Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder: Introducing the Specialized Clinic in Roozbeh Hospital

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the specialized clinic for adult autism spectrum disorder established in Roozbeh Hospital in 2015 with therapeutic, educational, and research goals. The target group of this clinic is male and female adults over the age of 18 with this disorder. The main goal of this clinic is the diagnosis, comprehensive evaluation, and evidence-based treatment including psychopharmacological therapy and psychotherapy. In addition to therapeutic interventions, the academic department of this clinic conducts research and organizes educational programs simultaneously. Due to the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in adults, we expected a large number of clients in the clinic, but the number of cases recorded in this clinic up until now has been much lower than expected. The possible factors of this issue have been discussed. The establishment of the adult autism spectrum disorder clinic in Roozbeh Hospital can be the commencement of creating a coherent system of screening, diagnosis, and providing lifetime services for patients with autism spectrum disorders in Iran. Since this will be obtained with the support of other researchers and experts in this field, suggestions have been made at the end of the paper as to what actions should be taken.