Autism

Full disclosure: I have not been officially tested by a doctor, myself, because depending upon your insurance, it can be pretty expensive. So money could certainly be one very valid reason to not get tested. On the other side of that, my wife and I did choose to have our kids tested, so that they can take advantage of options that such a diagnosis opens up within the public school system. You obviously aren’t looking towards that path, yourself, but that doesn’t mean it is entirely without value.

That said, I did take the online test, which is primarily targeted at an adult audience and which (unsurprisingly) showed very strong indicators that I’m also autistic. I would suggest starting there. The way I look at it, knowledge is a tool; you get to decide how (or if) to use that tool. And when the barrier to obtaining that knowledge is low, it’s worth the effort to step forward and see where that knowledge takes you.

The website with online tests is linked under helpful resources in the collection of links in the sidebar, but I’ll also go ahead and link directly to that website right here for your convenience: https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/

The ten question test is merely a subset of the fifty question test; if you’re at all distressed about the process, feel free to start at the short test. (I took both, and they both scored me extremely highly.)

If you're fine as you are, then there may well be no point. Just make sure you actually are fine, rather than getting by at the expense of your own happiness/sense of belonging/burning out.

For me, diagnosis was almost an act of desperation after 15+ years of depression and anxiety that no amount of medication or therapy seemed to help. I didn't go through a self-identification journey or anything, it was suggested off-hand by a therapist who offered to write a referral. I forgot about it for several years, finally followed-up and got assessed and diagnosed in 2021. And to start with, knowing did nothing, but now that I've started exploring adjustments for autism it has made one hell of a difference. Which also means that if you do have struggles you may not need a formal diagnosis to work out how to alleviate them, though if it would qualify you for official support services or workplace accommodations it may be worth considering.

I had my assessment aged 29. It was a multi-hour conversation with two assessors via videocall (would have been face-to-face, but pandemic). I had my mum with me to attest to my behaviour as a child, though she left the room for about half of the time. Part of it was casual conversation, part was more interview-style with questions for both me and my mum, then there were story-telling exercises based on different kinds of prompts. I was a lot more honest during the conversational parts than I usually am in social situations, precisely because they were there to assess my actual mental state, not the socially-polite front I put up.