How to Self-Identify Autism as an Adult

Many individuals today choose to self-identify as autistic instead of going the traditional diagnosis route.

Autistics make this choice for numerous reasons, including:

• Lack of availability of diagnosticians for adults (you can read more about this in my essay Who Can Diagnose Autism?)
• Cost of diagnosis
• Outdated testing that relies on the medical model, resulting in missed diagnoses and misdiagnosis (also addressed in my Who Can Diagnose Autism?)
• Dismissive diagnosticians who are not educated in neurodiversity (addressed in my essay The Gap Between Diagnosable Autism and a Lifetime of Unidentiried Autism)

Due to how quickly the field of autism is expanding (I call it The Autistic Awakening), there is a vast amount of new information and resources available to autistics. The mental health field is not keeping up in educating its professionals. Frequently, individuals who self-educate about autism know more than professionals (I write about this in my essay Autistic Adults Deserve Better from the Mental Health Field).

“Invisible No More” Mixed media collage by Jackie Schuld

Many individuals also feel their own perspectives and understandings of themselves are sufficient to self-identity.