More and more adults are wondering if they have autism. These signs could help with a diagnosis
Natasha Nelson, a 35-year-old entrepreneur in the United States, didn't know why people meeting for the first time would choose to engage in small talk instead of deep conversations, or why people like to make their beds.
Then, a few years ago, she was diagnosed with autism, just after her youngest daughter received the same.
In the US, a study published last year in JAMA Network Open showed a 452 per cent increase in autism diagnoses among US adults aged 26 to 34 from 2011 to 2022.
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A 2021 study in the United Kingdom, meanwhile, found that between 1998 and 2018, there had been a 787 per cent increase in autism diagnoses.
The researchers of that study, which was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, said this could be due to increased prevalence or "more likely, increased reporting and application of diagnosis".
"Rising diagnosis among adults, females, and higher functioning individuals suggest augmented recognition underpins these changes," the authors added.
Here's more information on what you should know about adult autism diagnoses.
What is autism and when is it usually diagnosed?
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by a range of intellectual, language, and social difficulties, like rigidly following routines, having fixed or obsessive interests, and struggling to hold eye contact or understand nonverbal communication.
Autism typically manifests during early childhood before the age of 3, according to France's Pasteur Institute.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all children be screened as early as 18 months.
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Why are more adults being diagnosed with autism?
More adults have sought insight into their own neurodiversity in the last decade, often after their children are diagnosed or after seeing social media posts.
Some traits of autism can go unnoticed until adulthood when there are new social demands. Others may have learned how to hide certain behaviours, known as masking.
"Adults have learned to compensate over time," said Whitney Ence, a psychologist at the University of California San Francisco who works with autistic adults.
"They may have learned like 'I can’t display that in public, and so I do that in private'".
There's also an overlap of symptoms between various disorders like ADHD and OCD that can complicate an autism diagnosis due to difficulties with nonverbal social cues or executive functions like attention span, working memory, and problem-solving.
What are the symptoms of autism in adults?
Symptoms present differently for everyone, and many of the traits are common for people without autism, like enjoying routines or enjoying going down rabbit holes of information.
But to meet the diagnostic definition of autism, the symptoms must cause significant impairment, said Dr Arthur Westover, a psychiatrist who specialises in autism at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
"We’re human beings in general. We like routines... just having a bit of pleasure and feeling better with routines does not mean you’re autistic," Westover said.
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"It goes a little bit deeper than that".
Russell Lehmann, 34, has lived with his autism diagnosis for more than 20 years. The motivational speaker has routines that he describes as both comfortable and stressful.
Eating the same food and buying the same groceries, he said, brings him comfort. But if he skips going to the gym for an hour and a half every day, he becomes overwhelmed with feelings of depression and failure.
"It’s like no gym, no day," he said, calling the routine "an incredibly existential burden".
