JurgenW wrote:
For my part, I would really, really like to know, but since from what I have read,
-a diagnosis is still rather arbitrary and uncertain, and
-it also seems that actually getting a diagnosis around here might take years of queueing, and
-there are no obvious gains to get from one, and
-I am not currently in a hard living situation,
there would be no point of trying.
An accurate diagnosis depends on the testing instruments used. Many tests are continually calibrated among known autistic people to allow for slight changes, thereby keeping the accuracy as high as possible.
Wait lists are, indeed, long in some nations and communities. I suspect that the world is still in the glut of diagnoses that came about from the change in diagnostic criteria in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Governmental and educational supports are available for most autistic children in the United States and, I understand, the E.U. nations. Supports for autistic adults are still lacking, though some educational supports continue through college. Antidiscrimination and some occupational supports are mandated under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act. So, it is better than nothing.
I understand having a life that doesn't need a diagnosis. I got my diagnosis in August at age 53 years, and could have lived the rest of my life without a diagnosis, but I wanted confirmation of what I knew about myself. That was exactly what I received with my diagnosis. I need no supports as I did college many years ago and, because I retired from my career in 2002, I have no occupational need for supports. But, I have the satisfaction of having a world-class university diagnostic clinic agreeing with me about what I researched about myself and autism.
For me, at least, a diagnosis was a great gift to myself.
05 Mar 2016, 10:45 am
