Receiving an ASD diagnosis as an adult could mean a greater understanding of yourself and how you relate to the world. And it can help you learn how to better work with your strengths and strengthen areas of your life that are challenging.
Getting diagnosed can help you gain a different perspective on your childhood. It can also help those around you to understand and empathize more with your unique characteristics.
Better understanding the set of challenges you face can help you find new and inventive ways to work with or around those challenges. You can also work with your clinician and your family to seek treatments that may be right for you.
In children, autism is diagnosed with an autism evaluation conducted by a psychologist, developmental pediatrician, or pediatric neurologist. Because there’s no single imaging scan or blood test that can diagnose the condition, evaluations include several different diagnostic tools:
At least one of the following symptoms accompanied a diagnosis of Aspergers:
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;Marci Wheeler, MSW
Many parents are fearful that labeling their child as having an autism spectrum disorder will make him or her feel broken, or that they may use their label as an excuse to give up and not try. Adults on the autism spectrum have found the opposite to be true. Giving your child information on the nature of his/her differences will give them a better understanding and the motivation that is needed to drive through challenges.
Discussing an autism spectrum diagnosis with your child is an important issue and one for which many parents seek advice. This article will focus on aspects of explaining your childs diagnosis to him or her, and provide resources that can assist and guide you.
An autism assessment is where a team of autism specialists check if you or your child are autistic.
An assessment team may:
At the end of the assessment, you’ll be given a report saying if you or your child are autistic.
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There is no cure for ASD. Therapies and behavioral interventions are designed to remedy specific symptoms and can substantially improve those symptoms. The ideal treatment plan coordinates therapies and interventions that meet the specific needs of the individual. Most health care professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better.
Educational/behavioral interventions: Early behavioral/educational interventions have been very successful in many children with ASD. In these interventions therapists use highly structured and intensive skill-oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills, such as applied behavioral analysis, which encourages positive behaviors and discourages negative ones. In addition, family counseling for the parents and siblings of children with ASD often helps families cope with the particular challenges of living with a child with ASD.
The truth is that genetics do play a role in autism. When one child is diagnosed with ASD, the next child to come along has about a 20% greater risk of developing autism than normal. When the first two children in a family have both been diagnosed with ASD, the third child has about a 32% greater risk of developing ASD.
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Lets step back a little while I explain how you do you get autism. Autism occurs, as specialists explain, due to unexplained processes in the brain during its initial development cycles. Autism is believed to start early as an underlying process that may not show signs or symptoms until your child reaches the age of three. Check out some of these stats below:
Fig 2: Autism Fact Sheet Demonstrating a staggering growth rate of Autism over the years!This is what Sue, a social scientist from a reputed university in Texas, had to say about how do you get autism: To look at it in simple;terms, autism is like arthritis. Arthritis grows as the joints decompose;over our lifetime causing inflammation;that;leads to pain as we advance in age. Just as;you dont suddenly;get arthritis, similarly you dont;just get Autism one fine morning. It has most likely been existing for a while, but signs of autism would only emerge with age. The only difference here being that arthritis symptoms grow over the lifetime of a person while most Autism symptoms are usually pretty evident;by the time a child is 6 to 8 years old
Neurologists;believe that autism may trigger during infancy due to complications during pregnancy or birth. Usually, when something disrupts the functioning process of the brain, over a period of time the brain tries to compensate for these disruptions.
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ASD is most often a life-long condition. Both children and adults with autism benefit from behavioral interventions or therapies that can teach new skills to address the core deficits of autism and to reduce the core symptoms. Every child and adult with autism is unique. For this reason, the treatment plan is individualized to meet specific needs. It is best to begin interventions as soon as possible, so the benefits of therapy can continue on throughout the course of life.
Many people with ASD often have additional medical conditions, such as gastrointestinal and feeding issues, seizures and sleep disturbances. Treatment can involve behavioral therapy, medications or both.
Early intensive behavioral treatments involves the entire family and possibly a team of professionals. As your child ages and develops, treatment may be modified to cater to their specific needs.
During adolescence, children benefit from transition services that promote skills of independence essential in adulthood. The focus at that point is on employment opportunities and job skill training.
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ADOS is a tool used to assess social interactions and communications in people with ASD or might be at risk of developing the condition. The ADOS can be used to diagnose the condition in both children and adults. Its also a great tool for people at any stage of ASD. People with severe ASD who might not communicate verbally at all will benefit from the ADOS assessment systems.
ASD tends to run in families, so experts think it may be something that you inherit. Scientists are trying to find out exactly which genes may be responsible for passing down ASD in families. ASD tends to occur more often in people who have certain genetic conditions. These may include fragile X syndrome and tuberous sclerosis.
Some things increase the chance that you’ll have a baby with ASD. These things are called risk factors.
