Late Autism Diagnosis in Adults
A delicate practice that every therapist takes part in is creating a safe and welcoming therapeutic environment for their clients to explore themselves. This is especially true for neurodiverse clients. Autism has become a bit of a buzz word online, but this increased attention on the diagnosis has led to many adults seeking a diagnosis for symptoms they have experienced throughout their whole lives. As neurodiverse individuals who were unaware of their diagnoses until later in life, both writers can speak to the difficulty of the transition from ignoring one’s needs to try and fit in, to accepting the differences and working with them. While this may not be true for everyone, it is a common theme we have noticed among the many different late diagnosed autistic adults we have worked with. Autism has become more prevalent, not just online, but in research as well. Research has pivoted to more focus on different presentations, intersectionality, comorbidities (diagnoses that often ...