HIDDEN SIGNS OF autism

I remember the first time I heard about autism. It was the 80s, and Dustin Hoffman was huge. Then he did Rain Man. It took the world — or at least our corner of the world — by storm. Every adult I knew was talking about it, stopping in the street, in the supermarket. It meant something.

- By ANNE FLETCHER

Now, yes, I know Hoffman's character here was in fact an autistic savant, and this is very different from your typical autistic person. But it was the first I, my parents, their friends, and probably many people in the UK had ever heard of the condition.

Fast forward a few years, and I remember a friend explaining more to me. Picture the scene: you ask someone to post a letter for you. It's got the address on, and a stamp — you're just asking them to pop it in the post box down the road on their way to get milk. They return four hours later, having caught two buses across town (and back) to hand deliver the letter to the house in question. It hadn't crossed your mind that they would go to those lengths, it was surely obvious that you simply meant to put it in the post box, instead of delivering it themselves? Obvious to you, yes, but not necessarily to them.

It's a mistake few people make in real life, and one you've probably never encountered. Unless their condition is particularly impactful, then many women, in particular, will learn how to mask it. They likely never get to the stage of trekking across town to hand-deliver the letter, learning instead at an early age what is meant by ‘posting’, and many other terms.