In my autism evaluation today, my evaluator said "whether or not we can give you an on-the-books diagnosis, you do have autistic traits. I would never want to take away language that has helped you find a supportive community or skills and tools that help you navigate the world. Don't use the diagnosis as the be-all end-all measure of your validity."

just got my autism assessment report back and—

Self Diagnosis for Autism is totally valid

Diagnosis is ultimately an imperfect set of parameters we use to determine treatment. It's not a big gold stamp of approval that says "the way you experience the world and your struggles is valid and not a moral failing" but unfortunately society treats it like one and I totally understand people for whom an official diagnosis was the thing that brought it all together and gave them that understanding and validation they never got their whole lives (diagnosis as a barrier to support and treatment is another topic).

I was diagnosed as kid. I have a twin brother who has always been a bit of "quirky" guy, it never even occurred to me (or anyone else) until it suddenly did. Honestly I reckon a lot of people would be like "oh yeah...that checks out". I once asked him on the phone "You know, have you ever considered you might be on the spectrum?" his answer?

"I really don't care. It would mean absolutely nothing to me if I went and got a diagnosis"

But he often refers to himself as "a bit autistic". To him I don't think it's an identity thing, rather he explained it as a useful shorthand to describe himself, more so to other people, where he fears he comes off as perhaps a little emotionally distant or cold, and a bit awkward, among other quirks.

As for me, who does have the golden stamp of validity (which is hilarious given girls rarely ever got diagnosed back then) I don't really identify with it as an identity. I don't really tell people cause I don't see the need. I don't consider myself as part of the Autistic community (for a multitude of reasons) and I never have and don't refer to myself as Autistic. rather I say "I have ASD" because that clinical label and the distance it implies feels most true to my experience. Especially now when many people are reclaiming the label as an identity.

I know self diagnosis can be controversial and I have a lot of....thoughts about neurodivergent tik tok. But if someone feels it is true to their experience and they find comfort and community in it...If it's something they find helpful to understand themselves and in turn help other people understand them. Then why not? to use a clumsy analogy it's a bit like how physical and biological characteristics are relevant in some contexts when it comes to gender...but gender is so much more than that, its not just about chromosomes or whats in your pants its about how you experience and move through the world, how the world responds to you and how you understand yourself and relate to others. Medical definitions aren't everything.

Had my autism reevaluation to get college accommodations and thought of this

Yall wanna hear something ridiculous? So get this, April of 2022 I go to my PCP to get referred for an autism diagnosis, they refer me, I get a call in July and they set my intake for November, November comes I do the intake then they schedule my actual assessment for January 17th of 2023. Tell me why it’s almost the end of fucking December and I have not gotten my fucking results back yet???? I have called them at least a dozen times and every time they say “the doctor hasn’t reviewed them yet but we’ll let him know you called” well I’m calling their office tomorrow and if they say the same shit, I’m demanding to talk to that asshole cuz this is ridiculous cuz the average wait time for assessment results is six weeks, SIX FUCKING WEEKS!!! And how many weeks has it been for me??? Almost 52.

Doctor: well, usually autism is something that gets caught and diagnosed in childhood...

Me: diagnosed by the same people who forced me to switch from lefthanded to righthand in the 21st century?

Doctor: well-

Me: the same people who lost me my reproductive organs by misdiagnosing my tumors as hernias multiple times despite what I told them about growing lumps and severe pain?

Doctor: but-

Me: the same people that never caught my bad heart and connective tissue disorder, even when I kept asking for help, because they assumed I just wanted attention?

Doctor:...

Me: the same people that told me gay people are an unfortunate but natural phenomena but asexuality is a mental illness?

Doctor:...

Me: the same people that told a suicidal 14 year old to stop being so dramatic about problems that are just childsplay and hormones?

Doctor: ...

Me: the same people that told me that the fossil record is a scientific hoax and that Hurricane Katrina was sent as divine punishment upon the Blacks and gays?

