Home > Navigating Autism Assessment > Individuals: Am I Autistic?

When to Assess

When adults see patterns in themselves that seem to match what they know about autism, they may want “answers” to the following questions.

  • Am I autistic?
  • Could this explain some things I experienced as a child?
  • Would an autism diagnosis help me to find some strategies to better function in the world?

As an adult when you see characteristics of autism in yourself an autism evaluation is an option worth considering.  

Reasons Adults on the Spectrum May Not Have Been Recognized 

Factors that may result in delayed diagnosis include:

Diagnostic Overshadowing

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  • Initially diagnosed with other conditions (i.e., ADHD, Anxiety, Depression)
  • Common for multiple diagnoses prior to recognition that they are autistic

Lack of Training and Experience in the Professional Evaluators

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It might be that those doing the evaluations were not well-trained in autism.

Masking

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  • Has developed strong masking or camouflaging strategies
  • Makes effort to hide their autism so they can “fit in” with others
  • Masking may impact the ability of evaluators to see characteristics of autism

For more information on masking, visit Autism Assessment Girls/Women: Masking.

Lack of Information

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Parents and other adults in the community might not have had the information or training necessary to recognize the signs of autism that would have led to a referral for an autism evaluation.

Misunderstanding of Autism and a Failure to Recognize the Full Autism Spectrum

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  • Parents fear isolation of child in separate classrooms and loss of access to educational opportunities
  • Influenced by movies, television shows that depict autism differently than their child
  • Strong academic achievement

Common Myths and Biases

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Influenced by myths such as:

  • "Girls don’t have autism"
  • "Autistic people don’t have friends"
  • "She’s too verbal to be autistic"
  • "He makes eye contact"

Just as the perspectives of others in the community may have slowed the recognition of autism, these same perspectives may slow the acceptance of an autism diagnosis when it is eventually made for an adult. Nonetheless, more people are becoming aware that autistic children usually grow up to be autistic adults and that sometimes autism is not identified until a person is an adult.