this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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Autism

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Should I bother getting professionally tested? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Hello everyone. Growing up I was in a special education class pretty much all through school (4th grade on). I had learning disabilities and social difficulties (still do). I was never actually diagnosed with anything. I just accepted it for what it was and never looked into it untill recently. I went over my symptoms then looked into autism and noticed quite a few similarities. I took a few of the tests online and my results said I was on the spectrum and that I have at least half the symptoms on the test and to consult a physician.

I'm 31 now and I'm not sure how getting a professional diagnosis will help me at this stage in life other than closure I guess.

What are your thoughts?

Edit: Thank you everyone for your responses I really appreciate it! I will look into getting a professional diagnosis.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'm 46 years old and undiagnosed, but getting a professional diagnosis is not a priority for me. My take is that unless you have support needs that requires some sort of bureaucracy to kick in or have concerns about other mental health issues (depression, clinical stress, etc), getting a professional diagnosis is optional.

If you think that getting a diagnosis will bring you some closure, then I think you should investigate that path. But in my opinion the diagnosis should be the means to an end, not the end itself. Closure and self-realization is certainly a valid reason for looking into getting a diagnosis. Getting professional help does not necessarily means getting the diagnosis. You might end up getting screened using tools not quite unlike your online tests, and then after some discussion about what it means to you, decide not to progress further with diagnosis but just continue some sort of therapy session.