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Borderline diagnosis

NAS74719

Hi, 

My son and husband both have ASD but I'm actually selling advice for a friend who's adult son has considerable difficulties with social interaction which is affecting his ability to perform interviews and his ability to form meaningful relationships.  He is now suffering with severe depression.

His mum thinks that he has ASD and he has been assessed and diagnosed as borderline.  They are both now left wondering what this actually means for him and what support he can get. 

Has anyone else experienced this and do you have any advice on where to go from here? 

  • I think it's always worth asking around services that are offered to those with diagnosis, regardless of whether they are borderline or not. One child may have only a few difficulties but the severity of the difficulties he face may just be a mountain-high for him alone. I personally don't like the term borderline as I think it can be misleading and give the impression he doesn't need help.

  • in reply to Martin

    It has been my experience here in the UK that the 'industry' tries very hard to stay away from and discourage actually identifying someone as 'autistic', preferring to say 'on the spectrum'. 

    I am not a fan of it as it just blurs borders and denies those that need help the help they desperately require.
     

  • in reply to NAS74719

    Where was the diagnosis made? Most diagnoses, in most places, are plain Autism Spectrum Condition, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, together with a support needs level of 1,2 or 3, with 1 being the lowest and 3 the highest level of support requirement. If he fell a little short of being diagnosed, it could be that he was masking heavily when being assessed, and/or that his questionnaire answers did not fully align with the diagnostic criteria. If his problems are severe, I would ask for a reassessment and be very thorough in matching his traits with those of the diagnostic criteria (which can be found online). Amass as much evidence as possible before re-assessment. It should be treated like an academic exam, having all the facts available and making sure that they are relevant to the question, in this case the question being, "Is this person autistic?"

  • Hi,

    Sorry  I don't think i've made myself clear.  What I meant is that the diagnosis was borderline autism or very mild. 

    He was offered the same support as someone b who has been given a straightforward diagnosis of ASD.

    This is really confusing for my friend. Has anyone else experienced this?

  • They do have certain traits in common, BUT... (!!!) I've read accounts from a lot of people who were diagnosed with BPD first and then confirmed to be autistic with PTSD, anxiety, etc on top of that. All the other issues stemming mainly from ASD, people mistreating them (which results in trauma and a load of other emotional issues) and the fact that ASD is harder to diagnose than the rest. I encourage you to get a second opinion. 

  • While I am definitely not an expert, Borderline always sounds like a symptom of a misdiagnosis.

    While it is in the DSM IV https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3494330/ It seems like it would take a great deal of effort to rule out malnutrition (due to something more biologically severe or due to a bad diet), stressful surroundings offering little hope or escape and/or psychosis. Patterns of difficult relationships can arise from a lack of understanding the complexity of them, a lack of proper parenting, all kinds of things. It is an interesting diagnostic in itself. But most of these 'symptoms' seem as though they are due to additional issues. 

  • I was diagnosed as borderline before i got a diagnosis of asd. I would ask for a second opinion x