Your Story Matters | Hannah – Autism Acceptance Month 2025
5th April 2025
Author
Ross
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This April, for Autism Acceptance Month, we’re celebrating differences. Every journey with autism is unique and whether it’s your personal experience or that of your child and family, your story can help others feel seen, understood, and supported.
As part of Autism Acceptance Month, we’ve invited autistic individuals, parents, caregivers, and families to share their experiences and were overwhelmed by the response.
Today, we would love to introduce you to Hannah:
Hannah age 33. My whole adult life I felt ‘different’. I could never put my finger on why but I struggled to have long term jobs and friendships and always felt there must have been something ‘wrong’ with me. In my late twenties after falling in love with my now husband, I decided to look into the reasons why I felt different. If there was a ‘reason’ or whether that was just me.
When I read about autism, it just ticked every box. The uncomfortable social interactions, the draining battery from simple tasks, the need to have everything planned and know exactly what is happening at all times. It made me reflect on my childhood and early adulthood. It comforted me knowing that I’m not this or that, but there was a reason and that reason was simply that my brain is wired differently. I managed to accept that my struggles were valid. I’ve always struggled with my mental health and I’ve always been an advocate for helping your own mental health in any way that you can. But for the majority of my 20s I came across as rude and blunt and very ‘up and down’ with my emotions. Now I can see that was me not understanding what was actually happening. My main struggles are emotional dysregulation and social interactions. My husband has been a wonderful support, as a man who knew nothing of mental health when he met me, and is now my biggest cheerleader. We also have a 5 year old son who is neurodivergent just like his mum! It helps me to navigate his childhood with him, knowing what could be to come. I don’t ‘like’ that I have autism, and I still have a way to go in embracing it, but the day I accepted that I am neurodivergent is the best thing that could have happened.
A big thank you to Hannah from all of us at Autism Anglia. If you would like to know more about what we’re doing this Autism Acceptance Month, click here.
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