Is Autism Self-Diagnosis Valid?

Many people believe autism diagnoses aren’t valid unless they’re supported by a doctor. However, self-diagnosis can be valid too. Here are some reasons to support self-diagnosis.

[breannapiscitelli]

Thank you for this. I was born in 94 and struggled severely with autism as a child. I had no idea what was wrong though until very recently. I actually found out that a lot of my health issues are related to my autism as well. Growing up I suffered severely from constipation and now I have a lot of digestive problems like frequent ibs as well as I do not absorb food or nutrients as well anymore. I also suffer from a lot of skin issues and fibromyalgia and arthritis. Part of the reason why I’m in the process of getting a diagnosis is because a lot of the stuff is genetic and most likely related to me having autism. I am not officially diagnosed yet, but I’m definitely on my way to get a diagnosis because I would like to be able to be back in my life. I’ve never been able to have a real job. I really do a lot on my own. When I found out that this could be autism, I felt so much better because for so long I thought there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. As well as I was put on a lot of medication‘s to try to change some thing that there really is no changing. thank you for validating me. I am actually going to be 29 in a few months and it was also very hard for people my age to get a diagnosis unless they were very severe. I actually was a pretty severe case but it was just diagnosed with a lot of other mental issues instead. When I say severe, I was pretty nonverbal as well as I would spend hours rocking because I was so overwhelmed all the time as a child. I still rock, but I do it privately now because I’ve gotten a lot of crap for it.

[liamearl]

I get diagnosed with autism young because it is so obvious. I can read and write with difficulties (thanks auto correct) after 8 years of system 44, read 180 and more. was in speech therapy for 7 years. I was chronically constipated. I have panic attacks (hyperventilation, sobbing and a ton of snot) from noise and other stuff.

[DAM-qt]

As a child, I was diagnosed autistic, I was non-verbal until age 4, I worked with a speech therapist, I didn't have name recall, or make eye contact, I preferred to be alone, I rocked, spun, bounced and walked on my tippy toes, I self-injured, I banged my head repetitively, I punched my legs and pulled my hair, , had special interests, dogs still remaining. And still have claw hands if I'm not mindful. but I have to say from all of my developmental behavioural therapy over the years and my gifted strength in pattern recognition, which is totally transferable to people(sheeple). . I can't help but think that now at 36 if I took the DSM-5 for autism I might not be diagnosed... which raises the question of whether my social learning as an autistic child cured my autism and maybe the lack of social learning of others has created autism in their adulthood

[ЛукВарёный]

Hello, I have a question! Is my self diagnosis of autism + adhd valid? Firstly I was relating to experiences of people with adhd and autistic people. Then my psychologist said that she thought that I might be on spectrum(and my close relatives told me same). Then I did tests like raads-r (and bunch of others from the same website) and aspie quiz, and got high results on all of them. I also did some online test on adhd symptoms and got high results there. Then I started watching channels of autistic/adhd people who tell about their experiences, and I found that I relate to most things they speak about, like feeling like an alien for my whole life, having trouble with social queues, having sensory issues, problems with executive functioning and memory, experiences, struggles, etc. Then I checked dsm-5 for symptoms, and most of them I had(both for asd and adhd combined type). Then I went to the psychologist and she told that I might be on spectrum, and might have adhd after I told her all that. But she also said that she isn’t qualified for these kinds of assessments, and I needed to find other specialists(and it’s hard because where I live there’s a small amount of specialists).
When I try to ask parents to go and asses me for these things (I’m 14 so I can’t do it without their agreement) they tell me that they don’t want to spend money and time on it. And generally people tend to tell me that I don’t need any support, even though I struggle in my day to day life(school is literally hell and I’m not sure if I will have enough strength to graduate). And I’m afraid that even qualified specialists will not take me seriously.
So is my self diagnosis valid?

[Nin_the_Shinobi]

I had to self diagnose because i had no idea that to get an official one would be so costly. Can't even get a job to get that much to afford it

[Twigaroni]

I cried. Thank you so much for putting this into words, it makes perfect sense to me.

