Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world, according to the National Autistic Society.
The charity says that more than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. Up until now, it was assumed that autistic people were overwhelmingly men and boys, and only very rarely women and girls.
However, this is wrong. This week, Christine McGuinness opened up about her life with autism in a new BBC One documentary, Unmasking My Autism. The TV star delved into the world of autism and why women are being diagnosed much later in life than their male counterparts.
