Latest / Aspergers & Autism Podcast [The Aspie World] AuDHD / Why An Autism Diagnosis Is ESSENTIAL For YOU (TOP 3 REASONS)
Transcript
- 0:00OK guys, so here are three top reasons why an autism diagnosis
- 0:03may be essential for you. Let's get into it.
- 0:13Hey guys, welcome back to the aspy world.
- 0:15My name is Dan, I have autism, ADHD, OCD, and dyslexia and I
- 0:19make weekly videos all about this type of subject.
- 0:21So if you are new around here, you'd like to learn more.
- 0:24Remember to hit that subscribe button by clicking the
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- 0:32this account for more autism information daily.
- 0:36Guys, what's going on? Welcome back where we think
- 0:38differently daily. What's up, different thinkers?
- 0:42It's been a hot minute, but I'm excited to write this one
- 0:44because I get this question asked a bunch of times.
- 0:47People say to me like, is it worth having a diagnosis?
- 0:49Do I need a diagnosis? What are the benefits of having
- 0:51a diagnosis? Do we get diagnosed with autism
- 0:54now? It's interesting, but before I
- 0:57go into all that, if you haven't already, please make sure to
- 0:59check out my free PDF Autism Life Hacks book at
- 1:02autismhacks.net. It's completely free for you.
- 1:05From me. It's kind of my new catch
- 1:08phrase. Anyway, guys.
- 1:10So why is an autism diagnosis essential?
- 1:12Well, I've listed out three main reasons why I personally think
- 1:15autism diagnosis are helpful, but let me just give a
- 1:17disclaimer right here. Nobody's forcing you to have an
- 1:19autism diagnosis. If you feel like you're on the
- 1:21spectrum and you take all the boxes and you don't one of those
- 1:23like AQ tests at home, then maybe you don't want a
- 1:29diagnosis. And that's absolutely fine.
- 1:30It's your choice. It's your life.
- 1:31Nobody should be telling you what to do, right?
- 1:33But if you're looking to see or maybe having a diagnosis would
- 1:37be a good thing, but why would it be a good thing, then this
- 1:39video is definitely for you. So in that sense, if you're here
- 1:43to learn more about why a diagnosis is helpful, please go
- 1:45through your thumbs up. Love you.
- 1:48OK, so number one, this is like my number one reason.
- 1:51Access help. Now, an official diagnosis can
- 1:54allow you access to help that may be unavailable to you in
- 1:58your area, like therapy and group sessions, and they may
- 2:03have been restricted to people with just an official paper
- 2:06diagnosis. I know it's just a piece of
- 2:07paper. It doesn't mean absolutely
- 2:08anything. But on you know on paper when
- 2:11somebody's paying funding for therapy or groups or whatever
- 2:14sessions and they have to prove that it's been used by people
- 2:18with that diagnosis, then you can understand why that paper
- 2:21validation of the official diagnosis can actually help
- 2:24benefit you or restrict you from actually accessing those health
- 2:28facilities. Now I actually found this one of
- 2:31the most interesting things when I was diagnosed.
- 2:34My key worker, which is like an ASD development worker who was
- 2:37government funded, who worked with me, a guy called David.
- 2:40He he set me up with loads of different things like support
- 2:42groups and different types of like just meetings and therapies
- 2:45and all kinds of stuff. And he was absolutely amazing.
- 2:46And he helped understand that the the the level of support or
- 2:55the level of help and support that you can get because of a
- 2:59diagnosis. It was so beneficial.
- 3:01Like, you're always going to benefit from that.
- 3:03It's not a bad thing. It's never going to be a bad
- 3:04thing. But some people, again, it's a
- 3:05personal choice. I found it really, really
- 3:07helpful. I found those meetings and those
- 3:08group sessions and everything and the therapy really helpful.
- 3:12And, you know, I gained from that.
- 3:13But then again, somebody else may not gain from that, but it's
- 3:16their complete and personal choice.
