Autism : recognition, referral, diagnosis and management of adults on the autism spectrum

Autismis a lifelong condition with particular issues for adults, which are addressedby this NICE guideline.

While some people are diagnosed in childhood, a largeproportion of adults with autism find obtaining a diagnosis in adulthooddifficult or impossible.

Under-recognition of autism in adults can lead toinadequate care, masking of coexisting mental and physical health problems, andto social and economic exclusion.

This guideline aims to address thesewidespread problems and increase the uptake of interventions by adults withautism to enable them to live more independent lives. Thisguideline reviews the evidence for care of adults with autism across the carepathway, from identification, assessment and diagnosis, to organisation,delivery and settings for care, through to psychosocial and biomedicalinterventions for autism, challenging behaviour and coexisting mental healthproblems.

The guideline also contains a chapter on the experience of care foradults with autism, and their families and carers, which provides a context forthe evidence reviews that follow. Theguideline contains all the evidence on which the recommendations were based,including further data on a free CD-ROM which includes: characteristics ofincluded studies; profile tables that summarise both the quality of theevidence and the results of the evidence synthesis; all meta-analytical data,presented as forest plots, and detailed information about how to use andinterpret them. Theguideline contains all the evidence on which the recommendations were based,including further data on a free CD-ROM:[if !supportLists]* [endif]characteristicsof included studies[if !supportLists]* [endif]profiletables that summarise both the quality of the evidence and the results of theevidence synthesis[if !supportLists]* [endif]allmeta-analytical data presented as forest plots[if !supportLists]* [endif]detailedinformation about how to use and interpret forest plots.