Towards a Neurodiversity-Affirmative Approach for an Over-Represented and Under-Recognised Population: Autistic Adults in Outpatient Psychiatry

Excerpt

We were pleased to read Nyrenius et al.’s recent paper on the prevalence of autism in adult outpatient psychiatry (Nyrenius et al., 2022). The study presents admirable aims, clearly strives to improve psychiatric services for autistic people, and benefits from a well-reasoned approach, outlined with clear transparency. The study’s finding of an 18.9% (“and possibly up to 35%”) autism prevalence highlights the need for better recognition of autism in daily psychiatric practice. Nyrenius et al. also report that 46% of participants were referred to them for an assessment of a “neurodevelopment disorder” (Nyrenius et al., 2022). We would therefore like to see such a study conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), as purely diagnostic assessments are usually carried out by specialist diagnostic clinics here and not referred to general psychiatry clinics (The Westminster Commission on Autism, 2021). Thus, whilst these results support anecdotal observations from ourselves and colleagues that autism is common and often missed in psychiatry clinics, the participants in this particular study may not necessarily be representative of those in the UK or other countries that also have separate autism diagnostic pathways. …