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I also received more than double the amount of credits required for an honours degree, which set me apart from other students as having a different approach to learning and was labelled a ‘genius’ by the academic teaching staff. Before my diagnosis, there were issues centred around anxiety, adapting to changes and connecting with other children or teens in school. Despite growing up having a best friend and appearing to be getting by, a lot of my issues were masked and yet questioned at other times due to my outward behaviour and sensory issues at times when I was perhaps not coping as well due to circumstances in my life or what we now know as autistic exhaustion. My issues came to the foreground in secondary school when, as Dr. Tony Attwood says, ‘the wheels fall off.’ I was isolated, suffering mental health issues, an identity crisis, and going through a family bereavement which meant I shut down and attracted the attention of specialists. I had to see a psychiatrist, and it was noted that I was suffering from trauma and grief, and my meltdowns were on account of having emotional management issues, so I had to embark on a therapy programme for a time, too. It was not a happy time for me in my school/teen years. I left at 16 unqualified and burnt out. I later went to work and college, and each time was a struggle. I didn’t know why, ie, peopling and time management caused such exhaustion, etc.

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The diagnosis changed my life in that I could stop worrying that I was crazy or not as good as other people socially, that I could be kinder to myself, that I needed extra time due to my processing, and that I wasn’t defunct in any way, just different. The diagnosis also brought about denial, too, sadly, due to the way certain people reacted to me in university needing extra time, etc. and being labelled different rather than a temporary ailment. That had quite a negative effect on me, which caused me to go into denial. It wasn’t until I had my firstborn son and completed my Masters and saw a mirror image of myself, my developmental stages, etc that I knew I had to help him and so I faced my fears again and fully embraced the difference at last. I can be proud of all my achievements in life and that of my own children who are all gifted in music, art, photography, and science. And one even in maths, while the other two aren’t like me.