More adults are being diagnosed with autism, but accessing assessments not always easy

Megan Pilatzke ended up on a journey of self-discovery almost by accident. In 2019, Pilatzke began doing some research about autism, after learning the man she was dating (now her fiance) has a nephew diagnosed with autism. 

"What I knew about autism was that it existed, that it was there in children, and that was really about it," said Pilatzke, who lives in Sudbury. 

A year later, she read a book about autism in women and girls, and suddenly things clicked. 

"I was absolutely in tears. I was just reading what felt like an autobiography," Pilatzke said. 

"It was reading about just different things in childhood, different things in adolescence, even in my adulthood. Just things that I never questioned that could be me on the spectrum. And I immediately thought oh my god I gotta find out what is going on."

The following spring, in May 2021, Pilatzke was formally diagnosed with autism, at age 31. 

Pilatzke is part of a growing group of people who are seeking out autism assessments — whether formal or informal — well into adulthood. 

At the Redpath Centre in Toronto, director Kevin Stoddart said he's seen more and more adults seeking autism assessments in recent years. The centre specializes in diagnosis and supports for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental conditions. 

Stoddart said many people are prompted to look into an autism assessment because of trouble navigating workplace dynamics, or because of challenges forming friendships and intimate relationships. 

"This may have been kind of a longstanding struggle, but they've just realized as they become young adults or adults that the problems persist," Stoddart said. 

Stoddart said girls and women in particular are often better at "masking" some of the common traits associated with autism, and may come to Redpath after having already had experience in the mental health system — whether from doing their own research, or being referred by a mental health professional.

"We know that there's an emerging literature on masking and autism and the stress that that involves for people on the spectrum," Stoddart said. 

Pilatzke has dealt with mental health struggles for years, and was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and later bipolar disorder. 

"But for whatever reason I just never felt like that was correct, like something was not right about it, something was missed and something wasn't right," Pilatzke said.