The first major crisis in Yosuke’s life came when he stood in front of his students.
Until then, the 24-year-old had navigated his life with few obstacles. He had done well in school, scored highly on IQ tests and graduated from university without any major issues. But after securing his dream job as a geography and history teacher at a girls’ high school two years ago, cracks began to show.
“I couldn’t read the room,” says Yosuke, who recalls struggling to organize course materials and wrap up classes on time. He asked that only his first name be used to protect his privacy.
“I had always been obsessed with small details of things and had few friends,” he says. “But that was the first time I really struggled.”
After his employer suggested he seek help, he visited a psychiatrist and quit his job. A few months later, while working at a new job dispatching carpenters to construction sites, he received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.
“I felt like the world crumbled in front of me,” he recalls. “I had always thought I was normal, but now I was being told I had a developmental disability. I found it hard to accept.”
ASD is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people communicate, learn and behave. Previously categorized into separate disorders such as autism and Asperger’s syndrome, ASD is now understood as a spectrum with varying traits, challenges and support needs.
Yosuke recalled the experience during a recent interview at the rehabilitation center of Showa Medical University’s Karasuyama Hospital in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward.
He had just taken part in a twice-monthly session for adults with ASD organized by the center’s mental health care professionals. The program is aimed at helping people understand their conditions, share experiences with others facing similar challenges and find coping strategies that work for them.
For neurodivergent adults such as Yosuke, the program — consisting of 20 sessions and aimed at working adults in their 20s and 30s who have received a diagnosis — offers relief that can be difficult to find in Japan, despite increasing demand for such services. The need is especially acute for people who grow up unaware of their traits until they enter the workforce or begin planning their careers.
The center offers several programs for adults with developmental disorders, including one targeting neurodivergent university students and another for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition characterized by forgetfulness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
When Karasuyama Hospital opened its adult developmental disorder clinic in 2008, it filled a long-standing gap in care for people who had gone undiagnosed throughout childhood. One reason, according to clinic director…
