Autism Has Never Held Me Back

Journalist Laura James had always felt different, but nobody – including doctors – could work out why. It wasn’t until her mid forties that she was diagnosed with autism

- Laura James

When autism was first defined  in 1943 by Leo Kanner, it was  thought that only men were  affected by the condition.  There is now growing evidence  suggesting more women have the  condition than was previously thought,  but are significantly under-diagnosed.  Laura James is one such woman. She lives with husband Tim, who’s a  photographer, and has four grown-up  children: Lucie, Tatti, Jack and Toby.  Three years ago, Laura was diagnosed  with autism. Here, she tells her story...

“As soon as I put the key in the front door, I feel a flash of irritation dart through me. I’m just back from a long day at work, having driven for  our-and-a-half hours. I’m exhausted. It’s time for my bath, but the scent that reaches my nostrils as I stand on the doorstep is Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax Oil. My husband, Tim, has not only taken all the hot water, he’s also used the last of my bath oil.

My kids call my heightened senses an Aspie super-power (‘Aspie’ is an affectionate term used for people with Asperger’s syndrome). Nothing escapes me. I know which of their friends are in the house simply by the perfume they wear, and no illicit cigarette could ever escape my attention.

It’s not just my senses that are different. Since early childhood, I have been aware that my body and brain behave in a way that is unusual, as if I run on a different operating system. For instance, I often take things more literally than others do. Into my early teens, phrases such as ‘has the cat got your tongue?’ would send me into a panic. I would check that my tongue was still there and I regarded cats with great suspicion for a long time afterwards. I still struggle when people say one thing and mean another.