Chapter 4 Autism Formal Diagnosis Pros and Cons
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Chapter 4 on my autism and ADHD journey towards embracing being neurodivergent was trying to make the call on whether I wanted to convert self diagnosis into a formal diagnosis. There are pros and cons to pursuing a formal diagnosis after self identifying as autistic and this week's video considers them.
Autism AQ Self Test: psychology-too...
I think I might be autistic - Should I get a diagnosis? (blog): www.connection...
Lol I'm either INTP or ENTP and I've read like a dozen different self habit books/strategies. I've had my ADHD diagnosis for a couple years now but for the last month or so I've begun to investigate possible Autism too.
I'm one of the weirdos that so far at least is not upset. It's giving me so much understanding about different behaviors. It's akin to when I found out about how CPTSD triggers move you into your limbic brain and in an argument with my partner I could recognize it happening and react more healthfully.
Anyway I'm a UPS driver so I'll probably listen to this whole series today in case there are a bunch of comments that is why.
Yeah, it's taken me a little longer but I'm now recognising WHY I'm reacting to certain things the way I do WHILE I'm doing it. It's very satisfying and leads me to believe I can actually change out of unhealthy habits with enough repetition, even if changing habits with a neurodivergent brain can take a little longer than average. Thanks for sharing your experience!
@@amineurodivergent thanks for the response! IDK if it would be helpful but I think part of the reason I'm not bothered is that starting back when I was about 17 I got into Buddhist ideas. Not so much the organized religion part but the basic principles. In specific the idea that a lot of stress (dukkha) is created when our imagining of what should happen is different than the reality of what is happening and the dissonance created by those two things existing at the same time. Like a vibrational resonance causing a bridge to collapse. If we hold on to both long enough it will break us too.
I guess maybe the short version is that for nearly 25 years I was already practicing accepting the reality of the world regardless of what I wanted it to be. Combined with the scientific idea that a negative outcome can teach you as much as a positive one.
Thank you, this is a challenge, for sure. Have been debating for a while now.
Good luck - it's a really tricky call! There's also a risk that a poor assessment (2-3hrs to understand someone's entire lived experience is simply not enough) can leave a person feeling in-validated as much as a good assessment can leave you feeling validated. Since I started this channel, I've heard from many people clearly on the spectrum who have ended up NOT getting a diagnosis when they should have done, which is heartbreaking. To me, the way we address and support autism and neurodivergence has to change and become way more holistic going forward.
Thank you so much for these videos. I’m in the middle of my big year of realisation and currently in serious burnout. It should be noted that a major downside of formal diagnosis is that it can be used against you for certain legal things. For example, I’ve heard that it has prevented people being able to adopt or foster children and that some countries will not allow you to emigrate (Canada, New Zealand, many EU countries, just to name a few). Even if you don’t want to do these things right now, it’s a massive decision to close the door on them for all time. And with the rightward swing of global politics it’s easy to imagine that even more rights will be rolled back and that your personal health data will be shared with private companies to use for all sorts of decision-making. This for me is the big reason I’m on the fence about formal diagnosis, even though I’ve been on the waiting list for some months.
Those things on adoption and emigration are horrendous if true and need to be challenged really badly. Thanks for flagging.
Hi, did you have to provide access to someone who could talk about your childhood? I don’t have anyone left who can do that and it looks like that will block a formal diagnosis for me.
It seems to depend on the service/ assessment provider, from what I can establish. I've heard from people whose assessor wanted to speak to a parent or person that new you as a child themselves as part of the diagnostic process. I myself had a developmental form filled in for a pre-assessment I'd gone through myself with my mum and my assessor accepted that, they didn't need direct access to talk to someone about me as a child, perhaps because I also still had very strong memories of behaviours and experiences from childhood that I was able to share. I've also heard from people who's assessors didn't ask for 'corroborating evidence' at all and just asked the individual about childhood memories and behaviours as part of the interview and assessment process. I talk about my ADOS-2 assessment in my Chapter 9 video if that's useful? But different assessors seem to do things slightly differently. Generally, with you having no one directly accessible, I don't think it should block your route to formal diagnosis - but that's just an assumption on my part. The best thing to do would be to talk to the provider/ assessor you're thinking of going with and explain your situation and concerns. They do seem to be relatively flexible in their approach on this, particularly with people getting a later diagnosis, so it's worth having the conversation/ getting in touch by email to get clarity, I would say. Good luck!
Thank you!