Melanie Sykes Shares Her Inspiring Later In Life Autism Diagnosis | Loose Women

00:08:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42C-sLReJc

Zusammenfassung

TLDRMelanie Sykes, diagnosed with autism at 51, discusses her journey of understanding herself post-diagnosis. She expresses relief and happiness about the diagnosis, viewing it as an avenue for self-discovery. Sykes advocates for a positive reframe of autism, arguing against its classification as a disorder, emphasizing neurodiversity instead. She reflects on missed opportunities in her life and career, particularly in the entertainment industry, due to societal misconceptions about autism. Sykes aims to be a role model, encouraging others diagnosed with autism to embrace their identity and seek understanding without the stigma that has historically surrounded neurodiversity.

Mitbringsel

  • 🙌 Melanie Sykes was diagnosed with autism at age 51.
  • 💡 The diagnosis brought her relief and clarity about her life.
  • 🛠️ Sykes emphasizes the need to discard the term 'disorder' for autism.
  • 💖 She aims to raise awareness and help others feel accepted.
  • 🎤 Working with autistic advocates has helped her understand her own experiences.
  • 🏫 She advocates for better support in the education system for autistic individuals.
  • 📣 Public figures discussing autism can significantly reduce stigma.
  • 🌟 Sykes encourages embracing neurodiversity as a positive aspect of identity.

Zeitleiste

  • 00:00:00 - 00:08:36

    Melanie Sykes revealed her autism diagnosis at age 51, expressing relief and a sense of understanding about her life. While she feels positive about this realization, she also mourns not knowing sooner, which could have helped her understand her experiences better. Her discussions about autism brought insights into her sensitivities and adaptations, emphasizing the importance of recognizing autistic traits as a part of her identity. She acknowledges that autistic individuals, especially women, might be diagnosed less frequently due to differences in presentation compared to men. Sykes aims to encourage others with autism to embrace their identity, reinforcing that autism should not be viewed merely as a disorder but as part of the diverse human experience. She also highlights the significance of changing perceptions in society about autism and the importance of accurate representation and support within educational systems. Overall, her message is one of empowerment, acceptance, and the value of neurodiversity.

Mind Map

Video-Fragen und Antworten

  • What was Melanie Sykes' diagnosis?

    She was diagnosed with autism at age 51.

  • How did Sykes feel about her diagnosis?

    She felt a sense of relief and positivity, as it helped her make sense of her life.

  • What does Sykes think about the term 'disorder'?

    She believes the term should be scrapped, emphasizing the positives of autistic traits instead.

  • Why does Sykes want to speak out about autism?

    To help others who might feel embarrassed about their diagnosis and to raise awareness about autism.

  • What differences does Sykes believe would have occurred if she had known her diagnosis earlier?

    She would have asked for more support regarding her sensitivities in the industry.

  • What was Sykes' experience in the educational system?

    She felt her creative skills were overlooked, and wishes more recognition had been given to those talents.

  • How does Sykes view neurodiversity?

    She believes it should be celebrated and viewed positively, rather than as a disorder.

  • Who does Sykes credit for her understanding of autism?

    She worked closely with Harry Thompson, an autistic speaker, who helped her understand her traits.

  • What impact does Sykes hope her story will have?

    She hopes it will encourage more people to seek diagnosis and embrace who they are.

  • What is the importance of public figures discussing autism?

    It helps reduce stigma and inspires others to consider their own experiences with autism.

