Anne Hegerty on Living and Working With Asperger's | Loose Women

00:07:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OZV8zsU4e8

Summary

TLDRIn a candid discussion, Anna shares her personal journey with Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism. After being diagnosed at age 46, she reflects on how it provided clarity to her life experiences. Anna mentions the difficulties of social interactions and the importance of having quiet time to recharge. She talks about the gender disparities in autism diagnosis, noting that many girls are undiagnosed. Lastly, she introduces the autism hour initiative to create more inclusive shopping experiences for people with autism.

Takeaways

  • 😀 Anna found relief in her Asperger's diagnosis at 46.
  • 💬 She has never felt lonely and enjoys her own company.
  • 📅 Many undiagnosed girls face challenges with autism.
  • 🛒 The autism hour initiative promotes quiet shopping environments.
  • 🧘‍♀️ Quiet time is essential for Anna to manage stress.
  • 💡 Documentaries helped Anna suspect her autism.
  • 👨‍⚕️ The differences in autism diagnosis vary between genders.
  • 🗣️ People often misinterpret Anna's straightforward communication as autism-related.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:07:00

    Anna shares her experience with autism and her diagnosis of Asperger's at the age of 46, which brought her relief as it helped explain many aspects of her life. Understanding her condition began with a documentary that resonated with her, sparking her suspicion of having Asperger's. She discusses the distinction between high-functioning autism and Asperger's, explaining traditional criteria for diagnosis. Anna highlights the underdiagnosis of autism in girls compared to boys and reflects on her own traits and challenges, such as organization and maintaining a work-life balance in her high-profile job. Despite these challenges, she expresses that she rarely feels lonely or bored, preferring solitude and quiet over social interactions. Anna concludes with insights on supporting those with autism in public spaces, like the autism hour initiative for more accommodating shopping environments.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is Asperger's syndrome?

    Asperger's syndrome is a form of high-functioning autism that affects social interaction and communication.

  • When was Anna diagnosed with Asperger's?

    Anna was diagnosed in 2005 at the age of 46.

  • What led Anna to suspect she had Asperger's?

    She saw a documentary on TV that resonated with her experiences.

  • Does Anna feel lonely often?

    No, she states that she has never felt lonely and enjoys her own company.

  • What is the autism hour initiative?

    It is an initiative aimed at making shopping environments more accommodating for individuals with autism.

  • Are there more boys than girls diagnosed with autism?

    Yes, historically there are more boys diagnosed with autism, but many girls go undiagnosed.

  • How does Anna cope with stress?

    She needs quiet time and organization to manage stress effectively.

