How many self diagnosed turned out to be correct?

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Still working on them . . .

Self-diagnosed childhood dyslexia and mild autism spectrum disorder (not Asperger's, more like PDD-NOS). Psychotherapist diagnosed alexithymia. Psychologist / Ph.D. diagnosed disthymia (low-grade depression), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and giftedness. MRI / Radiologist diagnosed cerebellar tonsillar ectopia (borderline Chiari Malformation - a skull anomaly that causes the brain / cerebellum to compress and herniate into the spinal cavity).

Yup, I was right, it's all in the brain.

Of course you do realize that those who self-diagnosed who turned out to be incorrect probably aren't sticking around WP to tell about it, right?

With my life going to pieces earlier this year, I began to suspect that I had AS, just like my cousin. I took the Adult Asperger Assessment, which came in positive. My formal dx is AS.

Now I know why there so many geeks in my family.

Well I got diagnosed with AS and I had no idea what it was and that I had it when I was 18. I self diagnosed myself with depression and social anxiety which I pretty much any psych I've dealt with agrees with me on those two. So my self diagnoses were correct. My current psych thinks I might have borderline OCD, who knows. I think my dad has AS and anxiety problems as well, he was never officially diagnosed. Im like 99% sure Im correct. It would explain a lot of where I got it from. Before I knew I had AS, I used to blame my social problems on my dad for raising me to be so friggin anal, being a habit thats hard to break. Well turns out, its mostly genetic.

Ive always had "Autistic Tendencies" as my mother would say (she was a speech pathologist/therapist) and would also say that a lot of my tendencies were exactly like her older brother. For 22 years this went on any time my AS traits would pop up (lack of common sense, mild repetitive behavior, mild obsessive behavior, not looking at someone when talking, etc.). It wasnt until this last November (11/2008) that the comment came up again and i got it in me to look up Autism (i'll admit, came across the info on wikipedia.com ><). After that, i went in to see a psych one or two weeks later (dealing with a case of depression at the same time) . . . and behold, an old family riddle on my mother's side had been solved. Not only did i have AS, we now firmly believe that her older brother had it too (I say "had" since he died about 5 years ago). So Autism was suspect for 22 years, but the AS was never heard of by any member of my family until that November.

I was officially diagnosed HFA/PDD/ADHD waaaay, waaaay back in the late 60s. Remember that AS only became an official diagnosis in 1994. There are undoubtedly many people like myself who would have been diagnosed AS rather than HFA/PDD if it had been a recognized diagnosis at the time (this applies to most people on the spectrum over, say, about 20 years old).

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Way back before the current era of enlightenment, autistic people, even severely autistic ones, who appeared to be able to communicate by speaking were rarely diagnosed with autism. Thrown into that intolerable maelstrom called school at age 4, I quickly earned season tickets to the principal's office. I was disruptive during the rowdiest periods (i.e., play time), couldn't see the blackboard, and rarely answered questions or talked at all. The school tried for two years to convince my mother that I was MR - only an error of about 100 IQ points. My mother wasn't having any of it, having taught me to read at age three. Even then, the subject of autism never came up - I was sent a few times a day to the classes a few grade levels ahead for reading and maths, and otherwise left to fend for myself at recess and during those other unstructured times. Back then, few people knew how to recognise autism.

Certainly, as you say, many people who were diagnosed as HFA in those days would today be classified as AS. Maybe many will return home to the HFA fold with the advent of the DSM V, at least in countries that use the DSM. I don't see much meaningful difference between the two categories - first and foremost, I am autistic.

When my son was diagnosed with classic autism (about 2 years ago) I found myselfrecognizing a lot of the traits in myself. I didn't really pursue it because I figured all autism was LFA and never considered HFA/AS as even existing.

I read an article about AS in a tech industry journal that directed readers to the AQ test. I took the test and scored pretty high. I turned my attention to AS and read everything I could on AS/HFA for about a year and found it fit extremely well and explained much of my life so I figured I probably was.

I personally don't put much stake in self diagnosis so I saw a psychologist for a diagnosis. I then also saw a psychologist that specializes on adults with ASD and was diagnosed again.

I guess to summarize: my self diagnosis was accurate. I think most people that suspect they have an ASD probably do.

I realized when I turned 12 and went to summer camp I wasn't normal. The only kid I got along with was a girl that was already diagnosed with AS. It took me a while to put things together and realize I had AS, and years to get the official paper saying I had it. The biggest red flag was when I attempted dating. I'll spare the details and say I hurt a lot of feelings that month.

