Self-diagnosis—what the research says
I made a post saying that if you strongly suspect you're autistic, chances are extremely high that you are... and I was asked for evidence to support this. So, here it is.
A research study was conducted on self diagnosed autistic adults and compared them to formally diagnosed autistic adults.
The study found that every manifestation of autism-related experiences that showed up for the formally diagnosed group... ALSO showed up for the self diagnosed group.
Which means that if the self diagnosed group would be evaluated for autism, there's a very good reason to believe they would receive a diagnosis.
Hence my statement.
But there's more.
The self diagnosed group was almost entirely made up of women.
And the researchers posited that this is because women are the "lost generation" of autistic people.
There are many reasons this is likely the case... including the fact that the diagnostic criteria were literally created with the young boy presentation of autism. But also because autistic girls learn to mask almost all their visible signs of autism from a VERY young age.
(This is particularly true for lower support needs autistic girls... but has also been the case for higher support needs autistic girls).
So, like I said yesterday... if you're undiagnosed but strongly suspect you're autistic... chances are HIGH that you are. Go ahead and live your life through that lens so you can get your autistic needs met. No one can stop you. 🤗❤️
Editing to add some additional context regarding the study...
It's important to note that there has been no research studying this topic specifically. So, I'm referencing a study that's relevant to this topic, even though it didn't directly set out to answer this specific question.
That said, the study didn't assess the diagnostic criteria, but rather things that show up for autistic people as a direct result of their autism. Things like quality of life, self-esteem, stigma, and autistic identity.
So while the study couldn't and didn’t diagnose anyone, it showed that the lived experiences of self-diagnosed autistic people matched those of formally diagnosed autistics almost exactly.
Which is extremely important. Because these are not experiences that typically show up (all together) unless a person is actually autistic.
So while the study itself doesn’t prove that the self diagnosed individuals would definitely receive a diagnosis, it makes a strong and compelling case that many likely would.
Study reference: