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Benefits of a formal diagnosis?

Danjo

I am a 54 year old man and have done the ASQ and other online tests and have scored consistently in the autism ranges. A lot of my life experiences make more sense now - including extended bouts of anxiety and depression, insomnia, situational anxiety, introceptive confusion and others. I am wondering now about the benefits of a formal diagnosis. I’d welcome advice from others.

Parents

  • Much of this has probably been said by others, but just wanted to share my experience. I was self-diagnosed for a while before I sought a formal diagnosis. I was in my early 40s when I was diagnosed and it made me feel validated. It didn't really change my day-to-day life, the challenges are still there as they always had been, but it has stopped me second guessing myself (which was something I started doing when bullying started in secondary school and then just went on from there). And it's made me look for ways to be more open about what I struggle with at work instead of taking on things that cause me excessive stress or that I just can't do, which was previously taking a huge toll on me. My diagnosis also led me to this community which is helpful being a part of. Obviously a formal diagnosis is not for everyone and plenty of people are quite happy being self diagnosed or being an ally of autistic people, so it really depends on you. 

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  • Much of this has probably been said by others, but just wanted to share my experience. I was self-diagnosed for a while before I sought a formal diagnosis. I was in my early 40s when I was diagnosed and it made me feel validated. It didn't really change my day-to-day life, the challenges are still there as they always had been, but it has stopped me second guessing myself (which was something I started doing when bullying started in secondary school and then just went on from there). And it's made me look for ways to be more open about what I struggle with at work instead of taking on things that cause me excessive stress or that I just can't do, which was previously taking a huge toll on me. My diagnosis also led me to this community which is helpful being a part of. Obviously a formal diagnosis is not for everyone and plenty of people are quite happy being self diagnosed or being an ally of autistic people, so it really depends on you. 

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