What age are most people diagnosed with aspergers?

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I was 56 when I was diagnosed with AS.

Bear in mind I was about 40 when AS was added to the DSM, and 26 when "infantile autism" was officially added to DSM in its own right (previously it had been a variant form of "childhood schizophrenia"). So I was never going to be diagnosed when young. Back in those days, before 1980, the only ASD was the still unofficial classic (Kanner's) autism, and it was rarely used (one in 2,500 people) compared to recent times - and it was certainly not used for the milder end of the Asperger's range. Provided we did not have "a breakdown", or get into police trouble ("delinquency") or try to commit suicide, we were left to "sink or swim".

For many people born before the DSM-IV era, the age of diagnosis was "never". They struggled through life as best they could, not understanding themselves nor being understood by other people. Or if lucky they found a place in some Aspie-friendly nook where structure, order, and logic are paramount (e.g. the military or the scientific, technical and engineering worlds).

I was diagnosed with ASD at age 12. This was after I'd just moved to a new, larger school where the social dynamics changed and the signs became much more obvious -- teachers actually picked up on it and recommended that I go to someone who could diagnose me. I'd always thought most were diagnosed very young, so I'm surprised that the age of 12 seems to be one of the youngest here.

An early diagnosis is beneficial in some ways but not in others. It seems like a lot of people who were not diagnosed early wish they were, and some who were wish they weren't. For a while, I was of the latter group, but now I see both sides. If only better information and support (as in, any help at all rather than simply "you have this, goodbye, have a good day") were offered, and on the other side of the coin people were seen as individuals and only placed into special ed or treated differently where it was actually necessary, then perhaps it could be only beneficial. Personally, I wasn't offered any support or any good information on what ASD was, so like some others already mentioned I hated it for a long while. It only increased my social anxiety, which for me became a much bigger problem.

I was diagnosed with AS close to my 17th birthday. It was in a specialistic centre and was "founded" by my school. I think that in Northern America I would be (mis)diagnosed with just NLD (and maybe emotional disorders). I think that people like me should be diagnosed as having PDD or some sort of autism (I suppose that it may be not related to Kanner's syndrome at all). In 2015 I was diagnosed with schizotypal disorder (F21 in ICD-10, it is a mental illness). I think that it is proper to classify me as a person with a pervasive developmental disorder and a mental illness because I am so "abnormal", "whacky" (even more "bizarre" than someone with just AS(D). This description looks harsh and I think that it is good because it should say that my problems and difficulties can't be ignored. When I was about 6 years old, I was (probably) "diagnosed" with "emotional disorders".

Most people are diagnosed with Aspergers as older children and teenagers and even as adults. I heard that there was like one guy that was diagnosed with Aspergers at 65. My mom's friend is 65 and has undiagnosed Aspergers because she is in a major depression from socical isolation. But yet no one except for me has known that my mom's freind is an aspie.
But as for me, I was diagnosed quite early. I was diagnosed at age 6 or 7 years old. My diagnosis is Aspergers syndrome even tough I regressed (lost speech/functioning) at age 2 1/2. My parents noticed my problems at age 2 1/2 because it was obvious that I had autistic behavior after growing up normally. When I looked up the autism spectrum disorders, I found out that because of the regression I had, I was not an Aspie. So I self diagnosed as PDD(NOS) at age 19. Since I looked more about my history and symptons, I saw myself as actually having Kanner Autism. Finally, at age 20, I found out I actually have Childhood Disintegrative Disorder with sources from Interactive Autism Network, DSMIV, ICD10, Leo Kanner, Theodore Heller, and Temple Gradin to back this up.

ohoho, back in the 70's, when you wouldn't like being touched by some 'old', bearded, sweaty type then you were declaired frigid and cold and that you couldn't be helped!

I was diagnosed just last year at age 49.

After years of suspecting as much, I was diagnosed last year at age 43. However, since Asperger's Syndrome had been officially removed from the DSM by that time, I'm actually just considered high-functioning ASD. I have no doubt that had I received my diagnosis even a year earlier, I'd have been diagnosed as an Aspie.

As for the secondary discussion about benefits of a diagnosis, I wish I had been given the opportunity to better understand myself at a younger age. Label or not, knowing why I was so different could have helped me cope better as a child and a younger adult. Anyway, I'm glad today to have the insight that I do now.