No official diagnosis, so what do I call myself?

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I used to visit here in the time before diagnosis, wanting to join in but too scared to join up.

Besides, I was worried about having BPD, Hypochondria ( the power of which is not to be under estimated) and various milder forms of schizoidish bullshitter disease, taking too much acid, oh the other things etc.

It turned out to be aspergers, which is a relief as it actually leaves me feeling a bit more dignified than if my alternative guesses turned out to be true.

And, I'm an absolute sucker for the special snowflake self description, so special I don't care as vanity is a positive emotion in my world

Say something like self suspected or something. If someone tries to psychologically beat you up about it just walk away.

You get realer than thou s**t everywhere, and this is the internest.

Sadly this is true, both on the internet and in real life too. About everything, not just autism. However, I can't help thinking this is one place "realer than thou" sh!t shouldn't be tolerated.

Yes, there is nobody that could come on this forum without someone questioning their diagnosis.

But you really CAN'T question anyone's diagnosis based upon merely the Written Word

How presumptuous----to think you're a Clairvoyant Clinician!

I absolutely agree, kraftie. There are an awful lot of psychic people on WP, it seems!

(I don't do sarcasm much but gee it's fun sometimes! )

I actually haven't been challenged by anyone here, even though my diagnosis is level 1, and actually close to borderline whether I qualified for that.

But I don't take too much crap off anybody. I either avoid them, or I put them down with my mighty, swift sword of verbal vengeance.

I don't view my online life as a popularity contest, in any case ... as many of you can attest.

OP, I don't believe you gave your location, but that does have some relevance to people advising you how to proceed to diagnosis. Anyway, good luck. It can be a lengthy process to arrange it.

And who says I "took" it either? I'm still here aren't I?

But people DID try to run me off. I'm still here.

It was something I saw on another site that scared me, not on here. Someone went into full flight saying that anyone without an official diagnosis shouldn't be recognised as ASD / aspie.

This didn't resonate too well with my 58 years grubbing about out in the cold, though I didn't actually know for sure I was aspergers until the envelope arrived. My gp had looked me dead in the eye and told me I was, but she wasn't qualified enough to actually give that opinion.

There appears to be a very common nasty hobby, i.e. standing over people and telling them that there is nothing wrong with them.

Truly....and I really believe this:

What seems like "something wrong" might not be "something wrong" at all. It could be a manifestation of "normal human variation."

This happens with Aspies a lot. They feel that the world has a narrow view of what is acceptable social conduct--when it really isn't that narrow.

Even amongst neurotypicals, I find there is WIDE variation in how people conceive what is "weird" in a negative sense, and what is "quirky" in a positive sense.

What should I call myself, how about "Friend." Given the nature of the this place, I would suggest not identifying yourself with a label. That does not accomplish anything. Talk about your challenges, your concerns and your hopes.

Good luck with finding appropriate mental health professionals who can provide what you need. They do exist and many here have found them. Just be careful, some people end up overly being medicated and lose themselves to a label.

The world is made up of individuals, good, bad and ugly. Your first steps should be to learn yourself and read up on mindfulness. Look at yourself and the world through a different lens and you will see a different picture.

Good luck from a #NoLabel

Last edited by goatfish57 on 13 Aug 2016, 5:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

It is hard not having that definitive yes or know. Then again, many generations have not even had a concept of ASD/Asperger's, let alone a diagnosis, and many of them probably found creative metaphors to define and understand their different point of view.

I'd look for more experienced professionals, and perhaps talk with your parents about this, what it means to you, and find out what they think. When I saw my therapist we used the term "autistic traits." Autism was the context we spoke in and he didn't need me to keep telling him about traits after awhile. But, my parents have no interest in helping me and I have no statements from them to provide in an effort to obtain a diagnosis, so I can say I have many autistic traits. It's hard, since I personally don't have doubts, but I get annoyed without having a clear "yes" or "no" in any situation I hope your experience is better, but even if you don't get what you want you can still have a better understanding of yourself. Just think of all the undiagnosed people in the past who had to plow ahead without even having research to look at, like we do.

The downside of the diagnosis is that some people end up using it as a weapon to exclude others because they've felt so excluded by being diagnosed. In that sense, having a unique way of thinking while passing in society may be better, so long as you don't burn yourself out.

It's definely hard when you don't have a definitive answer. However, I don't feel people should tell others they are autistic until they've assessed by an appropriate professional who is able to consider differential diagnoses.

There are plenty of people who are right when they suspect they have autism but there are also those who are not. That's not to say they may be neurotypical (though there will always be some) but that they may have a different disability/difficulty.

I would say either that I suspect I have autism or that I have difficulties in the same clusters as autism.

"Self-diagnosis", even if it turns out you were correct, is something of a Pandora's box. In my view, stating that you have autism without any qualifiers if you haven't been diagnosed is irresponsibly misleading others and adds to misunderstanding about what autism is in the cases where it turns out to be something at all. Since it's not possible for the lay person to verify one way or another, I blanket the statement.

I would say the same about any other disorder.

Well, I felt you tried to run me off, early on ... but I just assumed you were a hypersensitive person (which I still believe) and decided to avoid you. You're still on my "foes" list, but as we all know, that does doodly squat.

Sometime my thick skin gets me in trouble, but I also feel it's a necessary piece of anatomy for surviving in a world of neurotypicals, or even just a world of other people many of whom want to judge me.

I have never tried to run you off. I've disagreed with you and made no bones about it, as I can be very direct. But I never had an intention of running you off. This isn't my kingdom to run anyone off OF, but there are people here who very much seem to believe it is theirs. I'm not one of them. But I will get into an argument if someone's being a dick.

And you say I'm hypersensitive as if that's a juicy insult. Yes I'm hypersensitive but you know what?

That still doesn't mean that somebody ISN'T being the ass hole a person thinks they're being to them.

You're basically gaslighting by dismissing someone as "hypersenstive".

I'm not always wrong when I perceive that somebody is being a dick to me and loving it. And if you think deeming someone to be "hypersensitive" means that you write them off, that nothing they say or take umbrage at is going to be valid, then shame on you because that's still not always going to be the case.

My new self-description is "gaslighting a**hole aspie." It seems to fit.