Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders || Additional Questions to be asked when Interviewing Adults

✍ Scribed by Gallo, Donald P.

• Book ID: 101405252
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2010
• Weight: 147 KB
• Category: Article
• ISBN: 0470749245
• DOI: 10.1002/9780470682340.ch10

✦ Synopsis

As noted previously in the chapter about diagnosing adolescents, the information presented here is to be used to supplement the information from the previous four chapters, as that information is crucial in making an appropriate diagnosis.

Socialization Difficulties

Now that you are seeing an adult for an evaluation, you have even more social experiences to draw upon, such as employment history. The job environment is one of the main areas in which adults socialize, and it can provide you with a great deal of diagnostically useful information.

A main question to ask of your adult patient during the evaluation is if they are employed. If so, what do they do? While there is a wide variety here, depending upon how affected they are by their autism, typically adults on the spectrum do not work (or for that matter, work for a long time) in positions where they have a great deal of interaction with the general public. Adults on the spectrum may work the night shift or in a store room, where they don't have to interact much, if at all, with anybody. People on the spectrum typically do not thrive in jobs that require a great deal of interpersonal contact.

Not long ago, I was referred a 50-year-old gentleman, whom I will call Bob, who was concerned he may have Asperger's disorder. Bob thought this because he did not have much luck in relationships and felt he could not show empathy for others' feelings. Bob was referred from his psychiatrist who had diagnosed him with an avoidant personality disorder.