susan

As mentioned in some of my previous posts, the ever rising number of people being diagnosed with autism in recent years is most likely due to the increasing awareness of the disorder. Many people with autism in the past were wrongly diagnosed with mental illnesses or being labelled “deaf and dumb”.
The Britains Got Talent star, Susan Boyle at the age of 52 has just received a diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, which is a disorder within the autism spectrum. Prior to this, Susan was diagnosed as having incurred brain damage at birth.
Susan has lived with this disorder for the past 52 years with no services or supports being made available to her due to her lack of correct diagnosis. Susan claims she was fully aware of the fact that a diagnosis of brain damage was not a fair explaination for the difficulties she experienced on a daily basis.
There are a number of people within a similar age group as Susan or older, that show many traits of autism but have not received a diagnosis. People who have a mild form of autism have been forced to struggle through life not knowing why they are different to their peers. Susan has said that she is releaved that she has received this diagnosis, as she now has an explaination for why she struggles in social situations. She also has said that this diagnosis will not change her life in any way, she will continue to do everything as normal but now that she is aware of her condition she can live with it.