People often think that autism, autism spectrum disorders, and Asperger’s Syndrome are disorders that only occur in childhood. There’s a lot of information on how pervasive developmental disorders, of which autism spectrum disorders are a part, are recognisable and diagnosable in children who are – as the word says – still developing.
But what about the adults those children grow up to be?
Or the adults who never got diagnosed but are still developmentally “behind” on their peers in some areas like social skills or nonverbal communication?
This blog started as a personal account of my journey in getting an adult diagnosis. Along the way I collected and digested so much information, so many personal accounts and so many clinical and diagnostic tools, that I thought it would be a good idea to collect those resources in one place.
So, in the menu “Adult diagnosis”, you will be able to find:
- A list of the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria (also sometimes referred to as DSM-V)
- A list of the ICD-10 classifications of Pervasive Developmental Disorders
- A book review of Cynthia Kim’s book I Think I Might Be Autistic (coming soon)
- An overview of my own experiences getting diagnosed as an adult in the Netherlands
- A list of suggestions for further reading (coming soon)
Also, for those of you who are new to the whole thing, I know you’re going to love a handy list of abbreviations and such.
| ASD | Autistic Spectrum Disorder |
| AS | Asperger’s Syndrome |
| Aspie | someone diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, often used as self-identification |
| Autie | someone diagnosed with Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder, often used as self-identification |
| acceptance | the idea that autistic people aren’t “faulty”, just different |
| self-advocacy | standing up for your own needs and wants, in whatever form you feel is right for you |
| advocacy | standing up for someone else’s needs and wants when their self-advocacy is rejected or when they are incapacitated in another way |
| neurotypical (NT) | someone without any neurological disorders, often used to mean non-autistic (although this is inaccurate because non-autistic people can still be neurodivergent, for example depression or OCD) |
| allistic | someone who is not autistic |
| stimming | short for “self-stimulation”, used to mean repetitive movements (rocking, flapping, stroking) that have a sensory soothing or sensory enhancing effect |
| executive function | umbrella term for cognitive processes such as planning, working memory, verbal reasoning, mental flexibility, multi-tasking, and starting and/or finishing tasks |
| comorbidity | the high chance of someone on the autistic spectrum having another disorder such as ADHD, social anxiety, or depression |
...autisticook 