Most people would expect a health diagnosis to come from a doctor. Or, if it involves special educational needs, for it to be spotted at school. But for years doctors, psychologists and teachers missed the fact that Immie Swain, daughter of GMB’s Jonathan Swain, was struggling with autism.
In fact, it wasn’t until Immie was 15 and her mother, Nicole, read the novel Watching You by Lisa Jewell that the truth came to light. Sensing one of the characters, who was autistic, was just like her own daughter, Nicole arranged for a clinical assessment in November 2019.
“Immie was about to start her fifth school at the time,” says Jonathan, 49.
