Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management

Online learning resource (Royal College of General Practitioners)

The Autism in General Practice course enables GPs and the primary healthcare team to improve the care they and their practice provide for patients with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Using video clips of real patients and carers recounting their experiences, this course helps GPs to understand the challenges that people with ASC face on a daily basis.

Although focused primarily on caring for adults, this course explores the crucial role of the GP and primary health care team in the diagnosis and management of ASC at all ages, from childhood to old age. The course is free to RCGP members, Associates-in-Training and GP Foundation members. Non-members will be charged £35 to access the course.

The online course consists of seven parts:

1. Pre-course assessment quiz

2. Recognising patients with ASC (lesson)

3. Improving communication with patients with ASC (lesson)

4. Supporting and managing patients with ASC (lesson)

5. Improving the service provided to patients with ASC and their carers (lesson)

6. Your reflections on the patients' experiences

7. Post-course assessment quiz

Access the course here.

If you have not registered with RCGP click on ‘register' within the login box in the top left hand corner of the screen. Otherwise login with your email address and password. Once you have logged in, type ‘Autism in General Practice' within the search box to find the course.

This course has been developed in partnership with DIPEx, the charity behind the healthtalkonline website. It was funded by an educational grant from the Department of Health's Autism Strategy Team. This resource was developed independently and not directly from the NICE guidance. The content reflects the NICE guidance, with additional information, and facilitates its implementation. NICE has undertaken a check of the resource at the point at which this link was published and is satisfied that it broadly supports the guidance. However NICE is unable to confirm that all of the content at any one time accurately reflects the guidance, and therefore no guarantees are given either by NICE in this regard. If an individual clinician has any queries or concerns about the relationship between NICE guidance and this educational resource they should always refer to the original guidance published by NICE, and this should in all cases be regarded as the only definitive statement of the guidance. The NICE clinical guideline on Autism: recognition, referral and diagnosis of children and young people on the autism spectrum may be found at: cg128. The NICE clinical guideline on Autism: recognition, referral, diagnosis and management of adults on the autism spectrum may be found at: cg142. The NICE clinical guideline on Autism: management of autism in children and young people is expected to publish in late 2013.