Who Is This Autism Quiz For?
Answer the quiz questions below to see if you could have autism as an adult.
Below is a list of questions that relate to life experiences common among adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Please read each question carefully, and indicate how often you have experienced the same or similar challenges in the past few months.
How Accurate Is It?
This quiz is NOT a diagnostic tool. Mental health disorders can only be diagnosed by licensed health care professionals.
Psycom believes assessments can be a valuable first step toward getting treatment. All too often people stop short of seeking help out of fear their concerns aren't legitimate or severe enough to warrant professional intervention.
How Is ASD Treated?
One of the biggest challenges is finding the most effective form of treatment. The choices seem endless and differentiating one from another can be daunting. The most common treatments include applied behavioral analysis, relationship-building strategies, speech/language, and occupational therapy, counseling, and social skills groups.
Adult Autism Quiz
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Adult Autism FAQs
Raleigh, N.C.-based Autism Society of North Carolina (ASNC) offers that adult autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is characterized by a range of social skill challenges, including repetitive behaviors and nonverbal communication. An estimated 5,437,988 (2.21%) adults in the United States have ASD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Adult autism is not a clear-cut condition. Instead, there are various subtypes, determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. And, because autism is a spectrum disorder, each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges, notes ASNC.
“The ways in which autistic people learn, think and problem-solve can range from highly skilled to severely challenged,” shares ASNC Director of Communications David Laxton. “Some may require significant support in their daily lives, while others may need less support and, in some cases, live entirely independently.”
Healthgrades, a resource for finding area physicians and hospitals based on individual need, provides information on diagnosing autism in adults. Regarding ASD, Healthgrades informs that while the symptoms of autism almost always appear in childhood, often before age 2, they are not always recognized.
Many adults do not obtain an official diagnosis, partly because during their early years their caretakers and teachers did not recognize or understand the signs of autism. Plus, undiagnosed autism in adults is often due to feelings of shame or embarrassment. They simply do not want to learn for certain that they have ASD. Adults who learn later in life that they have autism most likely had autism as a child and were not aware of the symptoms or the label.
While not everyone with ASD has the same symptoms, some main symptoms of ASD, according to Carolina Wellness Psychiatry in Chapel Hill, N.C., are:
- Making inconsistent eye contact
- Having difficulty with back and forth conversation
- Becoming upset by slight changes in a routine
- Being more or less sensitive than others to sensory input such as light, noise, and clothing textures
- Being able to learn and remember things in great detail
The term “high functioning autism” is sometimes problematic for people with ASD because autism encompasses a comprehensive spectrum of behaviors and abilities. For example, a person who struggles in one area may be highly capable in another.
David Kearon, director of Adult Services at Autism Speaks, presents the following scenario to convey an example of adult autism: “’Will’ works as a docent at a modern art museum. He feels that his autism is an asset on the job; because modern art is a particular passion (or special interest) of his, he voraciously learns all he can about the topic and the various works around the museum. …
"After work, however, is a different story. Will struggles to keep up with the conversation when it moves to topics outside of his intense interest in modern art. … At home, Will struggles to keep his apartment clean and to keep up with paying his bills. … At home, Will’s autism is a clear disability. Will is a highly intelligent, highly verbal autistic man who is gainfully employed. But he would tell you that it’s a stretch to call him ‘high-functioning’ in all contexts, at all times and places.”
Individuals can speak to a medical or mental health professional and undergo an evaluation to pinpoint ASD.
Clinics specializing in ASD are nationwide and offer a wide range of services to help with social and verbal skills and more. For example, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston delivers such services as neuropsychological and psychological testing, individual and family therapy, and even medications to reduce anxiety, depression, aggression, and executive functioning difficulties (basic emotion-related skills). Katherine Loveland, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, has been focusing on autism since the 1980s.
“The clinic sees patients of all ages from teenagers up,” she says, “and through clinical interviews, because it’s a developmental disorder, and from testing, we try to get a full picture – from them and from a family member or friend if possible. They get a written report from us. It’s a lot of information. And we determine what a person needs; there’s not one approach to all people with autism.”
Loveland clarified further that after a determination is made, individuals with ASD have opportunities to learn how to work on regulating emotions, improving conversation skills, and making or simulating eye contact.
David Kearon, director of Adult Services at Autism Speaks, says some autistic adults experience increased depression, anxiety, and isolation, which may not have been as significant during childhood. Difficulty establishing and maintaining close relationships is also problematic for some adults with ASD, points out Healthgrades.
But Katherine Loveland, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, reminds that everyone, whether diagnosed with ASD or not, responds differently to their environment, individual challenges, and lifestyle: People with adult autism "might develop mental health issues and depression as they age, yes, but I don’t think it necessarily gets worse just among [people with ASD]. I have seen [people with ASD] grow and learn and develop strategies for dealing with ASD as they age.”
