Skins star Megan Prescott reveals she has been diagnosed with autism
Skins star Megan Prescott reveals she was diagnosed with autism and admits that pretending to be neurotypical left her ‘exhausted, anxious and depressed’
- Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way people communicate and interact with the world.
- More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.
Megan Prescott has revealed that she has been diagnosed with autism.
The Skins star, who played Katie Fitch on the series, took to Instagram on Sunday, where she opened up about her experience in a lengthy post.
Megan, 31, admitted that pretending to be neurotypical left her “exhausted, anxious and depressed”, and called for more conversations about women with autism.
The actress also confessed that she has not yet told some relatives that she has autism, fearing their response will be “quite upsetting.”
Megan insisted that autism is “not a superpower” but could be a “gift” if the world were made more accessible to neurodiverse people.
Real talk: Megan Prescott, 31, has revealed that she has been diagnosed with autism
Exhausting: Megan admitted that pretending to be neurotypical made her “exhausted, anxious and depressed,” calling for more conversations about women with autism
Megan wrote: ‘In December 2021 I was diagnosed with autism. Since then, I’ve slowly gotten comfortable explaining this to people I know, but it’s made me nervous to say anything here about it because of how misunderstood autism in women is by most people.
‘There are still members of my family who I haven’t told about my diagnosis because I know the response will be quite disturbing.
“When I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, telling people didn’t make me as nervous as telling everyone I’m autistic and I think because even though ADHD in women is still misunderstood, at least there’s starting to be a decent relationship.” number of resources available for people to learn more about it. The same cannot be said for autism in women.
“When I tell people I’m autistic, the response I most often get is something like, ‘Well, everyone’s a little on the spectrum,’ which, while it might be well-intentioned, is a pretty shitty response to someone who tells you that he is autistic.
“First of all, that response sounds like you’re trying to comfort the autistic person by saying ‘don’t feel bad, we’re all a bit like that’, implying that not only is autism a bad thing, but it also completely invalidates the struggles that autistic person may have experienced throughout their life.’
Megan explained how some people downplay their diagnosis as “it’s not a big deal because it’s something everyone experiences and you’re just not that good at dealing with it.”
She continued: ‘Autism is not a ‘superpower’ either. We live in a society built from the ground up for people with neurotypical brains.
‘I think autism COULD be a ‘gift’ IF the world we live in was made accessible to neurodiverse people.
Opening: The Skins star, who played Katie Fitch on the series, took to Instagram on Sunday, where she opened up about her experience in a lengthy post.
“However, almost all of the social structures, systems and ‘rules’ we live by have been created by and for neurotypical people and do not allow for the vast differences in how neurodiverse minds work.”
The actress expressed her wish for “more conversations about autism in women” and explained that most of the “diagnostic criteria involved in evaluating autism are based on research done exclusively in men.”
Megan concluded: ‘In my true style, of course I’m going to talk a LOT about this; partly because I’m incredibly selfish, but also because there’s a huge lack of information and support for autistic women and I’d like to at least do my bit.’