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

Post Reply New Topic

Yep...whenever there is a new system, there will always be bugs.

The new objective measures of autism, when they are promulgated, will be no exception.

Absolutely.

But it has to be done--the bugs will have to be sorted out. Hopefully, it won't take generations for this to happen.

I am not at all an advocate of CBT for anyone on the spectrum (though others are), however here is a commentary by a psych. professional looking back at missed and misdiagnosis of ASD clients:

http://psychcentral.com/lib/book-review ... me/0002204

Ouch. Sore subject with me. My screening- and factor-test scores were admittedly avoided (well, actually the word used was "scanned") despite my provision of them to my diagnostician. Her answers to my leading questions about any review of my scores made it clear to me that she hadn't read any of them or my detailed list of lifelong characteristics; but relied solely on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) multiphasic test.

Why does no one declare themselves as being BAP, rather than autistic?

I don't think I've seen a single person do this on this forum.

Obviously, no one can stop you from taking those steps. My point is, that it is the job of adults (parents, teachers, clergy, whoever) to protect minors. As such, an adult should never accept a self-diagnosis from a minor (particularly since an ASD diagnosis indicates that some level of support is necessary for the minor). As such, IMO it is the adult’s responsibility to take action and get the support needed for that minor. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise.

I do realize that the world is full of irresponsible adults. It’s unfortunate.

I agree that an adult should never accept self-diagnosis from a minor. Suspicion taken seriously, yes, but not a self-confirmation that one is autistic, or whatever other disorder they may diagnose as having.

Age doesn't determine wisdom and ability in itself but it is a contributing factor. By that I mean a 13 year old could possess greater wisdom or decision making abilities (for example) than a 50 year old, but it would be, in general, less likely. I would expect accurate/appropriate self-diagnoses among 13 year olds to be very rare, though not unheard of.

A 13 year old could also drive a car, but they are legally prohibited for similar underlying reasons.

I'm not sure why.
I have suggested this before, but people didn't seem to take to it.
For some people, it's because they haven't heard of it.

If somebody self-diagnoses with autism but hasn't read about BAP then I would be extremely wary of their decision to self-diagnose. That's like reading about depression without understanding the concept of sadness.

I am familiar with BAP because of its utilisation in research on theories and studies of heritability. These generally focus on identifying BAP in parents and comparing the incidence of ASD children born to BAP parents (whether one parent or both). As to the clinical utility of that, I am unfamiliar with guidelines or practice regarding it. Given that BAP is not considered particularly disruptive to an individual's quality of life, so far as I know (?) it may not attract the attention even of the person who has it. So diagnosis doesn't arise.

What did she conclude from this personality questionnaire?
Is this person eggsperienced in diagnosing autism?

Well, she concluded from the test results and conversation alone that I was diagnosable as having GAD and OCD. I noted to her that those were two common factors for AS, but she declined to go that far in her diagnoses. Whatever; fine. My attempted AS diagnosis at least gave me two more factor diagnoses and got me closer to where I believe I am. I can't be too discouraged about it all. Still, her professional abilities as a Master's degree-holding clinical diagnostician of ASDs in children (not adults) and her use of a multiphasic test which has never been studied or approved for its use among people of any age with ASDs, makes me wonder exactly how well she could diagnose a 51-year-old man with several ASD characteristics and beyond-threshold screening-test results despite admitting to lifelong autodidactic adaptation skills (masking). That all flummoxed me for months until I learned to accept that the totality of my evidence outweighs her one misapplied multiphasic test.

Something tells me she was one of those who think ASD's are over-diagnosed.

I considered that idea. But, I chose (unfortunately) to attend one of those regional multi-office counseling corporations which had told me that they performed adult diagnoses of Asperger's Syndrome and other ASDs. Of course, the receptionist with whom I spoke was reading from a script that described the overall abilities of the corporation, not every one of its offices, let alone every staffer at those offices. So, I got randomly "assigned" to the children's autism clinic which focuses on evaluations and therapy treatments of children under age 11. Seriously, the whole office was knee-deep in play-therapy toys when I arrived. I knew immediately that I had made a mistake in agreeing to attend this office.

To be fair, my diagnostician might have been influenced by her corporate supervisors who could have been shy of diagnosing adults. I have always believed it was so strange that she flatly refused to talk with me about my screening- and factor-test scores, and detailed characteristics despite her being genuinely pleasant and humorous. I thought also it was strange that she found two key factor diagnoses, but couldn't see the bigger forest for the trees. I suspected that her corporate guidelines might have restricted her willingness to go too far, particularly if I showed no need for ongoing therapy. That might just be my cynicism, but she did jokingly tell me that "we always just diagnose people with anxiety if they come in for something specific!" That sounded awfully unprofessional and corporate to me.

I have observed that however much training, experience and degrees people have, bias is rarely absent..just like the rest of the human race!

Perhaps those who advocate a professional diagnosis as the only acceptable diagnosis should specify the necessary qualifications and years of experience needed by said professional. As obviously not all specialists are created equal.

For instance my GP, an Assoc Professor when not GP'ing, is she sufficient to validate my self-diagnosis? Does it require a psychiatrist or a lowly psychologist? And can it be a first year graduate or does it require at least a decade in practice?

Yes, the variation is enormous. Within my area of social science, there was a whole spectrum of psychologists, ranging from the very able to the opposite polarity, and sometimes the most extreme bias amongst the behaviourists ("no other sub-discipline counts in psychology but behaviourism, I refuse to speak about anything else as it's not valid, and if you raise objections, you will be failed in my papers") - one professor actually told his stage 2 students this. He wasn't joking, and I am not misreporting him. It was shocking behaviour in an academic institution, I have never forgotten it.