When Zarah's son was identified as autistic, she started to wonder about herself as she resonated with a lot of his traits. She received an assessment aged 37 and feels like she is finally able to live her life the way she needs to. Read her story here:
A growing body of researchers along with advocates are raising awareness of the under-identification of autistic women. According to the World Health Organisation, roughly one per cent of the world’s population is autistic.Zarah Doyle from Dublin is just one of the many women who learn they are autistic well into adulthood. She found out that she was autistic when she was 37.
Zarah had her son at 19. “I was a young mum. I had no example of what parenting an autistic child should look like,” she admits. “Honestly, I felt like I was treading water. Thankfully, my husband was brilliant.” “I studied and researched autism as much as I could. I began to self-identify with a lot of what I was reading, but there was still some self-doubt. I thought I was overthinking it.”
She realised that her entire life, she had been masking [when autistic people learn, practice, and perform certain behaviours and suppress others to fit in with neurotypical people]. As a teenager, she missed a lot of school and even her mock exams because she was so burnt out and fatigued from masking.
Now that Zarah has been assessed, she feels more confident. “I feel like I am able to live my life in the way I need to. I was self-identifying for a few years but hearing confirmation was very validating.”
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