Support & Education for Adults on the Autism Spectrum

We asked 100 people with autism spectrum disorder, who never sought formal treatment, the following question: “What is the main reason you avoided seeking any type of treatment for your condition?”

Here are their answers (although not direct quotes) in order of popularity:

Don’t see any need to change
No health coverage/could not afford cost
Possible negative effect on job if boss and coworkers found out
Did not know where to go for treatment
Concern that receiving treatment will cause family and friends to have negative opinion
Able to handle issues without treatment
No transportation/inconvenient
No program available having the type of treatment preferred
Did not feel need for treatment at the time
Did not have time/too busy
Fear of being committed to a lengthy process
Fear of having to take medicine
Concerned about confidentiality
Strong belief that treatment would not help
Not 100% sure of having the disorder
Want to be in control of own destiny without a “label”
Don’t want to be told what to do or how to live life
Apprehensive about what the treatment program entails and not feel able to handle it
Don’t do well in groups or around a bunch of other people
Afraid of getting drug tested because use marijuana to self-treat anxiety
Symptoms are not as bad now as an adult
Lack of family support
Tried treatment briefly and found no benefit
Afraid of being committed to a mental health facility due to frequent suicidal thoughts
O.K. with how life is going now