“You mask it very well but you’re definitely autistic.”

This, essentially, was the outcome of my autism assessment yesterday. So no surprise to me or anybody who knows me. The obvious question is, “Why choose to get assessed at all when you’ve known you’re autistic for more than 10 years now?”

The answer lies, as so often, in what employers and medical professionals will accept as authoritative. In this case, my own word based on extensive reading, analysis and consultation carries less weight than that of a duly-designated medical specialist who had a couple of hours to review the results of a selection of written tests and speak to me about my experiences.

My pursuit of this assessment was for a personal reason: it was to provide evidence of the validity of my claim to need assistance and adjustments in my working environment to reduce the obstacles I encounter. I don’t believe it should be a requirement for access to such accommodations. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite for bowing to the demands of a system I feel is unfairly exclusive.

It was still a relief to hear their verdict: I won’t lie about that. It’s always reassuring when somebody else sees the same things you’ve seen and comes to the same conclusion. I would prefer if none of this were necessary, that appropriate accommodations would be provided as a matter of course based on a person’s own assessment and declaration of their needs.

In fact that’s pretty much my situation right now, stating my own needs, except that this magical piece of paper imbues my words with sufficient borrowed gravitas to pass the gatekeepers. In simple terms: if I wave this document in front of the people I need to convince of my needs, it dispels their doubts that I am speaking honestly.

The thing is, it actually doesn’t need a professional to get involved to identify when a person is autistic. Indeed, in many cases it’s not a professional who first recognises the signs. I knew I was autistic for all those years leading up to a professional agreeing with my own assessment. To me, and to the overwhelming majority of the people around me, my own assessment was perfectly valid.

I didn’t seek or need the outcome of my clinical assessment to validate my own knowledge that I’m autistic, and I stand by all the other autistics who know for themselves. Self assessment (also called self diagnosis, but I’m not keen on the word ‘diagnosis’ with its implication of illness) is as valid as clinical assessment, and it’s time it was fully and widely recognised as such.