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As a child Anne Wheeler (pictured) was immersed in her own world and didn’t really communicate. “I was consumed with wildlife,” as she puts it.

Although when you’re younger it’s easier to get away with being slightly different, once teenage years set in it becomes more difficult if you don’t fit in with the crowd and this was Anne’s experience. However, she loved exams as she had a fantastic memory and achieved A and B grades at ‘A’ levels.

She also competed in national sports competitions for the school. “But I found it very stressful travelling to competitions and being with the others who were all chatting and I didn’t like being watched by crowds so I dropped out.”

Anne went on to study for a law degree at university. “I became quite unwell mental health wise at university but persevered and got the degree. It’s only because I have these autistic abilities and I’m used to coping. I self harmed during this time – I still do occasionally when I’m stressed but I’m working on phasing it out at the moment.

“It was obvious I was never going to be able to have a professional career so I went travelling on my own even though I was all over the place.”

Unravelling

Anne was mentally very unwell by the time she came back from travelling, but she moved into a house share in London and got a job as an editorial assistant for a publishing company.

“But I made a muddle of it and I was asked very nicely to leave. I did some temp jobs that worked well if I was given specific tasks but my mental state was unravelling and I had to stop temping.”

She partly attributes her history of depression and mental health problems to a lack of support for her autism. She struggled to be diagnosed because she had a degree and seemed relatively independent. Unbelievably, she was told by one health professional that she couldn’t have autism because she could speak.

“Local authorities need to see that someone’s life is in a mess but I’m very organised so don’t tick any of their boxes. Because I don’t look ill they don’t know what to do.

It was only after seeing a programme about a girl who was autistic and then reading an article on autism that everything became clear to her. Her GP referred her to a professional who specialised in autism and she was finally diagnosed with high functioning autism at 30.

Life still wasn’t easy and she took a couple of overdoses and spent a year at the Maudsley hospital before moving into her housing association flat provided by the mental health team.

Stressed

“Half of me is very mainstream with mainstream friends and hobbies, and half is autistic and I really need quite specific support.”

For example, she gets stressed about managing her time and is unable to cope with the work environment and its unpredictability. She also struggles with loud noised, a break in her routines, and is disturbed by heating and lightbulbs. She has support from a social worker for the latter.

At the moment though, Anne is feeling happy and optimistic; she sees a consultant psychiatrist regularly, has a supportive GP surgery and has help from a community support organisation and the National Autistic Society’s employment agency Prospects.

“My longing is to be working but I don’t wasn’t to end up in hospital again, but its difficult getting a way of life I can maintain between autism and mental health. My hope is that I will be working part-time by the end of the year.”