| Not at all an inappropriate question. And I'm always glad to talk about any of this stuff and hopefully help in any way that I can. Side note: Vyvanse has been life-changing for me as well. There's a simultaneous grieving for what could have been all those years, with excitement about what's finally possible. To your main question, I had the exact same question for years. And I see many people articulating the same sentiment, online and in person. In fact, several years before my diagnosis, I saw a far less-qualified therapist about a diagnosis. I firmly disagreed with her principles in how I should answer questions. In hindsight, my disagreement was correct. (As a basic example, if I was able to learn how to make eye contact - no matter how hard and extreme it was to teach myself, and how much effort it now takes - then that is not an issue/symptom in that therapists mind. I know now that is completely wrong, given how masking works, especially for adults.) After that initial meeting, I suspected the diagnosis would come up negative (it did). And I was left to consider for several what would be the point in getting a diagnosis from someone far more qualified. By the time I decided to actually seek out a far more qualified professional to do a far more thorough assessment, I was very clear on why a diagnosis was important: I needed to understand if I had multiple symptoms to address individually (irregular sleep, executive function issues, anxiety, social challenges, etc), or if that collection of symptoms would be better worked on if I understood that it may actually be one thing - autism - and should be approached as such. So, for me, the utility was because I needed to know what I was working on, in order to work effectively on it. For example, executive function issues stemming from autism would be approached differently than "you just never learned how to prioritize and start things." Or, social/emotional issues stemming from autism are approached very differently (ie: I may start at more basic and fundamental places, and fill in very different knowledge gaps) than if I was neurotypical. That said, I know of people who don't have official diagnoses, and they're okay with that. Some have fully adopted the diagnosis and researched how to approach it. Some haven't and have chosen to recognize that they're different. And both of these paths seemed to work for these people. For me, I would just much rather know. Let me know if that helps or if it begets any other questions. |
Another poster commented on it, but I definitely thought of my ADHD diagnosis/treatment as panacea. I believe that's because Vyvanse has (amongst other things) largely put a lid on the anxiety that I've struggled with my whole life. I certainly share your mixed emotions with the late diagnosis and subsequent success with medication there. It's hard not to dwell on the past, but overwhelmingly, I'm enjoying my new life.
The eye contact one is interesting. I recall being yelled at a lot in childhood for not looking at people when I speak to them. As an adult, I find myself forcing it when I remember; it honestly makes me feel ill just typing this and thinking about eye contact though hahaha
Your rationale for working on things from an autism-first perspective makes a lot of sense. In fact, it's precisely the reason we got our son diagnosed at 3 - it changes how his speech therapist, physiotherapist, OT, etc treat his various challenges. Perhaps that's another reason for me to seek a diagnosis - it should be easier to better myself if I have some clarity around what's actually going on...
Thanks!!