Irish comedian on being diagnosed with autism as an adult

Comedian, illustrator and creator of Your One Nikita, Aoife Dooley, was recently diagnosed with autism at the age of 27. She joined Ray D’Arcy to talk about the process of being diagnosed and what has happened since.

This article appeared online at RTÉ.ie on 17/05/18.

“I suppose it was a bit of a shock but then, at the same time, I wasn’t surprised either.”

Aoife had always felt that things were “going wrong” and always blamed herself for not understanding why.

The Comedian told Ray that a friend of hers, who had been diagnosed in his 30’s, suggested she go for testing after mentioning that he could “see a few traits” in her.

After doing some research and looking into her family history, she decided to pursue her friend’s suggestion.

Usually I draw diagrams of other people to understand the world in my own way but today I made a diagram based on myself for people to understand me a little better. Traits vary from person to person but these are some of mine ? #autism #autismawareness #autistic Also sorry I posted this 3 times (spelling mistakes lol)

A post shared by Aoife Dooley (@aoife_dooley) on May 7, 2018 at 1:27pm PDT

She took a couple of online tests and watched a documentary about autism, wondering if it could be a possibility. Though some of the tests were not especially scientifically accurate, the results she was seeing led Aoife to look into a professional consultation.

It was during this time that she learned about some of the misconceptions she had when it came to autism. “I had a very, very stereotypical view of what it was to be autistic, I’m not going to lie.

“Up until two months ago, I didn’t realise how big the spectrum actually was and that you could even get diagnosed as an adult.”

Though still at the early stages of her diagnosis, Aoife believes that finding out that she has autism is helping to explain things from her past which were unclear to her.

Over the years i’ve had many meltdowns but I never knew what they were until now. I feel so much better now that I can begin to understand myself a little bit better. This is what my brain probably looks like during a meltdown. A meltdown is a temporary loss of control due to the envoirnment around you. This can be due to things like loud noises, bright lights, strong smells. It can be really scary. It’s like my brain gets really overwhelmed and can’t take in any more information. When this happens I usually need to go for a nap afterwards to recharge but this could be completely different for someone else. Stimming can also help to sooth you in situations like these. I bite my nails a lot and this gives me some relief. I think I bite my nails because growing up some forms of stimming were deemed not socially acceptable by certain people (always because it made others feel awkward) so I found another way that gave me some relief while blending in! #autismawareness #autistic #autism #actuallyautistic #stimming #meltdown

A post shared by Aoife Dooley (@aoife_dooley) on May 9, 2018 at 1:41pm PDT

“It’s made sense of loads of little things already…not being able to articulate how you’re feeling and then people constantly asking like, ‘Why don’t you smile?’ or ‘What’s wrong with you? You’re always real cranky’.”

“You kind of almost have to like make up an excuse for being that way to kind of make life easier for everyone around you because you don’t know yourself what’s wrong if that makes sense.”

Since sharing her story on Instagram, Aoife says has been flooded with messages of support across her social media.