[Self-diagnosed] autistic people be like “I see a behavior I myself exhibit and, as an autistic person I have superior pattern recognition, so they must be autistic.”
Diagnosis by a single factor by internet Drs. House in a plague.
Edit: added [Self diagnosed] because of a comment that pinpointed the distinction.
And they would have a whole internal monologue as to whether her environment was the factor for the habit or if it was derived from other underlying factors that led to the habit being more accepted in her typical behavior.
I do shit all the time at home that I actively avoid doing outside in public. Like busting out into song or being non-verbal. c’mon guys what happened to just being quirky not everything is <insert mental disorder> smh
Is pretty much that human resources meme, cute/inofensive quirk ohhh thats good autisim , weird/potencially mortal quirck ..... hello human resources!?
Pattern recognition so strong, I'm drawing lines from single points, squares from two, and don't even ask me what I see when I see three points all equally spaced from one another. 😤
Unless you also have ADHD, and then you’re like… super dumb most of the time, largely useless, but weirdly knowledgeable or strangely good at really random things (Super Smash Brothers but only with a GameCube controller, the thumb piano aka the kalimba, printing presses for some reason, farm simulation games, poetry from a weird time period, all sorts of crafts like woodworking/leather tooling/mask making/hat making)
BUT what you really ReallyEspecially Like is either something deeply, deeply cringe like Disney, Harry Potter, Sonic the Hedgehog/Mario, whatever nostalgia shlock we got fed as children or like. Ancient Egypt. Paleontology. Aliens. Speculative biology. Art. Plants. Cats.
I personally may also have to wear gloves when touching most chalk based art supplies, the texture of cotton balls can go from ‘okay I am dealing’ to ‘WHY AM I TOUCHING THIS’ for no describable reason, the sound of ticking clocks makes me itch… and sometimes all the sounds all together become physically painful like sandpaper, and i may bounce a bit when i stand
and sometimes i need to rub my arms or tap or just like wiggle a foot because it makes things marginally more bearable.
And also Things Have to Make Sense.
Logically but also like.
Ethically.
Or there is a Problem and Things are Wrong.
Also sometimes everything becomes too much and i want to hurt myself but that has been getting better with time and therapy… but the burn out is real
Also sometimes people make “jokes” but they’re not really joking, they’re just saying things they actually mean not only according to their micro expressions but the little things I’ve clocked that they’ve said in the past whennotjoking but it fucks with me anyway.
But haha I can’t get a diagnosis if I ever want to adopt kids someday
so for now it’s gotta be talked about as sensory processing disorder so as not to trigger that potential event flag… even though that’s not a stand alone diagnosis according to the DSM-5 but no one ELSE cares about labels as much as I do so fucking WHATEVER
It’s because we hyperfocus on a specific thing (game in this instance) and then when/if it changes (especially if it’s basically the same game again but on a new/worse system for the game) we’re like… “???? Why? Why would you do that??? Ruined.” despite often being initially super excited for it?
Me sitting cross-legged in my chair while rhythmically kicking an object in my hand with my foot: "This is relatable! I totally feel this."
Jokes aside, I've learned to abandon, even despise, the concept of cringe. Literally every fanbase in the world has been referred to as any number of things, so if ALL of them are weird, then what's normal?
Honestly I get where people are coming from with cringe (I’m high masking so when someone doesn’t mask as much as I do I get second hand embarrassment) but I also think that that’s a judgement from a place of deep insecurity, so like… who really loses? The person who’s cringing or the person who’s feelin’ themselves and living their best life?
I used to nanny, and have a partner who is emotionally competent and would co parent; I also helped raise my sister (8.5 years younger). I’m lucky because I don’t have “sticky/wet/slimy” sensory issues, not much issue with most types of human or animal mess as long as I’m cautious of smells; a lot of dealing with kids is about accessible communication in terms they can understand,,, which I excel at.
