Understanding Barriers to Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism in Adulthood: Where Are We Now and How Do We Move Forward?

Rabba et al. (2025) looked at why adults struggle to get an autism diagnosis. They read many papers and talked to experts to map the roadblocks.

The team focused on tools, clinician habits, and system rules. They did not run new experiments; they stitched together what is already known.

Most autism tests were built for kids, so adults sit through questions that do not fit their lives. Clinicians also bring bias, expecting autism to 'look' like a young boy.

The result is long waits, wrong labels, or no label at all. Without a proper diagnosis, adults miss services and supports.

Kaiser et al. (2022) backs this up. They found that even when self-report forms are used, they were only checked on bright teenagers, not adults with limited speech.

Anderson et al. (2018) and Babb et al. (2021) show the next pain point: once adults finally get the label, service doors still slam because programs are built for kids or for 'typical' women with eating issues.

Here is the twist. McGarty et al. (2018) found that universal screening speeds diagnosis in preschoolers. That seems opposite to Stacey’s call for new tools, but the two studies look at different ages. Kid tools already exist; adult tools do not.

If you assess teens or adults, dust off your intake packet. Add questions about sensory issues, work burnout, and camouflaging. Swap child-only screeners for tools that ask the adult directly. Record why you accept or reject a diagnosis so you can spot your own bias. These small edits cut wait time and get clients the help they need faster.