exit-pursued-by-spiders:

my-autism-adhd-blog:

Why self-diagnosed autistics are valid

  • medical diagnosis can be expensive
  • humans are the experts on their own minds
  • family may prevent assessment
  • diagnosis criteria is a poor checklist of stereotypes
  • diagnosis criteria ignores gender, race, sexuality, culture & more
  • medical diagnosis confirms autism, but doesn’t create it
  • discrimination within the medical profession may prevent diagnosis.
  • Assessment waiting lists often long
  • medical trauma may make assessment unfeasible

Neurodiverse Journeys

+ by the time people reach adulthood they may have learned enough masking strategies to complicate the process of getting a diagnosis