Benefit of a Diagnosis

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I was wondering what is the benefit for someone who is self diagnosed to seek a professional diagnosis. I am a 29 yr old female, who is self diagnosed. However I have had people on the spectrum suggest I get evaluated, one parent of an AS teen suggest I get evaluated, had NT people quote symptoms to me without realizing they are doing so, not to mention that I fit most of the symptoms. I am 99% sure I have AS.

I still face many challenges. I have very few friends. A dating life that is nonexistent. Socially the world is a mine field, that I have somewhat learned navigate, although it is exhausting. Employment is a challenge too.

Despite these challenges, I am happy with how my mind works, and don't want to give up the good I have from AS. I like how I think differently and think outside of the box. I like how I am able to focus on my obsessions. I generally like who I am, but would like to be more social.

What are the benefits for an adult? I understand for a child with an IEP. I have no insurance, so the cost is very much an issue.

Sorry I can't help much. I have this same question really. For me, I have daily problems, but I manage to get by. So it's hard to say where you could benefit from it. Unless there's a specific thing that could be addressed by professionals. But again that's difficult to know without trying, I guess.

I think it depends on where you live. In some countries having an official diagnosis is the key to opening up door to lots of services. In others it is lock that keeps them closed. Or it can be a doubled edged sword.

For example, where I live a diagnosis means extra help with job seeking and employers getting huge tax breaks for employing you. It also mean that getting a driving license is much harder

There isn't a miracle cure so getting a diagnosis won't 'get rid of the good bits'. It should help to eliminate any doubt about self-diagnosis and hopefully point you in the right direction for support with the things you're not happy with.
That's the reason I'm going for it but cost isn't really a consideration for me (thanks NHS, you're not all bad!) So if it's a HUGE cost it may outweigh the benefits?!?

Thus, you must be a fellow American.
Note that here and now, there is no material benefit from gaining the diagnosis as an adult. For all the talk of the new insurance changes starting yesterday, there really is little substance. We gain nothing.
I know I'm an aspie, so that's good enough. If somebody else has an opinion about me, good or bad, it's unlikely that a piece of paper is going to make a difference to them.
If the material benefit from diagnosis ever changes, then my opinion on the process would change too.
Until then, I recommend saving your hard-earned dollars for RedBox movies.

An adulthood diagnosis can allow a person to collect SSI.

If there is significant impairment, chances are the person already has one or more mis-diagnoses. I was already collecting SSI when I was diagnosed asperger's because of decades of obvious and documented impairment. My case worker helped me fill out the forms and she said to put "chronic recurrent depression" in the diagnosis slot. I had that and a good half-dozen other diagnoses, some half-fitting, some for co-morbids caused by living with undiagnosed asperger's (such as the depression.)

While I now have a formal diagnosis of AS, I still collect SSI under the "chronic recurrent depression" diagnosis and see no benefit to going through the red tape and paperwork to change that to my AS diagnosis.

All of which is to say that if you are bad off enough that you need SSI, you don't really need an AS diagnosis -- you just need to have documented that you can't keep a job and have life impairments. SSI isn't based on the diagnosis; it's based on the degree of impairment you experience in basic life functions like eating, getting dressed, earning a living, etc.

I have heard that in America having a diagnosis can make it more difficult to get medical insurance. Does anyone know if this is true or not?

It can definitely be true, but the extent of it depends on the diagnosis. With AS, the insurance company would have to decide whether that meant you would be making lots of claims or not. If they decided it was a "mental health issue" and they didn't offer mental health coverage, it probably wouldn't impair the ability to get health insurance from them. It's all about how much money they think you're going to want out of them. Typical diagnoses that make it harder to get medical insurance include cancer (even if it's been in remission for many years), diabetes, multiple sclerosis, etc.

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If a person really wants to know what they likely have and receives a correct diagnosis, that is one thing.

At the same time, the diagnosis must be comprehensive and accurate. Ideally, the diagnosis would also include one or two highly practical suggestions which the customer would say really helped them a little.

If a person is given a wrong diagnosis and also no practical suggestions which help long term, then the whole process of diagnosis is a waste of time, of money, and will cause disillusionment due to the incorrect diagnosis.

There is one aspect to Asperger - Autism which is there are really are no medicines which treat those conditions.

If a person has ADHD or a type of epilepsy, there are medicines which work for some (not all).

My general view is not to put too much emphasis on a correct diagnosis beyond the fact of being able to secure a correct diagnosis.

A correct diagnosis is not a gateway to a cure at all.

If a person expects a correct diagnosis will automatically change their life forever in a major way for the better, he or she may have an unrealistic and false expectation of what a label can do.

There are some neurological challenges such as concussions which can be very difficult to
easily treat or remedy at all. They often, over time, are slowly accepted and lived with.

http://www.sportsconcussions.org/

Good luck.

I got officially diagnosed as an adult. I have benefited greatly from the diagnosis that I have Asperger's. The benefit? For me (and I am not speaking for others here) even though I was quite sure I had Asperger's, I just had to have the official diagnosis to make sure. I was diagnosed using both the DSM-IV and the Gillberg. Though the clinic said I could use my insurance to cover the diagnosis, I chose to pay for it out of pocket. I followed through with some therapy sessions for which I found some benefits.

It is a gateway to services and treatments, as well as ensuring that treatment is more appropriate than (for example) psychiatric treatment for depression / psychosis. I was diagnosed as an adult and it has been very useful practically.

In addition, having an accurate term has been priceless in explaining my difficulties, and lead me directly to books and web resources that have been helpful, with solutions to some of my problems.

Well, if you made it 29 years and don't need services then I'd probably not bother especially if you don't have insurance.

I think the biggest benefit from getting a diagnosis is that you will have some explanation for your difficulties with interaction, and you will feel as if you fit in somewhere. That's really the only reason I want to get a diagnosis - I'm mostly worried about the downsides. I don't want my friends to look at me or treat me differently. I don't want my bosses to think that they have to treat me differently, or that I am unfit for the job. But I think that, for me, fitting in with some group will outweigh the worries I have. My friends are pretty understanding and my bosses don't have to know if I don't want them to. I've always been an outsider and I want to fit in SOMEWHERE.

Of course that's assuming that you will fit in with autistic people. I don't. I "fit" in the sense that I have a diagnosis, but I am labelled female and don't fit with women, labelled "white" and don't fit with caucasians, labelled "middle-aged" and don't fit with people in my age group. It shouldn't have been a surprise to me that I feel just as lonely and alien among fellow autistics as pretty much anywhere else in life.

So if you just want a diagnosis to fit in somewhere, think about that carefully. And if you feel that you fit in here, why would you need a diagnosis to officially verify it when this community accepts the self-diagnosed?

I agree with this. It's why I haven't gone for a diagnosis yet. Like I said, I think it's mostly benificial for if you can get help and services to address it. I'll see how much it will affect my life now and then I might seek diagnosis if I'm having specific problems that can be addressed.