«I Discovered I Have Autism, I No Longer Have Semantic Pragmatic Disorder»
Roberto Padovani, Gaia Iori
The clinical history of a 26-year-old woman (MB) is presented. MB was diagnosed with autism at the age of 17, after a long period of care with community services for «semantic pragmatic disorder». The introduction describes MB’s clinical characteristics longitudinally from preschool age to adulthood. A face-to-face interview is then conducted with the young woman to explore the personal and emotional experiences associated with her health history: changes in and communication of the diagnosis, awareness of her own mental and personality characteristics, current life experiences, and future plans. The conclusions explore possible connections between MB’s experiences and the most current scientific literature regarding: the differential diagnosis between autism and social (pragmatic) communication disorder, timing and methods for diagnosis awareness, and therapeutic management across a person’s lifespan.
Keywords
Communication of Diagnosis, Autism in Adulthood, Personal Accounts about Autism.