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Untertitel
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Automatisches Blättern:
  • 00:00:05
    now just a couple of weeks ago melanie
  • 00:00:07
    sykes posted a video online to open up
  • 00:00:09
    about something very personal which she
  • 00:00:11
    says has helped make sense of herself
  • 00:00:14
    and her life she shared the news that
  • 00:00:16
    she has been diagnosed as autistic at
  • 00:00:19
    the age of 51.
  • 00:00:21
    yesterday after
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    after a series of assessments last week
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    a report came back to tell me that i am
  • 00:00:28
    autistic
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    and it's such a positive
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    diagnosis for me because it makes sense
  • 00:00:35
    of my life and i've had to go back and
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    look at my life and sort of unpick it
  • 00:00:39
    and and retell it because it has a
  • 00:00:41
    completely different lens using uh
  • 00:00:44
    harry's terminology and there's a sense
  • 00:00:47
    of relief about it
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    but there's also a sense of mourning not
  • 00:00:51
    because i don't want to be who i am and
  • 00:00:53
    what i am and that i'm autistic that's
  • 00:00:55
    that's not it it's that i wish i'd known
  • 00:00:57
    sooner so i could have understood
  • 00:01:00
    exactly why things were rolling the way
  • 00:01:02
    they were rolling
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    and i'm honestly so so happy to see you
  • 00:01:06
    joining us in the studio to talk more
  • 00:01:07
    about this oh thanks for having me
  • 00:01:10
    honestly it's great when i when i and i
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    saw that video for the first time and i
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    read all the articles that have written
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    about it subsequently it was just
  • 00:01:17
    incredible
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    when you heard that diagnosis did it
  • 00:01:20
    feel like the penny had dropped things
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    suddenly yeah and they're still dropping
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    honestly every day every minute of every
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    day i'm starting having realizations
  • 00:01:28
    about all my sensitivities
  • 00:01:30
    but um i'd i'd i've been working with
  • 00:01:34
    harry thompson who is an
  • 00:01:36
    autistic guy who
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    um is a speaker he knows everything
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    there is to know about it and there he
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    is
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    and um we were working on a documentary
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    about the education system and how it
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    doesn't serve autistic people and he he
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    was round up mine and we were chatting
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    we'd already did on a facetime like two
  • 00:01:51
    weeks before but we were met in the
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    flesh and you know 10 minutes in he sort
  • 00:01:56
    of thought i might have an adhd profile
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    slash artistic profile based on
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    how
  • 00:02:02
    open i am how expressive i am um that my
  • 00:02:06
    ability to to have pick up and drop lots
  • 00:02:10
    of different bits of conversation but
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    keep it lateral and stuff like that i
  • 00:02:14
    mean i i've had to message him this
  • 00:02:16
    morning and say remind me what it was
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    that you thought i was interested
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    because everybody keeps asking me i
  • 00:02:21
    can't remember
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    so because it's his idea of what makes
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    me autistic i know now what makes me
  • 00:02:27
    autistic and it is the fabric of who i
  • 00:02:30
    am and who i've always been and i think
  • 00:02:32
    i'm great
  • 00:02:34
    [Applause]
  • 00:02:37
    and this has been the big thing for me
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    because i'm i'm not here for me i don't
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    need the air time i don't care about the
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    column inches i've had 25 years of this
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    and that's not what what i did it for
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    i'm here for everybody
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    that has been diagnosed who's a bit
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    embarrassed about it who you know i have
  • 00:02:54
    my phone has blown up with mothers of
  • 00:02:56
    teenage girls going i've just shown her
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    your video and she's like oh my god
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    right it's a good thing and it is a good
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    thing because there's it's all the
  • 00:03:04
    positives about someone they call it a
  • 00:03:06
    disorder which needs to get absolutely
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    scrapped absolutely because it isn't the
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    things i can't do it's the things that i
  • 00:03:13
    can do that make that are my autistic
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    sensibilities
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    now that you've had this diagnosis is
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    there anything in your life that you
  • 00:03:23
    think would be different had you
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    realized it earlier um
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    well i would have asked for more of what
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    i needed especially in this industry
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    because there's a lot of sensitivities
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    that i was i i sort of
  • 00:03:35
    dealt with because i didn't think i had
  • 00:03:37
    a voice to change anything although i
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    did work with lots of different men that
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    would change the temporary temperature
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    in a studio or change the angle of a of
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    a camera so they didn't get a double
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    chin and i'm not talking about des
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    o'connor here i will not name them
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    um but you know the men are able to just
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    say i need this i need that and i didn't
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    feel like i could because every time i
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    might have said potentially things
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    didn't feel right people go but you're
  • 00:04:01
    so good at it and the thing is i'm good
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    at getting on with it
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    because it's part of my nature and you
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    adapt i guess yeah yeah
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    a little bit like it's all a little bit
