Autism is a developmental disability which effects how a person communicates and interacts with the world. There are around 700,000 adults and children in the UK who are diagnosed with autism which is about 1 in 100 people. There's a common saying, "if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." So not all autistic people are the same considering how the media portrays it. I know I'm not the best example but it's always a young, white male typically seen in tv and movies and they're normally extremally clever, especially with maths and have a good memory. 

According to the NHS, the signs of autism are:

• Finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling.
• Getting very anxious about social situations.
• Finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own.
• Seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to.
• Finding it hard to say how you feel.
• Taking things literally - for example, not understanding sarcasm or phrases/metaphors.
• Having the same routine every day and getting very anxious if it changes.
• Not understanding social rules.
• Avoiding eye contact.
• Getting too close to other people, or getting very upset if someone touches or gets too close to you.
• Noticing small details, patterns, smells or sounds that others do not.
• Having a very keen interest in certain subjects or activities.
• Liking to plan things carefully before doing them.

Special Interests

The trait of autism I will be talking more about is how autistic people have special interests and how it helps. This is having a highly focused level of interest in particular topics which makes them really happy, calming when stressed or can even be a positive influence on the rest of their lives. A special interest could be a game, TV show, a type of animal or specific hobby.

My main special interest is anything to do with Doctor Who. Since it has a long history of 58 years and it existing in different forms of media, I never get bored and find comfort watching/reading/listening to it. It is embarrassing to admit but I can name every episode from 2005 to now, which is now 12 series. Still trying to do the same with the first 26 seasons from 1963-1989. Some autistic people love to make lists about their special interest and I love to put every story from tv, books, audiobooks, comics and video games in chronological order from character’s point of view in an Excel spreadsheet with the name of the story, who's in it, writer and other information.