Adult Autism Diagnosis

Increasing recognition in adults — many missed in childhood (especially women, those without intellectual disability). Persistent (lifelong) deficits in: • Social communication + interaction (reciprocal conversation, non-verbal communication, relationships). • Restricted, repetitive behaviours / interests / activities (stereotypies, insistence on sameness, intense focused interests, sensory hyper / hypo-reactivity). • Symptoms present from early developmental period. • Cause clinically significant impairment. Red flags for assessment: difficulty in social interaction, sensory sensitivity, intense interests, communication difficulties, comorbid mental illness not responding as expected.