My new theory on self diagnosed autistics

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Each person is different some people might be a since of belonging some people it might be different. Fight CLUB is an excellent movie and book that explores the concept of tourists in disability groups.

Fight Club is a work of fiction, so I don't use it as a measure of anything. And even if there were disability tourism (which sounds a bit far-fetched), it's of no concern of mine if someone wants to pretend to be disabled, so long as it does not steal money from my pocket or injure me in some way, or make me look bad. If someone was faking a disability in order to get government benefits (not possible with an unofficial diagnosis), con someone, or act outrageously in order to embarrass autistic people, I would get angry. And if someone wants to go around faking a disability, they probably have some sort of mental illness, akin to the self-blinding woman in your original post.

There are plenty of less contentious groups to join, since we're all adamant individualists--our hypothetical faker would have an easier time slipping in with bridge players or Mormons.

I want to be a bridge-playing Mormon.

^^^ I agree. Works of fiction are fiction.

A real "disability tourist" would almost certainly fit the diagnostic criteria for Munchhausen Syndrome, which is also a disability.

From research findings - which have been well replicated - rates of PTSD are much higher in all 'disabled' minorities. Social scientists expect that, given equivalent findings of particularly high rates of bullying, along with other serious forms of abuse, known to be inflicted on these populations. I would speculate that nearly 100% of people with symptoms of autism (whether diagnosed or not, whether even aware that autism exists or not) will be targeted at some stage by the abusers who are attracted to the vulnerable like iron filings to a magnet.

The claim that self diagnosis results from PTSD not autism makes no logical sense to me at all, considering that the more 'visibly' autistic are probably the most likely to be bully/abuser targets, the most likely to develop some degree of PTSD, and the most likely to be formally diagnosed, often not on their own initiative.

The self-diagnosed age profiles seem to be quite different (older) than the formally diagnosed profiles; my feeling is that the underlying strand of ageism in these attacks on the self-diagnosed is not particularly visible (and probably not intended), yet is nonetheless in the mix of these threads that continually attack self-diagnosis.

All very well put. I've noticed a age-bias in the type of diagnosis I seem to see on this site. I certainly fit the profile. I have a son who is diagnosed. He has much the same issues that I had, but was never diagnosed. My theory is that the strongest opportunities and impetus for diagnosis happen during school. If you're 30 or older, you left school before the changes in the diagnostic criteria had fully propagated through the system.

OMG! I totally just read that as "I want to be a bridge-playing moron."

In which case I was already formulating my response, "I'm way ahead of you there, except I don't play bridge."

Yes, as well as the fact that by adulthood, many autistic people have taught themselves coping mechanisms that make them "seem" less autistic.

I think the is an important point he made in terms of noticing a trend in those who claim to be self diagnosed for a long period of time. When I refer to people who are 'self diagnosed' to get part of my prospective I am not referring to people who think they are Autistic but are not sure yet or the people actively trying to get answers to their questions and want to seek a 'diagnosis' simply can't afford it or do not have insurance or live in a Socialized Free Healthcare society which means years of waiting unless you pay to jump the line.

I am referring to the people who don't care about getting a professional diagnosis from a doctor because they know.

So this adds yet another group of people.

*People who feel aged out and don't think its worth it to get a diagnosis
*People are old enough feel they researched enough information and thus they will use the label because they can though its not official



Agreed, some people are like myself and fit the sub-type of, 'The Actor' or 'Pretender' and unknowingly and sometimes knowingly try to navigate the world using complex scripts and scenarios you have created for certain situations.

Though though we may look 'less autistic' and can train ourselves to look people in the eyes for a while sometimes things don't go as planned. Such as staring, and forgetting to change facial expressions to fit the emotion you're trying to convey

So OP, would you want to see formal diagnosis of ASDs made similar to copyright law, i.e. illegal for anyone to apply to themselves except with specific, formal clinician authorisation? And/or used in the same way that a driving licence validates who is qualified to drive? You could carry an autism licence, proving your status?

What do you see as the solution to what you define as such a big problem?

People may see a psychologist if they have problems functioning in their lives, then the psychologist notices that they seem to have autistic traits, then they are assessed and diagnosed, but often assessment includes also ruling out other disorders, and also psychologists and patients can decide together if diagnosis is needed for future functioning like supports, and this was how I was diagnosed, not from seeing signs myself, but from having some problems that I didn't understand what caused them or how to overcome, then my parents encouraged me to see psychologist to work through any issues I might have, but neither I or they understood what those were.

I just don't understand the purpose of the thread.

Has it been designed so that people feel obligated to prove themselves beyond reasonable doubt that they have autism?

Does the OP/Theorist wish to discuss his hypothesis so he can then take it to the next level? (wherever that may be)

Is it to cause contention?

