{"id":344777,"date":"2024-11-24T19:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T19:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/can-you-become-autistic-as-an-adult\/"},"modified":"2024-11-24T19:00:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T19:00:49","slug":"can-you-become-autistic-as-an-adult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/can-you-become-autistic-as-an-adult\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Become Autistic as an Adult?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, autism is defined under the term “Autism Spectrum Disorder<\/strong>” (ASD)<\/strong>, as it presents in a highly heterogeneous way. Even though this disability is generally identified in childhood, a late diagnosis can be made in adulthood<\/strong>. So let’s find out together what the symptoms and the support options for this disorder are.<\/p>\n

700,000 people with ASD in France<\/h2>\n

According to the French National Authority for Health, neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) affect 5% of the population<\/strong>, or 35,000 births per year. This includes people with intellectual development disorders, DYS disorders (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia\u2026), Attention Deficit Disorder, with or without Hyperactivity (ADHD)<\/a>, and ASD.<\/p>\n

ASD accounts for between 0.9% and 1.2% of births<\/strong>, or 7,500 babies each year. France currently has around 100,000 young people under 20<\/strong> affected, and nearly 600,000 adults<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The link between NDDs and ASD is explained by the co-occurrence of several disorders at once<\/strong>. For example, 30 to 40% of autistic people also have an intellectual development disorder, and 40 to 60% have a cognitive or learning disorder.<\/p>\n

The “hidden” symptoms of autism in adulthood<\/h2>\n

The manifestations of autism<\/a> are varied and highly heterogeneous<\/strong>. Expressed with more or less severity, they depend on how severe the disorder is, the quality of the person’s environment, and the educational measures put in place.<\/p>\n

Generally, the first signs are noticeable around age 3<\/strong>, but they may also only be identified in adulthood<\/strong>. In such cases, a person doesn’t become autistic, but is diagnosed as such. This can happen when the autistic person doesn’t have an intellectual disability<\/strong>. Their symptoms are then mistaken for shyness, anxiety or sensitivity.<\/p>\n

Anca Ichim, a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (B.C.B.A) with VAINCRE L’AUTISME, explains that “the main manifestations in adulthood can include persistent difficulties with social relationships<\/strong> (forming bonds, maintaining long-term relationships, understanding social codes, understanding humour and sarcasm), a lack of empathy<\/strong>, difficulty reading other people’s intentions<\/strong>, and hyper- or hypo-sensitivity<\/strong> (to light, noise, smells, touch).”<\/em><\/p>\n

Diagnosis and support for adults with ASD<\/h2>\n

Diagnosing an adult with ASD is done in<\/strong> 4 parts<\/strong>: the first two involve gathering general information about how the person functions and how they understand and experience their physical, sensory and social environment; the last two aim to collect information about their independence.<\/p>\n

Today, autism is defined under the term “Autism Spectrum Disorder” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":344778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[360],"class_list":["post-344777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classe","tag-autism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Still underdeveloped and lacking structure<\/strong>, support<\/strong> for autistic adults has been the subject of recommendations from health authorities, particularly around cognitive behavioural interventions<\/strong>. With the help of qualified professionals, such as those at Ora Visio<\/a>, the goal is to improve their social skills, their behaviour and emotions with others, as well as managing anger, anxiety and resistance to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"