Rising Autism Diagnoses Among Adults in Wales Highlighted by Personal Stories
By Luned Phillips and Meleri Williams, BBC Wales News
Molly Siobhan Parker is on a mission to dispel myths surrounding autism, particularly focusing on autistic women. Diagnosed at the age of 22, she represents a growing number of adults receiving late autism diagnoses.
Autism diagnoses in the UK have risen “exponentially,” with a study revealing eight times as many new diagnoses in 2018 compared to 1998. In Wales, the number of women seeking support has trebled in the past five years.
The National Autistic Society attributes this increase in part to diagnostic criteria historically being “shaped around stereotypical ‘male’ presentations of autism,” which has meant “a generation of women” missed out on timely diagnoses.
Understanding Autism
Autism is a lifelong form of neurodivergence and disability that influences how individuals experience and interact with the world. It is a spectrum disorder, encompassing a wide range of traits and characteristics that vary significantly from person to person.
Molly Parker’s Journey
Now 28, Ms. Parker was diagnosed in 2020. She describes her mental health as having “plummeted” after graduating, which led her to pursue an assessment following consultations with medical professionals, friends, and family.
As an actor and writer from Pontypool, south Wales, she found her diagnosis initially “tricky,” in part due to the “cookie-cutter” way autism is often portrayed in the media. “I didn’t see myself in that,” she explained, referring to the stereotypical image of “nerdy white men who love their trains and maths.” While acknowledging that this group does exist, she emphasized that “there are also different types of people.”
Before her diagnosis, Ms. Parker said she felt “suicidal” and believes she was suffering from burnout caused by being undiagnosed. “From my research around autistic women, it happens a lot with women being late diagnosed,” she said. “We mask all our lives through high school, education, university, and then boom—it kind of blows up, we can’t mask anymore, we’re in severe burnout and we struggle mentally.”
Her diagnosis has had a “tremendous” positive effect on her mental health. “I feel the best I’ve ever been. I understand myself, and people understand me more,” she said. However, Ms. Parker expressed criticism of the post-diagnosis support available, sharing that she sought specialist advice and coping tools but was “only offered group sessions, which as an autistic person, that’s kind of your worst nightmare.”
Another Perspective: Helen Harman’s Experience
Helen Harman, 46, from Newport, also shared her story. Struggling through the Covid pandemic, loss of work, and other challenges pushed her to “crisis point.” After hearing a BBC Radio 4 programme about autism and consulting a neurodivergent therapist, she requested an autism assessment.
Diagnosed at 42, Helen initially felt “relief,” which soon shifted to “a sense of sadness and grief” over the emotions her younger self had experienced unnecessarily. She highlighted ongoing societal misunderstandings, where people question the rising number of diagnoses with comments like, “Is it trendy?” She firmly rejects this notion, emphasizing that “people have been suffering in silence a very long time.”
Like Ms. Parker, Helen found post-diagnosis support “very limited and very patchy,” often leading to loneliness. To combat this, she co-founded an online community and now organizes monthly walks for autistic women aged 20 to 60. “I’m really grateful to have found that it’s not just me, I’m not on my own,” she said. “There is a whole wide world out there whereby differences can be accepted and explored.”
Growing Demand for Autism Support in Wales
Data from Neurodivergence Wales show a 133% increase in adults seeking an autism diagnosis over the past five years, from 2,092 in 2019/20 to 4,882 in 2023/24. Most are aged between 26 and 45, with the number of women seeking support nearly tripling during this period.
The National Autistic Society notes a similar trend in England. Mel Merritt, the charity’s head of policy and campaigns, explained that because diagnostic criteria have focused on stereotypical male presentations, many women have been overlooked.
Sian Lewis from Wales’ Neurodivergence Service highlighted that past lack of awareness resulted in many women being “misunderstood or misdiagnosed” with conditions such as anxiety or depression, when autism was the underlying issue. She added: “We know many women have had to get to crisis point before they’ve been able to access the services that they need, but we’re really investing and working hard to ensure that is not the future for the women of Wales.”
The Welsh government confirmed it is “working to reduce waiting times in response to increased demand for neurodivergence services.” They also emphasize funding children’s services to allow earlier assessments and support, aiming to reduce adult waiting lists in the future.
Using Comedy to Change Perceptions
Ms. Parker reflects on her school years, recalling she was “always a joker,” which she now recognizes as a form of masking to fit in. “I’ve definitely dropped the mask now and the comedy has stayed with me,” she said. “I do love being the entertainer and making people laugh.”
Five years after her diagnosis, she uses comedy to address the “huge gap” in how autism is portrayed in the media. She has created a comedy film aimed at enhancing understanding of autism. “A lot of people don’t have an understanding of autism and sadly it falls on ourselves at the moment to educate those people,” she commented.
Ms. Parker describes her diagnosis as “life-changing” and says she now feels “at peace.” “Once I accepted it and came to terms with it, I could definitely move forward with the life that I want, but with those adaptations that I need,” she said.
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