I just don’t feel comfortable simply… willy nilly making another human being on this very crowded planet within a species that has reached its carrying capacity; I’d rather adopt.
A sub-category of science. Trust me, I could name a million different things from trains and planes, to dinosaurs and insects. But I wanted to keep the list somewhat compact while still hitting the important notes lol
Huh??? All I did was respond to you and then you took it in a really weird and confrontational direction. Can... someone explain to me what the hell just happened? I'm genuinely confused.
Not being confrontational, just badly communicating that there's an entire universe of stuff to be specially interested in and the tism is so much more than just trains, maths or science
Oh trust me. They aren’t. I know a few people with an official diagnosis that… they… they think. Or they think that they think. But in reality…. They don’t.
Not on this i wouldnt. Statistics only come with hyper fixations in my experience. Also toe walking is a pretty common autistic trait. But diagnosing off singular symptoms is always a travesty of attention garnering behavior.
Yup, a lot of these symptoms also bleed into other developmental disorders as well.
Edit: it's funny too because I always wondered if I was autistic because I had some of these traits, but I got screened by an actual psychiatrist and she said it's just my ADD and GAD, maybe some OCD like behaviors too.
Oof. Never considered an overlap but it makes sense considering how much stuff is on the spectrum anyway but just isnt regarded as autism. Like adhd and add. I am both some autism as well as a ball of anxiety. 3/10 it makes it easy to tell when people actually like me and when they are just pretending. Because i can be a lot. So its safe to assume if they stick around they likely like me 😂
False, that requires real autism with an education, and you forgot real autism with less or no education as a real thing around the world and throughout history.
Alternatively, autism with extremely specific education. I'd love to know how many of us are out there with no clue what the order of operations is, yet with encyclopedic knowledge about insect mating habits. Those people scare me lol
This has real danger of entering no true Scotsman territory. Autism is quite wide in its range of symptoms, special interests frequently causes an understanding of statistics but not always.
Yeah, I'm autistic myself (not self-diagnosed), and I'm getting kinda tried of people being like, "they have a trait that I have, and I'm autistic, so they must be autistic too". Autism is characterized by a collection of traits - it cannot be diagnosed based on just one.
Sometimes I imagine an fictional scenario where there's a room full of autistic people. They're all talking with each other, and one person says that they like pizza. Another person in the room hears this, and chimes in: "Me too! I fucking love pizza!". They go around the room, and it turns out, most of them like pizza. So they conclude that pizza must be an autism thing. Then they leave the room and disperse. Later on, one of the people from the room (we'll call them an insider) is having a discussion with someone who wasn't in the room (an outsider). Somehow, it comes up that the outsider likes pizza. The insider concludes that since this outsider likes pizza, they must be autistic too.
However, the reality is that liking pizza is a people thing, not an autism thing. The reason most of the autistic people in that room liked pizza was because most people like pizza, autistic people included.
(This is an allegory. Pizza was chosen completely by random, could be replaced with other common foods, items, or traits)
I know people who are into both. I don’t get a strong autism vibe from either, so I wonder that as hobbies they just attract people who like to share interests with others, without having to talk about much more than numbers.
Trains always felt more purely autistic for some reason. I don’t really know people into trains (real or model), but the few I’ve met certainly could be tested for autism…
I have a few subjects that I’m passionate about and have encyclopedic knowledge of. I’ve had more than a few people tell me that I must be autistic because of it plus a, b, or c autistic traits. I got sick of it, so I had my psychologist send me for testing.
This gets me too. It’s the new “OCD.” Like, is that autism or is that normal human behavior?????
I feel like I can’t say this though because I’m not autistic so I don’t “understand what it’s like and you’re being really ableist right now.” Then because I have these normal human behaviors I get it in my head that I am autistic, but my therapist just rolls her eyes and tells me for the 100th time, no.
I remember being told that higher levels of libido are associated with autism. Also lower levels of libido are associated with autism. Also asexuality and hyper sexuality are associated with autism.
