Autism Self diagnosis is invalid!
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Autism Self diagnosis is invalid!Autism is the new fad!Everybody wants to be Autistic!Um, NO. Autism Self-Diagnosis is valid. Autism Self-Diagnosis is a RIGH...

EDIT: please, if you don’t agree with the arguments in the video, come in and discuss, don’t just downvote the thread.

I found this video with many arguments supporting self-diagnosis validity and wanted to share.

Main point may be that there is no valid reason to look for a self-diangosis than the fact of being autistic, and needing support for that. At least until there will be equitable access to medical care, self-diagnosis is the only way for people to understand themself and understand the support they may need in their life.

But, there is much more in the video, take a look at it by yourself!

  • djidane535@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    4·
    8 months ago

    I tend not to trust myself on subjects I am not an expert. It feels strange to me to give more credit to a few hours of research / reading books than a professional who likely studied the subject in much more details, and also encountered other autistic people.

    Besides, we have so many biais about that. Finding an answer to your « uniqueness » is so convenient, that you will likely reject anything that does not fit the story, and put emphasis on things that fit the story. Even if you were an expert, you shouldn’t be the one to evaluate your own case.

    I don’t say professionals are perfect and make no mistake, but trusting yourself on subjects as complex as this one will likely lead to the wrong conclusions.

    Anyway, my message was not really about that. You are free to consider yourself as autistic if it helps you. I personally won’t do it for myself because I do not consider myself to be competent on the subject, and I don’t think it’s that important for me (I understand that it can be very important for others).

    I prefer to focus on my issues and the solutions I can find, and if those solutions are coming from autistic people, it just makes it easier for me to find resources about it.

    • echo@lemmings.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      than a professional who likely studied the subject Unless you find a doctor where that is their specialty, then the likelihood for most other doctors is that they have only spent a few hours on the matter and possibly quite a long time ago.

      Finding an answer to your « uniqueness » is so convenient, that you will likely reject anything that does not fit the story, One can be scientific in their process. I also didn’t come to this completely solo… I’ve been married for a long time and my SO has a masters degree in education. There’s a decent chance that she’s had as much professional training on the subject as many doctors. We’ve been looking for answers and doing research for years, not hours. Even though I fully accept that I am autistic at this point, I still look for information that contradicts that conclusion. Usually what happens, though, is that I’ll stumble upon yet another thing that fits perfectly with the diagnosis. The same person who did the video in this post has another one about autists walking on the balls of their feet. I had no idea this was an autistic trait and I’ve done that my whole life.

      It’s frustrating that so many professionals don’t have training on autism. I would have had a lot of life benefit if I could have been diagnosed decades ago instead of only recently. As I mentioned to someone else, I’m not averse to getting professionally diagnosed, but I can see absolutely no benefit in doing so. I’m in my 50’s. I’m not aware of any resources that will be opened up to me upon an official diagnosis that make it worth the time, effort, and cost. I remain open to learning otherwise and reconsidering…