Your autism experiences

For the first time the government is to calculate the number of adults with autism in England.

BBC News website readers have been sharing their experiences of autism. Read a selection of the stories below.

Read the full story here

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I have Asperger Syndrome. I'm also fortunate enough to have a high enough IQ to work around my disabilities to the extent that it goes unnoticed most of the time. People just think I'm on the boarders of normality.

Life tends to be bit of a challenge. I don't always know when people are trying to make a joke as it's difficult for me to know when their words are to be taken literally or not. Social chit-chat is difficult. When someone asks "how are you today?" do they really want to know how you are doing, or are they just being polite?

It would be rather good if people would learn to be nice to people who are different from them in the way people are learning to appreciate people from different races and cultures.
AY, Durham

I am a 21-year-old male living at home with my family. I have been awaiting a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome for four years through the NHS. This, despite having a diagnosed younger sister. My situation is desperate, I struggle socially, am severely depressed, have OCD, anorexia, was sexually abused as a child and struggled with drug addiction (purely to escape my situation). For this I have been in therapy, including a period in hospital, for 7 years. My education has been hugely affected, despite having huge potential, the 'best years' of my life are being wasted. Connexions and other organizations have failed me and my GP is an ignoramus. I am hugely frustrated and of course, dissatisfied with my life. There is clearly a gap in services into which those with complex problems slip through and become ignored.
Joe, Brighton, England

Speaking as someone with Asperger Syndrome, I think that this research is long overdue. I was misdiagnosed for many years. I was told that I couldn't be Autistic as I was too intelligent! I finally got a diagnosis from The National Autistic Society when I was 34, 10 years ago. Since then I have met several people whom I believe to be on the Autistic Spectrum, who haven't been diagnosed. There must be many thousands of people in their forties and older who haven't been diagnosed.
Iain, Trowbridge

My son who is now 21 was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome when he was 12. Although after a very long and hard fight we did manage to get him into a special school there is no after care once they leave at 16. Every way we turned we were told "he does not fit into our remit". He finds life quite a struggle at times and has only been in work for a few months since leaving school. People's acceptance of those with any form of autism is very slow and weak.
Carrie, Winchester

I'm a 32-year-old male whose Autism was only diagnosed very recently, and I welcome this (belated) project. To say that, after my diagnosis, I felt like I'd been living under a shroud of confusion and random diagnosis all my life would be an understatement. And, sadly, the lack of any kind of support, or early correct diagnosis for that matter, is one of the hardest issues to handle from day to day; especially at my age, where mechanisms are in place that make positive changes to my life harder to initiate due to my self-taught ways of "coping". I only hope this marks a step forward, in terms of the care/recognition required by some Autism owners.
Richard, Stoke-on-Trent

My son who is 21 has Aspergers. We have never had any real support from social services. He was bullied at school, laughed at, called names. Got frustrated because he couldn't 'let go'. As most Aspergers have a high IQ the way most services get out of it is by saying that they will treat people with 'learning difficulties' which then excludes the person, the other excuse is resources. While my family suffer the damage to our home the swearing, the angry man who can't get a job because they say he's 'too slow' because he takes pride in what he does always wants to do a good job. Because people don't understand him. He wouldn't have a big disability if it wasn't for the people around him having the disability to understand. After this rant my question is 'what are they going to do about it Is it going to be another white paper that will gather dust?
Shaun, Wrexham

At last! A study like this is long overdue. I have a 17-year-old autistic son with Aspergers and its been very challenging bringing him up through school with minimal support. He can't go anywhere on his own, so he's very tied to family members. I hope this survey shows the lack of care autistic adults, especially those with Aspergers receive in certain areas and the difficulty in getting help: the DLA form is 52 pages long for instance and unless you know the correct phrases to use, you don't get help. The strain of caring split the family and I gave up my career to support him. More needs to be done by Government and not rely on voluntary organisations to pick up where local authorities so quickly leave off.
Mark Phillips, Oxford

I have suspected my son has Aspergers since he was 19, which is 6 years ago. Our GP has meetings with the PCT to try and have him assessed as I could not afford the extortionate amount of money I was told I had to pay for a diagnosis, but we were declined at every turn. Subsequently, he has remained completely isolated in his bedroom, only going out of the house once in several weeks. There has been no one able to offer any help or even interest other than inviting him to a club, which he does not feel is an enjoyable environment. I am at the end of my tether, and despair of how he will be if anything happens to me.
Anon, Manchester

Any development like this is a step in the right direction. However, this should have been done years ago. As the father of an autistic child who has made excellent progress from a home based programme, which involves no state-based contribution whatsoever, the government needs to start thinking much more seriously about adults and children that are on the autistic spectrum. It could start by recognising that while all children in this country are supposed to have the right to a proper education, this is hardly the case for those with autism. The state should hide its head in shame at what it has not done.
Paul Storey, East Grinstead

My son has Aspergers. The support he has at school is lamentable - dinner ladies who need extra cash or friends of teachers etc - not one has any training or understanding of the condition - once this gets addressed then I'll know the Government cares about his future.
Rob Brown, Norfolk

I don't have an ASD however I have voluntary befriended a gentleman for over 4 years with Aspergers Syndrome. I welcome the news because to a large extent Autism is hidden making his life and the common things we take for granted almost an impossibility, catching a bus, walking through the park as well as the fundamental things such as forming relationships and falling in love. It is right the Government is taking this action.
Mark Walker, London

As the wife of a man diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in 2005, I am pleased to hear that the government is at last planning to put some services into place for adults with autistic spectrum conditions. In most areas of the country it is impossible to get an NHS-funded diagnosis as an adult, which means thousands of families struggle on in the dark. Even if you choose to pay privately (as we had to) then the post-diagnosis support services in place are pitiful. I look forward to seeing the report next year.
Cassandra, Northumberland

I care for my brother who has Aspergers. He can cook and look after himself but needs to be constantly watched and has to keep to a strict routine. He feels very isolated when we moved to the area his new doctor did not even no what Aspergers Syndrome was there are no groups in the area for adults like my brother and he feels very lonely and isolated. I think the government proposal is a good idea but will this actually do anything to help adults within the autistic spectrum.
Tara Lee, Suffolk