Asperger Diagnosis in adulthood

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My friend has been diagnosed with ADHD. She thinks she’s also on the autism spectrum but has learned to mask so well that it’s very unlikely she would get a diagnosis now. Is that true? Surely if you are autistic then it can be picked up at any age, even if it presents itself differently. A lot of the traits she attributes to autism however can also be attributed to ADHD. Such as being overwhelmed by strong smells etc.

I can relate to parts of that, I was diagnosed near the end of high school. Prior to that, I had little idea I was neurodiverse and even now I've been told by most people that they would have no idea I was on the spectrum if I didn't tell them. If I remember, I can ask the therapist who diagnosed me sometime how difficult it is to diagnose adults.

Recently went through the diagnosis/assessment process.

It took roughly 5 hours and was full of tests, interviews, questionares etc.

They really lean into interviewing you about your life experience. There was also some things that I didn't even think were relevant, like explaining what was happening in a picture book. Apparently I described every single detail, which was consistent with "bottom up thinking"

I think any professional psychologist has the tools to diagnosis adults. I might just ask them a lot of questions before hand.

Autism in adults, especially Autism in adult women, is not as well understood as Autism in children. Knowledge varies a lot depending on the clinician.

Your friend should try and find a clinician with knowledge and experience in assessing women. These people are sometimes hard to find.

Autism and ADHD are common co-occurring conditions. This is unofficially known as AuDHD. We have a thread about living with AuDHD. She might be interested in taking a look at it to see if she relates to what is being described.

AuDHD = Needing routine/structure but struggling to achieve it?