Aspies For Freedom

I've gotten similar weirdness from laypeople.  If I say I was diagnosed with autism at the age of 14, some people say "But you can't become autistic at the age of 14!"  (Well, yeah, the initial diagnosis was based heavily on a developmental history given by my mother.  Hello!?)

I actually tend to think that self-diagnosis requires more reflection on things than official diagnosis does.  And I even move away from the idea of self-diagnosis into self-identification because diagnosis sounds really medical.  Being officially diagnosed did not require my comprehension of what diagnosis was being given or what it meant.  I didn't have to know anything about autism, and I really didn't know much of anything about it.  I didn't even have to participate in the discussions that initially led to the diagnosis.  So why is that more important than the understanding I gained later by finding out more about autism?

I like the idea of self-identification in preference to self-diagnosis.   Illnesses are diagnosed, and autism is not an illness.  

The difference between official diagnosis and self-diagnosis can be like the difference between notional assent and real assent and understanding to being autistic.

It was not until after several months of reading about autism and writings by autistics, both offline and online,  before I finally self-diagnosed/self-identified as autistic.

From what I've read about Asperger's, it's not so uncommon for us to be emotionally volatile. The idea that we are all unemotional like Dr Spock is yet another one of the many stereotypes about autism that abound in our society.

I’m self diagnosed.

When I was growing up I considered shy socially and slow academically; this didn’t do a great deal for my feelings of self worth.

It wasn’t until my early twenties that I started to consider the reasons for the way I was; and it took me a full ten years of study, introspection and self analysis before I accepted I had AS.

And to be truthful (at the time) I wasn’t all that thrilled about the prospect of being an aspie. I’d spent years looking for a ’magic formula’--something that would normalise me--sort me out--make me fit in; only to find that  I was never suppose to ’fit in’ in first place.

When I first read about AS I encountered a great of negative material--stuff that made it feel as if it was wrong to be the way I was--I didn’t like that. Luckily I found AFF, and discovered the positive side of AS.

I often wonder why my AS wasn’t picked up in childhood. Were my symptoms to subtle? I struggled but perhaps I didn’t struggle enough. I think probably only the most obvious cases of AS are ever officially diagnosed; so in the end it comes down to the individual to recognise their own aspie nature.

I firmly believe there are people out there who have AS--who struggle through life--never knowing why they are the way they are. Self diagnosis is of great value--to know yourself; and to know you’re not alone--this is a wonderful gift.

Thanks Lucie...I don't feel particularly clever; but I appreciate the compliment.

i am brand new to this site(today) and new to the world of AS. this is one of the first threads that ive read here because ive been concerned about the whole diagnosis issue. reading this has really cleared up alot of things for me.

i will not seek a professional DX. furthermore i will not even consider myself self DX'd. oh, im aspie alright(first time ive admited this) , but a DX implies that something is wrong with me that needs to be fixed. this couldnt be more wrong. there is nothing wrong with me, and i think that is what this site is really about. were just different, maybe even better than the rest.

i think im going to fit in here just fine. and thats all i need to know. id like to thank you guys and gals for giving me a really great warm feeling inside. one that im not sure ive ever felt. a true sense of belonging.

i know im getting a little off topic but this seemed like the best place to put my...drumroll please...first AFF post!!!

haha thanks yall.

wow, i was afraid of this...

once again, thanks for the really warm welcome to AFF. i really love it. however, i dont want to be known as that guy who ruined that one thread, turning it into his own little welcome party  so id like to ask that any further welcome to AFF's be directed to me directly via PM. seriously, i love it and probably need it but lets stay ON TOPIC so that the next guy or gal can enjoy this thread.

im 165 at most, i am still invisible to women.

I feel exactly the same

I tend to also disapprove of the term self-diagnosis, but for very different reasons.  Diagnosis sounds very medicalized, I prefer 'self-identified' or something to describe people that other people call 'self-diagnosed'.

And no, your last sentence makes absolutely no sense.  Someone is either autistic, or they are not autistic.  If they are autistic, then this does not change whether they are unidentified, self-identified, or professionally diagnosed.  The person does not become autistic at the moment of professional diagnosis, the person was always autistic regardless of who, if anyone, noticed that they were autistic.  The 'logic' you are using would make it so that an autistic person is not autistic until a medical professional notices that they are, which is like saying that a redwood tree is not a redwood tree until a botanist comes and tells it it's a redwood tree.

I don't think that the 'jackass' thing is actually that common.  I think that a lot of people want it to be common, however, and their constant complaining about it furthers the stereotype.  There are a few reasons to want it to be common:

1.  Some autistic people don't want to be identified with the stereotype, so instead of saying it's a stereotype, they say "Oh I'm not like that" in the hopes that complaining about 'self-diagnosed jackasses' will differentiate them, themselves, from those 'jackasses'.  It's a status thing.

2.  Other people, they just want to continue to be able to ridicule autistic people, and it's really hard to ridicule them and stay really pissed off at them if they can be said to have a condition causing them to not understand or be unable to comply with certain social norms.

3.  Other people just want to reinforce the social norms in other ways, and therefore want to be able to redefine autistic people's trouble with them as a moral problem rather than a neurological variation.  So they do this so they can keep moralizing about how awful autistic people's manners are, without feeling guilty about it.

And a lot of people will claim to know all these people who are "really doing that," but it's really in order to denigrate an entire category of people without having to think about it.  It's sort of like people who rant about gay people and use the excuse that they knew a gay child molester once.  (Even though straight child molesters are more common.)  It's using a single example to reinforce a broad prejudice.

Most of these are just attacks on autistic people who for whatever reason have not been willing or able to seek out a professional to tell them this aspect of who they are (as if they can't possibly know who they are without a professional).  People who can't afford professional diagnosis, who reject it on principle as too medical, who are afraid to confront psychiatry another time to get a diagnosis after horrible experiences in the psych system, people whose families refuse to pay for a diagnosis, etc.  You're trashing all those people just so you can call a few people jackasses.  I hope you're happy with that.

I'm so glad the "psychologist" who told me all my social problems were caused by me being fat and ugly "went to school for years"... nobody can be that big a ****wit WITHOUT training.

And my point, which you have ignored, is that I've visited a few "highly trained professionals" who completely missed that I was autistic.  These "highly trained professionals" were incapbable of diagnosing me.

Some people don't NEED a diagnosis on a bit of paper to justify their existence.  It's nobody's business but theirs.

What really IS S.T.U.P.I.D is protracting this endless *** debate.  It's just going round and round in circles.  If Aspie can't even agree with Aspie, what hope do we have of presenting a united front to the rest of the world?

OK, so some random guy on the internet is a self diagnosed Aspie.  That's his choice, and it doesn't affect anyone else.   If someone with an offical diagnosis thinks that makes them righteous, feel as righteous as you want, but respect others' decisions to live their life the way they want.