The risk of having a baby with ASD is higher if either birth parent:
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Talking about your childs autism diagnosis with other people might feel strange or hard at first. You might wonder who to tell and what to say. These decisions are up to you and your child but getting things out in the open can really help you and your child. It can also help others to better understand your child.
There are several tests to diagnose autism in adults, but there is no single, accepted clinical approach to diagnosing the disorder in adults. Instead, many adults must go to their doctor or therapist after reading others personal accounts of autism and learning more about the symptoms of autism.
People who do not get the right diagnosis until later in life may have milder symptoms than those who are diagnosed as children. They will still struggle with communication, socializing, cognition, and motor skills. As a result, they will still benefit from behavior therapy.
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If you have concerns about your childs development, its important to raise them with a qualified professional, including a General Practitioner who may refer your child for an autism assessment.
Alternatively, if you have concerns about your childs development, and think that they may have autism, you can refer them directly to a number of professionals that can assess for autism.
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Clinicians have developed different tests that can help diagnose ASD in adults. These include diagnostic tests such as ADOS 2 Module 4, ADI-R, and 3Di Adult.
However, it is not clear how reliable these tests are for adults. The reasons for this include:
Autistic people may have of co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety or depression, than those in the general population.
Other disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, social communication disorder, or social anxiety can sometimes look like autism. If doctors do pick up on these other disorders, they can recommend appropriate therapy and/or medication.
Read what it’s like to be married to someone with Asperger syndrome.
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Because of these limitations, the evaluation of an adult has to lean heavily on direct observation. This will be in the context of a discussion between the clinician and the patient about current challenges in the areas of social interaction and communication, sensory issues and restricted interests or repetitive behaviors.
However, some higher functioning adults on the autism spectrum become very resourceful in developing strategies to compensate for their disabilities. Clearly, this makes a diagnosis based on observation much more difficult.;
But diagnosis remains important even when for those who have learned to hide their symptoms because they may still struggle in their everyday lives and interactions.
In these cases, its important to explore the lifelong presence of related developmental issues.; In particular, its critical to get detailed information about early childhood.;Sometimes this clearly reveals an early development that fits with a diagnosis of ASD.
While our diagnostic checklists are designed for children, I find that they can be useful as we explore an adults childhood development.;In particular, I sometimes interview older relatives such as parents who can recall the patients early childhood in some detail.;Often they can answer questions from diagnostic checklists and, so, inform a possible diagnosis.;Clearly, this is not possible when there isnt an older relative available for a reliable report.
There are no laboratory tests to determine ASD. However, certain healthcare providers receive specific training and can do screenings and evaluations if needed and who might ask parents or teachers to record observations. These providers might include specialized physicians, psychologists and speech-language pathologists.
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I have written about what to do after receiving an adult diagnosis so please consult this article for guidance. There is also the decision on who should be told about the diagnosis. Ive written an in-depth blog about that.
If you want to be in a support group, contact your local autism society to see what they offer for adults. There are also on-line support options available. Here is a list of the groups on Facebook.
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Rachel Ehmke
An autism diagnosis covers a spectrum of children with a wide range of skills and impairments. Because of this, the developmental disorder can look very different from child to child. Many experts who diagnose and treat children with autism like to say, If youve seen one child with autism, youve seen one child with autism.
The diversity of autism spectrum disorder can make it difficult to correctly diagnose. Sometimes autistic children are mistakenly diagnosed with a different disorder, like ADHD, or are told that nothing is wrong. Other times kids are diagnosed as autistic when they actually arent.
Thats why its important for parents to know what the components of an autism diagnosis should be: What kinds of information should a clinician whos evaluating your child be considering? How can you know whether your clinician is following best practices in doing an autism assessment?
Signs of ASD range from mild to severely disabling, and every person is different. The following signs are considered to be red flags that indicate your young child may be at risk for autism. If your child shows any of the following signs, please get in touch with your childs healthcare provider to discuss a referral for an autism evaluation.
The signs include the following:
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There are several tests that can help clinicians diagnose autism in adults.
Screeners are often given by pediatricians, but if there are red flags that indicate further evaluation would be appropriate, it is best to work with someone who has both experience and expertise in diagnosing children on the autism spectrum. Youre not going to go to a doctor for a heart transplant whos done two or three, right? says Dr. Epstein. Its the same with autism. You want someone whos seen hundreds of kids with all different stripes typical children, intellectually disabled children, autistic children and knows what to look for. Academic and medical centers are often good places to find experienced diagnosticians.
Parents can ask some questions to try to gauge a potential providers experience. For example:
Try to find a practitioner who is able to answer your questions readily and makes you feel comfortable.;A clinician who takes your concerns seriously and is experienced in assessing autism spectrum disorder is essential to getting an accurate diagnosis.
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