Adult onset autism

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I've recently come out of the closet so to speak on my autistic tendencies. In my 20s there was a coincidence of spectrum tendencies - specifically social aversion, non communicative, not being able to read other's emotions, repetition, noticing things other didn't while being oblivious to the obvious - along with a (perceived) substantial increase in IQ. I had a normal childhood, no autistic tendencies whatsoever, good grades in school, social, played sports, was comfortable in groups. But in my 20s it all changed. There was no trauma or any discernible external factors that would have contributed to the change but boom there is was. I'm totally functional but spent the last 30 years (and continue to) reteaching me the things I had already known as a child - how to have a conversation, paying attention, reading/providing the right facial/body language cues, becoming more social, limiting repetition, not reading license plates (LOL) etc. Today I consider myself an elegant functional autistic, more mature, more self-aware, intimate with my preferences and tendencies but no less intimate with my ability to be, well, normal.

So, boiling it down I have 2 questions:

1. Is there such a thing as adult onset autism?
2. Is there anyone reading this who has a similar experience?

Thanks in advance. And, BTW I scored 35 on my most recent AQ test (yeah I know its not a formal diagnosis, but I know what I am)

As far as I know there is no official diagnosis of autism that includes an adult onset. Personally, it would not surprise me if there is such a thing. As autism is considered a neurological syndrome, and neurology can be affected at any age, it seems possible to me. There have been studies in mice where researchers "turned on/off autism genes." Or rather, turned on/off genes that created behavior that resembles autistic behavior. (Sorry, I don't have a source on that. It's probably bookmarked deep in my thousands of files of Aspergers/Autism related material -- Autism, one of my special interests. Go figure.) So, if the gene thing is possible........

Other things to consider are environmental factors that eased or intervened in the manifestation of your autism. Once removed in your early adulthood, your autistic behaviors may have been set free in the new world of an unconstrained social environment.

Or, it could be another disorder that shares many attributes of autism. Social anxiety disorder, avoidant personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder (as distinct from OCD), schizoid personality disorder, etc.

Last edited by charlottez on 08 Aug 2012, 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oh, and as to your question about whether anyone else has experienced this.... I haven't experienced an adult onset, but I have experienced an adult awareness of it. I'm in my 40s and only found out a few years ago. But the behaviors and experiences have been there my whole life. I recommend reading, "Pretending To Be Normal." I knew about the syndrome before I began researching it, but I had no real and clear understanding of how the diagnostic criteria were realistically lived out. After reading many clinical and personal accounts of Aspies, it was clear to be that I was, and always had been, a full-blown Aspie. When I read "Pretending To Be Normal," I had to put it down about every other paragraph - it was so overwhelming. It was like reading a diary of my life. Give it a read. Some of the childhood things you thought were normal experiences, or just weird quirks in your behavior, may be made clear as Aspie in nature.

PDD-NOS can be diagnosed for late-onset autism. However unlike Asperger's which with Austism is folding into Autism, as per portions of PDD-NOS, late onset diagnosis of ASD cannot be met using PDD-NOS/ASD in DSM V. In other words assuming no further changes to the DSM-V, this is not a realistic option.

Adult onset is probably some other disorder, possibly schizoid personality disorder. One possibility is that some sort of optimum childhood environment and a lack of awareness has disguised the fact this was life long from you.

AS is frequently noted to become far more apparent during adolescence when differences become more noticable, it is entirely possible that your upbringing and the environment hid this from you till you became independent.

Jason.

While not stating that it definitely couldn't happen, I'd lean toward agreeing with the two replies suggesting that optimal conditions in your childhood may have made your autism unnoticeable... until rigid structure of school etc were lost.
As far as I was concerned I never had an ASD until I was 45... but, after diagnosis, looking back I could see it in all sorts of things I've done back to when I was 3. Perhaps not having a label meant i just got on with things as best I could... Oblivious that others weren't dealing with the same issues

Never heard of such a thing.

My diagnostic report suggests that I likely had adaptations that allowed me to coped fairly well with my impediments until the pressures of family life following marriage and children made it so much more apparent that I have some limitations. You wouldn't say I had "adult onset" Asperger syndrome, but you would say that it became more apparent when life got much more complex.

Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is a developmental disorder and has to have been present from childhood to be diagnosed. That is part of the difficulty of diagnosing adults. You need information that the patient probably can't objectively provide in most cases in order to confirm the presence of the symptoms in childhood.