Having a diagnosis at an early age really helped me. My mum thought I might have
some additional needs when I was about 14 months old, when I started to walk,
partly because of my behaviour. My mum and dad were very honest with me and I knew
from an early age. They were worried about my future, they just wanted people to love me and
accept me for who I am but I think they're quite proud now!
From a very young age I had fine motor skills. I couldn't speak properly until I was seven years
old. I used to lash out at other children at school because I was really frustrated because
of my lack of communication. I used to pretend to be a cat - I found this easier than being a human
child. I fell in love with animals and found them much easier to get on with than humans. So when I
was about six, I really wanted to see my friend's cat - I'd made my only friend, really wanted to
see my friend's cat and egged her on, said "I want to go now!" I had no patience in those days, no.
So we, we kind of ran away from school to see a cat, a ginger cat! I remember it was a ginger cat!
So we had to cross the A3 (luckily on the bridge not on the road!) and
when we got there, the cat sort of hopped off into the distance and then the mum came out.
That's the first time I thought 'Oh, might be a bit of trouble here. Whoops!' But the result
of that, unfortunately, was I lost my only friend because the parents didn't want me seeing
her, their daughter, anymore. They didn't want me anywhere near her daughter and the school
thought it was inappropriate, the teacher thought it was inappropriate that I see my friend.
I thought that was quite a harsh consequence. I started a new school
which was a specialist school for speech and language. This school particularly helped
me with understanding language, not taking things literally and improving my behaviour
and I made a good friend too, that I've kept to this day. So that's lovely. Some things I like
are: helping at my local stables, my cat Merlin, playing the piano.
Also my two-year-old nephew Dylan and seven-month-old niece Astrid. So I drive
and I stick by every speed limit, absolutely! I get road rage when people break the rules
on the roads. I have a real phobia of balloons, fireworks, thunder, party poppers, even champagne
bottles popping. Anything sort of that pops or bangs because I'm really sensitive to loud noises
in that way. Some things I don't like are: rude people and people making assumptions. They assume
I can't make eye contact: I can! I will do through the video! I don't like to be touched or hugged:
I do, and I'm not sociable - well I think I am. I travelled around Australia - I went
for my 30th year, giving away my age but I'm young so I can do that! 32, yeah, that's young!
Did the three things I wanted to do: saw kangaroos and fed them, cuddled a koala
and went to the Neighbour's set - quite like a c'leb or two! Some of the things that I find
helpful are: people explaining why rules are in place in a way that I can relate to,
having familiar people with me in new places, being with people who understand me, my diagnosis
and how it affects me because I don't want to be treated any differently to anyone else.
If I do something wrong, I don't want them to say "oh we've got to be careful", I want them
to say "actually you've done that wrong, you've got to do it better next time and you've got to
do it this way next time" and then I'll know for next time to improve that. So I'd rather they be
outspoken and honest with me. The future goal is to live more independently but that's definitely
for the future. I live with my parents at the moment and really enjoy, really enjoying that. So
yeah, living independently is definitely future. Phobias and sensory needs are serious.
Please don't underestimate them and always try to understand. Treat us as equals but also
as individuals. We are not defined by our diagnosis. Thank you for listening.