They only work with kids...

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AKA Excuses why professionals specializing in ASD won't take on adult patients.

Ever hear this? Where the ONLY experts on autism and/or Aspergers are entirely focused on child patients and no adults? I talked to one expert who can't help me who referred me to another expert that can't help me because I'm an adult and he said adult patients with Aspergers are out of his league.

Is it really that different? Is there absolutely nothing they can do for an adult?

There aren't a lot of specialists in adult AS, simple as that. If they think they can't treat an adult AS client, isn't it better they say they can't than they try and completely mess it up?

Many of us have had to educate our own counselors, odd as that seems.

An AS adult is diffferent from an AS child. Your mom is probably saying you are immature, which may or may not be true but has little bearing on your treatment...

Yeah, that seems to be the norm in most places. I've tried finding support groups in my area but they are all for kids.

I have not directly encounteredt his, but that's probably because I didn't take any effort to contact a professional/agency who I know specialize in children. Maybe I could have/should have tried, because one agency I badly wanted to get into contact with, takes people up to age 21, and I was 21 when I first comtemplated getting a referral to them...but then again they have so long waiting lists that I'd probably have outaged their services by the time I could get in.

However, in my case, I am lucky in some ways, since there is in fact an adult ASD clinic in my city. They have a huge, huge, HUGE waiting lists, but at least they exist.

By the way, is it for diagnosis or treatment tha tyou are looking for a professional? Where I live, if it's for diagnosis, child psychiatrists/psychologists might take an occasional adult if there is no adult psychiatrist/psychologist with knowledge of autism in the area. For treatment, age guideliens are more strict.

your mom wants you treated for your special interest? that's weird. I'd think she'd be more interested in social skills or something like that, therapies for which do change as people get older. I see a behavioral health specialist.

Pfft I bet there are still lot of adults out there that do childish things like watching cartoons and there are even adults out there who collect toys because they are collectibles. Are they going to even admit they still play with them or look at them or customize them or even watch cartoons? No way because they are too ashamed and they think it's not normal. And when they do admit they play with toys or watch cartoons they are going to say they watched them with their child or nephew or niece or another kid they watched. They will also say the same thing about toys too. Maybe if people start admitting their "guilty pleasure" more people might open up and admit it too.

When I mention AS to my Psychiatrist he said "That's something diagnosed in children and there's no pill for that and this is a place that gives pills." My CURRENT Psychiatrist said I could have it (He was kind of supportive of the idea) which made me feel better.

When I was 18, I lied, saying I was 16, so I could get an additional two years of help with a new person. By the time I was twenty I started to look twenty. I tried to get stress management later on but all they would treat was my depression and "ADHD tendencies" even though it's actually AS. This only made me mighty angry. Ironically, my anger pulled me out of depression when I started being more active to vent my rage. Last year I looked around for help on the internet but it's mostly at expensive places and far away places... at least half of it is all for children.

The best cure is the will to defy what others wrongly believe!

Kids are cute and adorable...so many mental health professionals simply want to deal with kids. Yet, kids do not remain kids forever...and many are dropped from programs and services the moment they "age out" of the mental health care system. That
becomes a BIG problem, concern and fear for many parents. What happens to my 'special needs child" when he/she becomes an adult?

Bear in mind, in the future you will be seeing a tremendous amount of programs and services being created for adults. ALL these kids being diagnosed with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders in current times will ALL be adults someday...and there
will be a need to address their "ADULT" issues. It is already happening now as colleges and universities are adding services to address the needs of students with Autism and ASD.