- 3:18OK, So #2 is access to support. Now again, having an official
- 3:21diagnosis over an autism spectrum that will allow you to
- 3:25access areas of support from your local government or
- 3:27authorities that may be available.
- 3:29And this could be medical, social, financial, you know, it
- 3:32could be anything actually, because we all need support in
- 3:34different areas, right, No matter what our level of ability
- 3:36is. So when you have an autism
- 3:38diagnosis, those levels of support that you need may vary
- 3:42from the neurotypical average person, because neurotypical
- 3:46people don't need support and emotional support in the same
- 3:49way autistic people do. But having an efficient Lawson
- 3:51diagnosis may open the door to having that support for you.
- 3:54Of course, there's financial support for people who are
- 3:56having difficulties working certain amount of hours or in
- 3:58certain jobs, or maybe finding how to find a job because
- 4:01they're on the spectrum. And sometimes the governments
- 4:03and local authorities will offer financial support in those areas
- 4:06for you if you need that at that time, which I find really,
- 4:10really helpful. And it helped me a lot when I
- 4:12was in between work before I started doing, you know, YouTube
- 4:15time and I was just finished university.
- 4:17I don't know what to do and I found it really difficult to
- 4:19find work with the financial support from from government and
- 4:22local agencies. To just help you just bubble
- 4:24along for a couple of months was really, really helpful.
- 4:26But I'd never be able to get that if it didn't have a
- 4:27diagnosis, which would never have helped me and I would never
- 4:30be able to do this. So you never know what if
- 4:33something is going to be able to help you or benefit you in any
- 4:36way. So #3 is probably one of my
- 4:38favorite things, the self development.
- 4:41So a huge part of the diagnosis process is the acceptance aspect
- 4:47of knowing who you are, as lots of people who are, you know, in
- 4:50limbo with an autism diagnosis never really accept themselves
- 4:53for who they are. And an official diagnosis can
- 4:55start you on a point to do this because it kind of like focuses.
- 4:59You say, well, this is who I am. I'm an autistic person in the
- 5:02world. What does that mean?
- 5:04How do I define what that is? And like I said, the the the
- 5:07diagnosis doesn't define who you are, right?
- 5:10It's who you are that defines who you are.
- 5:12The diagnosis just allows you to understand that the things that
- 5:15may be different, you know, from the average neurotypical person
- 5:18and the things that you know you do that as a little bit
- 5:20different doesn't you know, make you weird or anything like that.
- 5:25All it does it says, oh that's an autism spectrum related
- 5:27condition and everything else is me and I am me and that self
- 5:32kind of development, that self exploration and that self love
- 5:35that comes from that. It's just so it's amazing
- 5:38because for years our car stuff like, weird.
- 5:40I was like, why am I so weird? I'm so dumb or I'm so stupid Or,
- 5:44you know, I get frustrated because I was like, so annoyed
- 5:46at myself. And you know, when I had the
- 5:48diagnosis realized, oh, it's not because like, I'm just, I'm not
- 5:51being weird. You know, it's my brain is wired
- 5:53a little bit differently. And that's completely OK.
- 5:56It almost gives people that, like, it's the acceptance they
- 5:59need. They go, OK, well, look, I'm
- 6:01giving you the authority to say that it's OK to feel like that.
- 6:04And it's OK that, you know, I hit my head when I'm stressed
- 6:07out and it's definitely one of the most, I don't know what to
- 6:13explain. One of the most kind of, like
- 6:14important pieces of my life is the self discovery and
- 6:17development from an autism diagnosis.
- 6:20And if you relate to this, you have to leave me a comment down
- 6:22in the comment session because I would love to kind of like have
- 6:24this conversation with you and I read every comment.
- 6:26If you think this video can add value to somebody's life, please
- 6:29share it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and give this
- 6:31video a thumbs up if you got value from this video.
- 6:32And I'll see you in the next one, guys.