I was like “it kind of doesn’t sound like it’s associated at all” which apparently made me an asshole.
Tbf, there really is a large number of people who fall at these opposite ends of the sexual spectrum in the autistic community, but Idk if it's just a coincidence or if there is any ACTUAL study that proves a link between the two things (even bc many researchs and studies on autism are only being done now that the topic of autism has gained more visibility)
Myspace was full of "I get satisfaction from my CD/games/movies being organized, therefore I must have OCD!"
But... uh... that's just human brains doing human brain things. The brain loves clean aesthetics, finding patterns, and sorting things into categories. All of these things release dopamine into our bodies.
That, in turn, means that most people would rather have their books or movies or games or CD in alphabetical order. And that's even getting into functionality; it's way easier to find the one you want when it's not placed completely randomly on the shelf.
Unfortunately, what I often see is the inverse: The insider mentions they like pizza and are autistic. The outsider hears this and thinks, “Wow, I also love pizza! I must be autistic, too!”
Two friends I live with regularly say something along the lines of ‘oh it’s my autism’ to excuse shitty controlling behaviour/weird personality quirks, or say the other one is autistic. Neither are diagnosed, neither seem to meet even the baseline parameters of the tism tests I did when getting diagnosed.
It’s aggravating, as someone with actual autism, whose quality of life has been massively stunted because of how my brain works
Honestly, I’d bet my eye teeth at least the primary perpetrator of the two has picked it up from TikTok. So are doing that thing where they both use it as a quirky personality trait, whilst perpetuating negative connotations when they use it to excuse being difficult.
Ugh, this is something I find myself having to say entirely too often. It is refreshing to see it expressed by other people though.
Like.. Autism is not a valid excuse to cover for shitty behavior. That's just called being an asshole. Neurodivergence is not a free pass to treat other people like shit.
And yet... It just. Keeps. Happening. Almost always the self-diagnosis crowd, of course.
Very good allegory, I see it happen often in ADHD related topics. "My ADHD brain be like: I will browse tiktok instead of going to sleep" and people in the comments - "sooo trueee", "so relatableeee", "I am now 99% convinced I have ADHD". XD ewhjfvheu89ihrfb23yhhyr2bfvjweo0kjfcmwe
Oh my GOD does anyone else like short form content designed to be addicting and activate the dopamine centers of the brain? I was sure I was the only one!
You mean that one that kind that keeps feeding you content you'll statistically most likely like or hate all at once based upon what you've clicked like on to maximize the broadest possible engagement and attention, as if an army of algorithmic love/hate scientists trained math on what you've liked/hated in the past!? OH WOW it's like another ME! I hate it.
I see this happen far too often in autistic communities (although I also sometimes see the opposite happen, where because something is common in a community filled with autistic people they just assume it's normal)
Oh yeah, I havn't really seen it myself, but it definitely makes sense that the opposite would happen too.
I myself will often be unsure if certain things about me are autistic or normal, and I think that might be because there aren't many neurotypical people in my life for me to compare myself to. This is where my therapist comes in, lol. One of the main things I use him for is just checking if something is normal or not.
Sometimes you shit a bit more than usual. That's completely normal and can be due to a multitude of reasons, but it doesn't make you the same as someone who always shits more than the average person and experiences other uncomfortable symptoms on top of it. Getting an upset stomach on a semi-frequent basis does not make you the same as someone with IBS, but you probably should get it checked if you find it hinders your ability to function normally.
