A Model for Thriving as an Autistic Adult

Hi, Alexis.

Thank you for taking the time to be here.

Hello, it's so good to be here.

Thank you for having me.

Well, I am thrilled to have you here.

You're a model and recently came out as late diagnosed autistic, and I'd like to know about your experience.

So let's start with when did you learn you're autistic and ADHD, and what was happening in your life that led you to get a diagnosis?

Yeah.

So it was a fluke.

I am on social media all the time, so I do a lot of commercial modeling, social media content creation for brands, UTCs, and so I'm on Instagram and TikTok a lot, and I don't know how or why autism came up in my feed, but it did.

And there is this autism assessor in Australia, and her handle is whileyouwonder, and it was this video of her at the beach, and it was like how my autism looks at the beach, and it was the sticking sand that was like that she couldn't get off and, and the breeze and the hair bothering her across her face and the sparkle of the sun on the water and just all of that ick that I ha- I hate the beach.

And she did it in such a way that I, I completely related, and I was like, "How is that autism like?" You know? So I got on Google, and I found this website, which is theartofautism.com, and they have this page which is Females and Asperger's: A Checklist.

It was from like twenty nineteen, so it's still an Asperger's thing.

And that checklist read like my biography, and it brought back all of these memories and things in my life that just resonated so deeply, and it made so much sense that I could not believe it.

It was, it was like a montage playing backwards, and I started thinking of all of the awkward moments and the troubles with friends and relationships that I had with best friends that just went completely cold one day and not understanding those things and, and struggles I've always had, meltdowns and sensitivities, and it, it was mind-blowing.

And that day, we were supposed to do a progressive dinner with our neighbors, which was really intense, like eight people going from each neighbor's house for each meal, dessert, drinks.

The whole time, I was coming out of my skin because I'm seeing myself like outside of my own body, how I'm working really hard for eye contact, how I'm trying to make sure that I'm showing interest when I'm maybe not so interested, and just feeling panic like I wanted to leave and wanting to get home and really do a deep dive on autism because for me, it had only been a friend of mine from high school's son who, you know, I think he's like level two or three.

That's what I thought of autism, not me.

Sure.

And once I saw that it could be different and different in women and the masking, and here I am modeling, which is masking and acting, and everything I've done in my life, it was just incredible.

So I decided I wanted to get an assessment because I love collecting certificates and things, and it's really hard as an adult.

I live in Vegas, and there weren't that many resources, so I found Prosper Health, which does telehealth, and I got an appointment with them and immediately started creating documentation, childhood photographs, videos-All of these pictures of me with a super flat affect or kind of having a meltdown while my mom's, you know, brushing my hair and every special interest I've had, I just, I brain dumped and came to that assessment completely prepared, which was such an autistic thing to do.

And that's how I got my autism diagnosis, and it is, like, the greatest thing, besides meeting my husband, that has ever happened to me.

And then just a couple weeks ago, I, I got diagnosed with ADHD because the autism alone didn't... wasn't a perfect fit because I love change, I love doing new things, I like mixing up the routine.

I'm always flitting around the house, never sitting still, so I felt like there was a different piece, and AuDHD really made sense to me, so it's official and I am AuDHD.