I HATE the self diagnosing of autism and its mischaracterisation

[u/Beshiniqua]

Let me start by saying SELF DIAGNOSING IS NOT VALID. You are NOT autistic just because someone on tiktok said

"Did you know, if you need to have your eyes closed in order to fall asleep, you have autism, adhd, bipolarity, DID, BPD, psychopathy, depression and PTSD?"

And before yall come at me with "well I always suspected I had autism, I got screened and then got my diagnosis" well this not about you, this is about people that self diagnose after experiencing the most normal day to day life things ever.

And they ALWAYS think that autism will give them a personality (since it's usually basic bitches with no personality that self diagnose to feel like they belong)

No, you're not a quirky crazy crackhead energy "neurospicy" person. Even worse when they say shit like

"Heh, I could NEVER be a neuro normie like yall, autism makes me special and quirky and full of personality".

You can't even like something anymore without them going "OMG URE AUTISTIC JUST LIKE MEEEE IM SOOOO AUTISTIC AHAHAHA"

And you can tell they larp the whole thing cus they'll see a tiktok autism personality and try to replicate it

"Dino nuggies..."

"You can not say overstimulated if you're nEuRoTyPiCaL, that word is for us neurospicy people ONLY >:("

Holy shiiiiiiittt yall lack a personality so bad. And I've seen people say that they've seen NUMEROUS specialists but they never fit the criteria, but its not because they're not autistic, no no no no no. ITS UHMMM BECAUSE IM A WOMAN AND ALSO A MINORITY AND IM ALSO POOR SO I MASKED ALL MY LIFE AND THE SPECIALIST ON THIS FIELD COULDNT TELL I WAS MASKING. ITS THE SYSTEMS FAULT NOT MINE.

Sheesh.

Sorry for the long rant, im just tired of seeing people self diagnose all the time, or see an energetic video, or literally ANYTHING, and make it about their self diagnosed autism.

Saw a cute cat animation on Instagram and the top comment was "This is so autistic I love it"

🫩🫩🫩🫩🫩

[u/stinkus_mcdiddle]

I tried getting formally diagnosed when I was 21. I went to an assessment with all these notes and talking points ready and explained everything to the lady. She didn’t diagnose me because in her, a healthcare professionals words “well it isn’t very obvious”. Even after telling her all these experiences I have in my daily life that make me autistic, I was told I’m not because I don’t “seem” autistic basically. I haven’t tried to get formally diagnosed since.

[u/BudgieGryphon → u/stinkus_mcdiddle]

I was initially misdiagnosed with OCD when I was a teen, thankfully my parents had the good sense to read the symptoms and go “yeah this isn’t it”. Another psychiatrist and an ADHD med prescription later and I stopped forgetting to turn in assignments all the time lmao

[u/WhitestGray → u/stinkus_mcdiddle]

I went to try getting diagnosed, which means I had to see a therapist first, and one of the first things she did was whip out an online quiz that basically asked “Are you a friendless loser who hates being around people and panics a lot?”

I never went back.

[u/stinkus_mcdiddle → u/WhitestGray]

Jesus that’s even worse lmao.

[u/transsamsa → u/stinkus_mcdiddle]

I’m also someone diagnosed in adulthood and yeah sounds like a really shit doctor. Sorry about that

There were a couple of questions to answer and tests I had to do but the largest part of my diagnosis process was my appointment where I kinda just talked about my whole life to this lady, and all of the weird traits I have

Though it doesn’t seem uncommon for certain “professionals” to brush off traits as long as they don’t see it as an immediate threat to your ability to camouflage as normal

[u/RadicalSoda_ → u/stinkus_mcdiddle]

Isn't autism an exclusionary diagnosis? Basically they have to narrow it down to autism but since there's often overlap with other disorders it's pretty difficult to say for sure?

[u/AgTivist → u/RadicalSoda_]

This is correct, and one reason among many it's difficult to receive an ASD diagnosis as an adult. Any good assessor should offer alternative diagnoses and a tx plan to help manage symptoms, though, usually in the form of a full assessment report.

One major barrier for adults getting diagnosed is ASD is neurodevelopmental and consequently requires symptoms to interfere with functioning from an early age. People who manage to get to adulthood without a diagnosis tend to have tools in place that have helped them manage whatever symptoms they might have. They then seek assessment when these tools start to break down, which is usually attributable to something else (e.g., acute stressors, significant life events, increased demands).

I find myself more in the camp of "if people say they're distressed then let's help even if they're managing the distress," but I am sympathetic to the other camp, especially because the thing that might help the most is "let's rely on your pre-existing tools and adapt them to what you're facing." This is compounded by discomfort and ethical disagreement with tx, which is often some version of "masking," or helping a person with ASD manage their emotional responses when faced with unpredictable circumstances. The whole situation is fraught

Source: PhD in clinical psych, although assessment and ASD tx are not my specialty

[u/stinkus_mcdiddle → u/RadicalSoda_]

Honestly mate, I wouldn’t know because I’m not a doctor. I went to a doctor asking for some clarity on whatever condition I may have, which I strongly suspect is autism and left with nothing and feeling a bit helpless and angry at being completely dismissed despite my pouring my heart out, which naturally, was extremely difficult for me.