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adult diagnosis - woman in her late 40s

Guinea Pig Fan

It was suggested to me by my psychotherapist in the summer that I might be autistic.  I have since done a lot of research and can identify with some of the signs but not all of them.  Although my GP has agreed to refer me for an assessment, I sense that he has not taken it that seriously and doesn't believe that I'm actually autistic.  I have learnt that girls and women are good at hiding their difficulties and, being in my late 40s now, I will have learnt to adapt to survive so far.  Does anyone have any advice they can give me about what it's like for a woman in her forties to pursue a diagnosis?  Also, does anyone share my sense that they can really identify with some symptoms of being on the spectrum but not all of them?  I feel I would benefit from talking to someone who has already been through the experience and any help or advice they can give me.

  • in reply to M

    I had the same problem. Then I realised that my difficulty with perceiving time affected my desire for routines. Though I like things to be predictable, and dislike change, I have no requirement for things to happen at a certain time or in a certain order. My need for a safe and predictable environment is fully autistic, but the means of achieving this is not through set routines. I suspect my difficulties with time are a result of how my particular autistic brain functions.

  • Hello there,
    I'm 39 and waiting for an assessment.  Hopefully it will be next spring.
    I can relate to your feeling of identifying with some autistic traits, but not all of them.  At the beginning, this really unsettled me, because I strongly related to some autistic people's experiences but not others, which left me constantly hovering between being sure that I was autistic, and at other times, really doubting it.  

    But now I realise that the autistic spectrum is a collection of traits, and everyone will have a slightly different combination, and the same traits will express themselves in different ways in different people.  I found descriptions like this helpful:  This Graphic Shows What the Autism Spectrum Really Looks Like | The Mighty

    I haven't yet had my assessment, but hope I can help if you have any questions.

  • I didnt relate to the idea of needing routines, but when I looked more into that more I realised I was just viewing it in a very rigid way. 

  • I was diagnosed this year, (I'm 41) and I never suspected I was autistic. My psychologist asked if I wanted to do some different tests, and it turned out I scored super high on the autistic test. My first feeling, as she told me the results, was that of a mask being torned of me, and also like a lot of things fell in to place. I was recommended to read a book by Jenara Nerenberg called Divergent Mind - Thriving in a world that wasn't designed for you. She is a journalist who was diagnosed late, and she gives so many great examples of what being neurodivergent is, but also how diverse we all are. We are not the same, we have different experiences and neurodivergent trates. What we have in common is that we are neurodivergents 

  • I'm 36 and was diagnosed earlier this year. Yes I can identify with some and not other traits. It's probably like this for many which is why it's a spectrum.  I'm quite "high functioning". Maybe read / youtube lianne halliday-wiley or sarah Hendrickx.