Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Mental Health, Health
Joshua Nair
An entrepreneur has shared the signs which could suggest that you have autism as an adult.
Natasha Nelson has opened up about her diagnosis in a candid interview, explaining why adult autism diagnoses are becoming more commonplace nowadays.
The American entrepreneur was diagnosed with autism in 2023 after her youngest daughter was diagnosed, as she sets out to encourage people to get tested if they suspect that they're on the spectrum.
She told Associated Press: “If your life has always felt like it was in chaos and you don’t feel comfortable and you don’t feel like you thrive and you just feel like you’re constantly surviving and going from one thing to the next, what you got to lose?”
Advert
There can be issues that prevent a diagnosis, though, such as financial constraints if seeking a diagnosis privately, or a lack of health experts to work with adults in particular.
According to the NHS, autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can mean you find it hard to communicate with people or struggle to understand how others are feeling, among other things.
It is highlighted that autism is not a sign of an illness or disease, instead indicating that your brain works differently from other people - it is something you're born with.
Advert
It is also worth noting that autism is a spectrum, meaning that everyone has different levels of severity in terms of symptoms, with a person's condition often being categorised in level one, two, or three.
Some people only realise they are autistic once they're older, though it is not a medical condition with a 'cure', but instead something that may require support.
It's to do with more adults seeking to learn about their neurodiversity in the past decade or so, usually after their children are diagnosed or after they read about the topic on social media.
An assessment can be pursued through your GP or via a private specialist, where you'd be asked about your day-to-day life and childhood experiences.
Advert
According to Whitney Ence, a psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco, adults have learned to deal with their autistic tendencies over time, explaining to AP: “Adults have learned to compensate over time. They may have learned like 'I can’t display that in public, and so I do that in private'."
Sometimes, Nelson says, signs may have gone unnoticed in the past, such as issues with social communication or a fixation on certain topics, but these could be signs of autism.
A 2024 study in the JAMA Network Open revealed a 452 per cent increase in autism diagnoses in adults aged 26 to 32 from 2011 to 2022, while other studies suggest that there's an overlap with disorders such as ADHD and OCD, which could complicate a diagnosis.
However, other conditions, such as ADHD, can co-exist alongside autism, as well as mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
Dr Arthur Westover, a psychiatrist who specialises in autism at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, said: “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. "It goes a little bit deeper than that.”
Advert
As an adult, autism can be obvious through difficulties in social interaction and communication, or trouble understanding body language or non-literal language.
It can also result in restricted or repeated behaviours, intense interests, or an insistence on sticking to routines, as well as sensitivity to certain sounds, tastes, and smells.