A book for those who found out late in life.

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I was 26 years old when I was diagnosed as an adult. I found a book that is specifically for those who were not diagnosed until they were in their adult years or were an adult when they learned of what they have and did not get the official diagnosis. The book is called, "VERY LATE DIAGNOSIS OF ASPERGER SYNDROME (AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER) by Philip Wylie.

You can buy this book out of the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Catalogue. If you haven't already go to www.jessicakingsleypublishers.com and get a free catalogue sent to you.

Open this link and scroll down for a list of books relating to many aspects of ASD in (much) later life. (I am not sure if you are interpreting diagnosis in one's 20s as late in life, I interpret late in life to mean middle age plus).

http://www.akademika.no/autism-spectrum ... 1849057721

Thank You... Seriously!

I'm thinking of getting this book too. What did you think of it?

...I was 46/47 .

So far I think it is incredible. Very informative and comforting in a way.

You have my respect.

I have this book and yes, I can highly recommend it. It is very resonant, informative, compassionate and helpful. For those of us who realized/got diagnosed later in life, it's extremely comforting to read about others with the same experiences, that we're not alone, and our struggles aren't unique. It's an incredible comfort to be reading about various aspects of this kind of journey, going "That was me too! I was the same! I relate, this happened to me too." I think it's very important for older people on the spectrum to have that validation of what we've experienced.

Nice book. It's infuriated me for years that adult diagnosed autism is so persistently invisible. The "right" of the undiagnosed to remain ignorant trumps my petty discovery of what's different about me so often that I'd about given up. Here's a book that tips the balance back.

I've read the book now, and I'm impressed with the author's research. It continues to infuriate me though that the advice remains to keep quiet about it. We're f**king disabled, and the advice remains to keep quiet about it. !**%#??£€%*+

It's good advice, as people are not very kind and understanding, especially if they think you are far different from them, and, for an NT, being an aspie puts you in that category.

Sadly I think this "keep quiet about it" place is the awkward place we are stuck in, at least right now. There still just isn't the wide-spread enough knowledge in the general public, about ASDs, for it not be a problematic thing to try to tell people.

It's like there is a magic tipping point after which it may one day be something so widely understood by Joe Public that fewer stereotypes and gross misapprehensions will occur.

But for now, those seem to be what happens when someone of an adult, mature age, who is "high functioning," reveals they have an autism spectrum disorder.

There are still too many people who think that person must either be lying, making excuses for their failings or faux pas in life, or that they need to be treated differently (in a bad way), avoided, passed over for employment or promotion, etc etc.

The trouble is......the tipping point can only really take place if a critical mass of adult diagnosed do in fact make it public in their lives, and cause a tsunami of everyday people around them getting to find out for real what that actually means. It's only by revealing that a shift in public comprehension of the spectrum can come about. Yet until that happens the conundrum is that it's more beneficial on an individual level not to reveal....

I haven't told many people at all. Just my wife of course, and a few who should understand. No-one would tell gay people to 'just keep quiet about it' nowadays, although they certainly used to.

Did I mention I've written a book about this too?

---------------

Author of 'At Home Abroad'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1507565372

I was diagnosed at 47. It's been easier now that I've told people about it.

Is this book too simplistic? I read the reviews on Amazon and decided against it because several of the top reviews said "you already know everything this book says if you've read other books on autism or Aspergers" or something similar.

I found this quote on the publisher's website I found Googling:

"'There is an increasing number of adults who have a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome in their mature years. This new book will help explain past experiences, provide self-understanding and give guidance as to the future. People who have recently achieved a diagnosis, family members and clinicians will find the descriptions and advice invaluable.'
- Tony Attwood, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Minds & Hearts Clinic, Australia, and author of The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome"

There were other recommendations by other noted and studied people as well. I doubt "other books on autism" will have the same focus even if interpreted as so by inexperienced people.