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Do you need an adult autism diagnosis? The professionals say "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ iunno? U tell me"
(sh.itjust.works)
My doctor ordered me a pack of forms and questionnaires to request an assessment for adult autism. In amongst the medical histories and self assessments, this question stuck out;
it is important to know that not everyone who is referred to our service will have a diagnosis of autism confirmed. In the space below, tell us how you think having an autism diagnosis confirmed, or not, might impact on you and your life
What's going on here? Do you get asked this for other conditions? We're a community that typically struggles to read between the lines, so I could be way off, but this feels grudging to me. It's a question that says - what's the point of us even offering this service, and why are you so special that we should waste our time on you?
In Australia an official diagnosis can be used against you in legal proceedings. Such as, custody hearings. For this reason medical professionals will often recommended against official diagnosis as an adult, unless the diagnosis will have beneficial outcomes.
Alternatively, they may just be trying to identify your goals. This will inform them how to structure their therapy. No point working on an area which doesn't affect your quality of life or one you don't care about and won't do the homework for. If there is no therapy for your concerns and a diagnosis won't help, they shouldn't waste your time and money getting one.