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I haven’t been formally diagnosed with autism but I definitely relate with this. My psychiatrist said it was quite likely that I was on the autistic spectrum but they don’t bother to diagnose people because there’s no real value in it, according to her
Edit: I disagree with the psychiatrist - I think an autism diagnosis definitely has value. From her perspective, there aren’t any additional treatment options available where I live (e.g. no medications, any therapy would be just as accessible without a diagnosis, etc.) and the diagnosis itself is a long, expensive process, so I can understand the reluctance, but obviously I feel like diagnosis would still be worthwhile.
there’s no real value in it
A formal thorough autism evaluation and diagnosis has been considerably helpful for me as now I can make sense of all of the difficulties I've had my entire life, and adjust so that I can make my life what I want it to be.
You might find the assessments at the following site helpful: https://embrace-autism.com/
Yeah, totally - I don't agree that an autism diagnosis is useless at all, I was merely quoting what the psychiatrist said to me, though the way I wrote it was confusing. Thanks for the link, I'll take a look
I'm not formally diagnosed with autism either, but I strongly suspect it after copious amounts of research.
If you may suffer from discrimination, having an autism diagnosis is definitely useful for many contexts.
Agreed, definitely. Personally I’ve got a number of other diagnoses and neurological disorders so it’s not hugely important for me but for someone who is dealing with autism a diagnosis can be hugely helpful. I apologise for my lack of clarity in the original comment, I was quoting a psychiatrist, not sharing my own beliefs.
No problem, I just thought the nitpick was valuable. Have a good day.
Yeah, I got the same response (hints of ASD Level 1, I can get formally diagnosed but even with a positive diagnosis no treatments will change).
I still need to look more into it, but my psych said that just accepting that might be the case and finding general Autism advice / coping strategies / etc (idk what to call this?) and seeing if they work for you is generally what she's seen to be helpful for people.