I was diagnosed with ADHD later in life, and autistic traits have also been identified. The combination of autism and ADHD is commonly referred to today as AuDHD. In my case, ADHD is the more prominent condition.
The pennies only really started dropping when my second son was diagnosed at the age of 30. Like me, he had struggled throughout his life with his mental health, and suddenly so many things began to make sense.
The little snippets about ADHD and autism that appear on Instagram and other social media platforms don't tell the full story. There is far more to these conditions than a collection of personality traits or behaviours that people happen to recognise in themselves.
Understanding my own neurodivergence has helped explain so much about my life, including difficulties I had never previously understood.
One reason we're seeing more adults diagnosed later in life is that awareness and understanding have improved considerably, particularly over the last decade or so. Historically, autism and ADHD were frequently overlooked in girls and women, whose presentations can differ from the stereotypes traditionally associated with these conditions.
Looking back, I can also recognise traits in my late mum that suggest she may have been on the spectrum, although she was never diagnosed.
I received my formal ADHD diagnosis this year through an NHS-funded assessment pathway, and it has been an important part of understanding myself.
Unfortunately, far too many people are flippant about neurodivergence on social media, which does little to help those who have spent their lives struggling without understanding why.
And incidentally, to the person who suggested that people with autism or ADHD aren't particularly bright, neurodivergence is not a measure of intelligence. There are people across the entire intellectual spectrum, including many with exceptionally high intellectual abilities.
It's about differences in how our brains function, process information and experience the world.
A late diagnosis doesn't mean the condition suddenly appeared. It means we've finally found an explanation for something that has been there all along.