Aimee Lou Wood’s Honesty About Her ADHD With Autistic Traits Diagnosis Is So Important

 

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Aimee Lou Wood has shared that she was diagnosed with ADHD with autistic traits a few years ago.

The White Lotus and Sex Education star said that she was very socially anxious as a child, so much so that she struggled to eat.

She told the Sunday Times’ Culture Magazine that she went for an assessment a few years ago, and finally got a diagnosis.

“I was almost mute, very socially anxious. I couldn’t sit down and eat a meal. My mum had to leave food around the house and I’d have to snack around. Now I know it was neurodivergence,” she said.

“I got diagnosed a few years ago with ADHD with autistic traits. But then it’s been advised that I should go for an autism assessment.

“They think that maybe it’s autism that’s leading the charge, and the ADHD is almost a by-product of the masking.”

 

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Aimee Lou, who rose to fame while starring in Netflix’s Sex Education, is starring in the most recent season of Mike White’s The White Lotus.

The role has given her an even larger platform, as the HBO show – and its eagerly anticipated finale – is averaging over 15 million viewers per episode in the US, and millions more around the world.

While Aimee Lou has spoken about the pressures she has left around fame in the past (particularly growing up while starring in Sex Education), it seems she is ready to share some more of herself with the world – an honesty that is sure to help others.

In the UK, girls with autism are diagnosed up to six years later than their male counterparts. In fact, according to Autistic Girls Network, 80 percent of girls with autism remain undiagnosed at the age of 18.

These delays are largely due to the fact that girls learn to ‘mask’ their symptoms in a bid to fit in. There is no specific ‘female autism’, rather it simply goes undetected.

While Aimee Lou doesn’t have an autism diagnosis, she does have an ADHD one, that is likely fuelled by undiagnosed autism.

This is the experience of so many women and girls in the UK, Ireland, and beyond, as certain traits are missed and other mental health disorders are left to flourish.

Aimee Lou speaking openly about her experience isn’t just a refreshing addition to the news cycle, it’s also validation for the countless other autistic women who have yet to receive their own diagnosis.

More of this, please.