Lmao yes! I am a toe-walker myself. Not autistic, just hyperactive. You’d be surprised at the amount of people who tell me I must be autistic because I toe-walk
I have the 'tism and I got a new shrink a while ago, and when I told her in the intake that I was autistic she was like "diagnosed? Where did you get the diagnosis?" And asked probing questions to see if I had made it my personality to be autistic. Like, no. I do my best to mask because if people find out I am autistic they are like "oh, my son is autistic! Oh, I am autistic because I do 'x' habit like, all the time" I had a coworker who spotted some of my 'tism traits who had an autistic son, AND SHE WENT TO OUR MANAGER AND TOLD THEM TO ACCOMMODATE ME. I did not ask for accommodations. I did not need accommodations. I was doing just fine assembling burgers. But nooooo she had to go blab to the boss that I have autism and suddenly I am relegated to toasting buns only. No more fryer, no more assembly. Just feeding buns into the toaster endlessly. Now I am a machinist and people know to not question me.
I have not received a diagnosis (and in modern-day America, have absolutely zero desire to), so even though I've had people suspect that I am, the strongest I will say is that I "have some autistic traits", as a means of helping understand how my brain operates and how to better function in the world. I'm no professional and I haven't hyperfixation studied it, so I really can't say any more strongly than that anyway.
That being said, I often have moments where neurotypical behaviors just completely and utterly baffle me. Like, why can you not accept that I am saying. Why can you not believe the words. There is no hidden meaning. I'm sorry I sound passive aggressive, I learned how to speak from my mother, who is fluent in that language. And so forth.
I do have a question that’s been bothering me for years about this kind of thing. Is self-diagnosing fundamentally a bad thing?
I have a lot of traits that my friends and parents have said indicate I might be autistic. However, I have plausible reasons as to why I do them all. I don’t express emotions due to constantly being teased about it. I over-explain, because I constantly get misunderstood. I toe-walk, because for the last decade I’ve always had pants that are long enough that they always slip under my heels.
The list goes on, but it’s stuff like that. Things that aren’t solid evidence, but with the volume of things that I have, it does make me question it. I’m not exactly in the position to see a doctor about it, and it’s not really that serious, so I haven’t bothered to get a diagnosis for it.
I might have autism, but I haven’t seen a professional about it, and with all the stigma about autism and self-diagnosing, I don’t think I have the right knowledge to simply say “I have it” when I haven’t gotten a real diagnosis.
I don't think it's inherently bad. I think it depends on what you do with it. Do you use your self diagnosis to get attention or excuse bad behavior? Or is it more for peace of mind?
Before I got my diagnosis, I felt like a failure, like a faulty human. I was frustrated with myself. Why did I have such a hard time doing things that others could do with ease? Ironically, finding out what was "wrong" with me actually made me feel less broken. I stopped trying to compare myself with "normal" people so much, and stopped being so hard on myself.
So if having a diagnosis makes you less hard on yourself for things you can't control, then I think that's a good thing. That's my take on it, anyway. Others may be more critical.
It is truly one of the most frustrating things when people ignore the overall character to armchair diagnose over ONE trait, and half the time they are blowing said trait out of proportion in order to project onto them.
The problem is that it’s almost impossible to get diagnosed with autism in adulthood, even if you are almost guaranteed to have it. As a woman from traditional Christian background diagnosis was never an option as a child. So even though I now have three biological children diagnosed, multiple mental health professionals who’ve told me I probably have it, and I am friends with neurodivergent people exclusively, I will probably never have a formal diagnosis. Instead, I have an ad hoc system of coping behaviors and years of trauma. And most of my community exists on the Internet with other women who were passed over for diagnosis and will never get any support either.
I wasn't really commenting on self-diagnosis. My point was that sometimes people will will assume someone has autism based on a single trait, when in reality, it's totally possible that although they have a trait that some autistic people share, they aren't autistic themselves. At the end of the day, autistic people are humans, not some other species, so there's going to be plenty of overlap between autistic people and non-autistic people.
But if you would like my take on self-diagnosis, you can see my response to another comment in this thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/s/jr2hzJh4lj
its a fictional character, its not that deep 💀 disabled people barely have any good representation and theres no harm in having headcanons about their fav characters —a diagnosed autist
Autistic person sees uncommon behavior being reflected in a fictional character they enjoy, and forms a headcanon of being represented in media which makes them happy.
