Aspergers adults- Those who slipped through the cracks
Disorders on the autism spectrum have really only come into the light in recent years. We have seen a drastic increase in children with ASD in the past two decades, and it seems to be multiplying. Teachers are now taught how to spot some of the earliest, most subtle signs of these disorders, so early intervention can be sought.
It has been noted that part of the reason (certainly not the only reason) of this sudden spike in diagnoses is because it is better detected now. In other words, there are adults with these disorders who slipped through the cracks. It is hard to slip through the cracks when a person has obvious impairment, but with Aspergers, and some other disorders, it is much more subtle. This means that there are lots of men and women out there who actually have aspergers syndrome, but just never recieved a diagnosis.
So what are people with Aspergers like? Like any other disorder on the spectrum, you can not fit these people into a box, they all have different characteristics. What is common of them is that they have subtle difficulties in the areas social skills and communication, they may also have some odd behaviors.
People with Aspergers may seem socially akward, have trouble reading subtle social cues, may prefer to be alone, they may have a very specialized feild of interest, or have a rigid routine. They may also take things very literally, feel uncomfortable with eye contact, have trouble managing anger, and are more likely to suffer from anxiety or depression. Despite these difficulties in social skills and communications, they are usually highly intelligent, or at least on grade level.
No wonder they slip through the cracks. These are the kids who might have been labeled as shy, socially akward, or hid behind their interests and avoided being social. They might have seemed a little different or “off” and might have just struggled in silence. The truth is, these kids are not just these labels, their brain processes things differently. They could have used the extra support, the same support children diagnosed with Aspergers today are getting.
But weather they slipped through the cracks or not, many adults with Aspergers do just fine. They are perfectly capeable of holding a job. Some of them even have an advantage because of a focused area of interest became their career. Even though, they usually have social difficulties for life, but they usually get better at managing it with practice.
source:
http://www.asperger-advice.com/asperger-symptoms-in-adults.html