‘Autism is part of who they are'

Christine and Paddy McGuinness on the challenges of raising their ‘amazing’ autistic children

- TESS LAMACRAFT

OUR FAMILY AND AUTISM NEW WEDNESDAY / BBC1 / 9PM / DOCUMENTARY

Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine are the proud parents of twins Leo and Penelope, eight, and five-year-old Felicity.

Over the past four years, all three children have been diagnosed with autism, a condition that means they have a different way of understanding others and the world around them.

Now, a new BBC1 documentary, Our Family and Autism, follows model Christine and Top Gear presenter Paddy as they learn more about autism and candidly talk about their personal experiences.

Here, Paddy, 48, and Christine, 33, share their story…

What were the early days like before the twins were diagnosed?

PADDY Really tough. They didn’t sleep and they had meltdowns about loud noises and bright lights. No one around us had babies or kids that age, so we presumed the stressful things were just normal.

CHRISTINE My mum came to visit when the twins were almost three. She said, ‘I think something’s not right,’ and I was like, ‘What? They’re perfect.’ And she said, ‘They’re not speaking, they’re not eating solid food.’ All those milestones they should have been hitting, they weren’t.

In 2017, doctors told you that Penelope and Leo had autism. How did you feel?