Meet My Autistic Brain Finding Answers After Late Diagnosis
13 snips
Apr 14, 2025 
Claire Akebrand, author, musician and painter, speaks about receiving a late-in-life autism diagnosis and how it reshaped her identity. She talks about masking, meltdowns, autistic burnout, and misdiagnosed physical symptoms. Claire also discusses how art, music and writing became healing lifelines and previews a new novel and album.
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Sudden Self-Recognition Through Media
- Claire Akebrand discovered she was autistic after seeing Fern Brady and then researching and taking the AQ test.
- She quickly pursued an assessment and found confirmation within months, which felt validating and euphoric.
Diagnosis Can Flip Shame To Relief
- A late autism diagnosis can shift shame into relief and validation almost immediately.
- Claire experienced brief shock but mostly euphoria because the diagnosis explained decades of self-criticism.
Stimming And Childhood Shame
- Claire sucked her thumb until age 12 and was traumatized when classmates found out.
- She realized many lifelong stims made sense after learning she was autistic.
