Autism/adult autism

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Expert: - 4/19/2010


Question
I have a 26 year old brother that I am almost sure has autism.  He is high functioning, however cannot hold down a job due to the inability to make friends.  I have two formal psych evals that give symptoms of autism but no formal diagnosis of it.  He has been diagnosed with an adjustment disorder and a learning disability.  I am not sure how to get an adult a diagnosis.  Everyone I have contacted seems to want to help after a diagnosis has been made.  We have been visiting Human Services, but after 4 months they claim they don't give autism diagnosis just medications.  I don't want medications for him, I want help!  And to get that help I need a diagnosis.  Do you have any ideas?  We live in Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania.

Answer
Hi Jackalyn,

I can't really express myself well tonight and have trouble reading what I just wrote, so sorry about any mistakes...sometimes my brain doesn't like to process language.
Have you contacted the local branch of the autism society of america (ASA) (http://www.asaphilly.org/)? If they are anything like our autism societies here in Europe, your brother can get a diagnosis in one of their centers (although this may not be a formal diagnosis, rather an informal evaluation) and/or give you the names of specialists you could contact to get a formal diagnosis which would qualify your brother for services and other help, or at least get you in touch with other people who have been through simialar situations. They may also have support groups you can visit. Our centers here also have support groups for adults on the spectrum and some (most ?) are also open for people who don't have a formal diagnosis yet, which could also be very helpful for your brother.


Hope that helps,
C.  

Autism

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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