Rettspsykiatrisk undersökte med autismespekterdiagnoser: Alder ved identifisering og
diagnostisk historie
Sammanfattning
Early diagnosis is crucial for later outcomes in ASD. By exploring reports from forensic
examinations of individuals with ASD who had been accused of crimes, the aim of this study was to
describe which services performed the diagnostic assessment and whether the individuals
previously had been given other diagnoses. The quality of the diagnostic assessment conducted by
psychiatric experts was also evaluated. Forty-eight reports were identified, and mean age for
diagnosing ASD was 25.3 years. Twenty-two of the cases were diagnosed with ASD for the first time
by the forensic psychiatric experts. The criteria for evaluating diagnostic quality were only met in four
of the cases. The results indicate a lack of current competence in recognising and diagnosing ASD in
all parts of the services in Norway.