“There’s no one way to be autistic.”

After three decades of confusion, masking, and perceptual overload, comedy writer Sara Gibbs was diagnosed with autism, a complex neurological condition that can affect social interactions, emotional regulation, and sensory experiences.

In this BBC Ideas animation by Lleucu Gwenllian, Gibbs shares the relief and reconnection she felt after her autism diagnosis at age 30, and emphasizes that there’s no one way to be autistic.

“Until I was diagnosed as autistic, I thought I was a broken, terrible person. My diagnosis gave me a framework to explain my experience to loved ones and the wider world. Meeting other autistic people gave me permission to understand and even begin to like myself.

“Being autistic isn’t all roses and sunshine. Like anything, it comes with its pros and cons. Some people see autism as an illness, whilst others call it a superpower. To me, it’s neither. It’s simply the blueprint for who I am, and to cure me of my autism would be to cure me of myself.”

Gibbs also addresses the gender gap and even the exclusion of girls and women in autism research, a common approach that likely impedes diagnosis and treatment. From the video:

“…many of the diagnostic criteria for autism were developed with men in mind. Over the past decade, our understanding of how autism can manifest differently in girls and women, and also how our autistic behaviours can be interpreted differently, has changed. But research still has a long way to go.”

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