Autism and Addiction

A person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis struggling with Addiction is the hardest population to treat.  And with this population growing, there is a higher need for support now, more than ever.  Professionals working with this population cannot make a recommendation solely to a program that supports clients with ASD, and you cannot solely focus on the addiction.  It’s a conundrum, and a gap in the treatment industry.

You cannot make a recommendation to just any addiction recovery program.  Although they might tell you that they can support someone with an ASD diagnosis, you learn that the program has an aggressive 12-step model and does a lot of groups.  For someone with social anxiety, rigidity in thinking, or who struggles with nonverbal cues, placing them in a group could be harmful.  Their anxiety can play out looking like anger outbursts, leaving the room during groups, or breaking rules, which can be viewed as non-compliance from a program perspective.  For a program that says they can work with someone with an ASD diagnosis will learn very quickly that this profile of a person can be disruptive to the overall community and thus, will ask the client to leave.

You cannot make a recommendation to a program that works with adults with ASD, specifically focused on their launching into adulthood.  Although they might say during an admission call that they could work with this client, once the client arrives and is substance-seeking, the program will quickly discharge the client to a higher level of care.  Their structure was not tight enough, and although they could work with the client’s potential rigidity, the program either does not understand addiction or is not willing to work with this client profile.  With this, we are back to square one.

This conundrum exists at the residential-level of care, as well as extended-care levels.  Families are left scrambling to find treatment that will work after failed attempts with treatment programs; programs that said “absolutely we can help your adult child!” on the front end without truly understanding the depth of their neurodiversity, or addiction.  Don’t be fooled by an approachable Admissions representative.  For this particular client profile, you will most definitely need to work with a professional to help filter through programs and supports that can truly help your young adult.  It’s not easy, and it definitely won’t be cheap.  If you want your young adult to get the help they truly need, it’s important to have a professional by your side.

For questions or comments contact Joanna.