5. S1, Ep5: Misdiagnosis and being autistic at home and work

My guest today has insights into life as an autistic person both personally and professionally: she works in a Local Authority Children's Home for autistic young people with high support needs, and received her own diagnosis at the age of 27. She was initially misdiagnosed, and it took years - and an unusual approach from a psychologist - to help her finally find an explanation for the things the medical profession hadn’t been able to find answers for.

Despite being a bright and articulate person, and having plenty of academic ability, problems related to undiagnosed autism led to her dropping out of college twice when she was younger. But she has now been able to resume her interrupted education and is now undertaking a Social Work Degree Apprenticeship through her job.

She has asked that I don’t use her real name for this podcast, so we will be using the name Abbie.

In this conversation we talk about being autistic impacts on working in a challenging environment with young autistic people; navigating life, education and work with undiagnosed autism; the frustration of misdiagnosis; support following adult autism diagnosis; and her experience of being openly autistic at work.

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences.

I’m Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I’m now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn’t quite fit.

 

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