Think about a situation when you are around everybody, but you feel so ghosted and isolated. It’s painful, isn’t it? Well, the same feeling haunts autistics from their very growing age. And adult autistics are most of the time left clinically undiagnosed, but they suffer from all the signs and symptoms of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
Adults with autism spectrum experience many differences in characteristics and general qualities that make their lives challenging and miserable, most of the time. They need mental support and help to cope with a better life with the people around them.
First, you should know who is suffering from adult autism around you (silently or clinically diagnosed).
Signs of Adult Autism
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It can be pretty confusing, sometimes if the person you confront is having autism traits because it’s not easy to identify in most cases. You may not find out at all in the first place, but speaking or trying to connect with him will make you understand.
Overall, if you identify the following signs and symptoms in any individual, consider him/her as an adult autistic and consider treating him/her the best way you can.
Social Anxiety: One of the most common signs adult autistics suffer from is finding it difficult to interact with people, following social norms & values, and communicating with people around them. They find it intimidating to attend any social events; try to hide from the crowd and gathering.
Difficulty Befriending: It can be challenging for an adult autistic to befriend new people. They would find it tough to maintain a close relationship. Things a typical relationship run through might seem unusual for them to cope with.
Clumsiness: Adult autism traits mostly end up in clumsiness. They can’t hold on to their emotion, control, and order in things. It can be a real challenge for the person to act intelligent and confident all the way.
Discomfort in Making Conversation: Adult autistics will also find it difficult in making an eye-to-eye conversation. They feel discomfort if it’s a meet-up with new people. They will not adjust to a group conversation like others and try to avoid confronting people.
There are more like these signs and symptoms of adult autism. Such as,
- Focusing on a particular topic for a long time
- Unclear monologues
- Difficulty in understanding jokes or sarcasm
- Hypersensitivity to minor issues that don’t bother others
- Getting isolated
- Order/controlling issues or ODC
- Difficulty in reading others’ thoughts & emotions, expressions, and gestures.
Powerful Behavioural Changes towards Adult Autistics
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The best support you can give to an adult autistic is by bringing behavioural changes within you. You can’t cure the disorder permanently, but you can help them in every aspect.
Be Patient: It can be tough to cooperate with an adult autistic if you are not patient with him/her. The emotional and mental turmoil they go through more often is challenging to handle. Sometimes, people get impatient and treat the autistic as a regular individual.
But you have to keep in mind that adult autism is a unique disorder to take extra care of. They might not have such visible disabilities, but they have issues with social situations, coping with friends or people around them, or difficulty understanding.
It would help if you acted a bit patient with them to help them cope with their surroundings.
Support Programs: When you know the person is suffering from adult autism or is diagnosed with clinical ASD, you can take him/her to the support groups or programs. These organizations come with great hospitality and arrangement of supporting and comforting adults with autism traits.
If you are confused about which program to pick for, you can take the doctor’s help for a suggestion. Besides, check out different websites, such as https://www.tpathways.org/programs, which are doing great jobs to heal and improve autistics (children to adults).
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Bringing your loved person to a support group can help grow mental health, build confidence, and ensure a comfortable lifestyle.
Give Them Time: You should treat the adult autistic as other regular people. Give him/her time as much as you can. Instead of treating the individual as a unique and disordered person, make him/her know how important they are to you.
Give them priority to listen to their words and feelings. It’s important.
Don’t Force: Sometimes, when you know about the person in front of you having autism issues, you may force him/her to confront, communicate, or do stuff they are not comfortable with. You might think making them doing such things will bring improvement.
But you are doing the wrong thing here. Never force an adult autistic to do what they are uncomfortable with. It will affect their mental health more than you imagine.
Encourage Them: One of the most effective ways you can follow is giving autistic compliments and encouraging them in every step. The prevalent thing they mostly lack is encouragement and appreciation. If you appreciate their little effort, it will make the person more confident in his/her acts and performances.
In most cases, adult autistics are introverted; they barely expose their inner traits. But by praising their steps can pull out the trigger of confidence and happiness they lacked for so long.
Be Careful with Changes: Generally, autistic personalities can’t stand changes or inconsistency from any person or thing. They sometimes suffer from order issues also. Therefore, a slight change in your behavior can bring an autistic emotional breakdown.
You can ensure consistency in things, keep things in order, and treat him/her with full support and care as you always do. No matter how impatient and upset you are, know that only your love and cooperation can heal the person.
img source: verywellhealth.com
Final Words
Usually, there’s no particular treatment for adult autism unless they undergo other medicinal therapies. Make them feel loved, appreciated, and special –these are the things that help them the most.