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Subtitles
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  • 00:00:02
    obviously Anna we love it when you come
  • 00:00:04
    on loosen because you're allowed to
  • 00:00:05
    smile you don't have to look to stir
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    know exactly we always love to see you
  • 00:00:11
    and now one of the things you wanted to
  • 00:00:12
    talk about while you were here is autism
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    and you've talked about the fact you
  • 00:00:16
    have Asperger's yes firstly am i
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    pronouncing that correctly well I think
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    so it's named after a guy called Hans
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    Asperger who was Austrian ah possibly
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    German I can't remember but the Germans
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    would pronounce it Asperger's a lot of
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    people say people say to me what don't
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    you like people to say uh what offends
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    you like honestly it's really hard to
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    offend me I mean sometimes people get
  • 00:00:40
    stuff wrong okay so they get stuff wrong
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    and how old were you when you got an
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    official diagnosis uh it was in 2005 so
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    I was new I was 46 and did it I did it
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    was a relief to get that um is this or
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    not yeah it was it kind of it made sense
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    of a lot of things it's I mean I I
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    started suspecting it in about 2003 took
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    me about two years to get the diagnosis
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    and why did you did you start to suspect
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    it um III think that I saw a documentary
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    on TV and there was just something about
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    it that the rung bells in my brain I
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    remember in my diary writing I'm being
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    lee suspect to suspect again that I have
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    Asperger's syndrome and I have looked
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    back through my diaries and I cannot
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    find any place where I started
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    suspecting it earlier they say there's a
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    lot of undiagnosed adults actually there
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    was a documentary recently I think it
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    was just called are you autistic and
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    there were two out of the group who were
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    officially diagnosed it and do you say
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    I'm autistic or I have Asperger's um is
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    there a difference well okay it always
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    used to be the case that there was
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    high-functioning autism which is when
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    you know you can function you're not
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    actually just sitting in the corner
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    rocking and being nonverbal but you have
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    all sorts of there's things you struggle
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    with the driven high-functioning autism
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    and Asperger's traditionally was always
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    that you were diagnosed with Asperger's
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    if you didn't have any speech do
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    as a child if you talked at the normal
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    age then that was Asperger's and if you
  • 00:02:21
    didn't it was how a functioning autism
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    and it's and it's right isn't it it's
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    much harder to a lot more girls go
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    undiagnosed than boys but yes this
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    learning to mask and Cantor I mean there
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    probably is more autism among boys learn
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    among girls but it is extremely under
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    diagnosed it used to be I seem to
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    remember eight years ago there was a
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    statistic that there are four times as
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    many autistic boys as there are girls
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    but there are 10 times as many
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    undiagnosed girls so yeah many what were
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    the traits that kind of left out that
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    you get usually just a little boy
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    arguing with his mother and just the
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    tone of his voice rang bells something I
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    thought that's sort of absolutely
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    despairing squeal that she just does not
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    understand what it is that's bothering
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    you yeah I mean now I haven't had a sort
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    of proper screaming meltdown since I was
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    about 13 not a proper toddler tantrum
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    since then but I can get very stroppy if
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    I'm tired and overworked and and and
  • 00:03:26
    what about in your holding down a job
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    you have obviously you know very high
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    profile job - a job yeah I mean the
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    difficult bit really is just simply
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    keeping myself organized enough to
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    actually get myself to Elstree and you
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    know with the suitcases and checked into
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    the hotel be a lot easier if I lived
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    down here which is you know something I
  • 00:03:48
    might be you can so do you have to come
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    is it that you you can do that as long
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    as you focus just like everything else
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    yes a lot of other stuff doesn't get
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    dealt with or gets dealt with very
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    slowly or very late hell of a moving day
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    because you say that you've got quite a
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    clutter
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    yeah people sometimes say you know you
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    don't seem autistic where do you keep
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    your it autism and I'm like it's behind
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    my front door you do seriously not let
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    people into your house oh not at the
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    moment I'm just no guys you know when
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    I've got it sorted but not right now and
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    you don't you don't believe in holidays
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    right well no I just don't really my
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    idea of time off my idea of down time is
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    just simply to stay home and relax and
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    just sort of surf around on the Internet
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    basic until you need that and do you
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    think because you have Asperger's yeah
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    you need quiet that's some kind of
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    downtime I need I just need everything
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    to go quiet people to stop bothering me
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    and I need to not have to be thinking
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    about you know when I'm gonna get packed
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    you know I like to have my own kitchen
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    so I can cook and I like to have a
  • 00:04:56
    washing machine talking about washing do
  • 00:04:59
    you ever feel lonely or just being on
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    your own is is the best thing ever in my
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    life as far as I know felt lonely I'm
  • 00:05:07
    never lonely and rarely bored and the
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    most boring thing would be to be with
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    people who just you know wouldn't shut
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    up there's a lot of women on this show
  • 00:05:22
    that a row straight talking as well does
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    that sometimes do you find that gets
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    lumped into oh you've got Asperger's
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    therefore that's why you're you're you
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    know you've just said that very matter
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    matter yeah I mean just sort of tend to
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    be quite matter of fact I mean there are
  • 00:05:37
    times when I might sort of occasionally
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    lash out at someone and people will make
  • 00:05:42
    excuses oh she's naive and autistic and
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    actually you know it was probably
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    because I was overworked and stressed
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    and hadn't slang and you know somebody
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    may just have happened to say the wrong
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    thing at one moment and any time now I
  • 00:05:57
    was gonna bite someone's head off and
  • 00:05:58
    that person was in the way and and it
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    probably doesn't say anything about that
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    particular person he said not mentioning
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    any names
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    I'm not telling you to say the wrong
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    thing and I just bit her head off on
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    live TV would we know who she is
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    very possibly and is actually supporting
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    the autism hour which is a very
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    interesting this is where they're going
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    to get businesses supermarkets and
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    things to have an hour where they turn
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    the music off they turn the lighting
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    down so that people with autism and
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    Asperger's who find those things
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    difficult can shop yeah just sound like
  • 00:06:43
    a nice idea I have to say quite a lot of
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    my finger I having this autism out quite
  • 00:06:46
    early in the morning I'm not good at
  • 00:06:48
    getting up
  • 00:06:58
    you
Tags
  • Autism
  • Asperger's Syndrome
  • High-Functioning Autism
  • Mental Health
  • Diagnosis
  • Gender Disparities
  • Social Interaction
  • Stress Management
  • Autism Hour
  • Personal Experience