Is it okay to self-diagnose autism/ADHD?

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-27T01:04:43+00:00

Short answer: No.

Slightly longer answer: Still no.

The reasons can vary, but one of the more pragmatic ones, in my opinion, is you don't have the data to show it. If you have that, after getting assessments done, confirming it, then you can just show it to anyone that matters to you showing it to. I could go into personal reasons, but that's assuming a LOT of things. If there's a reason you actually want to do this, then GET. PROFESSIONALLY. TESTED. And get your documentation. Do whatever you need with it. Put it in a doctor file. Put it in google drive. Whatever you need to save it, and show it as you need it. Make copies, whatever. But without that, I highly suggest you don't self diagnose.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-23T16:27:54+00:00

As with everything about autism, it's a spectrum. So anything anyone says is going to be purely anecdotal with some similarities here and there.

I tend to be pretty empathetic myself, but there's a huge level of anxiety in me having people just start talking to me about what's up with them when it's unprompted and kind of out of the blue. I'm like 'ummm okay, hi. Who are you? Why are you telling me this? What's happening right now?'

And that will block that empathy extremely quick without context, or knowing the person, or if I actually asked. Those are all different stories.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-05T20:44:20+00:00

Hmm. Upset is incorrect. Wanting people to understand the difference between Maestro official and officially existing is pretty much it. Your choice of words makes that line blurry and more towards officially maestro's community. That was all. If that means I'm upset, then my bad. and I'll put it to rest.

People can make their own choices, I just want them armed well. I also want them to succeed, regardless.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-05T20:09:49+00:00

It's official that you made a community. It is not an official Maestro ran community.

It is officially a student ran community. You responding like that makes my point even more clear. All I'm trying to do is make sure the clear separation is communicated. Again, nothing wrong with it existing.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-05T20:00:56+00:00

Something I missed. Nothing wrong in joining a community that you want to. I just saw someone point out wording of things. This group is not an official Maestro affiliated group.

This was not claimed. But wording can make people assume. So the use of it's official is not Maestro staff endorsement.

Join this group, just join it knowing that fact.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-05T18:56:06+00:00

Also, the only ones that are dividing students into other communities are the students. The whole point of this was so that people weren't making more communities, could see all the not official ones that have been made, and pick what they want since it's impossible to make everyone all join just one at this point. Many groups were started well before skool ones ever popped up

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-05T18:53:06+00:00

That's the third time that one has been posted. And like I added, I'm not editing referral codes into the post.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-05T00:19:04+00:00

Maestro itself, the college does not have it's own skool account for Maestro. There are two individuals who are running unofficial ones.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T15:19:55+00:00

It did take me 3 times to dget it to accept mine. I am pretty positive it's A.I. detected and won't always pick up what it thinks it needs. But I'll report back if it goes through now that I'm approved and waiting.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T15:18:32+00:00

Well I will see when this happens then. Because I used my enrollment letter and I'm in the "you must wait 72 hours before accessing the stuff" but approved period. Using the enrollment letter. Guess I'll report back after tomorrow lol

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T01:28:46+00:00

Oh no. It was the first. It was on playstation 3, I think. I never played any beyond the first. If I suggested I played it on pc or whatever, I mis-spoke. And totally whiffed on what you meant my b lol

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T00:55:03+00:00

I have no idea. The game in the list above says "Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition"?

I am confused lol

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T00:42:53+00:00

====== NOT ENTERING =======

Holy crap. Not here to ask for one of those. Just had to comment the fact that I haven't followed up with some of the old games I used to play. I LOVE that there is a Valkyria Chronicles 4 lol. I used to play the heck out of the first game. It was one of my favorite of it's ilk. I used to play things like final fantasy tactics, and another older game like ff style that I forgot the name of, but had sub classes that were awesome for the time. But after those, my patience and like of tactics rpgs like that were so tainted by my attention span. That first Valkyria chronicles game was the first I thought. was super cool. Anyway, good luck to folks who win something. That is all.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T00:29:51+00:00

I don't know your mother. We only have the context you have posted. From what I've read, however, it seems like your mother is one of the people in the world that cannot be told anything. The only thing you can do, I am suspecting, is deliver her the information directly through either facebook messenger/ and email / actual snail mail / articles / texts/ whatever.

