Autism in adults without intellectual disabilities: "The lost or forgotten generation"

Autism understanding has changed substantially in the eighty years that have elapsed since it was first described. Autism is currently considered an atypical neurological development, but not necessarily pathological. It is something that persists for life. However, the number of people diagnosed among adults is much lower than the actual prevalence currently detected among children. This is mainly due to the fact that over time, the autistic person learns compensatory strategies to go unnoticed and avoid social rejection, due to social stigma. This camouflage involves an effort that produces anxiety, stress, poor quality of life and often mental health problems such as depressive disorders or suicidal ideation. Society has to make an effort to identify autistic people, especially adults, to understand them and learn to live with them. The stigma, the need to compensate (camouflage) on the part of these autistic people, and the serious negative consequences linked to it, would then disappear.