I self-diagnosed, and then went on to get an official diagnosis. My immediate family didn't do any informal diagnoses of me - they don't know anything about Aspergers. But my sister's partner, who is a doctor, apparently told my sister that I obviously had Aspergers. He didn't tell me - only when I mentioned to my sister that I thought I had Aspergers, then she said she already knew because her partner had told her!

Another aspie knew I was aspie too, I read up on it and knew I was but didn't want to accept it, so I went for diagnosis believing I would come out as a neurotypical and that anything autistic would be counted as in the past. I was wrong. Definitely aspie, firmly on the spectrum and I have struggled with it the truth of it ever since. Getting easier as my skills improve though

I did not know previously that there was any other kind of autism except Kanner Autism, which was very obviously not me. I remember reading about all kinds of psychiatric illnesses and personality disorders to try to finally find out what was wrong with me. When I by chance read a description of AS, I was quite stunned by how - although I did not share all of the characteristics it gave - how the overall picture seemed to describe me. When I found WP and began to read the threads here, I was even more stunned at how people diagnosed with AS were saying things that reflected the way I thought, exactly; I had never experienced that before.

My regular GP, who is very helpful and supportive, had seen me for a lot of years and been treating me for related depression (that I always felt was reactional, not clinical). He agreed with me that although he was not qualified to make specialized diagnoses, there was something wrong more than could be treated with medication/therapy/etc. He made two referrals for me to autism specialists, one NHS one who would not give me an appointment, and one private one who did and was quite sure I had mild AS and diagnosed me.

Exactly.. And an lot of people think autism = mental retardation.
I thought for a long time that I was borderline, but it just didn't add up, because their disturbance is in identity and interpersonal stability, not ability. They're quite extraordinary at FORMING relationships. Which is another reason why I thought I was BPD.. when you meet one and they decide you're great, yadda yadda, it feels like they understand! They don't, it just seems like they do. And given that I knew nothing about social interaction, I learned from the only available social "role models"... borderlines!

All the while, it never occurred to anybody that I might be autistic, because everyone thought autism was mental retardation.

I self-diagnosed AS several months ago. My official dx confirmed it.

I self diagnosed and was proven to be correct. I also diagnosed someone else who had been told she was not on the autistic spectrum by some mental health proffessional who wasnt really qualified but didnt want to do anything and I believed they was wrong so they went to see a psychiatrist that was qualified and confirmed the diagnosis.

I do believe it is easy to meet the requirements to get a diagnosis. When I was being diagnosed I told them that I knew everything about Aspergers after learning so much about it and that I could say/do all the right things to get diagnosed. This didnt change anything but thinking about it saying something like that was probably a good sign I am Aspie.

G'day Forum folk's

You will have to excuse my cynacism but after my 2 ASDian boys diagnositc processes or lack there of I would not even bother trying for a Dx myself. I actually only got it for them because I thought it would help them in the eduaction system LOL. So many children far worse off than mine did not get a DX when they could have benefitted from it far more than my kids did. My boys got a dx and still got nothing out of it because of all the work I had put into them previously. Also that I put them into an alturnative education system where you get even less than nothing.

The process is a crock, it needs to be redesigned in consultation with adult ASDian's and even after that it would be a very arbitrary process. Do you know the DSM still has nothing to do with sensory processing disorder in ASD in the diagnostic Criteria. Besides what can even the best diagnostician tell from a couple of visits to his office particularly with the higher functioning kids.

As someone else here said if you go to the right person, especially if they are private you will eventually get the DX you are there for. First I went to an ADHD/ADD specialist came home with an ADHD DX, I went to an ASD specialist..... guess what ASD it was. My favorite expression in response to this is "if you go to a butcher you will come home with meat".

Also everything to do with ASD is geared to younger male children no wonder it is so hard in this country for an adult to get a DX. Let alone an adult female.

How can it be a fair DX if I have lived and breathed ASD...... like only an ASDian, wife and parent of an ASDian can do LOL for the last.........at least 6 years? LOL. If I admit how much I know about it or simply use how much I know about it it's a biased Diagnosis.

Yes we have Tony Attwood in our country and he does DX alot of female adults, but really whats the point if you don't have any faith, what so ever, in the process.

Please people don't make diagnosticians or any sort of practitioner that works with ASD into Gods. They are supposed to be there to provide a service to you, not you to them. You know if you are ASD or not.

Disclaimer to those wanting a fight this is only my opinion and I don't want to influence any one at all to do something different to what they want to do.

Cheers