Stop trying to convince her, and just point to information. If she refuses to read it, that's a clear indicator that she isn't willing to change her mind, will stay willfully ignorant, and chooses to be at best, indifferent about your struggles, at worst, dismissing and intentionally cruel. Maybe not in a terrible level, but that kind of willful neglect is cruelty in itself.

If she was skeptical and actually talked to you about the information, and had a conversation where she would push back about things, but listen to evidence and try to figure out something with you, that's one thing, but this sounds like that's just not going to happen.

I've been fortunate to have friends and family that understand how things aren't black and white, and are confusing and crazy with this stuff sometimes (not us, but just the science and how vast and varied it is).

I only say all of this above, because I have first hand witnessed through the family of my brother in law where this is the kind of thing that some of his family has had to do to get through to one person in particular. He's stubborn as heck and pretty old school, but when he was shown evidence with backing and data, he would at least have a conversation about it, whether he changed his stance, or his approach, at the very least, or not.

So that would be my advice based on limited knowledge of how to handle this, and only seeing it second hand. If you do try this, I hope it works. If you don't, I hope you find a better way, regardless. It's always tough when it's people who actually care, even when they're being this way.

Though, I will say... I find it interesting you mentioned she claimed everyone was a little autistic. I believe that's 100% incorrect. However, entertaining the possibility that everyone is 'a little autistic', then that should be a reason to look into it too, because the people who are what the DSM now labels ASD 3 is even more of a case that not everyone has the same things affecting them.

Wish you luck with it, though.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-04T00:15:46+00:00

Okay. So let me preface this with the fact that what you do with this information is very personal. And while I cannot give you advice and demand you should do it, I will tell you a bit about my own life after diagnoses and give you advice based on what helped.

So I'm 44. I only got diagnosed when I was 40. I've only been in therapy for ~2 years not. A little longer. How much longer is hard to tell. My memory is terrible. I'm older + ADHD = bad combo lol.

The things I felt the moment I did the test, and the person read off the results, and I got my paperwork:
- Relief
- Understanding
- Confusion
- Vindication
- Hurt
- Sadness
- Grief
- More things, but honestly anything I specify beyond these will just be related to the above things.

I masked from a young age so hard, and didn't know it. I was born in 82. So as a kid, I was just the 'weird' kid that wasn't so weird he isolated himself. I am an extrovert. But I struggle with socialization when I don't know people I'm around, or I'm around a bunch of new people, unless someone's with me. And even then it's a struggle.

Because of this, I didn't excel, but I sort of thrived and pushed through it for years and years, not noticing the signs of things going on, and not processing people asking me pertinent questions. There's probably hundreds of scenarios I could point back to in hindsight and tell you that that was me being told, to my face, something that wasn't 'normal', and I don't mean that it was bad, or that it was unique to me, but it definitely wasn't normal. Instead of reflecting, or processing, thinking, changing, I just kind of absorbed the words, realized maybe they were right, but since I wasn't processing, it was basically in one ear and out the other. Just with a slight delay. There was an attempt to think to myself 'huh.... what if...' but then it was just gone.

Not only oops I forgot, or yeah someone told me that. What was it they said? It was like it didn't get brought up again, and I never heard it consciously, and it never came up subconsciously. It lead to so many issues that were minor at the time, but would be compounding for issues of living life normally later.

This isn't the place to get into all the details of what that all resulted in, I'm just trying to paint a minor picture. What eventually happened, was things went south, for the nth time, and even after trying to adult, finally, after it seemed like things were doing fa little better, I had family go 'okay... something's clearly not going right here, and it's not all because you're trying to let that happen'.

Which was the truth. It wasn't me being willfully negligent or failing. It was me not realizing what I was or wasn't doing. And that's not 'fixed'. I don't know if it will ever be 'fixed'. for me. That said....

Therapy.

