Autism

Dude, have you any idea how many doctors told me (professionally diagnosed) that I can't be autistic, sure, this is a bit weird, but it's probably just X, that weird thing is probably just Y and so on, telling me I have like ten other things when all these ten things are all explained by autism?

All because drumroll I can hold eye contact. Yes, I've been pressured into masking hard. It makes me suffer, and now you use it to deny me support?

Most doctors have not kept up with the development on diagnosing atypical autism and the ones that do you have almost no chance of scoring an appointment with.

And I am in a coultry where we at least do consider autism for females. There's still lots of countries where high-functioning autists don't get diagnosed.

Let people "self-diagnose" if it means they findcoping mechanisms and things that explain thwir behaviors. Allow them to say "fuck you" when someone tells them they're not trying hard enough because they are just lazy, when in reality they are so overwhelmed they can barely function.

Don't actively make people miserable, because they for whatever reason do not have a formal diagnosis. I encourage most peoble to get one, but I also heard of places that use an official diagnosis against them. I think I read someone from the UK claiming they had custody of their kids challenged because of a diagnosis.

Let people find their coping mechanisms. Even if in the end they don't have autism, how does this affect you or me or any other autistic person?

Not everyone can afford a diagnosis. In some countries it can cost thousands just to get diagnosed.

an autism diagnosis is a privilege. there are many communities who are overlooked when it comes to autism. women, people of colour and members of the LGBT+ community are all likely to be overlooked for a diagnosis because they don't fit the stereotype. not to mention the financial factors of a diagnosis. self-diagnosis is widely accepted in the autistic community for these reasons.

Easy to say.

That's incredibly easy to say, but also highly impractical.

I'm waiting for a diagnosis, but the waiting list is just over 3 years. Self-Diagnosis is all most of us can hope for in the short-term. Many others will never even get that level of hope. I'm fortunate that health care is free where I live.

Being formally diagnosed can be a legal liability, such as when immigrating to many countries. On top of that, it can also cost thousands of dollars.