CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 165Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchPsychology and Mental HealthIdentity, Memory, and Therapy

The `not guilty verdict': Psychological reactions to a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in adulthood

Punshon, C., Skirrow, P., Murphy, G.·2009·Autism
DOI 10.1177/1362361309103795
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Asperger syndrome is a relatively new diagnostic classification. A number of factors make receiving a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in adulthood a unique experience. This study used a phenomenological approach to examine the experiences of 10 adults receiving such a diagnosis. Results suggested that six major themes were associated with receiving a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. Individuals discussed their negative life experiences and their experience of services prior to diagnosis, which led to individuals holding certain beliefs about the symptoms of Asperger syndrome. These beliefs had an effect on the formation of each individual's perceived self-identity. Participants made links between how they felt when they received the diagnosis and their current beliefs about both their ;symptoms' and themselves. Finally, participants highlighted the importance of the societal view of Asperger syndrome. The implications of these findings are reappraised in the context of previous research and the wider literature on identity formation.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/1362361309103795

Cites

20 of 20 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Mothers involved in their adult children's diagnosis expressed positive reactions to the diagnosis, but autistic adults described both positive and negative reactions from their parents.

    “Mothers involved in their adult children's diagnosis expressed positive reactions to the diagnosis (Raymond-Barker et al., 2018), but autistic adults described both positive and negative reactions from their parents (Crane et al., 2018; Punshon et al., 2009).”

    From Diagnosis of autism in adulthood: A scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as Punshon et al., 2009

  • Adults expressed that even when families were accepting, misconceptions about autism made support difficult.

    “Adults expressed that even when families were accepting, misconceptions about autism made support difficult (Crane et al., 2018; Punshon et al., 2009).”

    From Diagnosis of autism in adulthood: A scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as Punshon et al., 2009

  • Adults frequently described lifelong feelings of being different from peers, social isolation and bullying prior to diagnosis.

    “Adults frequently described lifelong feelings of being different from peers, social isolation and bullying prior to diagnosis (Hickey et al., 2018; Lewis, 2016b; Punshon et al., 2009).”

    From Diagnosis of autism in adulthood: A scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as Punshon et al., 2009

  • There was a lack of understanding from families and wider community.

    “Lack of understanding from families and wider community.”

    From Diagnosis of autism in adulthood: A scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as Punshon et al. (2009)

  • Adults described trying to mask differences.

    “trying to mask differences.”

    From Diagnosis of autism in adulthood: A scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as Punshon et al. (2009)

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Punshon, C., Skirrow, P., & Murphy, G.
Affiliations
  • Mersey Care NHS Trust (GB)
  • University of Kent (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Autism
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2009-05
Volume
13
Issue
3
Pages
265-283
ISSN
  • 1362-3613 (ISSN-L)
  • 1461-7005
DOI
10.1177/1362361309103795
OpenAlex
W2030351972
Cited by
165
References
20
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 9
FWCI
2.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Autism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (submittedVersion)
  • Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
Keywords
Asperger syndrome, adult diagnosis, diagnostic experience, self-identity, identity construction, life experience, autism services
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Attitude to Health, Cognition Disorders, Family, Female, Humans, Interview, Psychological, Life Change Events, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Self Concept, Social Identification, Asperger Syndrome, Friends

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review