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Comment by Asparagirl | Hacker News Reader

It's a great obit. And when I read it I immediately wondered if he was yet another adult who never got an autism diagnosis: never married and not super social but also not standing on ceremony even with intimidating people like Buckley, obsessed with model trains and their tiny variations, punctual and clearly loving routine, chose work in a mailroom that was all about organization and making order from chaos, and so on.

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> Al fit into one category: Al.

I interpreted this sentence as declining to discuss it, but yeah, it's pretty obvious.

I'm curious... What benefit would you expect a high functioning autistic person like Alex (if he was) receive out of getting diagnosed?

I don't think s/he said it would result in benefit either way.

*she

Yeah, it probably wouldn't have mattered to him one way or another, since he was apparently a happy and gainfully employed adult, but it's helpful to remember that autistic people have always been here, not some recent invention or "epidemic".

A diagnosis may have helped him get medical care, which would have prevented his early death.

Diagnosis in and of itself is often welcomed by people with Autism. This is mentioned in all the English guidance (The Autism Act 2009, the Autism Act Statutory Guidance 2015; the NICE guidance 2012, the national strategy "Fulfilling and rewarding lives" and the newer national strategy "Think Autism") which all talks about the importance of diagnosis as a first step to understanding yourself and getting other people to accept you as you are.

Diagnosis is also an important step in getting services you need.

While I don't disagree with you on the benefits of a diagnosis, there is also a decidedly negative side to it. So much so that apparently it's a common practice to warn undiagnosed adults that they might not want to be diagnosed at this point, partly because they made it this far (to put it a bit bluntly) and partly because at least at this time there's not always much that can be done as far as treatment goes.

That said, there's a high chance of comorbidity when it comes to things like OCD and AD(H?)D, and especially the latter can be treated.

(I'm not a licensed psychologist, so don't take this as advice not to get diagnosed. Just providing a counterpoint.)

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