Christine McGuinness shares autism diangosis
Christine McGuinness has been diagnosed with autism.
The 33-year-old model - who has twins Leo and Penelope, eight, and daughter Felicity, five, with husband Paddy McGuinness - admitted it is a "relief" to have been told as an adult that she has the developmental condition, but it wasn't something that surprised her as there have always been "little hints".
Christine revealed her diagnosis - which is shared by all three of her children - in her memoir ‘Christine McGuinness: A Beautiful Nightmare'.
In an extract obtained by the Daily Mirror newspaper, she wrote: “I have been confirmed as autistic. It’s strange, but I’ve noticed there are little hints throughout my life that I’m autistic and more like my children than I ever could have imagined.
"My issues with food, my social struggles, how hard I find it to make friends and stay focused, and my indecisiveness. The way I float through life reminds me of how my eldest daughter Penelope is.
"It all makes sense now. And as much as I’m not totally surprised, it’s still been emotional for me to accept, but it’s a relief as well.”
Christine's diagnosis was confirmed in August by a specialist at Cambridge University.
She wrote: “My diagnosis came in August. Patrick and I were invited to meet with expert Sir Simon Baron-Cohen at Cambridge University.
“Patrick and I filled out what’s called an AQ questionnaire. It tests for symptoms of autism. While lots of people might carry a few traits, to actually be classed as autistic you’re required to score a high number, and I did. The scale goes from zero to 50 and the average neurotypical person would score up to 15.”
She went to say that her score of 36 was “high” while Paddy’s was “bang-on average”.
She called the period between the test and the diagnosis a “turbulent whirlwind.”
“Those two weeks between finding out I’d scored high on the test and my official diagnosis from Simon were a turbulent whirlwind of upset and trying to process the idea I could be autistic. Sir Simon quickly put me out of my misery and confirmed I’m autistic. And not just mildly – I’m quite high up the spectrum.”
Christine called it “a lot to take in” and “broke down in floods of tears” after hearing the news, after it prompted memories about struggling at school - leaving with no GCSEs - because of her “inability to concentrate”.
She said: “I was more than capable of sitting the exams, but I couldn’t be in that exam hall.”
Christine revealed that it's “normal” for her to not go on nights out because she finds it “much easier to stay in and not have to deal with the real world”.
And she outlined that she was “trying to see my diagnosis as a positive thing - at least I know for definite.”