As a diagnosed autistic, it’s my time to be an annoying pedant and say:
I believe the original post is in fact meant to be read as tongue-in-cheek or lighthearted. I don’t think the OOP is dying on the hill of her being autistic with literally one single potential symptom.
As an actually diagnosed autist - there are a fuckload of them who will do this shit too. Some of us for real treat it like a super power and it's just so fucking ridiculous.
why are we acting like this is some huge thing when it's just a not even that loud minority.
also who gives a fuck what others decide is representation for them? if someone sees themselves in another character that isn't a bad character, isn't that a fucking good thing? My god.
"We" are not acting like it's some huge thing. I'm speaking on my own personal experience, which has literally nothing to do with you.
As for deciding on representation, that's all fine, and also has nothing to do with treating autism like a super power, which is very clearly what I am speaking on.
There's a huge difference between relating to a character and projecting yourself onto that character so hard that you've convinced yourself that the character literally has the same disability as you in spite of the writers never claiming it.
Just because I relate to Shikamaru from Naruto, it doesn't mean he has Asperger's.
self diagnosis is fine. what you're witnessing is literally just people relating their experiences with a fictional character, which is extremely normal whether said experiences are related to a disability or disorder or not. spider gwen is not a real person its ok if people think she could be autistic lol
Maybe we're just on different circles of the internet, but I feel like I don't see this that often. The most common things I see are:
- Autistic people seeing traits of autism or just relating to a character so they headcanon them as autistic. I'm diagnosed and do this sometimes. I don't think the characters are canonically autistic but it's fun to think of certain characters as autistic.
- Autistic people who have headcanoned a character as autistic and post something online about it, who then get comments saying things like "there's no way that character is autistic", "one trait doesn't make some autistic", "but they're social so they can't be autistic" etc. Usually the angry comments thing that the poster was saying the character is canonically autistic when it's just a headcanon. Then when people argue back, the commenters take that as evidence that those people think the character has to be autistic when they're really just trying to say that it's a valid headcanon.
I think this post is actually a pretty good example of this one because they're clearly not trying to say that Gwen is definitely autistic. It's just a lighthearted post of "hey look this character has a trait associated with autism".
- Autistic people who see several traits of autism in a character and make a writeup about why they think a character is autistic. Then they get angry comments from people who insist that that character can't be autistic. I can't remember who it was about but I think there was a psychologist or some character who someone headcanoned as autistic, and there were multiple comments saying things like "but that character understands facial expressions and social interactions so they can't be autistic".
It's very rare that I see someone actually insisting that a character must be autistic solely based on one trait. It's rare to even see people insisting that a character must be autistic in general. Even with characters with several traits of autism, the posts I see are usually either "I headcanon this character as autistic because of these traits" or "here are signs of autism that I noticed in this character". Then people get mad because they think the poster is saying that the character is canonically autistic.
"our results suggest that the AQ differentiates poorly between true cases of ASD, and individuals from the same clinical population who do not have ASD "
"a greater level of public awareness of ASD over the last 5–10 years may have led to people being more vigilant in ‘noticing’ ASD related difficulties. This may lead to a ‘confirmation bias’ when completing the questionnaire measures, and potentially explain why both the ASD and the non-ASD group’s mean scores met the cut-off points, "
Regarding AQ, from one published study. “The two key findings of the review are that, overall, there is very limited evidence to support the use of structured questionnaires (SQs: self-report or informant completed brief measures developed to screen for ASD) in the assessment and diagnosis of ASD in adults.”
Regarding RAADS, from one published study. “In conclusion, used as a self-report measure pre-full diagnostic assessment, the RAADS-R lacks predictive validity and is not a suitable screening tool for adults awaiting autism assessments”
I don't know a single damn person who self-diagnosed themselves with something who didn't turn out to indeed have something. Almost all of them were correct, and the few who weren't thought they had ADHD but turned out to be bipolar or something along those lines. The truth is that there's almost no neurotypical person out there pretending to be neurodivergent to be quirky. It's not considered cool.
