Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

In the past, autism was broken down into several different diagnoses, including:

• Asperger’s Syndrome
• Autistic disorder
• Kanner’s Syndrome
• Childhood autism
• Atypical autism
• Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)

Because these diagnoses all had the characteristics of autism, they were removed and replaced with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or autism for short. People also use the term ‘autism spectrum condition’ (ASC).

Autism is always present from birth, but it might not be recognised or diagnosed until adulthood.

Every autistic person is different and has different experiences. However, there are some characteristics that are common in autistic people. The way these characteristics show themselves can change with age, and also with the situation you’re in:

• the way you use language and talk might be different to most people
• you may use facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures (hand and body movements) differently to most people
• making and maintaining friendships might be difficult for you
• you may be good at seeing patterns or solutions, and be good at seeing solutions to problems that other people might not
• you might have set ways of doing things, and find it difficult to do them differently
• autistic people are often very good at understanding and working with structured systems, for example languages, music, and computers
• you may have good attention to detail, and be good at spotting mistakes
• you might be passionately interested in certain things, and as a result learn a large amount about them in a short time – these interests can change throughout your life
• you might avoid or seek out certain sensations, like loud noises or specific textures, more than most people, and experience them more strongly
• there might be some foods you particularly enjoy and eat a lot of, and others that you can’t be around due to their texture or smell
• when working on projects, you might find it difficult to think about the project as a whole – you may do a great job on your part of a group project, but struggle to imagine how it fits in with everyone else’s part
• while autistic people can be good at paying attention to detail, you might find it difficult to leave out details that are accurate but not needed when talking to people or working on projects
• autistic people can be very determined and driven, and keep going with tasks or problems when other people may give up
• you might find you’re always determined to make sure things are ‘perfect’, and sometimes forget to eat or sleep if you’re working on something
• iit can be difficult for autistic people to work in groups where there isn’t clear communication about what they’re expected to do

The signs of autism can be different depending on the person and how old they are.

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Because autism is present from birth, it can usually be diagnosed in childhood. However, it may only be recognised later in life. Understanding of autism has grown over time, so more people are now being diagnosed when they’re older if the signs weren’t recognised when they were children.

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These are signs of autism that health professionals look for when making a diagnosis, but an autistic person may not have all of these signs. For example, delayed speech (learning to speak later than most children), or a child not speaking at all, can be a sign of autism. However, many autistic children talk at the same age a child without autism would. It’s also possible that these signs are there, but they aren’t caused by autism.

If you think that you or your child may have Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), any professional; GP, Health Visitor, School Nurse, Teacher or Social Worker, can make a referral to CAMHS Paediatric Neurodevelopmental Team. It’s a common myth that a child needs to be referred by their GP or that a GP referral will speed up the process. When referring, it’s actually best to think about who knows your child best as they are often the ones who have most information. Have a chat to them about your concerns.

If they feel a referral is appropriate they can find all the information they need in the referral section for professionals on our webpage.

You may be aware that waiting times for assessment are lengthy and we appreciate that this is frustrating. The service is committed to pursuing a number of quality improvements which we hope will reduce the length of time you have to wait.

In the meantime, you may find it helpful to access some online information and support, and having a look at our common concerns pages.