Does an official diagnosis help

Me and my wife got an official diagnosis for my daughter (paid for service, not NHS) because we could see she was struggling in her life and she was about to start secondary school, so we wanted her to get the support she needed. It wasn't until after my daughter's diagnosis that I considered I could be autistic too, it just never occurred to me until the assessors explained how genetics could factor in, and then a lot of things felt like they clicked into place.

I ultimately decided not to get myself diagnosed. Aside from some potentially off-putting things like the wait time (or cost), I just realised that, for me, getting a diagnosis or not wouldn't really change the world around me. I'm probably very lucky in that I don't think I need many adjustments in my life/work to get by, though I do now understand what I find difficult and what I found difficult in my past. I understand though that some people do need additional support, and a diagnosis would give validation to that. I'm able to make this decision and move on knowing more about myself, but that is because of my own unique circumstances, everyone is unique and special in their own way.

I also know that "self diagnosis" is a bit of a loaded term these days, and some people will consider that in a derogatory way. So I also try to not make much of it, only the people who truly care about me know because I told them, which is my family and my 2 closest friends.

Me and my wife got an official diagnosis for my daughter (paid for service, not NHS) because we could see she was struggling in her life and she was about to start secondary school, so we wanted her to get the support she needed. It wasn't until after my daughter's diagnosis that I considered I could be autistic too, it just never occurred to me until the assessors explained how genetics could factor in, and then a lot of things felt like they clicked into place.

I ultimately decided not to get myself diagnosed. Aside from some potentially off-putting things like the wait time (or cost), I just realised that, for me, getting a diagnosis or not wouldn't really change the world around me. I'm probably very lucky in that I don't think I need many adjustments in my life/work to get by, though I do now understand what I find difficult and what I found difficult in my past. I understand though that some people do need additional support, and a diagnosis would give validation to that. I'm able to make this decision and move on knowing more about myself, but that is because of my own unique circumstances, everyone is unique and special in their own way.

I also know that "self diagnosis" is a bit of a loaded term these days, and some people will consider that in a derogatory way. So I also try to not make much of it, only the people who truly care about me know because I told them, which is my family and my 2 closest friends.

Hi. I'm glad you're daughter has her diagnosis to access support. 

Thanks for your reply, I have worried that a self diagnosis would-be looked down upon, in a way. This is also a reason for wanting to know more about other people's experience.