Autism Self Diagnosis

For the most part, the autism community is very accepting of self diagnosis.  This is a good thing, when the path to clinical diagnosis can be very difficult.  For those who are past childhood, some psychiatrists are resistant to diagnose autism at all, saying the person is past the age where there is any benefit to it.  Then there are those professionals who still consider autism to be specific to the male population.  And of course, then there are those who don't recognize masking or understand just how skilled at masking we can become.

Even when one finds a professional who is willing to consider the idea and understands all of the above, the process can be time consuming and very expensive.  It often is not covered by insurance making the thousands of dollars an out of pocket cost that few can afford.

Then there are the barriers of simply being autistic to begin with.  It can be challenging to seek professional diagnosis just because making phone calls, driving, and leaving the home are intensely stressful to begin with.   Having to face a professional and discuss your whole life, knowing they could decide you're not autistic or not autistic enough to warrant a diagnosis in and of itself is extremely difficult.  For many of us our familial ties are strained.  Our families may not believe there is a possibility we're autistic.  They may not want to be involved, they may lie to make themselves look good - yet they're expected to be involved in the process in many cases.

All of these factors make it daunting to seek diagnosis, especially if one is not immediately in need of assistance that may (or may not) come with a formal diagnosis.  For those of us who aren't in need of assistance, why would we expend the time and energy, the money and hardship, for that little confirming statement that we were right about ourselves?

Even when we have received a clinical diagnosis, our friends and family, even employers, may still not believe or accommodate us.  They may deny it, say we lied to get our diagnosis.  They may say it doesn't matter that we're diagnosed because we're the same person.  We may even doubt ourselves despite the formal diagnosis.  Yes, even after having been clinically diagnosed, we may still doubt that we are truly autistic.  We may feel we don't deserve the life altering explanation for who we are and have been.  We habitually feel not good enough or like we've achieved anything despite our lack of merit.

Self diagnosis and the acceptance of it is extremely important in the ASD community.  It is important we welcome those who have self diagnosed and reassure them.  It can be extremely harmful to reject those who have self diagnosed.  For one, autistics have been on the outside of a seemingly exclusive club all of their lives.  For them to finally, finally! have found a place where they genuinely seem to fit, and be rejected and excluded there too, would be devastating.  Autistic people are already at an increased risk of suicide, and the last thing we want is to tell someone they don't belong in the ASD community and have that lead to them taking their own life. 

 I think that compassion is more important than some sort of purity in the community and I'm so grateful that the vast majority of autistic people agree with this.  I myself am self diagnosed and at this time I do not plan to seek a formal diagnosis for many of the factors I've mentioned.  

I am deeply grateful to the ASD community for welcoming me with open arms.  It is a new feeling for me.  I have always felt like the person on the outside looking in, and at least now I know I'm not the only one on the outside of the glass.