Self-diagnosis

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Yes.

I wouldn't post here otherwise.

Or rather, if I did, I'd precede every post I made with the following:

OPINION OF SOMEONE NOT OFFICIALLY DIAGNOSED

Therefore anyone visiting the site would know they weren't reading the opinion of an autistic.


And no - I'm not responding by telling you when I got my diagnosis, as to do so would be to create a double-bind:

1) If diagnosed young, you could say 'what, then, do you know of difficulties adults face in seeking a diagnosis?'

2) If diagnosed older, there are a huge number of retorts that could be used.


So: yes, I'm diagnosed.



I wouldn't post on a haemorrhoid discussion forum if I didn't have haemorrhoids.

And if I suspected I had haemorrhoids, I'd research the symptoms then phone my doctor to confirm whether my suspicions were accurate or not.

And to receive the necessary treatment.

Wow, I was just curious. Your response just confirms my observation from before.

(I'm defensive on threads such as this as I see 'self-diagnosis' as very dangerous, and a breeding ground for many problems for autistics. Don't take it personally or interpret it as such. I just like to cover all possibilities on threads such as these.)

I'm actually very mellow (but I do get to the point and ask questions very directly. Apparently this offends many). I just really dislike misrepresentation of autism.

Undiagnosed are, by definition, a misrepresentation of autism.

They are not autistic.

I just got my evaluation in the mail last week. So, what you were saying is that last week I was not autistic, and this week, I am autistic?

How does this happen? Is there a magic point at which autism becomes real? Is it when the doctor wrote the evaluation or when the doctor mailed the evaluation? How about when the insurance company processed the diagnostic code? Or maybe its when I had the evaluation in hand? Tell me, at what point did I become autistic? I'm fascinated to hear.

The low price means he didn't have neuropsychological testing (WAIS), in which case one might question the quality of the diagnosis. The WAIS costs the examiner $1200, minimum, which is why assessments are commonly so expensive.

Would you cite examples of these dangerous problems?

You were not diagnosed as autistic until you were diagnosed as autistic.

Yes. When your medical file stated you as being autistic.

When it was written as such on your medical records.

Which is also the only thing giving validity to the claim of autism for insurance companies/lawyers etc.

If you doubt this: try declaring yourself as autistic to your insurance company when you don't have a diagnosis of autism on your medical records.


It's all very simple. Autism is a medical diagnosis. Not a rights movement.

I am personally not offended by your direct approach. But I do not appreciate your response to my question asking if you were diagnosed. It did not deserve all the extras or the animosity that came through. A simple yes would have sufficed.

I just don't have the emotional capacity to have these kinds of conversations with you. And I will never agree with you that someone who is undiagnosed cannot be Autistic. Don't take that personally. I have read what you have said and I agree that someone who is undiagnosed should say that he is undiagnosed and be very clear and honest and open with that fact, and most people here are. And I don't believe it is necessary for people to say that on every post or in every conversation because not every post or every conversation has a subject matter where that has any importance especially on a support site. Not everyone who speaks about things that are NT dominant or from an NT perspective declares himself NT.

Just because this is an Autism site does not mean people have to be diagnosed to have something so say about Autism. And I understand that you are not saying that they can't say anything or that they can't say anything about Autism. I do understand that you don't want to them to say things from an Autistic person's perspective. I do understand how you feel and I completely respect that that is how you feel.

But I can't agree with you entirely. I absolutely cannot, will not, never have, and never will agree with you that someone is not Autistic or Deaf or Blind or whatever until they are diagnosed. That will never happen with me. It's not personal, it's just not going to happen. I don't have to agree with you to respect how you feel. I can know, in my own convictions, that you are completely wrong but even so, I can respect how you feel and I can understand your point of view. I am not getting the impression that you are willing to respect how others feel if they don't agree with you. I could be completely wrong in that and I hope to be, it's just my impression.

But perhaps we will have a wonderful conversation on another thread where I will be able to get to see the other side of you. That would be very nice.

Oh wow, I had no idea that test cost so much to administer. That is very interesting to know.

You just keep digging yourself in, dude. Autism is a life long cognitive problem, by definition. That's why they use the term developmental disorder. Its about how you develop.

Are you stomping your feet as you write this? I picture you stomping your feet. And pouting. I see pouting.

The diagnostic process for psych disorders is a joke. There is NO STANDARD for conducting ASD assessments. Each professional gets to make up whatever process they like. That's why you see some people paying a small amount and others a lot -- the quality of assessments of extremely variable. I.e. If someone paid less than $1200 and no one else was subsidizing then that assessment didn't include neuropsychological testing (WAIS). I recall someone saying they went to their university counselling clinic and talked to a counselor for 15 minutes and was "diagnosed."

The ridiculous thing is thinking that an official diagnoses are so reliable. You have no idea how shoddy or well done each one is. There are likely self-diagnosed people who have done a better job than whatever shrink conducted some officially diagnosed person's assessment.

Sh*t, it took over 10 years for me to get a heart condition diagnosed -- had to figure it out myself and then argue a dumb*ss cardiologist into doing the test for it. If I hadn't done that I'd be homeless now. So much for the god-like certainty of doctors' pronouncements or opinions.

He said his insurance paid as well so they may have covered that cost.

The WAIS is just an intelligence test. Its just one test. I don't know that it costs $1200 when given alone, but it is expensive. But the WAIS alone cannot diagnose autism. It can tell you if you are super smart in comparison to how successful you are in school, and it can tell you if you have one category of smarts and other areas that are not so smart. I'm guessing that the WAIS was one of the main tests that they used, but that you were also given other smaller tests.

Testing is expensive. A really thorough evaluation can cost $4000 at the high end. But I had a more limited rule in/out evaluation and it was cheeper. It was covered by Obamacare, too. I'll be interested to see the bill. (And yes, I will likely feel ripped off.) But I don't need to submit it to any government organizations. If I did need to do this, I would probably need to get a fancier evaluation.

edited because I realized I was giving ten year old information. Sorry. Sometimes I forget that I'm old. lol

Last edited by somanyspoons on 05 Jun 2016, 9:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree.

I had an experience when I went to a doctor for pain in my ear. I told him I had an infection but he spent ten minutes examining me and said I did not and prescribed me a steroid. I knew better than to take it because I know my body and I knew I had an infection. Turns out I did have one. Glad I did not take the steroid.

The WAIS was part of my testing but I had a bunch of other tests too. It took 8 hours just to do the testing.

^^ Makes me want to say "touche" again. That is an excellent point. And a very true and accurate one.