For context, I have a young child. I’ve spoken to his PCP (we’re lucky enough to see a doctor regularly because of my job) about screening for autism but she’s so far only given them general developmental milestone screenings. I don’t know whether my child is autistic. I am, though I was never officially diagnosed, and there are people on both sides of the family with either formal diagnoses or identify as autistic but can’t access medical care (including a diagnosis) for various reasons.
My question for y’all: is there value is pushing harder for autism-specific screenings for my child? If this becomes a diagnosis, would there be value in that, particularly for a child? What resources at school would they get access to, if any? Are there potential harms to a formal diagnosis?
As an adult and given my level of functioning, I don’t see any value in seeking a formal diagnosis for myself. I’m…different*…from neurotypical people, and being able to put a label to that has very little practical impact.
*This is the kindest way I would describe myself. I don’t and have never had a healthy self-perception. Yes, I’ve gone to therapy. It ended up being a catch-22 sitatuation: the issues I was hoping to fix prevented therapy from effectively helping me.
I would say if your child might need accommodations at school or other activities, then you will most likely need a formal diagnosis. My son had ADHD, and his formal diagnosis allowed us to get him accommodations at school. These were small things, but they helped him pay attention better, be less distracted and less distracting.