empirical tests have to be performed, in accordance with a consistently applied standard, to make it clear which services to direct you to or whether you actually require any services at all.

I think it's perfectly fine (if it's a prelude to an eventual professional diagnosis). I'm not too critical of people who have done a ton of research and who are confident they're on the spectrum, as long as they specify that they're self Dx-ed.

I was self diagnosed for two years before I got my autism diagnosis, so I can't say I'm against self Dx.

I'm skeptical about it. There are lot of overlaps and anyone can fit it if not understood well. Even if there are impairments in your life and struggles, it could still be other things and you need to have enough for the diagnoses an you can still have traits and still be impaired despite not having enough traits or because the other traits are not strong enough for them to actually be traits because it's not causing any impairment. Also how does anyone know they have a hard time with social cues or seeing the big picture or reading people, etc. unless they are pointed out to you.

This has always bugged me because it took me a while to get diagnosed and it didn't take one or two sessions but yet others who self diagnose and go in walk out with that label. I am still skeptical if any doctor thinks they had it after a few minutes of seeing them or one session because of overlaps and I do believe some professionals are quick to jump to autism instead of ruling other conditions out first.

It is so easy for anyone to fool themselves. What they might see as Autism may be something similar but not Autism. Very few non-professionals are going to know and understand the wide variety of related illnesses that it could be instead of Autism.

Even professionals with practice in diagnosing Autism can have trouble in some cases coming up with a proper diagnosis of Autism.

I am curious. Why would an individual who has the confidence to self-diagnose, seek a professional diagnosis? Unless, they are seeking services? After all, don’t they already have extreme certainty in their own autism assessment?

Please note, I am not trying to criticize or pass judgment. I am simply trying to understand what’s going on inside the mind of someone who self-diagnoses.

As a note, before I was diagnosed, I knew something was amiss. After a lot of research, I suspected that I had Aspergers. Then, after even more research, I realized that who I am could be explained by a Personality Disorder (OCPD or Schizoid), some form of Anxiety Disorder (including Social Anxiety), or a combination thereof. I had no idea. More so, I had (and still have) no clear understanding of what “normal” is, to baseline against.

I diagnosed myself first by taking a few online quizzes/tests. I then used the results to talk to my therapist about getting tested by a professional. He agreed and started trying to find a psychologist who could diagnose me. It was difficult due to my age. I ended up finding one who could help. I went through all the appointments and tests. I was OFFICIALLY diagnosed 8/8/14. I knew about a year and a half before.

And you are making the assumption that the average Psy.D. fully understands these things, which is terribly naive.

Because they are pointed out constantly by parents, teachers, siblings, friends, non-friends, classmates and coworkers.

Having people constantly say to you, "You're so obtuse. You take things so literally. I know you're not stupid. Quit playing games with me. Why can't you just realize that other people aren't interested in that? Okay, wasn't it obvious that she was finding you boring? Hello, Earth to Beavis, but that person is leading you on"...eventually, you get the point.

Actually, a real clinic will actually conduct a battery of empirical tests that would, in an objective manner, rule out other possible conditions. If you walked into a psychiatrist's office and that person gave you an opinion after just talking to you, then someone who just took a five-minute online assessment has more grounds to say "I have an ASD" than you do, based on just that. Real tests for evaluating whether or not you have an ASD are very empirical, and they are very hard to "cheat" on.

That is one reason that I tend to support self-diagnosis...many hours of self-study and taking several online assessments probably do yield more objective results than you would get at the average "let's talk about your feelings" five-and-dime practice.

On the other hand, I absolutely am an advocate of someone seeking out REAL clinical care. It can change your life. You can hook up with a career counselor. You can get your employer to make sure you are put only on jobs that are suitable for you, which might hinder your advancement but would also keep you from getting fired after making a blunder. There are a lot of very useful services out there, which a real clinic could connect you with.

A lot depends on what you do with the diagnosis. If you only want to understand yourself better in a new context, then self diagnosis is fine. It's what I did. If you want a diagnosis to convince OTHER people of the origins of your behavior and to make a case for concessions that should be made for you at home or at work, then you definitely should go pro.

I'm convinced I'm an aspie, but I very rarely tell anyone, even friends, and I never ask for different treatment or to not have to do certain things because of it. I suppose it's a matter of how much being an aspie affects your life that will make you decide you need the professional diagnosis.

I wrote "yes". It´s not, that I think it is "valid", because it can´t be, when someone is testing him/her self. This takes a professional skill and an objective eye.

BUT many in here, - especially the late dxéd have been confused about their difficulties and have, during search, stumbled over AS and discovered a match.
It´s natural and very OK to investigate further, do a lot of tests and conclude, that it may be possible, if all tests point in that direction.
Whether one can afford a dx try or not, it is SO important to end the confusion.

But there's a difference between suspecting you have AS and self-diagnosing, right? I suspected I had AS for two years but I didn't self-diagnose. Still not sure what I think about the whole thing so I hope I don't come across as hostile or something. Just trying to understand.

When I first joined WP, I thought anyone who suspected that they had AS was self-diagnosed. I have since learned that that is not the case.

Yeah, that certainly wasn't the case for me anyway. I found out AS existed, I suspected I had it, doubted it, waited for my assessment (the queue was long), doubted some more, got the diagnosis and here we are.

It's not as credible as a professional diagnosis, but I don't think it should be completely dismissed. For some, it's an issue of money. I haven't voted in this poll, because I don't have a yes or no answer.

Many on the spectrum are literal, pattern type thinkers who have a psychological need for a professional validation.

I kind of thought so too when I first came here. But as time went on I realized there was a difference. And only now that I've stopped "suspecting" and become more certain do I truly feel what the difference is. It's not like I sat down one day and made a conscious decision to diagnose myself. It's just become so self-evident and obvious that I can no longer question it or deny it.




That is interesting and almost foreign to me because I have almost the opposite need. In fact when I got my "official" ADHD diagnosis it really kind of pissed me off because I didn't need that kind of validation and I actually found it rather condescending to get it.

I did it so I could get accommodations in college. I still don't see why I needed to have a psychological evaluation to make it valid and legitimate to say that I needed to take an exam in a quiet room, which I think anyone should be allowed to do if they need to. It just amazes me that the simplest, most common sense needs of an individual can be looked at as asking for something so "special" that it requires a professional stamp of approval.

Well written!

Self-identified LGBT individuals are hardly ever doubted about their sexual orientations. Self-identified Jews, Christians and Muslims aren't usually questioned about their theologies. Self-identified Democrats and Republicans don't have to seek third-party validation for their ideologies. Self-identified slightly overweight individuals are just as welcome at Weight Watchers as their medically obese cohorts without a note from their medical doctors.

Why, then, do many in the ASD community feel the need to expect verification of self-diagnoses? Simply put, it is none of anyone's business what an individual sees in himself or herself. As many have written (including myself), if a diagnosis is needed for a tangible educational, governmental or professional benefit, then requiring a professional diagnosis is reasonable. Apart from that, self-diagnoses are nothing more than expressions of self awareness. Demanding that those who are quite satisfied with their self-diagnoses (no matter how simple or complex the diagnosis) accomplish a professional diagnosis is a socially intrusive overreach, in my opinion. And, as others have written here and elsewhere, I don't see any abuse of self-diagnoses that would rise to the level of needing regulation. After all, that would violate the human rights of speech and association, wouldn't it?