Anyone not diagnosed until in their 40's?

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Has anyone here managed to evade diagnosis that long or longer? If so, why do you think that happened? My b/f is 45.

Thanks.

I wasn't diagnosed untill i was 42 and that was only because my son who is 6 was firstly diagnosed!! !
I really think that I have always been different and adapted to it like most people. As to why I wasn't diagnosed it is because while Aspergers was suspected and written about at the turn of last century it was really only recognised late in the 1990's.
Cheers Chris

There are a lot of us. AS was not being diagnosed much before 1990, and it's still not diagnosed much in adults.

I received an AS diagnosis when I was 47 or so but I had lots of psychological problems before then.

Ed Almos

At about 41 i got dxed. i wasn't trying to 'evade' a dx, there was no such condition (officially) for most of my life. It only became a 'real' recognised condition sometime in the nineties. I would have liked to know earlier, but it wasn't possible.

welcome to WP

Me, just this year. I am 48.

Wow! I'm really surprised.

All the info I can find on the net is geared towards children. I am having a hard time finding info on how adults can get tested without having to private pay all the way. All the funded programs are for children. What's up with that?

How did you all manage to pay for this?

I'm going to help my b/f get in touch with the Department of Developmental Services tomorrow.DDS There's an office here in town. Anyone know about this or a similar program? Are they funded or does he have to pay out of pocket?

Thank you, so much!

~Whitewave

I was informally diagnosed age 46 and it helped me focus and find a way out - http://unlearningasperger.blogspot.com - maybe it's easier for older people to escape AS
Very best
JC

Adults are pretty much ignored, they like to pretend we don't exist or that we 'grow out of it' but that's not true. I'm not sure about the dx process in other countries. I think the subject has come up before so maybe there's something in the archives - use the 'search' function.

This year at age 50. I self-dx'ed in March and got a formal dx in July. Indiana vocational rehabilitation paid for all but a $20 copay (out of $200) to the psychologist.

I think some of us were in denial, I have been for about 5 years. Oh well live and learn eh?

I confronted my therapist over my lack of bipolar symptoms over a long period of time. I brought the word "aspergers" to him after I had dug it out of the DSM-IV. His immediate response was to say that it was a children's condition.

I stared at him a moment and asked, "Is it terminal?" Then I asked him to describe a childhood lived before aspergers was widely recongnized, and what a child with this condition might look like at my age, which at the time was 50.

dp

Thanks. But apparently the "keyword search takes up alot of resources and is temporarily disabled to prevent the site from becoming unresponsive during peak times." I guess I could spend a half an hour trying to hone my search so that I get some results... mmmm maybe later. I am quite busy and also quite impatient. Perhaps when I have some time to myself when I am not being watched like a gerbil by a hawk and judged by how productive I'm being.

Thanks, anyway,

I've thought about Voc Rehab. I've used their services. But they are going to want to get him employed. That won't work because he wants to work for himself and one of his compensatory behaviors is deception. It's gotten him in alot of trouble and he has to learn to not do that. Using Voc Rehab just to get the screening would be counterproductive.

I checked out the Department of Developmental Services today and they don't serve people with Asperger's. They'll serve Autistics, Epileptics, Cerebral Palsy Patients or Cognitive Impairment Patients (mental retardation). The loophole is that it may fall under "Other Disabling Conditions" but he would probably have to get in under a co-morbid problem that they did provide for.

So, I would assume that the call to petition your local DDS to include Asperger's Clients has already gone around and around here. That was suggested to me today. But I told the lady that I didn't have time for politics, we were too busy trying to keep our heads afloat after burning up all of our resources like time and money trying to survive the chaos that is the result of letting this go untreated.

I was pretty pissed about getting turned away. I'm sure you all have worse stories. We're gonna have to go down to Marin and pay some Dr. to do it. Dr. = $$$ Marin = $$$$$$ Dr. in Marin = Priceless. That will be an entire day's worth of time. At his convenience. Not ours.

Ah, well. I have damage too. Power relationships and impersonal red-tape really make me mad.

If it ends up costing him his ability to earn a living on his own, then we may have to use Voc Rehab as a last resort.

I can totally relate. I tell people I have an attachment disorder. But the one "professional" response I got was that that was a childhood condition. The diagnosis I got from Voc Rehab (Borderline Personality Disorder) is designed to feed into the Mental Health System, Social Security System, Welfare System and Pharmaceutical Companies, but it has little practical use beyond that. It is one of several possibilities that happen to children with attachment disorders who don't get help. But is it treated like an attachment disorder? No. We're incurable, but supposed to be managed with drugs and money.

"Is it terminal?" Brilliant. Heh-heh. I guess I "died" when I was a child too.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

I'm pretty sure I am AS (not gone for a dx and don't intend to). In any event I have traits.

I only heard of AS about 2 years ago.

btw - whitewave in Nth California, are you a surfer?