Real-World Experiences in Autistic Adult Diagnostic Services and Post-diagnostic Support and Alignment with Services Guidelines: Results from the ASDEU Study

Research providing an evidence-base for autistic adult services is sparse. The Autism Spectrum Disorders in the European Union (ASDEU) network implemented an on-line survey to determine gaps in autistic adult diagnostic evaluation and postdiagnostic support services. More than 55% in all groups experienced most of the recommended features for diagnostic evaluation for autistic adults. In contrast, < 2% of adults or carers, and < 21% of professionals experienced each of the recommended features for post-diagnostic support. In contrast to 61% of professionals, only about 30% of autistic adults and carers had knowledge of good local services models for autism diagnosis in adulthood. There are major differences between good practice guidelines for diagnostic and post-diagnostic care for autistic adults, and what is actually experienced by services users and professionals.g This study was funded by the European Parliament and managed by the European Union, DGSANCO, [Ref.: SANCO/2014/ C2/035]. The Italian Ministry of Health projects ‘Osservatorio Italiano per il monitoraggio dei disturbi dello spettro autistico’ (Fasc. 1S49) and ‘I disturbi dello spettro autistico: attività previste dal decreto ministeriale del 30.12.2016’ (Fasc. 2S57) granted the contribution of the Italian data.