I was diagnosed Autistic with suspected Dyscalculia at age 45 in 2021, then my 26 year old daughter two months later, then my 8 year old son three months after that. All of us were missed by well over 100 health, social care, and educational professionals who had the chance first. My daughter was pregnant at age 15 (imagine how many ‘professionals’ move in on a family at that point!). I self-identified in the end, then parent-identified my children before assessment. I wrote our story down. Why?

Because the system is incapable of finding us – especially if (on the surface) we are high achieving, successful, social masking Autistic women – if we don’t empower people to find themselves through sharing our stories and information about non-stereotypical Autism, others may be lost forever. We suffered incredibly for those lost years – cycles of burnout, mental and physical illness, bullying, abuse – suffering that continues to impact us now.

My debut memoir The Umbrella Picker is my story that became our story as our journey unfolded.

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