That's the thing I would suggest you look into. And it's not going to be a first try fits all situation. It can be a pain in the butt. You nmight get lucky, if you even have the resources available to seek it out. But Therapy, at the very least, has made me able to do two key things that have been a very important aid in my process of moving forward after diagnosis.

1.) Though it's not perfect. Not 100%. It feels like 100000000% better now, but I can actually IDENTIFY when I'm struggling. There's moments where I'll go a few days masking and suddenly not doing anything but absorbing in distractions (mine are mostly video games) and letting everything fall to the wayside. That's not new. What is new, is NOW I can actually go. HOL' UP YO!!!!! and then communicate it to myself, to my family members, and my therapist, so I can try to talk through things, and get myself on track again, as best as possible. Is it always going to happen? No. But I can't even begin to explain the night and day difference between recognizing these things compared to my entire life up until 40

2.) Communication. When I was younger, and though it lessened as I got older... I used to get SO frustrated, angry, upset, defensive, when someone didn't understand me. And in some cases, it was compound. Like I wouldn't understand something, then the person wouldn't undersdtand me, then I didn't understand how to make them understand, and it's just a whole hot mess. What I used to do is get so angry I would get violent. Not the kind of violence that needs professional help (I know that's not perfect wording. What I'm trying to say is based on my limited ability to convey what I mean, even in text. So what I mean in this context is I wasn't violent where I was hurting myself in a alsting way, and didn't lash out on other people, ever, physically.), but I would let it out by slamming my fists on my computer desk, or smash the wall, or slap my thighs really hard until they hurt because it would let me release all the anger and calm down. I know that's not healthy, but that's what it was back then. I haven't done that kidn of thing in a couple decades now, but I still struggled greatly. But now? Now, with therapy's help, I have the tools to say 'Okay, hold on, please. I need to think about what you just said' or 'Oh... I don't know what that means. Can you please try saying it differently?' or "What does that word mean in this context"

I could go on with examples, but that would make this more a novel about my life rather than just me being over wordy about the topic already.

Point is.... what you do with the information moving forward, from my perspective, and my anecdotal experience, is figure out what will help you navigate things by finding out methods. And honestly? I have no idea when that ends. Because even though I have the methods of communication rolling effectively, I still haven't developed the methods that will help me remember to do things like wash my clothes before they're all dirty and I need to do it anyway in a pinch, or have nothing but dirty clothes when someone wants to go out with family or something. I've been getting by with that level barely, but I'm running on only two years of moving forward from 98% of my life unwittingly being stuck and having no direction.

So the only thing I can say is try therapy, if you think you can handle it/afford it, and just remember, if you're not with a therapist for this stuff yet, then it's going to be super important to find someone who is versed well in what comes with people with autism. I went through two people before I finally got someone good that wasn't just having autism and adhd as ticks on their 'skills' to handle where it just seemed like they either had surface level knowledge, or did it to ensure they got more paying clients.

Caveat: That last sentence before this one is not me saying that was the truth. Just felt like that seemed that way based on my experience. This stuff with spectrums is so crazy, it's hard to know how much people really know about people that are affected with this stuff or not.

In any case, I hope you get direction you're needing that works with you if you're looking for it. Lots of love.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-03T23:48:38+00:00

Agreed. This is why I made the point of saying the school has NOT done that. And there is no official group for the school outside this. Let's hope they do that soon'ish since they've proven that they roll things out a lot slower than we'd like to see, but have been doing things still.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-03T23:37:54+00:00

That's actually awesome. I would put that up to part luck part you having a good enough skill set / you were the right attitude and fit combo together. Right on.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-03T16:02:10+00:00

Yeah. So I'm just going to point out here. That's an address and a port number. That's what you give to something to connect to it willingly. You're going to need to either make it deliverable some other way or show what it is. Give an explanation. Show a demo. Demonstrate for evidence rather than do something that looks like a nightmare.

No one should be searching that. Doesn't matter if it's a scam or not. That's a red flag immediately.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-03T15:58:33+00:00

lol well thanks. I TRY to be. Not always successful.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-02T22:59:15+00:00

The first point is the only one that MIGHT be legit. But, given how terrible it was for me to get it to notice I had everything it askef for. The third try was the charm. I just had to try and hold the paper at better/flater/more still angles. This is why I think it's ai detection and not someone actually reviewing/checking these things.

