Hello, my name is Lily and I am a 17 year old autistic teenager from the UK. I am very happy to be sharing my experience!

I was diagnosed with autism in early 2007, so I do not remember too much about it, however me and my mum do have an occasional chat about my diagnosis and what my noticeable traits were. The first time the people at my preschool noticed that I could be autistic was when they saw me playing alone and not socialising with any of the other children at all. I was then referred to a speech and language therapist by the preschool staff, and it was from there that I was diagnosed. It is really abnormal for me to get a diagnosis since females typically get diagnosed later in life, but I didn’t really mask when I was younger so it was spotted early.

Being autistic makes me appreciate my special interests so much. Dancing acts as an escape from the busy world we live in, but also helps me when I am feeling blue. TV shows allow me to grasp some modern language through echolalia (repeating words heard from our surroundings) and music enables me to relax. In terms of autistic traits, some of them include finding change difficult and taking a while to adjust to that change, I have a few subtle stims and eye contact is so tricky to maintain, but I am getting there!