Why do people here assume all ASD diagnoses are correct?

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A diagnosis is only an opinion from a specialist anyway.

If you go to get such an opinion from a specialist then you have probably already diagnosed yourself anyway, if you are an adult.

It is good to get a second opinion if you are in doubt of your diagnosis, if it matters to you that much.

I have doubted my diagnosis before, and I have had a second opinion too.

The professional opinion is based on accumulated knowledge in psychology, asd, and other mental disorders, training in diagnosis of mental disorders and often specialized training in diagnosis of asd, and accumulated eggsperience diagnosing other people with asd and other mental disorders. It is not the same as the opinion of a non-professional lacking these things. In the biggest lab studying social and asd at my school, most of the people have lots of knowledge of asd and have done lots of research on asd, but only one who is a clinical psychology/asd specialist is qualified to professionally diagnose anyone with asd. The other neuroscience researchers in this lab and other labs are not. Some of them are doing training in ados and adir to learn to observe and evaluate autistic behaviors to aide in confirmation of previous asd diagnoses.

I have been diagnosed by about seven different doctor at two different hospitals including one person who was an autism specialist, and I sometimes wonder if they could be wrong.

Can't OCD + brain damage = ASD diagnosis ?

Symptoms that don't bother me anymore
1. learning disabilities Not a problem now.
2. delayed speech Not a problem now.
3. sensitivities Mostly, not a problem now. I stay indoors, and wear comfortable clothes.

So ...what makes me supposedly have ASD now?

1. My preoccupation with ordering things (make lists, categorize information, solve puzzle, figure out a relationship ...)
2. Unable to "connect" to other people / Feel different / Non-Social

So, the whole basis of me identifying with this label are these two ASD traits. That is not much.

This. Of course professionals are people and can make mistakes and yes, people can be misdiagnosed with ASD or anything else. People are definitely entitled to get a second professional opinion. People even go for a second opinion about whether or not they have cancer. It doesn't mean their own opinion of whether or not they have cancer is just as valid as the medical doctors'!

So that bolded bit. Instead of asserting that accepting self-diagnoses as being potentially valid is tantamount to saying that such expertise is useless, you could perhaps ask someone who has self-diagnosed what they think without asserting a point of view that they likely have not ever expressed and may not ever support. Further it's pretty blatantly obvious that a self-diagnosis can never provide the same level of access to medical care, accommodation, etc. as a professional diagnosis. This is something that people who self-diagnose are perfectly aware of.

You seem to have this odd notion that self-diagnosis is just automatically wrong and people who do it are incapable of getting it right. The thing is I know or know of people who have self-diagnosed themselves with all manner of conditions including diabetes and cancer and went to a doctor with their suspicions, and had those suspicions confirmed. This does not make doctors useless. Such a stance is very strange and counterfactual assertion to make, and doesn't seem to be relevant to self-diagnosis at all, but specifically to your own prejudices about self diagnosis.



And so what sort of unequal treatment do you propose for those who self diagnose? Exactly how should they be treated since it is "irrational" to view them as equal?

Also, in my experience, it is irrational to dismiss self-diagnoses simply on the basis of being self diagnoses. This is perhaps based on the fact that I have been professionally diagnosed with everything I've previously self diagnosed, and that I have seen others go similar routes. If people are often having their self-diagnoses confirmed professionally, it strikes me as irrational to act as if that isn't a possibility until they get that professional diagnosis.

Also, something I have encountered a lot of that may not be familiar to you are people who have chronic conditions who know more about these conditions than their doctors. This is not an unusual thing, although your assertions indicate that you do not believe such a thing is possible. That professionals, by virtue of being professionals, are automatically assumed to have more expertise and more knowledge than any patient. But in the real world this is not always the case. It is often not the case.

Also, cancer and autism are not comparable. Using that as a point of comparison to discredit or question self-diagnoses is fallacious.

I did NOT use the point to discredit self-diagnosis. As I pointed before criteria for psychiatric disorders are more subjective. I said that in my original post. Nonetheless, they're still based on real empirical research, on science! I simply used the point to illustrate why people getting a "second opinion" and speaking of diagnoses as opinions does not mean a layman's opinion is equally valid! All diagnoses can be spoken of as opinions. They are professional opinions.