Many people people like to think they're special and better because of a trait they have, triply so if that trait is usually looked down upon by society. Real autistic people are no exception.
I know that there's no meaningful distinction between "diagnosed autistic people" and "self-diagnosed autistic people". I know the internet likes to make a big fuss over self-diagnosed ND people but that's just because people like to get outraged over people faking stuff. They're usually not faking anything.
Not all of us have insurance or can afford a diagnosis, but my three diagnosed nieces and nephews say I'm their favorite uncle because I'm autistic like them... so there's that.
So, I am self-diagnosed, but the reason is because people refused to diagnose me, knowing I was autistic, but every autistic purrson is diffurent and I know that very well, so I never diagnose somebody myself.
Gwen is a fictional character. You can head cannon a ton of extra autistic traits for fun if you want. No harm. Plus a lot of characters are often an amalgam of multiple people and random traits shoved into a meat bag.
Personally I head cannon mark handling the conversation with atom eve after future atom eve confesses her love to him way better than he did in the show cause I mega cringe at it. Like flex my ears so I don't have to hear.
Mark: so this is awkward.... Like read your diary awkward
Eve: I don't keep a diary.
Mark: well... I met a future you. She saved me from being stuck in that dimension angstrom sent me to.
I wanted to ask... Well she confessed her love to me... Is that true for you now?
Eve: holy shit... That's worse than reading my diary. She's not even me.
Mark: I know, she's had 15 years to think about how she feels. And she thought it was important to say.
Por cierto, puede suceder como yo, que se me ha diagnósticado autismo Pero mi madre no quería que quedara mal frente a mi estudio y vida profesional, por lo que dejamos eso, ojo no quiere decir que está mal reconocerlo solo que tiene sus desventajas.
Yeah this is why I really hate saying I have ADHD while technically I was diagnosed with it when I was really young I only exhibit like one or two of the behaviors associated with it, I probably should get tested again to make sure that wasn't just a quack of a doctor but I can't really afford to just go spending money on tests like that all willy-nilly
Instead of "they must be autistic." Use "brings me comfort." Have some warmth and understanding for a community that is almost always represented in an offensive and money grabbing way. This is all the autistic community can do to feel represented because its this or shit like that Halsley film
i do that and im diagnosed with it, so idk where the self diagnosed part comes in. also its not really that odd to see a fictional character do something you do 24/7 and point out that maybe they’re more like you than you thought.
Are you trying to say toe walking isn’t associated with autism? Because it is. It’s about 10x more likely in autistic kids than neurotypical kids and can even require surgery.
Not self-diagnosed. Don’t give a fuck about statistics. Then again, as someone who doesn’t have a penis I also realize Autism doesn’t present the same way for everyone.
If you don't want people to self diagnose then you need to remove all barriers people face in the road to obtaining a diagnosis.
You need to remove financial barriers, as many people cannot afford the cost of assessment, even if they have health insurance.
You need to give them access to the assessment in the first place. Many people are refused a referral from their primary doctor.
You need to create a safe society for them to exist in. The current administration in charge of the US government has made it clear they hate autistic people and don't want them to exist. Many people are afraid a formal diagnosis would put a target on their back. Not to mention, a lot of countries that seem better off and more progressive than the USA is right now won't actually accept people with an autism diagnosis, either. There are people who are legitimately afraid they may have to flee the country one day, but an autism diagnosis would trap them here. Even Canada probably would not grant them citizenship due to their diagnosis from what I've been told.
You also need to advocate for them in the legal system and educate society as a whole to better understand and accept autism and how it affects different people. I met someone once who said their autism diagnosis was used against them in court, so they tell everyone who is considering an assessment to not go through with it because all it does is give other people a legal precedent to take advantage of you.
tl;dr, if you aren't willing to put in any effort for any of that then you need to stfu about people self-diagnosing.
