• Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 82 subscribers
  • Views 1536 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

If your psychiatrist informally diagnosed you with ASD, during your ADHD assessment, is the diagnosis seen as valid?

Ashriah

Last Monday I had my ADHD assessment and the psychiatrist assessing me was very nice and thorough. He asked me loads of questions, asking me about my childhood and stuff like that. Beforehand, I had to fill up 4 pre-assessment forms, 3 for me to fill out and one for a friend or family member to fill out. At the end of the assessment, he told me I had ADHD and Autism. He seemed fairly certain about it too, explained to me that I was a level 1, which would be Aspergers and explained to me that the autism had been masking the ADHD traits and the ADHD the autism traits.

Then he said that although this ASD diagnosis is just informal, he was very certain about it and then told me to research more into it so that I can understand my brain more and can start being myself more authentically.  

I don't know if I'm still in denial about everything, as I wasn't expecting the ASD diagnosis one bit but - would that count as a valid diagnosis then? I mean - he does have experience in diagnosing ASD (I had looked him up before my assessment and saw he had experience in both diagnosing ADHD and ASD). But as this ASD diagnosis was an informal one - I don't know if it's valid or if it counts.. maybe it does but I just want to be sure. 

I have researched into ASD though and I can definitely relate to a lot of the traits but still would like to know if the informal diagnosis itself would count as valid or not. 

Parents

  • It's as valid to you, as you want it to be. Many people never get formally diagnosed, and are happy to remain self-diagnosed. They don't even have an 'unofficial' diagnosis. But they're satisfied. However, if you require a diagnosis to access help or finance, then no, it won't be enough, you'll need an official diagnosis. But if you don't need or want any of that, then I probably wouldn't bother going down the official route. You've had someone who knows what they're talking about tell you, after a lengthy assessment, that he believes you have ASD, so I'd just go with that. A formal diagnosis can be a long process and unless you need it, I don't think it's worth it if you already have a professionals opinion. Just my thoughts on the matter, and please, feel free to ignore! Lol! 

Reply

  • It's as valid to you, as you want it to be. Many people never get formally diagnosed, and are happy to remain self-diagnosed. They don't even have an 'unofficial' diagnosis. But they're satisfied. However, if you require a diagnosis to access help or finance, then no, it won't be enough, you'll need an official diagnosis. But if you don't need or want any of that, then I probably wouldn't bother going down the official route. You've had someone who knows what they're talking about tell you, after a lengthy assessment, that he believes you have ASD, so I'd just go with that. A formal diagnosis can be a long process and unless you need it, I don't think it's worth it if you already have a professionals opinion. Just my thoughts on the matter, and please, feel free to ignore! Lol! 

Children
No Data