4 ms·

It can help reframe personal experiences and past struggles for one, but it can also help gain access to support that isn't available if you're just a "weird ne

by hnbad 2y ago

It can help reframe personal experiences and past struggles for one, but it can also help gain access to support that isn't available if you're just a "weird nerd". It can also serve to legitimize your struggles to people who think you just need to "stop being so lazy" at whatever you genuinely struggle with by being able to point at a diagnosis. Yeah, the benefits are a mixed bag and subjective but that's why we should normalize self-dx rather than insisting people have to get a medical opinion to be "validated".

naruhodo 2y ago
As of recently[1], in Australia, an ASD diagnosis is a reportable condition that may affect your driving ability and therefore comes with an AU$9000 fine if you don't disclose it to the authorities. Though I suspect I might be ASD 1, there is now no way I would seek a diagnosis. [1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-26/national-fitness-to-drive-standards-humiliating-autistic-drivers/103147928 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-26/national-fitness-to-d...
- hnbad 2y ago
  That is fair and personally I would argue that you should not comply with an unjust law like that (how's that for a "strong sense of justice" in autistic people?) but of course it's safer to avoid the legal risk of non-compliance by simply avoiding the diagnosis if it doesn't benefit you. Frankly, the law doesn't make sense given that ASD is not a "medical condition" in the sense of being temporary or avoidable and the act of passing driver's ed and attaining a driver's license demonstrates your driving ability. If you were undiagnosed prior to attaining a driver's license, it clearly did not impact your ability. If you were diagnosed and attained a driver's license without disclosing your "condition" it clearly did not impact you either. It feels more like ASD is being used as a proxy for some other condition (learning disability?) that is not usually diagnosed directly. IMO anyone fined for non-disclosure should try to take the case to whatever the Australian equivalent of the Supreme Court is. Surely some NGO must be willing to foot the bill.
- lazyasciiart 2y ago
  Not quite - as of more than a decade ago in Queensland, but nobody noticed until recently, when it became a reportable condition in some other states with a possible $500 fine.

by hnbad 2y ago

naruhodo 2y ago

As of recently[1], in Australia, an ASD diagnosis is a reportable condition that may affect your driving ability and therefore comes with an AU$9000 fine if you don't disclose it to the authorities. Though I suspect I might be ASD 1, there is now no way I would seek a diagnosis. [1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-26/national-fitness-to-drive-standards-humiliating-autistic-drivers/103147928 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-26/national-fitness-to-d...

hnbad 2y ago
That is fair and personally I would argue that you should not comply with an unjust law like that (how's that for a "strong sense of justice" in autistic people?) but of course it's safer to avoid the legal risk of non-compliance by simply avoiding the diagnosis if it doesn't benefit you. Frankly, the law doesn't make sense given that ASD is not a "medical condition" in the sense of being temporary or avoidable and the act of passing driver's ed and attaining a driver's license demonstrates your driving ability. If you were undiagnosed prior to attaining a driver's license, it clearly did not impact your ability. If you were diagnosed and attained a driver's license without disclosing your "condition" it clearly did not impact you either. It feels more like ASD is being used as a proxy for some other condition (learning disability?) that is not usually diagnosed directly. IMO anyone fined for non-disclosure should try to take the case to whatever the Australian equivalent of the Supreme Court is. Surely some NGO must be willing to foot the bill.
lazyasciiart 2y ago
Not quite - as of more than a decade ago in Queensland, but nobody noticed until recently, when it became a reportable condition in some other states with a possible $500 fine.