Autism

#2 you don't. And this is why self diagnosis is valuable. Knowing who you are means you can learn coping mechanisms and meet others like you. Getting a diagnosis means people will question if you're mentally capable of making your own medical decisions.

https://autisticadvocacy.org/actioncenter/issues/choices/sdm/

Same.

The video feels very anti-expert or anti-science, almost. I couldn't finish it without wanting to hurl my phone in disgust.

There's a difference between self diagnosing a mental state that is entirely about how you personally perceive and interact with the world, and acting like science is somehow invalid just because it used to have bad ideas. If it wasn't for science and medical experts constantly self correcting and sharing knowledge, we might still be throwing autistic people in jail or trying to drill holes in their heads to release the demons. What was life like before people invented science to study the world around them?

Just because some things can be self-diagnosed, doesn't mean everything can.

Just because we don't have a perfect understanding of the world, doesn't mean science and medical experts are untrustworthy or clueless.

Just because individual people can be arrogant jerks (like my dentist two days ago), that doesn't mean the global effort from experts in every field and from every country is bad.

And most importantly, just because a layperson can point out flaws in entrenched institutions, doesn't mean they are more knowledgeable than the hundreds of thousands of trained experts that spend their lives trying to help others or expand our understanding of the world.

It's like someone reporting a software bug, and because they found the bug, they think the program is a virus and the developers are somehow less familiar with how it works than they are.

Bug reporting is part of the process that constantly makes software better. Same with medical science. It's just slower to change due to constant cultural and political pressures, despite the built in mechanisms that try to minimize those things.

The fact that anyone can be anti-science on a phone, using electricity, on the Internet, wearing clothes made of synthetic materials, in an air conditioned building, not starving or dying from a splinter, etc, is mind blowing.

I didn't see this as him saying that people know better than doctors.

I saw this as him saying that self diagnosis, especially with multiple tests from reasonably reliable sources, is a valuable tool in a wide variety of circumstances, and with autism in particular, has very few ill effects and is a net positive.

Including as a first step in the official diagnosis process.

There may be a number of reasons not to get an official diagnosis. When I self diagnosed for autism about... maybe 15 years ago, there was a three year wait list for the only psychiatric diagnosis thing I could afford. (I can't remember the details, it's been a while, but it was some government funded program.)

I have since gotten an official diagnosis, but getting the unofficial one first was extremely helpful for me in narrowing down where I should focus my efforts.

The guy, towards the end, was even encouraging people to get the official diagnosis - if they're able to, financially, etc. But starting with self diagnosis makes a great deal of sense.

The whole thing was about cutting down the myths and attacks around self diagnosis and saying people should be allowed to start there without getting attacked for it. That's all it is.

I, incidentally, am not anti vax or anti science. I'm a science teacher, as it happens, and science is totally my jam. I love how he included study information on accuracy rates of self diagnosis, and misdiagnosis rates for mental health issues with the medical field. I love how he encouraged people to get official diagnoses, and how his suggestions for the medical field were to increase access and affordability for people. This video did not strike me as anti science or anti psychiatry at all.

It's not actually anti-science though. He uses actual studies to back up his point of view. It is against the current medical system which has been proven to not always follow the latest science despite what doctors may claim. This is especially true for psychiatry and for patients who are marginalized. Doctors maybe aren't as scientific as people would like to believe, after all their job isn't scientific research.

Because most people use scientifically proven tests to determine whether or not they are autistic? The ones that are actually used during diagnosis by a doctor as well.

None. There are none.

I have a strong suspicion that these are the exact questions that folks who claim that self-diagnosis is invalid have never asked.

I've been told it's to get attention. I don't personally see it because as said in the video you either get attacked for being autistic or get attacked for being self diagnosed but apparently there's positive attention as well.

Depending where you live, it may be required to get help from specific service providers.

Some countries like the Netherlands recognize the “Auti-pass” for granting disability accommodations.

Its barely anything a neurotypical would desire and my wife suffers imposter syndrome every time using it because we don’t look different.

I suspect the “fear” is that because Autism is permanent you could use it to build a case, convincing the right people that you are unable to work and should receive government benefits/income.

This is in the face of the majority of Autists wanting to work, even if they cant and government benefit’s usually hardly being enough to survive on.

My vaccine denier uncle has and is putting a ton of time reinforcing his conclusions.

A colleague of mine that's into 'crystal vibrations' knows every rock - and how it 'affects your health'.

And you should see how much of their time qanons are spending in their larping or the religious of every shade in their faith.

Personal effort may be what brought you to the expert but is not and can't be a sole determinant.

Otherwise you might as well write yourself a script or a diagnosis - and not even docs are allowed to self diagnose.

Then of course if you DO have a degree in a relevant field, then they'll claim you are just some academic boffin with no idea how the "real world" works...

I'm sorry you had that experience. We specifically have a rule against gatekeeping. If you don't mind, can you please link in which you saw people saying self-diagnosis isn't valid?

My primary and gender surgeons listened to me, but others I think are burned out. I saw Drs, nurses, therapists not listening to me and others and it reminded me of myself when I was in a help desk job for almost 4 years. Like you know 90% of the problems are solved with quick solutions and some assholes are so at the slightest disagreement with how you are fixing the issue you label the customer/patient as an idiot. I had to be humbled by a newbie to see I was jaded. I still try to remember that while I'm not helpdesk anymore, I'm still helping internal teams migrate to docker.

there’s no excuse to not get a proper diagnosis if it’s free and available

I don't live with public healthcare, but I've heard that availability can be difficult in countries with public healthcare. What I've seen many people in those countries is that they are either denied an referral for an assessment by a general practitioner that likely doesn't know what to look for, the general practitioner is denying a referral to make a misguided point, or that the wait to be assessed can be up to 3 years.