The Thinking behind Autism Self-identification Flashcards

I want to share a bit more about the flashcards I created and the thinking behind them, as the relationship between autism and the DSM-5 is, without doubt, complicated.

Schulz's choreographic drawing for a piece titled Four Movements of the Dead Woman, 1921 — Source.

When a person starts to wonder if they’re autistic, it’s a complex journey to go on. There’s so much information and misinformation out there. For some people, information can bring a strong sense of recognition - a click, a nod inside. For others, there can come doubt alongside a feeling that maybe, just maybe, something fits. One thing that seems to exist for all though is the see-saw experience of ‘Am I, aren’t I?’

I’m aware that the flashcards I’ve made are based loosely on the DSM-5 assessment criteria, and I know there is a part of me that worries about that. Because I am at my core a neuroaffirmative therapist, and my position comes with an inherent ‘authority’ that I need to be mindful of.

I don’t want to come across as endorsing something whose origins come from the pathology paradigm - an assumption that there’s a single “normal” way to be human and that divergence is a disorder. The autistic community has a long and complicated relationship with this framing, for good reason.

That said, for the people I work with in therapy, assessments are often still important. What sits underneath that, though, is real difficulty: the assessment process itself can be at best demoralising and at worst traumatising. I have worked with people who have experienced it as a traumatic event, and we discuss at length what the risks are before considering whether to pursue one.

And yet there is a ‘both/and’ situation here. While the process is genuinely hard/tricky/risky/problematic - with different approaches by different assessors, assessments can still offer access to support, self-advocacy, clarity, or an official recognition that addresses the imposter syndrome that so often comes with ‘being autistic’. The DSM-5 is far from perfect, but it can serve as a starting point - just one map, if you will, for describing and discussing autism.

The flashcards I created exist in that tension. They’re loosely shaped around DSM-5, not as definitive truth but as a tool, something to help organise experiences that might otherwise feel abstract.

They’re not diagnostic. I’ve made them to help people spot patterns, find language for experiences, and explore their inner world in a structured yet deeply personal way.

For some, these reflections may help prepare for an assessment. For others, they’re simply a way to understand themselves more fully without ever seeking a diagnosis. Both are valid.

In shaping these cards, I also want to acknowledge the influence of the Neuroqueer Therapist on Substack. Her writing helped me see the criteria in a more nuanced way and directly shaped how I approached them.

More than anything, I wanted to create something simple, spacious, and easy to use. This kind of exploration can feel vulnerable. It deserves care, attention, and patience.

This article is here to hold the wider context; the why behind the cards. Whether you’ve arrived here having already used them, or you’re simply curious about the thinking, I hope it offers something useful.