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    uncomfortable because i'm not stage
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    school i'm not yeah yeah so it's always
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    been a little bit against the grain the
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    fear of the stigma that a lot of people
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    kind of hold with anything like that
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    whether it's um dyslexia yeah autism
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    yeah and like you said it's the most
  • 00:04:27
    positive thing if you look at it from a
  • 00:04:28
    different perspective well yeah and
  • 00:04:30
    that's the whole point is that autistic
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    people have a different view of the
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    world it doesn't make it not right
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    just because people that aren't autistic
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    dictate what it is to be normal or what
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    is considered a disorder
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    i i'm i'm sorry but you know i
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    you need to talk to autistic people
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    about what autism is not people that you
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    want yeah because you can't possibly
  • 00:04:52
    know if you're not it and it's looking
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    at it differently isn't it because now
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    we talk about neurodiversity yes rather
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    than talking about it being a disorder
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    because we have to look at the positives
  • 00:05:01
    yes yeah
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    everybody's brain and bodies are the
  • 00:05:05
    same and that's a positive thing to be
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    celebrated right yeah well i'd say so
  • 00:05:08
    and i think that you know we'll go back
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    to say we talk about the education
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    system
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    you know i and i have a magazine i've
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    had an online magazine called the frank
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    magazine for two and a half years and i
  • 00:05:19
    set it up and i suddenly was doing
  • 00:05:20
    dealing with 200 pages there i
  • 00:05:24
    [Applause]
  • 00:05:28
    um so yes i was across 200 pages of a
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    magazine online and i suddenly realized
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    i can look at this thing and see exactly
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    what's wrong with the page page after
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    page i knew where things should be how
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    things should look i do all the
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    interviews i edit and i was in my
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    element because i wasn't in front of
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    anybody i was at my computer just doing
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    what i do best which is communicating in
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    which interviewing people is my bag it
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    always has been because i'm really
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    interested in other people and i think
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    at school
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    if only somebody might have noticed that
  • 00:06:00
    i was a creative somebody might have
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    seen that i you know i did love to draw
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    i did love english i didn't do very well
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    i got two b's in little languages not
  • 00:06:08
    bad i was surprised at that
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    really good it's pretty good when for
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    somebody like me who doesn't understand
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    cryptic i can't do cryptic so i've never
  • 00:06:16
    been good at understanding poetry
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    because it's not black and white yeah
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    you have to sort of suss out what it
  • 00:06:21
    means and therefore shakespeare oh my
  • 00:06:23
    god yeah well not many get shakespeare
  • 00:06:25
    yeah yeah but you know i know which is
  • 00:06:27
    brilliant but i mean
  • 00:06:29
    if you go into your play if you go and
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    see a play
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    it totally makes sense but when you read
  • 00:06:35
    it for me when you read it it was when i
  • 00:06:37
    read it i just couldn't process it
  • 00:06:38
    something i was interested in that that
  • 00:06:40
    i read that you said is that um
  • 00:06:42
    women don't get
  • 00:06:45
    tested or diagnosed as quickly as as men
  • 00:06:47
    well you know tino my son um he's 17 now
  • 00:06:51
    and he was diagnosed when he was three
  • 00:06:54
    and i was told that then that girls just
  • 00:06:57
    don't it doesn't get as as seen because
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    potentially they they hide it
  • 00:07:02
    well or but i guess what it throws up is
  • 00:07:06
    that question of if you're being tested
  • 00:07:08
    against what how a boy or a male
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    presents a certain condition or disease
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    like heart disease it looks very
  • 00:07:16
    different to how a woman presents it so
  • 00:07:19
    why are we being looked at
  • 00:07:21
    in the form of man when we are
  • 00:07:23
    completely different animals
  • 00:07:25
    and so we've got to start looking at
  • 00:07:27
    woman and what happens with that woman
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    and not even the man is the benchmark
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    for the thing it's like no we have to
  • 00:07:36
    change that what a great role model you
  • 00:07:38
    are yeah i mean everyone out there
  • 00:07:40
    darling that's reaching out that is
  • 00:07:42
    thinking you know with with autism you
  • 00:07:44
    know i didn't think that i could be
  • 00:07:46
    someone like mel who's sitting here
  • 00:07:49
    confident and you're giving a
  • 00:07:52
    load of people out there and actually
  • 00:07:54
    that's why i'm here pennington that's
  • 00:07:56
    why i'm here darling you were and we had
  • 00:07:58
    um we had a statement from the national
  • 00:08:00
    autistic society and they said that it's
  • 00:08:01
    brilliant the more and more people in
  • 00:08:02
    the public eye are talking openly about
  • 00:08:05
    autism because it really will impact
  • 00:08:07
    people's lives it will make people get a
  • 00:08:08
    diagnosis yeah and they'll think if you
  • 00:08:11
    can do it then they can yeah and it will
  • 00:08:12
    make sense of things and it's okay to be
  • 00:08:14
    yourself okay
  • 00:08:16
    that that presents itself so yeah and
  • 00:08:19
    for me it's a huge
  • 00:08:20
    honor to have you
  • 00:08:22
    on the panel with me because i just
  • 00:08:23
    think you're an absolute rock star thank
  • 00:08:24
    you
Tags
  • Melanie Sykes
  • autism
  • neurodiversity
  • diagnosis
  • self-discovery
  • positivity
  • advocacy
  • education system
  • role model
  • personal journey