Associations between co-occurring conditions and age of autism diagnosis: Implications for mental health training and adult autism research.
Nikita Jadav, Vanessa H Bal
PMID 36054777WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults diagnosed at 21 or older reported more lifetime psychiatric diagnoses than those diagnosed in childhood.
They also reported fewer language delays or speech articulation problems. Do not use absent language or speech problems to rule out autism.
Key findings
01Adults diagnosed with autism at age 21 or older reported more lifetime psychiatric diagnoses than adults diagnosed before age 21.
02Adults diagnosed at age 21 or older less commonly reported language delays or disorders and speech articulation problems than adults diagnosed before age 21.
03Females reported more anxiety, affective, and eating disorders than males, and less commonly reported language delay or disorder but more commonly reported mutism.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was self-selected from SPARK, which focuses on genetic causes of autism, so it is not representative of all autistic adults. Participants had to be legally independent, read English, and live in the United States, which excludes some adults with autism. The paper did not record when psychiatric or medical diagnoses were made, so it cannot show whether co-occurring conditions came before or after autism diagnosis. Conditions were selected by participants from a list as having been professionally diagnosed. The sample was recruited from North America and 68.6% was White, limiting generalizability.
Declared interests
The named funder was the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Vanessa H. Bal reported research funding from Western Psychological Services and honoraria or consulting fees from Regeneron, Janssen, and the Simons Foundation for unrelated work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autism can be ruled out when an adult has no history of language or speech problems. Later-diagnosed adults reported fewer language delays and speech articulation problems, and the study did not establish causes. It was also a self-selected online sample.