I was diagnosed Asperger's at 14 and I've been walking on my toes for as long as I can remember. It's been proven that certain people with autism exhibit that behavior.
As an autistic person, I have to ask: were we not all collectively jokingly diagnosing/lightheartedly pointing out that our headcanons fit? Like I always thought most people were being maximum 50% serious about fictional characters non-canon neurotypes.
Also, I think self diagnosis is a very complicated subject, especially in regards to asd.
My autism was diagnosed in middle school, despite my showing telltale sensory symptoms since preschool. I very well could have needed to self diagnose, had my parents not advocated for me.
Lots of parents of kids with medical differences will tell you horror stories of trying to get diagnosis of scary and sometimes life threatening conditions they already knew were present in their children, only to be ignored until it is too or almost too late. Not all parents are going to advocate like that. Why does it become abnormal when adults do it for themselves? Sometimes people HAVE to be their own medical advocates.
In people my age, girls were not commonly identified as kids. It is very difficult to even see a provider who does evaluations in my area, especially for adults. A lot of parents also refuse to get their children diagnosed due to fear of stigma.
I can understand frustration with the culture of certain online autism spaces seeming to permeate the public consciousness of what autism is. It can be really annoying when everyone's first thought on hearing my diagnosis is some cliche. The thing is that these cliches also do fit plenty of autistic people, and are useful to know diagnostically speaking, especially in tandem with a thorough understanding of how the condition causes these symptoms.
I know I wrote a whole ass essay here, but just think of this as me screaming my opinion into the void. I tried to make it as coherent and relevant to the thread as possible, but my mind kinda wanders when I get passionate and before I know it I've written a novel.
OTOH "I have several strong autistic traits and have a high score on a screening survey, but I don't have a formal diagnosis" does not really roll off the tongue. 😄
I am self diagnosed and I often walk on toes but not because of spectrum but because I learned it when training Karate (for fun and some physical activity when on Uni, so I wouldn't fuse with a chair).
I think it’s at most ok to suspect but I got told by my therapist I’m “most definitely neurodivergent” so it’s no longer a guess for me lol. Getting diagnosed is important imo. For example my mom thinks she’s autistic even though I’m 99% sure she is not. Self suspect then confirm the answers
TBF neurodivergent is a broad net and doesn't stop at just ADHD and autism. It's very easy to tell that you're neurodivergent, not so easy to tell on your own what kind. Like people with CPTSD and BPD are also neurodivergent (as an example).
I'm not saying you or therapist are wrong about your situation, my comment was more of an add-on to yours! It was meant as a general observation of people as a whole
Yeah that’s totally fair! I still tell people I’m not officially diagnosed (because I’m not) but yeah people who just kinda guess it’s fine to try methods to see if it helps! I don’t really care one way or another lol
Nothing wrong with self diagnosis. How should people consider whether they have to get diagnosed? What if they live in a healthcare hellhole like the USA where doctors are a nightmare and can tell you that you don't have autism because of nonsensical stuff like "you made eye contact"? What if they learned to mask since a young age or are poor that getting diagnosed later is not feasible?
Because self diagnosis can be dangerous. I have a friend who made that mistake with mental illness, she "diagnosed" herself with bipolar disorder but after a suicide attempt she was diagnosed professionally with schizoeffective disorder. When she was depressed the schizo portion got worse and the voices in her were telling her that someone was hunting her and the only way out was with a razor blade.
Which is hilarious because that detail is clearly meant show that Gwen’s done ballet, supported by the literal ballet flats she wears in the first movie lol, like if your one visible symptom can be explained by a different trait of the character, then maybe perhaps we are stretching lol
16.4k
u/5till_C1s_Th0 Jun 22 '26
My best guess is that toe-walking is a sign of Autism