--- abstract: "ABSTRACT Researchers have paid increasing attention to mental \r\nhealth issues in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) over the \r\nlast decades. However, little is known about how rates of clinical \r\nreferrals,types of mental health diagnoses and treatment in adults with \r\nASDs and intellectual disability have changed. We examined patterns \r\nof change in referral trends to specialist mental health services in south \r\nLondon from 1983 to 2000 (N= 137). The majority of the cases \r\n(58.4%) did not have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Schizo- \r\nphrenia was the most frequent psychiatric diagnosis followed by \r\ndepression, adjustment reaction and anxiety. There was a signiﬁcant \r\nchange in the rate of referrals,an increase in the diagnosable psychi- \r\natric disorders over time and a signiﬁcant reduction of medication at \r\ntime of referral. There were no signiﬁcant changes in the use of other \r\ntherapeutic interventions. The proportion of participants living inde- \r\npendently increased. Implications for services and future research are \r\ndiscussed. \r\n \r\n" altloc: [] chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Tsakanikos given: 'Elias ' honourific: '' lineage: '' date: 2007 date_type: published datestamp: 2011-03-11 22:27:40 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/72/27 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: 0 edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: [] eprint_status: archive eprintid: 7227 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/7227/1/Referal_trends_in_autism_paper.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: "adult autism; dual diagnosis; intellectual disability; mental health services; \r\nmental retardation" lastmod: 2011-03-11 22:27:40 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: ~ pagerange: ~ pubdom: TRUE publication: 'Referral trends in mental health services for adults with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders ' publisher: ~ refereed: TRUE referencetext: ~ relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 20 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2011-03-11 22:27:40 subjects: - clin-psy succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: "Referral trends in mental health services for adults with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders \r\n\r\n" type: journalp userid: 5051 volume: ~