[kracklinkamphyre]

I've been met with resistance when people find out I'm undiagnosed. It's usually not even me bringing it up - they bring up the topic and when it's obvious I have quite a bit of knowledge about the topic they ask why. I tell them I'm autistic, they ask when I was diagnosed, I say I'm self-diagnosed, they say "Oh... well... If you haven't been diagnosed [insert something invalidating here]". But... they just acknowledged that I knew a lot about the topic and had obviously done a lot of research! SMH. I ask for zero supports from anyone, don't tell the vast majority of people, I'm very successful in my career of over 20 years, people tell me quite often that I'm doing a fantastic job as a single dad and my kids are thriving (and the people saying this don't know I'm autistic). I am indeed single and raising three kids and running a household and managing all my finances and doing house renos etc etc. all by my very own self TYVM! So it's not like I'm making excuses for some personal shortfall or asking for help of any kind, or pity or whatever ulterior motive they think would cause someone to fake having it, so I don't understand why people jump to the conclusion I'm just making it up. Shrug.

[turquoisemama]

adding my thank you for posting this video

[MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Sorry but I can't support self-diagnosis, even though I feel a bit hypocritical since I find that I can spot people with autism.

I'm from San Francisco, and many of the SF Bay Area/Silicon Valley techie types often self-diagnose themselves with autism. It's like a badge of honor over there. For many of them, it's true and clear to me and others. However for some, I would have never suspected and I comment that "Wow, you mask pretty well. Did you get a clinician to diagnose you? No? How did you know?"

Of course they will always state the following:
-I have nerdy interests
-I get a bit obsessive.
-I like routines.
-I am sometimes awkward around people.
-I am sometimes overwhelmed by stimuli.

Guess what? That's typical for neurotypical people too! Almost everyone is like that to some degree.

And not a single one of them can state showing any of the developmental delays in childhood such as not speaking for the first few years, not keeping eye contact, not responding to name, not pointing out things to others and etc... They all have no trouble keeping eye contact, and reading facial expressions and tone (such as sarcasm), tics, stimming and etc...

You'd think _"So what if they are self diagnosing and misdiagnosing themselves? It's does no harm."_ It may seem relatively harmless, it can actually be insidious. I've seen guys (and it's always a guy for some reason) use their self-diagnosed (and in my eyes misdiagnosed) autism as excuses to repeatedly mistreat or be insensitive to others such as their romantic partners or people they feel are beneath them. And their awareness of that is what is really telling about their neuro state.

Now unlike all these guys, I was in Special Education since Middle School and most of us were on the spectrum. I've never seen any of the people I believe have self diagnosed exhibit the traits I've seen from most of my classmates:

-Have trouble making eye contact
-Make too much eye contact or get too close to my face.
-Stim
-Tic
-Go on and on about a subject that it's clear no one understands or is interested in.
-Be unable to read facial expressions/body language.
-Be unable to tell tone such as sarcasm or hyperbole.
-Make random facial expressions.
-Hyperanimated facial expressions or stone-faced flat affection.

Maybe I am just a gatekeeper out of line. But in at least one place, self-diagnosis is too common and has harmful effects.

[littlewarp]

What's the point of a diagnose if it doesn't impact your life? (I didnt watch the video)

[NaderVaderYT]

bro white men have the same money issues please stop acting like we don't

"women tend to work fewer hours and are also less likely than men to receive performance-based pay " a gov site says this and I am inclined to believe it. so hate on the ladies who don't work as much? point is men and women are only payed so fdifferently due to the work hours and stuff and trust me the men nowadays are not always better off in fact most of us struggle too thats all I want to leave y'all with ok? just know the times are hard on us all

sorry anytime thats brought up I gotta defend my fellow white brothers otherwise the video is very good!

[LobotomiaYT]

you might be autistic... or you might not... I could have cancer, I could have some horrible desease... or I could not, even if I think that I have it, there isn´t any sort of certainty for anything of this if you don´t have a professional diagnosis.

[harutosunaa]

No. It’s not valid. I’m tired of it. I’ve had autism all of my life and there are plenty of individuals who are self-diagnosed yet don’t know the struggles we face.
Also, you’re in Canada. Healthcare is free there and you can easily gain access to it.

[MattHelmSA]

Absolutely not. Any video that I watch and it gives folks tips on how to self diagnose without a medical professional involved will be flagged by me and reported as misinformation