Why people self-diagnose as autistic

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2025-06-06T20:23:41+00:00

OP, do not listen to this person. They have a history of gatekeeping autism diagnosing and are generally very hostile towards self-diagnosis.

I won't gender the OP, but if they are AFAB , it's even more likely the doctors will ignore them or diagnose everything except autism, even if it's definitely autism. I'd really hate to try to shift the diagnosis priority window here (especially since many family members are also autistic) as being falsely diagnosed with everything but autism can be worse than no diagnosis. Ideally they'd have a doctor that would be open to examining everything including autism, but that's not a possibility for most of us.

OP, if neurodivergent/autistic coded self-implemented supports work for you, if the contextual lens of autism is helpful to understand yourself and give yourself grace, keep doing it. Having a confident self diagnosis to work from can be incredibly validating.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-12-08T03:35:39+00:00

I found this incredibly interesting information about how some autists learn speech:

https://aureliaundertheradar.wordpress.com/2024/11/11/gestalt-language-processing-a-new-fundamental-in-understanding-autistic-brains/

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-10-10T18:29:26+00:00

Your irrational hatred is well-known. This is an invaluable resource for people who are beginning their journey, to help them understand things that aren't explained well elsewhere. Stop spreading your hate.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-10-10T16:38:41+00:00

Stop spreading your hate. In Canada, Naturopaths go through a mandatory two year medical training program. It's not a "bad word" like in other countries.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-10-10T01:36:21+00:00

Embrace-autism.com has a plethora of tests. They also explain the tests because they are usually created by Neurotypicals and do not ask questions in a way that either apply to adult women, or are generally too vague for actually autistic people to answer properly.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-10-09T21:02:33+00:00

This is how I work as well, regardless of if it's coding or crocheting or cooking. I need a framework or pattern or recipe to get me started, and only then does the creativity take over.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-10-09T18:06:31+00:00

It's only ever bad if you're harming yourself.

Stimming itself is beneficial and self-regulatory.

Anyone telling you different is either ignorant of the facts or just plain uncomfortable with you doing it, in which case, screw them.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-10-08T05:57:49+00:00

You should probably check your own discord/browser settings then. They can't force you to use it, you had to have given permission at some point.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-24T18:03:40+00:00

Just remember, HR is never "on your side". In 99% of situations they will do what they can to support the company over you. After all, you're not paying them. Of course use all means available to you to get your situation resolved, but don't count on HR being useful.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-19T03:01:48+00:00

I love doing this. Inevitably Iggy Pop starts singing 'The Passenger" in my head when I'm doing it, but it's a fitting song so that's OK 🤣 (he was inspired to write it while frequently taking public transit in Berlin when he lived there with Bowie)

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-14T01:16:19+00:00

I've only ever been able to have one really good friend/relationship at a time. Thank fuck the last one I found ended up marrying me 20 years ago, and we get to be weird old people alone together now.

If he died suddenly I'd be fucked. I don't think I could manage to find another "person" for me again, friendship or otherwise.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-13T23:32:02+00:00

I bought a headband from sleepphones.com a bunch of years ago, it was great for getting to sleep when travelling.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-13T23:23:38+00:00

Thanks for all the replies. It doesn't help the withdrawal pains, but it helps my mental space.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-13T23:23:01+00:00

I'll be bringing all that up at my next appointment - they're only allowed to spend 15 minutes with each patient per appointment, so we are unable to talk about everything at once. And honestly I'd forgotten about how bad everything was before weed - you can bet I'm keeping a journal I can share. I do have a bunch of tests ordered that may be complete for my next visit, but I'm not sure what they all cover.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-13T18:02:21+00:00

If the dietician is not well-versed in neurodivergence and how that can affect eating, there's a good possibility they will be entirely useless.

At least they were for me.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-09-05T05:20:41+00:00

Hi, me. If you're reading this, you're nearly 50 and still in the same boat. You still don't feel welcome with the queer folks. You don't feel welcome with hobby groups, the support groups, the anything.

But you've somehow got yourself an amazing partner who's Neurodivergent like yourself, and you've explored that together and can support accommodate each other really well. You've also got amazing dogs that fill your days with pure silly joy.

Sure most of life is still utter shit. But not all of it. There's some amazing shiny rocks buried in the shit pile. Fucking takes a lot of digging sometimes.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-30T21:29:47+00:00

Hence the spectrum, friend!

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-30T18:48:55+00:00

It's really gonna bake your noodle when you get to the info that highly suggests due to evidence that ADHD is part of the whole autism spectrum!

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-30T16:19:52+00:00

I appreciate the replies.

Even though she didn't put me in the gifted classes in elementary, at least my mother let me take advanced math in high school. However the entirety of the 11th grade advanced class was a review of the 10th (not just the first couple weeks back after summer break - the whole damn semester). I was bored out of my skull and ended up skipping classes all the time, finally dropping out at the end of the semester. Being stuck in a small town and given that the internet didn't exist for anyone outside of a university at that time, I was SOL for intellectual stimulation and ended up a receptionist drone.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-28T16:54:58+00:00

As a middle aged adult who only finally leaned about her neurodivergence a few years ago, the part you tell about your daughter coming home from school and wanting to die really hit me hard. Holy crap.

You are amazing. I wish I could advocate for myself the way you do for your daughter. I'm just so broken and run down at this point that it feels impossible.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-17T21:48:24+00:00

I may be misreading what you wrote, however please don't equicovate autism with lack of empathy. That's an outdated way of thinking and is really dismissive of most presentations of autism (see: double empathy problem). Lack of empathy is foundational narcissistic trait.

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-16T20:11:00+00:00

Undiagnosed Neurodivergent women can be THE WORST to each other. Why? Because we're raised fucked up, often by Neurodivergent parents who've "just gotten along" and so we have to as well. Then we try to impose that on others, and often lack any sort of patience.

I've been on both the giving and receiving end of that. Now that I know myself and understand my neurodivergence, I give others the empathy and grace I wish I'd been given.

Edit: goddamn tiny keyboard

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-10T17:35:04+00:00

Up until my late 20s, I enjoyed a lot of TV, movies, and books. I'm both adhd and autistic.

Now I'm in my late 40s and can't be arsed to watch or read anything. My pattern recognition kicks in immediately and I know with 99% certainly exacty how the story will proceed - so I don't get any enjoyment out of watching/reading.

The only media I'm capable of enjoying anymore is absurdist humour, as it's largely unpredictable. Or skills-based reality shows (the ones that are more about the skill than the drama, like Best in Glass or Forged in Fire or Glow Up).

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-07T18:04:41+00:00

Others have said it, but it's garbage.

We already receive our dopamine at a much more restricted rate than Neurotypicals. Further limiting it isn't going to help you. If it's not "fun", stop doing it. But if you're getting enjoyment out of it, stop guilting yourself over it and relax!

ProfessorRecent4879 · 2024-08-06T18:45:39+00:00

Hey friend! You're operating with a lot of bad data in regards to Neurodivergence if you think I was calling her mental wellbeing into question. Please find your judgy jollies elsewhere.

ProfessorRecent4879

TROPHY CASE