OP, I am sure that you mean well by your theory and I don't really think that you have designed the thread to cause contention but I am struggling to find any kind of rhyme or reason behind it all.

The fallacy here is that a diagnosis doesn't mean you have an ASD.

I am diagnosed by many doctors, however, I think I could just have non-specific brain damage.

There's a real shake-up going on in psychology right now. For a long time they (the psychologists) have tried to categorize people based on signs and symptoms with no knowledge of the underlying cause. We're just starting to develop techniques to look into peoples brains and see the real differences. What we seem to be finding is that the old pigeon holes don't necessarily map to reality. It's probably closer to reality to say that our consciousness is made up of a complex collection of modules. Some modules can be over-expressed, or under-expressed, or missing, or not communicating properly with each other. The old pigeon-holes start to break down when you try to find underlying causes and discover that there's more than one path to a given diagnosis.

Even the "gold standard" of the DSM is highly suspect now.
http://www.garygreenbergonline.com/pages/currentbook.php

There are probably 100's of separate conditions that fall under the "Autism" umbrella. As they get teased apart, there's undoubtedly going to be similar arguments hear (and in the psychological community) of whether they get to stay "Autism" or whether some new person get's to stick their name on it.

Really? Parents pushing their children to be diagnosed? Are you effing insane? Most of the parents I meet are in utter denial. There are SO many kids still not getting diagnosed, I know quite a few who are older and not diagnosed and a LOT of really obvious ones that weren't "caught" until age 5 or so. A lot of parents DON'T want a label on their child so they do everything they can to avoid it (my nephew... his parents just moved him from school, to school, to school... then when he'd been booted out of every school in the district they MOVED and started over). My oldest daughter Showed signs really young but getting anyone to pay attention to my concerns was IMPOSSIBLE because she was verbal. When I finally went around the pediatrician and scheduled something on my own they were in shock that she had gotten to age 5 without a diagnosis because it was blazingly obvious. Getting a diagnosis for children is difficult and the places I've been it is NOT handed out like candy and they will send you packing if they think your child is NT or has something else going on other than ASD.

If a parent is "pushing" for a DX it's because something is hinky with their kid. No one takes a kid with no issues and pushes for a DX. Give me a break.

This is a really good point. We went through this too...not refusing to get our son DXd (at all - we started assessments at the Regional Center when he was 21 months old), but we clung right down to the last crumb to "other" possibilities simply because the DX of autism sounded so terrifying and we worried for his future. Parents spend a pregnancy wondering whose eyes the child will have, whether he'll be verbal like Mom, musical like Dad, cute fun play dates and Hallmark Christmases. No parent I have ever met in my life patted Mom's tummy and said, "And darling...I hope our child will have a permanent condition which will cause meltdowns everywhere we go, make the child feel pain from noises and sounds, and amount to hours per week of expensive and difficult therapies, years of special ed while all our friends are posting on Facebook about their "amazingly bright!" child's latest achievement, possibly include co-morbidities such as anxiety, depression and learning disabilities which may lower his/her self esteem despite out best efforts to make her love herself and see her worth, and will have our child in special ed in the little room waaaaaaaaaaaaaay at the back of the school out of sight of the 'normal kids'....(happy sigh)".

When my son was initially DXd PDD-NOS we clung to that like a life raft: "Oh, that means that with help, he'll catch up." Most parents I know went through similar psychological self-torture. No parent "pushes" to have one's child DXd with a permanent disability (or what is considered a disability, especially when you're new to it all and don't have much information yet). No parent wants to have to face that his/her child, for whom the parents had such big hopes and dreams, has a brain which will never function in a way that will make it "easy" for him/her in society. Actually, for many parents, initially, it's devastating, literally devastating. So devastating, in fact, that depression and other issues among the parents are common and divorce rates among parents of special needs people are higher than the general population.

And as stated, even if facing actual issues, parents don't want "the label" which will follow the child through his/her entire school career at the very least, will "keep" the child in special ed even as the parent is hoping and pushing for more inclusion and so on.

Parents fight, argue, bicker over who "caused" the autism, "blame" themselves (sometimes rightly - in my case, certainly; I am OTS but did not realize it, or I knew something was very very significantly different but didn't realize the cause), spend nights crying because their child is being bullied for being "different" and feel that being in special ed only compounds that and pray nightly for some sort of miracle to occur so the child doesn't have to go through that torture from the standard ed kids any more, desperately point out to each other all the way their child seems "so normal," scour the internet for "miracle stories," become curebies in their quest for their child not to be autistic. (Not all parents by any means, just want to clarify that....but many...there are entire forums dedicated to "curing" a child's autism...as I think we all know.)

So, "pushing for" confirmation of that? I am really not buying that. At all.