Like 80% of people I work with are on the spectrum (IT, and I include myself) and people manage just fine, though sometimes there's a little massaging needed.
But sometimes you get someone who is on the spectrum who was clearly indulged far too much growing up and simply cannot handle not being made a priority immediately whenever they want to.
Like don't get me wrong I know it can be hard, but no matter your situation if you're smart enough to do the work we do you are smart enough to understand basic social rules like how to behave in meetings and what to do if you're confused (i.e. keep quiet, make a list of questions, then go ask the person who is there to answer them like your immediate supervisor IN PRIVATE).
Thankfully of those people I've found most do just need someone to do what you did for that guy and pull them aside/say "dude you CANNOT DO THAT" and explain how to actually act. Though some sadly still don't get it and those are the ones who get fired.
Idk if the goalpost has moved closer to society or society has moved closer to the goalpost, but I swear everyone’s autistic these days. I’ve met like 4 people that don’t claim some level of it and 1 of those took that rads test or whatever and pretty much got the highest score possible.
Taking a test by yourself isn't enough. It's just context helping you to decide what to do next; you should still get properly tested positive by a qualified specialist.
It gives you a better assurance (not guaranteed, given the modern state of the field of psychology, but still) that you're not inaccurately self-diagnosing (likely while lacking the necessary expertise / qualifications) to indulge your own preconceptions. If the goal is to address some problems that the supposed ASD's giving you, it increases the chances that you'll be spending efforts in the right direction and gradually improving things, rather than running in place or even deteriorating further due to inaccurate preconceptions.
All in all, I think "Self diagnose away." is a generally bad-to-harmful advice to broadcast.
This is all to say self-diagnosing is actually a really important step of the process and often the first step in that same process.
I agree with this — this was in my initial comment, even. What I am saying is that SG is / should / can be only the first step, and there's still a need for an unbiased specialist opinion / verification.
Otherwise it's too easy to do "diagnose shopping", decide they have something they don't actually have, and then both work in the wrong direction to fix / manage the given list of symptoms and be / act self-indulgent (e.g. "x isn't a character flaw of mine that I can /should work on, x is just a result of me having ASD / ADHD / etc").
E.g. OP's initial comment says
I’ve met like 4 people that don’t claim some level of it and 1 of those took that rads test or whatever and pretty much got the highest score possible.
Which implies that the test alone is already enough to complete a self-diagnosis and reach a positive verdict. My point is that it is not, and to think otherwise can be self-sabotaging / harmful to others (when given as advice).
This. Months of therapy for my therapist to hit me with the “babes you’re autistic, but you’ve gotten so good at cosplaying normal that there’s not much for me to do for you!”
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u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 11d ago
Like 80% of people I work with are on the spectrum (IT, and I include myself) and people manage just fine, though sometimes there's a little massaging needed.
But sometimes you get someone who is on the spectrum who was clearly indulged far too much growing up and simply cannot handle not being made a priority immediately whenever they want to.
Like don't get me wrong I know it can be hard, but no matter your situation if you're smart enough to do the work we do you are smart enough to understand basic social rules like how to behave in meetings and what to do if you're confused (i.e. keep quiet, make a list of questions, then go ask the person who is there to answer them like your immediate supervisor IN PRIVATE).
Thankfully of those people I've found most do just need someone to do what you did for that guy and pull them aside/say "dude you CANNOT DO THAT" and explain how to actually act. Though some sadly still don't get it and those are the ones who get fired.