New study finds online self-reports may not accurately reflect clinical autism diagnoses. Adults who report high levels of autistic traits through online surveys may not reflect the same social behaviors or clinical profiles as those who have been formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

[u/mvea]

https://www.psypost.org/new-study-finds-online-self-reports-may-not-accurately-reflect-clinical-autism-diagnoses/

[u/KnightRiderCS949]

On That “Self-Report ≠ Autism” Study and Why It’s NOT Your Gatekeeping License

So I see people running around with the new Nature Mental Health study like it’s a weapon to bash self-diagnosed autistics.

Let’s break this down.

1. This study does not disprove self-diagnosis. It says self-report measures and clinician assessments capture different things. Not fake vs. real. Not valid vs. invalid. Different domains. Internal experiences vs. external behaviors.

2. It doesn’t say people with high autistic traits are lying. It says many of them, especially in online spaces also experience social anxiety and avoidant personality traits. Gee, I wonder why. Could it be... trauma? Masking? Being forced to survive in a world that punishes neurodivergence?

3. It doesn’t discredit late-diagnosed, AFAB, queer, or BIPOC autistics. Clinical diagnosis is NOT accessible to everyone. The system is biased, hostile, and broken. Self-diagnosis isn’t a trend; it’s often the only path to understanding for people locked out of healthcare.

4. The study itself warns against what some of you are doing.

“We do not believe these results suggest self-report questionnaires are invalid.” It literally says self-report is vital for capturing subjective experience. You know, things clinicians often overlook.

1. If you’re using this study to erase self-diagnosed autistics, you’re reinforcing ableist systems. What you’re saying is: “Only those approved by the system deserve support.” But the system is built to exclude. Especially the poor, the racialized, the traumatized, the gender-nonconforming.

2. Newsflash: Your “gold standard” diagnosis misses people. A lot of people. Because it was designed that way. It’s time we stopped confusing medical access with medical truth.

3. So what should this study do?

Help researchers refine tools.

Encourage both self-report and clinical data in studies.

Highlight the difference between internal struggle vs. visible behavior.

Not become a bludgeon against self-diagnosed neurodivergent people.

1. We are real. Our pain is real. Our adaptations are real. Some of us are autistic. Some of us are traumatized. Some of us are both. All of us deserve respect, support, and understanding.

If you care more about purity policing than people’s lives, you’re not helping the community. You’re reinforcing the institutions that broke us.

Self-diagnosed doesn’t mean self-invented. It means self-aware in the face of exclusion. And that? That’s survival. That’s resilience. That’s valid.

Edit: To everyone who thanked me, you are all so welcome. I am one of you. I experienced it all. Now, I fight for awareness on a macro level and, hopefully, one day, on a mezzo level.

[u/Mailnaise → u/KnightRiderCS949]

thank you so much. currently going through the process of determining if i might be autistic or not and ive been really insecure about my own evaluations of the situation for the exact reasons the other commenters on here are yelling about. it’s not really a trend!

[u/Maximum_Watercress41 → u/KnightRiderCS949]

Thank you, was looking for this comment.

[u/KnightRiderCS949 → u/Maximum_Watercress41]

It helps because so many people dedicate enormous time and energy to invalidate us, but you are welcome.

[u/harpweaver → u/KnightRiderCS949]

Thank you for this. After a lot of research I determined I was on the spectrum, then in order to verify I requested an official medical assessment. My psychologist told me my insurance provider wouldn't cover it so I'd have to pay entirely out of pocket, and that I didn't need one anyway because I'd "made it this far without one" (I'm a woman in my 30s).

So yeah, the medical establishment basically told me that because their system failed me as a child it was fine for it to continue to fail me as an adult. Some of us would be delighted to be officially assessed, it's the medical establishment that doesn't care to provide it.

[u/GoGoRoloPolo → u/harpweaver]

In some places, it's down to money. In others, it's years long waiting lists. In some places, you realistically just can't get one at all. Getting an assessment is a real privilege.

[u/Felsk → u/harpweaver]

what will an official diagnosis do for you?

[u/brookswift → u/KnightRiderCS949]

Ok, but as someone who was diagnosed, every time I get involved with a group claiming to represent Autistic people, it’s all self reported folks running it and they’re always the loudest folks. It’s made it to the point that I don’t expect to find people like me in groups supposedly for autistic people and makes me wish there was a word for people like me to use. I’ve interacted with other people who have been diagnosed and they’re very similar. I can spot them a mile away. They’re totally different from this generation of people who claim there’s some diagnosis industrial complex or a cost in the thousands as excuses. Those people still have struggles, but they’re not like me and I want to be able to connect with people like me through something. I don’t care if we have to rename it to something else, I just want a name that means the thing where people’s brains work like mine, and people professionally diagnosed with autism tend to be those people, but self reported people tend not to be.

[u/KnightRiderCS949 → u/brookswift]

All I heard was, not like me, not like me, not like me. Are you aware that ASD stands for Autism "Spectrum" Disorder? It's not a club. Get your ass out of the doorway.

[u/Exotic_Object → u/KnightRiderCS949]

This. All of this.

[u/juliaslug → u/KnightRiderCS949]

Thank you so much for this comment

[u/carcinya → u/KnightRiderCS949]

Thank you for this. The gleeful comments in this thread are wild.

