As they say, it’s better late than never. Nothing is truer than for a neurodivergence diagnosis in adulthood! Maybe, like me, a lot of your experience being misunderstood as a child makes sense through the lens of ND. And maybe it can help rewrite our stories–and help us heal somewhere inside.
Neurodivergence: Quick Definition
Neurodivergence is the overarching term used to refer to conditions that involve different brain wiring. This includes conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), sensory processing disorder (SPD), and specific learning disorders (SLD), which in turn includes learning challenges like dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.
Diagnosis Mostly for Children in the Past
Historically, children are often brought into the clinic for diagnoses at the sign of alarming symptoms. Most parents get concerned when their children don’t seem to interact well with other children, or show delays in speech or other significant milestones that their peers have effortlessly achieved.
Then, it used to be a widespread belief that children who are diagnosed with a neurodivergent condition either outgrow the condition, or get enough intervention so that they can function well among those in the “mainstream.”
However, more recent studies have shown that majority of neurodivergent individuals continue to exhibit symptoms connected with their condition. Admittedly, these may be managed in a different way than when they were children, but these help convey the idea that a neurodivergent condition is not something to be fixed; rather, it is something that a person lives with and embraces all through life.
Why are More Adults Diagnosed with Neurodivergence?
So why are more adults being diagnosed with neurodivergence instead of when they were children? Research shows that an increasing number of adults are getting diagnosed with one form or another of neurodivergence. For example, a study published in Missouri Medicine estimates that as many as 75% of adults with ADHD were not diagnosed when they were children.
We can cite a few reasons for this trend:
1. Most of us who are adults now did not have access to testing when we were younger.
In the past decades, assessments were done primarily for children, which means that the signposts also corresponded to milestones that children normally reach within a given age range.
For example, one very common sign that parents looked for to suspect autism was a child’s delay in oral communication. But we can’t use the exact same guideline in checking for an adult who already talks.
2. Adults may have learned to mask symptoms over the years, resulting in their skipping over diagnosis.
Another reason is that adults who are actually neurodivergent may have grown up with the need to mask some of their difficulties.
For example, the struggle with eye contact is considered one of the key hallmarks of autism. However, in recent years, adults who were diagnosed with autism may not exhibit this trait at all because they have learned, over the years, to force themselves to have eye contact considering that’s the social norm.
3. High performance may have covered over some children’s symptoms.
One more reason why more adults are diagnosed who were not diagnosed as children is that children who did well, such as in school, tended to have their symptoms glossed over by their good performance.
4. Information on neurodivergence itself has increased greatly in the recent decade, expanding our understanding of the different conditions;
Additionally, in recent years, more information has been discovered in the area of neurodivergence. In the past, the common picture of autistic persons tended to be the extreme stereotypes presented in media (Young Sheldon, anyone?). Since then, more and more research has expanded our perspective of just how diverse the traits associated with neurodivergence can be.
5. Some adults recognize similar symptoms in themselves that were used to diagnose their children.
Lastly, many adults who are diagnosed later in life only start exploring diagnosis when their own children get diagnosed and they see similarities with themselves. In other words, they may never have thought much of what they believed were just “quirks,” but learning about their children’s neurodivergence opens up the conversation and, eventually, paves the way for an adult diagnosis.
Some Advantages of Getting a Diagnosis in Adulthood
Here are some possible advantages of getting an adult diagnosis:
You can learn and understand your responses to stimuli
Neurodiversity means that the brains of two different people can respond to the exact same stimuli in totally different ways. Something that can set off a neurodivergent person can pass totally unheeded by someone who’s neurotypical.
When you understand how you, as an individual, respond to certain outside stimuli, you can make plans to avert a meltdown, or find ways to calm down once a meltdown happens.
You can make accommodations to function better.
Knowing how you respond to certain triggers in the environment means that you can make choices for accommodations that can help you function better. For example, once you learn that certain noises irritate you and form an underlying sense of stress, you can opt to use earplugs to reduce the sensory input.
You can maximize your strengths.
When you understand your neurodivergent type, it can also help you play up to your strengths. For example, if you thrive on structure, you can serve well as the person in charge of, say, setting up an important project at work with the frameworks needed. If you function best in high-risk, high-reward environments, that may mean you can work in more adventurous types of jobs.
You can interact with people better.
Finally, when you understand your particular makeup, it can also help you interact better with people. Now, this is not to say that all your social issues will automatically go away; far from it! Instead, you can use everything you’ve learned to help make things easier for when you have to interact with other people. For example, if bright lights give you a headache and you’re meeting someone at a cafe with bright overhead lights, wearing a cap or shades will help lessen your discomfort so that you can relate more easily.
Pursuing an Adult Diagnosis is a Personal Decision
With that said, we believe that pursuing an adult diagnosis of neurodivergence is a purely personal decision. We hope that whichever path you pursue, it can help you function to your full potential, for your own personal wellness as well as for the people you work with on a regular basis!