late onset autism?

Post Reply New Topic

Many mental illnesses and disorders have a lot of symptoms in common with autism, this could all be from other issues you have, if it hasn't been something that's been with you your entire life.

Let us know how it goes.

A diagnosis of intellectual disability has an age limit, too.

A person must be 18 years of age or younger, and exhibiting the symptoms, in order to be diagnosed with the above.

If a person, all of a sudden, develops symptoms of intellectual disability at a later age, that person would not be diagnosed with intellectual disability. The neurologists would look for other causes, other diagnoses.

Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is another that has a lot of similarities to autism

By the way, if you (the OP) happen to be diagnosed with autism, I'm not going to get all upset. I'm not a "purist" in this sense. I'm not very political at all.

Knowledge of autism has grown considerably since the 1990s, when autism became a "Spectrum."

^^ thank you both. It might be OCD or OCPD. Although her repetitive patterns are more like rituals. But if it were one of these conditions I am not sure they would explain the intense consuming special interests, strange use of language (lots of rethorical patters and anxiety need to have language echoed back verbatim), stims, and struggles with social interactions and emotional regulation.

It is worth realising that due to women's parroting skills and generally higher levels of social skills it is much harder for it to be noticed or seen as an issue.

Also worth considering the general gender bias where autism is concerned most people only think of it if their child is male as it is often simply not considered a females disorder. Makes it much less likely for children to consider.

I mean I showed dramatic signs my whole life, over chatty with no stop button, meltdowns on a near daily basis, severally bullied at school in some pretty nasty ways from when I joined primary school. Didn't understand people's intentions, didn't understand why people were angry and didn't like me. Had issues with florescent lights, fussy eater, stomach issues. The list is endless. Yet noone noticed.

So yer. If anyone is worried get it checked out. Not every parent knows what to look for, and some although it is pretty obvious, simply don't have the time to work it out. My dad was very ill etc. Noone had time to figure out what was wrong me with me *shrugs*.

Good luck

I'd like to add selective mutism onto this list. Here's an article about how it is sometimes misdiagnosed as autism: https://www.selectivemutismfoundation.o ... -or-autism



Also, a thread I wrote on the subject: viewtopic.php?t=358400

There was never any doubt in anyone's mind when I got diagnosed with selective mutism when I was a young child. No one mentioned the possibility of autism, and thankfully selective mutism seemed to be the most fitting diagnosis for me at the time. Once I got help, my social skills and language ability increased dramatically.

Unfortunately, I still made mistakes, which I talked about on another thread: viewtopic.php?t=358470

Oh, and also you could add misophonia (which tends to co-occur with OCD and OPCD) but is sometimes mistaken for sensory processing disorder and autism.

Another one to add to the list that others have shared... My first assessment resulted in a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder... I don't believe it personally, but if a psychologist could use that as a label to diagnose someone who is convinced that they are on the spectrum then there must be enough overlap for that to be a possibility in there somewhere.

The justification was that early episodes of anxiety could lead to difficulties in developing emotionally in areas of empathy and that sort of thing.

Of course, quick disclaimer... my assessment had some HUGE credibility holes in it, so it could have just been a lazy psychologist trying to find some label to put on a piece of paper to avoid having to give me a refund.

Yep....the OP certainly did present us with compelling evidence for autism in her last post. They are more specifically "autistic" symptoms than most.

What if it was caused by brain damage? That was how Ricky Ray Rector got his. An attempted suicide with a shot in his own head gave him a lobotomy basically because it left him with the functioning of a child. Technically he wouldn't be considered intellectually impaired since it was onset in his adult years.

Also we had a neighbor whose son had brain damage too from drowning in a pool when he was 3 so that left him intellectually impaired except his was onset at 3 years of age. He rode my special ed bus and went to the same school as me. Then they moved I think because one day my bus driver stopped picking him up for school and I never saw him in the neighborhood again or outside his home. He didn't live on our block, he lived across the street from a family that did girl scouts.

Same thing happened to a student of my dad's when he taught special ed in the 1970's. There was a normal child and one day he drowned and it left him with an intellectual impairment so he ended up in that class.

What if an adult drowned and ended up with the same thing as the child that drowns? Is there a label for that?

I don't understand how a child with mutism can get wrongly diagnosed with autism. Don't they do tests on him or does their mutism make them fail TOM tests and other tests like imagination? And don't they listen to the parents too when they say their child is normal at home because they do all these things NT children do but it's until they leave the house they go into the state of mind of abnormality? If the doctors are thinking the parents are being too proud and want to see what they want to see, they can always bring in family movies and show the doctors and have them watch them for proof. You can email videos these days or show them on your phone. Back then you would have to bring in your video camera and tape and hook it up to a TV set and show them or have it copied to a VHS tape and have the doctor bring it home and pay them to watch it to prove your kid is normal in your family.

The adult person who had attempted suicide would be diagnosed with a "traumatic brain injury."

That is a good point. Selective mutism can vary, and in some cases the child may stop nearly all forms of communication, including written communication (that was the case with me anyway). I'd imagine trying to conduct tests on such a child would be difficult.




Personally, when I was mute apparently I never spoke to my parents. Only my sister. No one else. My speech therapist used this; according to my sister, they would get us to sit together, and would encourage my sister to have a normal conversation with me as if the therapist wasn't stood in the distance.

I vaguely remember being a quiet, overly shy child although my mom told me I started talking at age 1....though she had drs put tubes in my ears and said I had ear infections (I don't remember my ears hurting, but maybe I was screaming? I remember a beep test and not replying to the beeps.). I was a loner all through school but didn't really have sensory issues though I might have and not recognized them (they are there now). I know I'm over-sensitive to cold, though that might be elvish-heartbreak. Also things are too loud sometimes. My mom also told me that I repetitively put my hands on electrical outlets continuously even after she slapped my hand and then took me on a walk.

Honestly I am ambiguous. I move my hands when I speak and stuff. But I'm scared the doctor won't diagnose me and I want proof so my mom will believe me that I have autism.

Before I was formerly diagnosed, those were on "my list" along with: Schizoid, Sensory Processing Disorder, Social Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety. The Psychologist who diagnosed me was quite confident I didn't have a "Axis 2 Personality Disorder". I still don't understand how they determine this via testing/observation.