To diagnose or not to diagnose
I've been thinking about self-diagnosis versus professional diagnosis recently, specifically for myself being diagnosed as autistic sometime in the future, and if professional diagnosis would be beneficial enough to warrant trying to get it. As it is, I have a lot of things for and against me in this respect.
The pros are pretty substantial, and not just based on internal experience
- A lot of people in my family exhibit traits of being neurodivergent, including a cousin of mine, who has a professional diagnosis
- I had spent literal months researching the diagnostic criteria, read a lot of other people's experience, and researched specific traits so I understood exactly what they were referring to
- I consulted my therapist, who agrees that I'm probably neurodivergent in some way
- I display many, many traits that are characteristic of being autistic, including sensory processing issues, special interests, not understanding social things as easily (of course, I learned, but it wasn't an automatic thing like how it is for neurotypical people), occasionally experiencing meltdowns and shutdowns, stimming, infodumping, hyperfocusing, liking routine and really not liking change, being overwhelmed by in-person interactions depending on the situation, and executive dysfunction
- I'm a minor, and my family's insurance would probably cover a lot of the expenses, but after I'm independent of them, I don't really have a way to know whether money would be an issue or not
The cons, however, are a different story.
- I'm AFAB, not cishet, and I'm an older teen. AFAB people are historically (and still are) under-diagnosed, especially with autism, and if you're not a kid, and not cishet, then your chances get even lower of getting a diagnosis. This is because it's often seen as the "little white cishet boy who likes trains" disorder (yes, I'm stereotyping for effect), so it would be unlikely that I would end up with someone who would actually take me seriously at all
- I'm actually fairly good at masking because I had to be growing up (ayo, ableist environment checkkk) but even though I don't do it all the time or all the way, I still usually have a baseline of coming off as pretty neurotypical to people, albeit a little odd
- I'm very good at speaking and writing, and I do both a LOT, which contradicts another stereotype that autistic people either don't talk a lot, or they're not that good at it (which of course is false, but I dont want that to contribute to getting a diagnosis)
- A professional diagnosis would probably not have as many positive results as negative ones, since I can often cope with things without a lot of external assistance, and it might lead to people being biased against me if I was trying to get a job. It would basically only be so I could say I was professionally diagnosed
So what I have to figure out is, is it worth it to be diagnosed? And if so, can I even get diagnosed? I'm not specifically looking for advice here, more just trying to figure things out and feel like I'm not the only one who's on the fence about this