[u/Abomb → u/KnightRiderCS949]

Yeah but it gets muddied by the people who self diagnose as autistic to be weirdos, when they have a high likelihood of not being autistic, possible falling under a different diagnosis.

This makes a stigma against actually autistic people who need help.  

[u/Avenue_22 → u/KnightRiderCS949]

It’s time we stopped confusing medical access with medical truth.

Except it's not medical truth. It's a psychological diagnosis, and a legal disability, both of which are socially constructed definitions, not scientific ones.

You are medicalizing social phenomena, your appeal to science here is a glaring example of scientism.

It means self-aware in the face of exclusion. And that? That’s survival. That’s resilience. That’s valid

Why care about objectivity or falsifiability when you can just call something "valid," right?

Edit:

Response to this comment is kinda terrifying. Are we really this far gone?

[u/ZealousidealSolid715 → u/Avenue_22]

autism has genetic causes. it is a scientific truth. also not everyone with autism is considered legally disabled. it is also not a psychological diagnosis, it is a neurodevelopmental disorder.

[u/Prof_Acorn → u/ZealousidealSolid715]

Allistics seem more like the disordered ones. Can't communicate directly. Low sensory awareness. Overly pruned neurons lead to an over reliance on heuristics, which risks incorrect determinations at every turn. Obsession with social heirarchy leads to high implicit bias and illogical thinking.

[u/lambentstar → u/Prof_Acorn]

I love the flipping the paradigm/narrative device as a way to help reframe. Saw a couple good vids on it once (and obviously it leans a little into a superiority vibe as a punching up mechanism), but it was honestly refreshing because it helps voice the frustrations many of us feel navigating a world that is so baffling and nonsensical to us.

I struggled so much to understand “normal” male culture growing up, and I’m not poor at socializing. Good masker and socially conscientious but their values and norms and heuristics would constantly elude me. Now I get it more but it feels almost laughably silly sometimes. I think it’s why so many of us go into psych or therapeutic roles—it really feels like I can finally now provide a outside, objective view into the day-to-day neurotypical psyche when people vent about problems or something.

There’s an anthropology/linguistics concept around etic and emic research, with emic being the insiders perspective. I loved the clarity and comfort I found when I realized I was just an etic observer of neurotypical behaviors. I still feel a human kinship to people but I know now how we have very different outlooks, and I no longer feel duress at that disparity.

[u/KnightRiderCS949 → u/lambentstar]

That's funny; I am an anthro grad (did linguistics research) and a social worker who works with developmental disability. You hit that nail pretty dead center.

[u/Avenue_22 → u/ZealousidealSolid715]

autism has genetic causes. It is a scientific truth

So does skin color. That doesn't mean that race is a scientific concept. The fact that you can find genetic similarities between people who exhibit similar traits does not validate your presumption that those traits are resultant from a true object.

I'm not opposed to finding support or understanding in the neurodivergent movement. It's great to see people talking about their experiences as social outsiders, building community, and promoting inclusivity.

But what's not acceptable is insisting on an unprovable "truth" and being mad when others don't accept it at face value.

Why is there no room in your worldview for doubt or skepticism?

Do you really think that in 50 years we won't have learned anything that would change our understanding of how the brain works?

Do you really think that 20th century psychology got it right, and simply expanding the definition to account for masking makes the label 100% scientifically sound?

YOU ARE NOT DOING SCIENCE you are doing social politics.

Ugh this is all so frustrating. I'm not trying to deny anyone's experience. I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I beg that you try to give some thought to what I'm saying.

I'm interested in positive social change. I'm interested in equality and acceptance and accomodation. But I'm genuinely concerned that a hopeful and positive movement is shooting itself in the foot by insisting on faulty appeals to science instead of advocating for acceptance on its own merits. I really want to think we're on the same team.

[u/ZealousidealSolid715 → u/Avenue_22]

The pathologization of autistic behaviors is a social construct and not always necessary depending on the individual, though some find it necessary because the genetically caused symptoms/behaviors make it more difficult for an individual to function in society. Grouping these behaviors under a name can then be useful as both an explanation and also as a way to access any needed accomodations or supports. Although, not everyone will want or need supports, or a diagnosis. Some do, though.

A lot of disabilities are societal in that society is structured in a way which makes it harder to function for some individuals with specific natural traits.

Race is a social construct as well, but I wouldn't use that to argue for example that racism isn't real. Money and the 24-hour clock are also social constructs, yet we usually have to abide by them or at least live around them.

Personally, I think psychology does have a problem with over-pathologization of natural human traits, and also biases regarding who gets what kind of diagnosis. Women are less likely to be diagnosed with autism, and more likely to be diagnosed with bpd, for example. I think the real solution is to make society more accessible for those who are considered neurodivergent or otherwise have those traits, and once society is accessible, barriers and stigma will be gone, and diagnosis will hopefully be a lot less necessary.

[u/KnightRiderCS949 → u/Avenue_22]

Kindly buzz off.

[u/anamelesscloud1 → u/Avenue_22]

(Ahem) This. All of this.

[u/Hubbub5515bh → u/KnightRiderCS949]

There’s no such thing as “self-diagnosis”. It’s an oxymoron.