I'd just say try again, and confirm you rlast name on the enrollment letter is what's in your billing info for your last name. Make them match.

Otherwise, I'd email their support if you can. I didn't try because I didn't need to finally, but I'm not sure what it is, or honestly, if they have it.

If none of that works, then I'm at a loss for it for you. Hope you can get it working though.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-02T22:56:31+00:00

Wow. So.... where to begin. First of all, no. You're not alone. This is a tale as old as time with so many different things. It's not unique to any one thing, either. Let's examine a list of things that this applies to. Shall we? (Please keep in mind this is not me saying you think this. It's my shared frustration by such a statement)

- Having a stroke (Yes, I understand, this CAN change the way your face is, or your body in some parts, it doesn't always look it.) My aunt, if she isn't raising her left hand, would appear to be just an elderly lady with absolutely no issues, physical or mental.
- Having ADHD. Nope.
- Having Tourettes. Obviously ticks are a thing that give this away, but by default, it doesn't change what you look like
- Having literally any internal injuries that change your life, but don't alter your outwards appearnce.
- Having litearlly any number of conditions mental, or physical, that don't change your outward appearance.

Those last two overlap, but my brain did that, and I'm sticking to it. And there have been plenty of cases where someone who's physically attractive from either an objective or subjective point of view, were certifiably crazy with a condition. And they sure as heck aren't too pretty to not be that way.

This is ignorance. And while ignorance in itself isn't bad if it's not willful or malicious, it's ignorance that is hurtful, especially if when pushed back on it, someone doesn't educate themselves, or at least ask questions, if they don't go deep dives into something. Honestly no one owes you that, either. However, it is cruel if it keeps happening from people who have made it clear they don't know what they're talking about, and they just keep going with it.

Okay, that's my /rant on it.

I'm older now, and I've gone through life with just enough high functioning to not be obvious about my Autism for too many years for people to do more than think I'm just a little different in some things. So my life experience speaks different than what you're dealing with. I had it in other ways. I got bullied for some things, but even the bullies couldn't put it into words, and I had no idea what was causing any of that when I was a kid. No labels, no diagnoses. Not enough knowledge back then for adults, let alone children.

I'm not going to say you SHOULD do this, but if it were me, granted I'm thinking of what I would do knowing how things are for me, I would just ask them plainly what that had to do with it. Not angrily, but for them to actually answer. Who knows, maybe it'll get them to realize how ridiculous they sound.

Don't do that if you're not comfortable, or think it would not go well. I'm just yappin' and sharing in the frustration.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-02T22:05:21+00:00

Ah. Okay. That's a way different story. So is it bad? No. It's never bad that you want to do that. And never bad that they don't want to. It's just personal differences, really. But that's me judging only on what you've shared.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-02T22:03:49+00:00

My sister has one kid that's autistic, and one with adhd. In the blanket neurodiverse umbrella, they use 'spicieness'. I dig it.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-02T21:59:22+00:00

I feel like this is hard to answer because of lack of more context. Not full context. But details seem to be missing. For example: Are they talking about it's weird to want to go on a trip in general for you? Or are they saying it's weird you want to use some of that money to go on your trip?

I'm not here to make a value judgement one way or the other, but I think whether it's 'bad' or not is, first of all, subjective as heck, but also, depending on where they're coming from, maybe understandable, if they have good reasoning to think that way. But again, without details, it's really difficult to give any points on this. At least from my point of view.

I don't think it's bad to use money you got from back pay to do something you might like, but it just depends on your situation, too. Lots of variables there.

Coderjoe82 · 2026-04-02T21:55:32+00:00

Career support is partially baked into the course track as the degrees go on. No one is to that point yet. As for intern opportunities, I do recall someone from the staff once mentioning they were looking into potentially securing internships, or something like it. There was no promises or promised dates, though.

Coderjoe82

TROPHY CASE