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?
Technically I’m not medically confirmed, but a lot of behaviors I do without thinking makes a lot more sense to me since I was diagnosed by a social worker in school. It helps me be more conscious of my actions, and the diagnosis helped me rein in my anger and control my fixations. I still bump into stuff, but I’m more aware of my surroundings because I know I need to be. Knowledge is half the battle.