"Self diagnosed" vs. "Not sure..."

Post Reply New Topic

That's it in a nut shell.

Recently I've been wondering if I should change my profile here to say "self diagnosed" instead of "Not sure if I have it or not".

I'm fully convinced I'm on the spectrum, and never had language problems, so Aspie seems more likely than classic HFA. Thing is, there's that pesky little fact that I'm not diagnosed by a professional who's qualified to do so. (My therapist continues to say "Yes, I think you are autistic" and hearing about that my doctor said "Good catch", but neither is qualified to say for sure.)

How can someone claim to have Asperger's when no professional in the Autism field has said so? Really, what is the difference between being "self-diagnosed" and not knowing if you have it or not not? A self-diagnosed person still doesn't really know.

Okay, people- DISCUSS!

A professional in the field of ASDs is an absolute expert, and that is the reason their opinion is so highly valued.

The importance of professional diagnosis should be exacerbated concerning ASDs considering it is almost entirely a mental/behavioural condition. Not only is our overall understanding of brain function relatively poor (ASD cannot instantly be determined), but other disorders especially if co-morbid can mimic ASDs to some degree. I could go on and on.. there's just too much room for error.

I thought I could understand why some people self diagnose, and to an extent I do but it's something I personally couldn't bring myself to do, for anything. A professional opinion is predominantly objective, supported by a wealth of knowledge and experience on ASDs far, far, far, far, far (5 is my lucky number and birthday, btbnnyr) greater than any other you could possibly obtain.

If someone is content with a self-diagnosis, that's fine. I do think they should have very, very thorough reasons to be so however. If it turns out you are right, that's great..


..however if you are wrong.. that is all.

You sound pretty sure to me. So self diagnosed

Off Topic but related.
I do not think the issue is you but the options we are given. The options given currently are to open ended and vague, and they do not take into account the DSM 5. I am hoping that when the new software arrives the options will be changed. . In the In the WrongPlanet.net discussions I made this proposal for new options.

Aspergers Syndrome – Suspected.
Aspergers Syndrome - Self Diagnosed
Aspergers Syndrome - Self Diagnosed and Pursuing Professional Diagnosis
Aspergers Syndrome – Professionally Diagnosed
Autism Spectrum Disorder – Suspected
Autism Spectrum Disorder - Self Diagnosed
Autism Spectrum Disorder - Self Diagnosed and Pursuing Professional Diagnosis
Autism Spectrum Disorder – Professionally Diagnosed - Level 1
Autism Spectrum Disorder – Professionally Diagnosed - Level 2
Autism Spectrum Disorder – Professionally Diagnosed - Level 3
Autism Spectrum Disorder – Professionally Diagnosed - Other
Social Communication Disorder
Family Member/Significant Other – Suspected - Autism/Aspergers
Family Member/Significant Other – Diagnosed - Autism/Aspergers
Seeking Information for Professional or Academic Research
Neurotypical

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 24 Jan 2014, 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

You miss the point of the thread. This isn't about getting diagnosed or not. This is about someone saying they're self-diagnosed vs. saying they're not sure.

I find that time and energy I spend pondering things that are "pesky" is wasted time & energy that I could spend exploring ways to actually improve my experience of life. So an official diagnosis would knock that question out of the way so that I could then move forward with other things.

Except nobody qualified has said so, and that takes the final piece of the puzzle away.

That's me stating my reasons why I'm personally against (in most cases) self diagnosis. If you are self-diagnosing, you are saying that you are sure that you have it, just without a professional opinion/official diagnosis.



A self-diagnosed person by definition does 'know' that they have it. They just aren't basing that off a professional opinion or diagnosis. If you are 'not sure if I have it or not' then you don't 'know' that you have it, and thus aren't self diagnosed.

Personally I don't think you can 100% 'know' something regardless of professional opinion or not.

What did your doctor mean by "good catch"? If someone said that to me, I would be like "Huh?"

Well spotted I think is what it usually means. Well done for noticing or picking up on the possibility.

Prior to my diagnosis, my profile was, “Not sure if I have it or not". I figured that there was a chance that I had Aspergers. But I also figured that the diagnosis could be something else (e.g. Schizoid, Social Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety, ...).

Ultimately, I suppose I didn’t have the self-awareness to self-diagnose.

The doctor had just been told the therapist believed I was dealing with high functioning autism. The doctor stopped, looked off into space for a moment, and then said "Good catch".

It struck me that the doctor suddenly had a few pieces of my puzzle come together then and there. A few things about me suddenly made sense.

The doctor then put me in touch with a local Asperger's group so I could start looking for someone to evaluate me, and also wanted me to go to a workshop the group was holding.

It was obvious the doctor felt there was something substantial to what my therapist had said.

I wish there was an option for people who were diagnosed, but suspect the diagnosis is incorrect.

What do the different levels mean?

Try the bottom half of this webpage-
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism ... c-criteria

I know many don't like the source, but I have to assume they got their info from somewhere official.

It is a compliment. The person is saying you discovered something that most peoplewould would not discover.

I have run into a LOT of incorrect, outdated and even contradictory information in the medical field. Most doctors only have a pool of limited general knowledge (or a limited general knowledge of their field) that they have to apply to all patients and often they don't have the time or will to do personal research and stay up to date with the newest findings and studies.

I would only trust a diagnosis (or a lack of it) if it came from a psychiatrist who is specialized in the autism spectrum. And even then psychology relies more on opinion and other ambiguities than many other medical fields, it's still a rapidly developing and relatively unreliable one in many cases.