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

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Well obviously you didn't see btbnnyr's earlier post on the subject, which does partly answer this.

I'm no expert (I will be once I've finished reading Tony Atwood's The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome, m8s!), but, no, a GP clearly isn't sufficient. I also don't know of any GPs who would even attempt to diagnose autism. Their job is to refer patients onto specialist services which can diagnose autism. For adults, that would be an adult autism clinic. The guy who diagnosed me was a consultant psychiatrist. Dunno how many years he's been in practice, but obviously wasn't fresh out of medical school.

A person who works as a therapist was unable to verify an ASD in me; she can recognize symptoms (and was who originally suggested it) but couldn't say more than that. My GP currently won't even do anything for my autism related things without talking to someone else. She talks to my therapist because we've not gotten me a case manager who specifically understands autism (which is something we'd talked about in the past).

The person who diagnosed me is a neuropsychologist specializing in diagnosis of autism and ADHD. He had education specifically in autism. He had worked with many people in the field. That is who I'd go to for a diagnosis.

I think it depends on what you need. If you feel like you have Aspergers, and you benefit from trying the things that are recommended for people with Aspergers, going to Aspergers support groups, etc, then I think self-diagnosis is fine. There is a saying... if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and looks like a duck, just call it a duck. Or something like that.

The downside is that, if you are looking for any sort of services, whether from school, accomodations at work, counseling, etc, they won't take you seriously without a valid diagnosis. Also, a lot of people in your life will challenge you. If you aren't diagnosed, they'll say things like, "Who SAYS you have Aspergers? You're just jumping on the latest fad!" Actually even officially diagnosed people hear those comments, but it does help to have the diagnosis of a professional to back you up.

A old person maybe impaired enough for a professional diagnosis but there is little no cash or services benefits to be received since 98% of the benefits go to children and teens. The only benefit is the explanation and any adjustments based on that explanation. While it is terrible that that is the only benefits to be received for the "mature" population is an explanation many have said that even that is hugely important. Many have decided to "self diagnose","self identify" proceed as Autistic thus accepting the higher risk of a mistake rather then spend a large sum of money that will give them little financial/services in return.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to recently participate in an autism research experiment. This was the second experiment that I participated in (it involved using EEG to measure brain activity during a series of social interactions). The first experiment involved eye tracking (which was really cool). Though, that is immaterial to this post.

During this recent experiment, I met two other autistic individuals. So, in total, I have now met three individuals who were clinically diagnosed. Each person “presented themselves” entirely differently. My observations of these individuals makes me more appreciate of btbnnyr’s comments:

1. “Autism is defined by behaviors, which is why clinical observation is required to diagnose autism.
2. “Part of the reason I value professional diagnosis is because professionals have seen various people with various conditions, so I value their clinical knowledge accumulated over time.”

The research sounds interesting. Will you get to see and learn about the results? I wish I was a bit younger and could do this.

I also appreciate the point btbnnyr was making. However, while this does strengthen the idea that observational experience in a specialized environment will definitely increase you knowledge of and ability to recognize symptoms of autism, this is not necessarily a good argument that a person cannot recognize many symptoms in themselves.

It seems to me that most of the adults here who got diagnosed did so after they learned about autism because of a child's diagnosis, or comments from another adults, then went through the process of learning about autism, then thought "this might be me" and then finally got diagnosed. I think some of the almost unbearable uncertainty that some of us experienced prior to diagnosis comes from not having observational experience or being able to observe oneself from an external perspective, but that doesn't necessarily mean the recognition is wrong.

I don't think you were necessarily implying this, but I have observed a lot of inflamed sensitivity in this thread and think it this is a point worth making.

People can recognize autistic traits in themselves, and I have not read someone in this thread say that they cannot.
My main point was that recognizing autistic traits in oneself from inside one's own mind is not enough information for medical diagnosis and therefore people should not say that they have autism until they have been assessed through clinical observation and diagnosed with autism.

Yes. You have been very clear on this and I did not mean to imply that you had said any such thing. I was thinking that someone could interpret Rocket123's post that way, not that you were making that claim.

