Why self-diagnosis can 100% be valid

Saying "self-diagnosis isn't valid because everyone is claiming to be autistic after watching a single TikTok video" is as accurate as saying "formal diagnosis isn't valid because all practitioners are telling people they can't be autistic after meeting them for 5 minutes."

Yes, both happen. But it doesn't make either of them universally true.

I actually believe there are likely some people out there who watched a TikTok video or two (probably ones misrepresenting autism) and mistakenly came to the conclusion they're autistic (I think younger people are especially susceptible to this), BUT...

There are also an alarming number of formally trained practitioners working from outdated knowledge, or who are simply not doing what they were trained to do (differential diagnosis, I'll explain what this means in a sec) and then incorrectly dismissing autism in a matter of minutes.

Self-diagnosis isn't inherently problematic because some people get it wrong... just like formal diagnosis isn't inherently problematic because some practitioners get it wrong. 

(And I would NOT be surprised if more formally trained practitioners get it wrong than people who self-diagnose... I would love someone to actually study this.)

With that said, I'm going to explain this even further for those who aren't convinced yet that self-diagnosis can 100% be valid.

So, practitioners are trained to perform something called a differential diagnosis. 

This is an EXTENSIVE and EXHAUSTIVE process of learning about the individual's experiences and behaviors, evaluating where they fit in the context of all known conditions, and eliminating those that don't fit fully... until they land on one that does.

For an autism evaluation, this includes far more than just what's observable in the context of an evaluation. 

This includes testimony from parents, teachers, caregivers, and most importantly, the individual... to provide elaborate details involving how they've been impacted by their challenges FROM CHILDHOOD to present day.

Autism assessors who don't do the differential diagnosis process correctly will ABSOLUTELY get it wrong. Additionally, autism assessors who don't understand the high masking, lower support needs presentation of autism will also ABSOLUTELY get it wrong. If not always, at least sometimes.

And I know this to be true because I have seen it happen with my own eyes.

On the other hand and in the exact same vein, if an individual spends 5 minutes learning about autism from TikTok and then decides they're autistic, they will also, of COURSE, be likely to get it wrong.

BUT...

If a person studies the diagnostic criteria (which are easily accessible at this point)... and I mean STUDIES... researching what they look like, how they manifest, what is required to meet the criteria from a diagnostic standpoint...

And ALSO has a complete picture of their own lived experiences... 

And therefore is able to immediately understand if the criteria apply to them... 

This personal assessment can potentially be as accurate as an evaluation done by a trained practitioner... 

If not MORE ACCURATE than practitioners who have outdated knowledge... or who simply don't take the time to conduct the evaluation correctly.

Tl;dr self-diagnosis can absolutely be valid. And all I have to say is this... if you know... you ABSOLUTELY know.