A woman discovered she had a life-changing condition after always feeling tired after getting home from work.
Carrie Kearns, 40, only recently learned she had autism after struggling to fit in throughout her life and considering herself a loner.
Doctors explained the reason why she felt so exhausted was because she had been "masking all day trying to fit in."
The mum-of-two, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said she felt relieved by the discovery after the difficulties she has faced.
“It is a relief finding out you’re autistic because you realise there’s nothing wrong with me," she told Manchester Evening News.
"I understand the way I think and the way I act and I do things is normal for me and it’s okay to do those things and be that way.”
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that typically appears during early childhood and can impact a person's social skills, communication and relationships.
People with autism can struggle with some areas of communication and social interaction.
They might also find it difficult to relate to people and understand their emotions, and have inflexible thought patterns and repetitive actions.
Carrie was diagnosed with the condition around six months after speaking with her GP.
She said: “I read into autism and it was the only thing that fit and made a lot of sense.
“You can’t tell if someone is autistic but you can tell there’s something different about someone.
"My therapist said I was high-functioning because I have a husband and children.
“But when people say you’re high-functioning, the reason the labels are so misleading are because it takes something away from the individual but doesn’t speak for their troubles.
“I thought I was grumpy and snappy as a kid but those moments were meltdowns when everything got a bit too much and I was overwhelmed and over stimulated.
"That’s why I found social interactions so exhausting."
Carrie started to read up on autism after her young son was diagnosed and she noticed similar traits within herself, especially from when she was growing up.
“Ever since I was a child, I noticed I was different,” she said.
“I didn’t seem to be able to fit in with other children my age and I was always a bit of a loner playing out on my own.
"I was more interested in nature and playing with plants and bugs than the games my friends were playing.
“I was bullied a lot because I came across as weird. I never seemed to get them, the games they played or the way they spoke.
"There were a lot of misunderstandings because I would take things too deeply and miss the point.
“The way I would dress wasn’t in line with the fashion at the time and I wasn’t dressing the same as other people.
"As I got older, I found work was difficult because I would get in trouble for speaking my mind. I was quite passionate and it would come out as me being aggressive.
“I was so tired when I got back home from work. When I got diagnosed, I was told it was because I had been masking all day trying to fit in.”
The mum said she felt lucky for the speed of her diagnosis.
She said: “I was really lucky with the diagnosis because it didn’t take that long. I was only waiting around six months which is absolutely amazing."
