“It’s great to know and I’m very happy about it.”
TV presenter Melanie Sykes has spoken about the relief she felt after being diagnosed with autism.
In an interview with Hello! Magazine, Melanie said that she celebrated the diagnosis.
She said: “I’ve always felt different to other people and how they think and operate, but now I know it’s because I’m autistic, it makes me feel validated as I understand why.
“I’m relieved. It’s great to know and I’m very happy about it.”
Melanie also spoke about her “sensitivities” during the interview, and how, post-diagnosis, they now feel “completely validated”.
She added: “There’s nothing wrong with autistic people; we just think and access the world differently, and people who aren’t on the spectrum need to understand that.”
Just last week, Melanie shared the news that she had been diagnosed with autism while on ITV’s Loose Women.
She said: “They call it a disorder which needs to get scrapped because it isn’t the things I can’t do, it’s the things I can do.”
She reiterated her point at a later stage during the show, saying: “I’m here for everyone who’s autistic. It’s a good thing, because it’s not a disorder… it’s the things that we can do!”
Melanie’s 17-year-old son Theo was diagnosed with autism when he was three-years-old. She has since highlighted the need to remove the stigma from autism, and to raise awareness about how it affects women and girls.
She said: “I was told then that with girls, it doesn’t get as seen because they hide it well. If you’re being tested on how a boy or a male presents a certain condition… it looks very different to a woman.”
Melanie isn’t the only public figure who has learnt that she is autistic in adulthood. Christine McGuinness revealed recently that she was diagnosed with autism.