Doctor: ...

Me: ...

Doctor: rural America?

Me: rural America.

Hi guys

I really need an autism evaluation so I can get accommodations at college and at work, and insurance won't pay for it because I'm an adult (and adults can't possibly be autistic /s) so it would mean the world to me if some of you guys could help. I'm trying to raise $1500 by June. Please help if you can, but absolutely no pressure <3

https://gofund.me/247de1c8

Venmo: spen-spinning

Oh yeah, and my insurance companies transportation services were LATE PICKING ME UP FROM MY HOUSE which made me cry and leave 13 calls to the company, AND THEIR INBOX IS FULL SO YOU CANT EVEN LEAVE A MESSAGE, the driver made me over 10 minutes late for my appointment, but did actually get me there faster than I anticipated (cause he was SPEEDING AND SKIPPING YELLOW LIGHTS) AND apparently they CLOSE AT 6PM so they LEFT ME 40 MILES AWAY FROM MY HOME and I had to call my grandma to bring me home after work... I've had a stressful day

I’m going to get my autism evaluation today wish me luck boys ✨✨✨

Ok sorry turns out it’s a neurological evaluation to see if I have adhd or autism sorry-

Talking to therapists is horrible, they will ask me what I like and all I can say is oh I like bugs and also I like science and also I like old planes

I dont want to sound like an autistic stereotype but I also enjoy trains

I've been on the waiting list to get an official autism evaluation for, like, a year now and a couple days ago the date was finally set for it. I'm surprisingly super nervous about it - or, at least, I'm surprised by how nervous I am about it. I know self-diagnosis is valid and I'm confident, after years of research leading to me being self-dx'd for years as autistic, that I AM autistic. But I also know that autistics get denied an official diagnosis for BS reasons all the time and I'm just sitting here like "what if just like when I was younger they don't see it for some reason???" even though I know that the reason no one caught it when I was younger was because no one around me understood or even knew what it was. So, is there any advice anyone can give me or is anyone willing to tell me about their own experience with going through an evaluation? I'd honestly really appreciate it - or even just some support or reassurance.

My therapist more or less said that as long as I don't mask she's sure I'll get the diagnosis but I'm still so NERVOUS and I'm struggling with all the anxious energy from it and my eval is in, like, 4 days. I'm going in the morning on the 31st this Tuesday.

just finished my final (actually the last one) evaluation for autism and got diagnosed with level 2 + 3 and why am i so surprised

Autism…

I have a kiddo with Autism. I have a brother, nephew and uncle with Autism.

I was watching the movie Molly (1999) and it hit home super hard. It’s about a lady who has Autism with the developmental function of a 3 year old. She has an experimental procedure done that allows her to experience a more adult developmental function. It gave me a slap in the face that I might have Autism.

So I decided to do some homework into Autism in women. I also talked to my kiddos occupational therapist about it. We were talking really in depth about masking and how even my kiddo will possibly end up doing that.

July 27th my psychiatrist and one of the psychologist at her practice will start the evaluation process to see if I have Autism.

I’m 37 so this isn’t going to change much. But it will give us a missing piece of the puzzle.

Awkwardly enough my friends started coming out of the wood work and told me they have thought I am Autistic for years…I laughed! A friend that is Autistic with a lot of the same health issues I have even said finally! Lol

Hello Robert fandom

We are back at it again with in Orange

So I just finished my autism evaluation and I feel like my head has been stuffed with cotton balls ://

Okay, so my rescheduled autsim evaluation is today in 1.5 hours but I have to use my insurance companies transportation services and it's a 30+ minute car ride and ALL 8 of this transpo companies reviews are 1s... they have 10 reviews, making them a 1.5 star company but the 2 five star reviews look fake and now I'm concerned about the car ride... I've never gone on a car ride or public transport ride by myself and I have no idea if they scheduled me a return ride home either...