The term “self-diagnosed” developed wide acceptance and use prior to my realization that I am autistic. I honor and value the history of my communities of autistics by understanding the meaning being communicated by that term. I do not try to change anyone’s use of that term, but I do not use it myself. I share this here in case others have similar ideas or want to discuss.
I strongly believe that no one is entitled to know any diagnosis of another. That information can be shared freely by the person diagnosed but should never be required. This goes for autism, mental health conditions, pregnancy, HIV infection, and even COVID infection.
Diagnoses are tied to medical, psychiatric, and educational institutions that perpetuate racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, eugenics, and more. The existence of well-meaning professionals and the benefits of sharing commonly understood categorizations do not eliminate the danger that can be associated with knowledge if diagnoses. Thus, every individual should have full control over who has access to that knowledge, in order to maintain agency over their own lives.
It is my best guess that I would meet the current diagnostic criteria for ASD. If I were to say that I am self-diagnosed, that would be what I mean. But I do not say that. Now that I understand what autism is, I do not care whether I meet the criteria for ASD. I simply communicate that I am autistic. How others interpret that communication is up to them.
@actuallyautistic@allautistics
Well, after my first ADHD assessment appointment out of three, my clinician said she’s getting “large autism vibes” and on Monday with my actual testing appointment she’s going to do testing for both ADHD and ASD to figure out if I’m both or one or the other.
Here in Belgium it is called Autisme Spectrum Stoornis. And even tho 'Stoornis' translates somewhat correctly to 'Disorder', it makes the abbreviation ASS. Which makes all the difference.
@obrerx@actuallyautistic@allautistics I feel EXACTLY the same! Too many people take things literally and context is almost impossible in such a limited format as this. Sending you strength. 🫤
Sending you support in whatever virtual format you need (hugs, thoughts, etc) 💚
I'm sorry you were triggered. Unfortunately I think that's just the nature of online communities of strangers and dealing with different humans with different experiences and histories. It's why Mastodon is "less toxic" as you said, but we're all still human, and we all still have the same human problems. Other social media platforms just amplify those things.
Not least of all because of the message length limit here. You can only add so much context in a single message.
@obrerx@actuallyautistic@allautistics I'm sorry that happened for you. There is so much of value here it is a shame to miss out. Any merit in taking a break and coming back?
Warm and appreciative thoughts from me too. I have a great deal of respect for what you have to say, and I'm not alone in this.
Probably a lot of us here get the same intense (disproportionate?) anxieties after posting here as we do after a real life conversation - was I misunderstood, did I offend/say something ill judged? Might it be better to hide under a rock in shame for eternity?
It's not always easy to keep going; I'm so glad you do.
@obrerx@actuallyautistic@allautistics I hope you can curate a safe space for yourself, pariah-cat. Sometimes trying to connect hurts so much that blocking is our friend. Here's a much loved cat for you (pic below of senior ginger cat gentleman resting on a blue blanket on his human's lap, with a reed screen behind. World-weary cat- gaze. He's see it all & wishes we could be more gentle with ourselves & each other. Also purring)
Hey Ratfucker, look, another post where disabled people are talking about how they're being harmed and gaslit. Oh no, we're being upity and non-civil.
Want to try reporting it again and cry when nothing happens again? @actuallyautistic@allautistics
@PeteLittle1970. I chuckle but totally get this. For me, the challenge is that I know where all the land mines are and often haven’t been able to get started disabling them. So I fall behind on things during burnout and have trouble or catching back up. I can get past this in the panic of “other people will see this,” but then I burn myself out on purpose to avoid shame. Awful cycle. #ActuallyAutistic@allautistics@actuallyautistic
In many parts of the world people in lower economic classes often can't access professional diagnoses. Even in the UK, as I understand from discussions, the health care system doesn't always provide health care diagnostics that are truly expert/competent in diagnosing autism, particularly in women and PoC, LGBTQ, etc.
So your approach is exclusionary and discriminatory against lower economic classes. I realize you may have reasons unique to your experience that leads you to suggest this approach, but it's not exactly supportive of the neurodiversity paradigm which is based upon principles of acceptance and inclusivity of diverse neurotypes.
Can you "tell" who is self-diagnosed or not? I don't think so. Self assessment takes back control from the medical establishment, and allows us to define ourselves without the imposed authority of a system that has historically been conceptually flawed in understanding autism and neurodivergence.
The self-assessed/self-diagnosed/self-identified are indeed #actuallyautistic
And I wasn't going to answer this because it seemed better to ignore it, but then I realized that many others may be reading here, and are perhaps new to these issues, and may need to see a rational answer to this, because they are processing their own thoughts and need information to understand neurodiversity concepts.
Did some editing. I tend to edit a lot, due to my neurodivergences.
@obrerx@100mountains@kkffoo@pathfinder@KaCi@actuallyautistic@allautistics@neurodivergence I was told by the specialist who dx'd my kid that I'm "likely" on the spectrum. But in my area, only private clinics do adult assessments with appointments averaging $5000. Even if someone had suggested I was ND as a kid, I wouldn't have been assessed cause my dad didn't "believe in psychology" (it was suggested my sibling was but they didn't follow it up).
Not accepting self-dx is classist nonsense
That cost would cut most people out of line for assessment. I hope this changes in the future.
It's strange when you consider that people who identify with a personality type, such as introversion, extroversion, or some of the Myers-Briggs types, or as a Highly Sensitive Personality, etc, can just read a list of traits and identify.
But #autism which is very much neurodivergence but also a neurotype and personality type, requires autistics to pay 5000 to join the club they intrinsically and innately already belong to.
I spent years involved in the process of self-assessment. I approached it like a science, documenting in over 100 pages in my journal my traits, and carefully matching them to the DSM-5 criteria. I don't think everyone needs to follow that process, but it's how I approached it.
Then I spent quite a bit of money to get a formal assessment.
Funny, my ADHD assessment from 23 years before only took 1 hour and $85, and the assessor was a psychiatrist who specialized in ADHD. . Things were different then. Simpler.
Talk about gate-keeping by the medical systems! It just costs more money than most autistics have to open that door.
@obrerx@100mountains@kkffoo@pathfinder@KaCi@actuallyautistic@allautistics@neurodivergence lol, I lucked out with my ADHD diagnosis. I had a Dr filling in for my regular GP when I asked about the possibility, he wasn't a formal specialist but said he had "a special interest in ADHD" so he kept up on the new research and such. When I did the assessment he told me that he had no doubt I qualified, not just by my answers but by how I filled it out (lots of hesitation and scribbly writing) 🤷
@Vincarsi@obrerx@100mountains@kkffoo@pathfinder@KaCi@actuallyautistic@allautistics@neurodivergence This has been really eye-opening for me. I had a similar experience when my kiddo got their diagnosis (same deal that I'm likely on the spectrum, adult assessment too expensive for me to pursue, etc.) and keep having those "whoa that sounds a lot like me" moments but didn't think I would at all be included or welcomed without something more substantive like a formal assessment.
I had the same questions, but I just came in here and asked if they minded me being here. It was very welcoming. I went from "possibly" to "maybe" to "probably" to "OK, yes" talking to the people here, and reading them talk to each other.
I'm in flow when I can focus on the endless beautiful forms and patterns of nature. I love seeing how things connect. I used to observe nature as a job (as a scientist), but I could not survive in academia.
I'm also a mom.
A year or so ago, I found out about neurodivergence. Reading and listening to the accounts of autistic people sharing their experience filled me with an overwhelming feeling of peace and kinship. This lead to a path of self-discovery. I'm also learning about ADHD as my partner and my kid are AuDHD.