Discredit or question is what I said.

What does not considering a self-diagnosis equally valid entail? Does it mean acknowledging that a self-diagnosis is different? Does it mean constantly questioning the validity of self diagnoses? Does it entail calling people irrational for thinking their own self-observation is valid? Does it entail repeated insistence that one cannot truly be autistic without a professional diagnosis?

What is the practical outcome of your assertion?

I'm not proposing that people who self diagnose should be treated in an unequal manner! What I meant was that my own diagnosis of myself with a medical condition should not be thought of as just as good as (equal to) that of a medical professional specializing in that particular medical condition. The professional opinion of the specialist is more valid, IMO for reasons previously discussed.

Last edited by daydreamer84 on 28 Jan 2014, 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I suppose I'd consider someone who self-diagnosed as autistic to be the same as someone who suspects based on their own research that they might have an ASD. I'd consider them to be a person who most likely has some ASD traits and is interested in the disorder and thinks that they have it rather than considering them someone who has the disorder.

The person would of course be equally as good as a person diagnosed with ASD! Having ASD , diagnosed or not, does not make a person superior and special or inferior , IMO.

Also, I don't think people who self diagnose are irrational people but I think it's irrational to believe that a laymen's opinion as to whether one has a medical condition is just as valid as that of a medical professional.

Last edited by daydreamer84 on 28 Jan 2014, 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Okay, but what does that mean? Because on this forum responses will range from "You're not really autistic until a professional tells you are" to "as far as I'm concerned if you think you are, you probably are."

I am sorry if it seems like I am having a go at you. I just have a lot of issues with how self-diagnosis is discussed on the forum, and how appeals to authority are used to discredit self diagnosis.

^
My opinion on that is stated in my last post.

Seconded.

Why does it seem that some people assume that all professional diagnoses are erroneous?

Why does it seem that some people assume that only a self-diagnosis is error-free?

Why does it seem that some people believe in on-line tests as valid second opinions?

If someone self diagnoses themselves as on the spectrum and gives themselves a DX good for them. if you are on the spectrum you have always been on it and an official DX is just verification for legal purposes. Someone without an official DX who self diagnoses themselves could be less, more, or on the same portion of the spectrum as me or anyone else.

Here are some very serious issues with self diagnosing as opposed to seeing a specialist in that field. Example are as follows;

I self diagnose myself with autism. Turns out I actually have the onset of schizophrenia and before I know it things get drastically worse.
You don't agree with the example? Well, lets look at it this way.
How many times have you thought you had something because you feel ill, entered your symptoms into Google or a medical questionnaire, come to the conclusion you know what is wrong with you, and then went to the doctor to find out it is something completely different (often times far less of an issue then your originally thought.) I work in the medical field and I see this on a regular basis by a great majority of people. They often self diagnose and think they have the worst possible case because it's human nature and it's better to be prepared for the worst then the least and be shocked with the worst. I am BY NO MEANS saying anyone here who self diagnosed themselves don't have something on the spectrum. I am just pointing out that often times people are heading in the right direction when self diagnosing themselves but they are not always 100% accurate or even 20% accurate for that matter. If everyone who looks up symptoms online and takes tests to come to a DX was accurate past a certain percent then we would have no need for doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists or anything in the medical field besides surgeons and techs to perform treatment. I'm not trying to be mean here but with inpatient work I see all the notes of what a patient thought they had and came in for and what they were actually diagnosed with. I don't mean this to be harsh in any way but honestly, having a diagnoses for any ailment is often better than just self diagnosing yourself and treating your conditions based off that self diagnosis. REMEMBER it still doesn't mean you don't have it. It just means it could be something else. ALSO, please remember. If we could all self diagnose then why do we have this healthcare industry, hospitals, specialist,s and doctors?

The reason I would trust the expertise of a psychiatrist, neurologist, psychologist etc. is:
#1 – They are objective
#2 – They have a broader exposure to people with different conditions (across Axis I, Axis II, etc.) and, as such, can evaluate how far one veers from “normal”

Then again, I imagine that a patient quite easily “trick” the expert and be given any psycho diagnosis, just by acting a certain way and saying the right things.