Aspie Psychologist

Post Reply New Topic

When Dr Claire Evans-Williams was diagnosed with autism three years ago, it was a huge relief.

Claire, 35, like many undiagnosed autistic adults, spent a lifetime wondering why she didn’t fit in.

She said: “I was over the moon because that label gave me an automatic understanding of myself. I realised I am not a defective person. It was one of the most critical points in my life. I understood why sometimes I struggled socially, why people would look at me like I had said something in a foreign language or why I struggled to get jokes, because I always took them literally.”

Claire, a clinical psychologist, is also one of the country’s foremost experts in the field of autism and now hopes to open Scotland’s first national centre of excellence in the field.

Her career to date has been in the NHS but she grew frustrated by the absence of any specialist services for autistic adults in Scotland.

She could only treat her patients through mental health services, despite autism actually being a neurological condition. Claire said: “There is a wholly unacceptable gap in services for autistic adults. The majority of mental health workers don’t have even a basic knowledge or understanding of what autism looks like in adults.”

When Claire was a child in Gourock, there was little awareness of autism. She was a very bright little girl, but there were early signs.

She had “special interests” and she loved to have perfect collections, like her complete set of troll dolls. She struggled socially at primary school and had only one close friend, who shared her passion for horses. The transition to high school was fraught.

She said:“I remember feeling confused by the social hierarchy and I didn’t know where I fitted in with the cliques of girls. I moulded myself to become part of a social group but I would flit between different ones and never really bond. It seemed like I was popular but actually I was lonely because I wasn’t being my true self. I was mimicking to fit in.”

n the United States, there was an acceptance of her “differences” which were attributed to her being foreign.

While she was studying psychology at Strathclyde University she was misdiagnosed with dyslexia and during her doctorate, she was assessed again and told she had dyspraxia, a disorder affecting motor co-ordination.

In fact, she had neither.

When the subject of autism was being covered in her doctorate, she recognised elements of herself.

But she said: “I could be social and I could talk the hind legs off a donkey, which didn’t fit the criteria.”

In some ways she was scared of getting an autism diagnosis, fearing it would bring a halt to her career as a psychologist, but a leading expert told her that her autism could be a strength not a hindrance.

So she has taken the bold step of leaving the security of the NHS and ploughing every penny she has into building The Autism Academy UK (TAAUK) .

The academy will be a therapy centre based on a four-acre plot she has bought just outside St Andrews, where there will be animals including horses, dogs, goats and chickens which can be used in therapy.

The centre will be used for therapy, training and research and has already benefited from an anonymous £50,000 donation.

Claire believes that if she could raise £250,000, it could be up and running within a year –

That doesn't happen to be this YouTuber, does it? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs2K8i ... om0blE1k0w
Her name is also Claire and she was misdiagnosed with dyspraxia. I doubt if it is, but it just reminded me of her.

I think they are both two different people because she doesn't look like the girl in the photos in the url.