Misdiagnosis, or missed diagnosis?

[autism-and-autotune]

I know I vent on here about my family a lot, and maybe it's best to not give in to anger all the time but sometimes it's as if I have no choice.

Recently I've been able to access my IEP from high school, and this is the first opportunity I've had to read it post-diagnosis. What a ride.

How did my diagnosis miss the mark? I understand that autism is a developmental disorder, and in my case specifically it has taken a lot of time for overall development, but seriously. I do wonder sometimes if there was pressure on whoever diagnosed me to not give me autism, due to whatever fears or stigmas my parents may have had.

I don't know what to say at this point.

 

[vergil96]

I do wonder sometimes if there was pressure on whoever diagnosed me to not give me autism, due to whatever fears or stigmas my parents may have had.

Yes, this is what doctors do. In psychiatry, something is diagnosed as an illness only if it causes a problem for the person in question. If something is just different from others and doesn't cause problems, it's not an illness. Why psychiatrists do that is in order not to stigmatise differences. And differences shouldn't be stigmatised.

The problem begins when you do have a problem and nobody knows why, because apparently everything is fine... And when the root of your problems gets misidentified and you get treated in a way that doesn't help and might even be harmful (I have a lot to say about psychotherapy and how my autism interplayed with it, for example...)

 

[autism-and-autotune]

Yes, this is what doctors do. In psychiatry, something is diagnosed as an illness only if it causes a problem for the person in question. If something is just different from others and doesn't cause problems, it's not an illness. Why psychiatrists do that is in order not to stigmatise differences. And differences shouldn't be stigmatised.

The problem begins when you do have a problem and nobody knows why, because apparently everything is fine... And when the root of your problems gets misidentified and you get treated in a way that doesn't help and might even be harmful (I have a lot to say about psychotherapy and how my autism interplayed with it, for example...)

Hmm, thanks for sharing your wisdom.

 

[PastelPetals]

I was diagnosed with NVLD a couple years before my autism diagnosis I consider it to pretty much just be autism. The reason I was diagnosed with NVLD and not autism was because I was quite verbal and my challenges were chalked up to behavioural problems, learning disorders, and sensory/motor issues plus ADHD. Of course when you add those up along with an NVLD diagnosis you just have autism so that's why I was diagnosed with autism at 14.

Many doctors will stray away from diagnosis like autism because there is a stigma but often bright people who can speak fluently will simply be missed even if they need things like an IEP or lots of therapy or take a ton of time to develop. Even when we fall apart it tends to be misinterpreted because we are smart.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I had a client, new to the program. Nonverbal but “high functioning” in that he looked pretty normal, could dress himself, take care of his hygiene needs.

He was 18 years old and clearly autistic. But the school psychologist did not diagnose him as autistic because state law says a child with an autism diagnosis must get a specialized education and his school did not have one. If he was diagnosed as autistic, the school would have to send him, and pay for, a specialized education.