Your message has been consistent and clear.

Oops. That was not my intention. I am quite confident that people can recognize autistic trains in themselves (and in others, for that matter).

I have no idea what that has to do with my question. I asked about people who ARE NOT impaired enough for a professional diagnosis, and you are talking about people who MIGHT BE impaired enough for one.

The endless commenting at cross-purposes on this forum is exhausting.

One might not be impaired enough not to be able to earn a living--but that same person might be so impaired that he/she is socially isolated, never feels pleasure in things beyond their subjective selves, and is not able to keep track of their bills because of executive function difficulties.

Starkid - This is an interesting question. It made me think through the various scenarios that have been discussed during the course of this thread (and others) describing the reasons why people have pursued a diagnosis (professional or otherwise):

Scenario A – Person recognizes that they have autistic traits, suspects they are autistic, feels like those traits are impairing themselves in some manner, seeks a professional diagnosis, and is diagnosed.

Scenario B –Person recognizes that they have autistic traits, suspects they are autistic, feels like those traits are impairing themselves in some manner, but is unable to seek a professional diagnosis due to financial constraints or availability of qualified resources.

Scenario C –Person recognizes that they have autistic traits, suspects they are autistic, feels like those traits are impairing themselves in some manner, but does not seek a professional diagnosis because they feel it will not lead to a useful outcome (i.e. “it’s a waste of time and money”).

Scenario D –Person recognizes that they have autistic traits, suspects they are autistic, feels like those traits are impairing themselves in some manner, but does not seek a professional diagnosis and instead simply schedules therapy sessions with a mental health profession to deal with issues.

Scenario E – Person recognizes that they have autistic traits, suspects they are autistic, feels like those traits are impairing themselves in some manner, seeks a professional diagnosis, but is not diagnosed because ”the professional” does not think person is sufficiently impaired to warrant a diagnosis.

Scenario F – Person recognizes that they have autistic traits, suspects they are autistic, but does not think of themselves as being impaired enough to seek a professional diagnosis.

Of course, the above list is not exhaustive. Hopefully, it’s complete enough.

In any event, I think you are asking about Scenario F. From my perspective, I don’t see why someone who doesn’t have some form of “impairment” would seek a diagnosis (professional or otherwise). Though, I imagine that there are people who would disagree. And, I would like to read their thoughts on this matter.

For identity reasons, I suggest BAP instead of ASD.

I've got no problem with self-diagnosis. Finding out you have Asperger's syndrome as an adult has a lot to do with self-discovery. You find out why you do things so differently and struggle to do things that are easy for most other people. I'm glad I got my diagnosis when I did though. I was so confused and frustrated at not being as good as other people. For me self-diagnosis was step one.

I've had other parts of my personality that didn't seem to fit AS and finding out what label they fit was a breath of fresh air. So, to me self-diagnosis just answers those questions people have had all their lives about being odd, never fitting in, and being so different than everyone else. It also reassures them that it's ok to be that way. They're not as alone as they think they are.

I've never had a job, barely dated and don't have a lot of hope for any future romantic endeavors. But my social impairments aren't so bad these days but they still get me frustrated, depressed and just so confused. I imagine that's what it's like for someone with AS in the work environment. They probably encounter more people than me so are put under more stress from social blunders or whatever you want to call it.

My self-identity and all that came with it benefited my life significantly. Understanding the (combined) effects of my characteristics and my factors diagnoses allowed me to resist falling into the same familiar spot that I had frequently found myself in my 53 years; not recognizing my interpersonal hostility when things didn't go my way, blaming others for their exasperated retaliations or abandonment of me, and my near-constant assessing and re-assessing of my actions to discover what I might have done wrong.

That alone is worth the humiliation of a self diagnosis.

I believe all, or at least the vast majority, of people who "self-diagnose" themselves with ASD believe there is a "disorder" somewhere in their lives. Successfully making a living doesn't preclude one from having "impairments." There might be impairments in, say, social interactions, thus rendering the person lonely during crucial times--like holidays such as Christmas.