Clinician diagnosed as autistic at 50 talks about her family’s journey with autism

11 April 2023

Providing care for children and young people is at the heart of everything we do.

We spoke with our Specialist Neurodevelopmental Practitioner, Ren Martin, about her journey to a formal autism diagnosis at the age of 50. She shares her story of how she was inspired to change careers after two of her sons also received the same diagnosis.

“I fully understand how difficult it is for families with children who are neurodiverse to get a diagnosis and the support they need to scaffold them through their education. I felt like so many young people were not reaching full potential because of difficulties in mainstream education settings that are not designed to support neurodiversity unless there is a diagnosis to access funding. When my eldest son was young, his difficulties were apparent from primary school. Despite challenging behaviours that impacted his education and mental health, we struggled to get a diagnosis until he was in his early twenties. My younger son was a different child, and his diagnosis was at 17, simply in case he needed a safety net for college and university.”

To read the full story, download the UK press release here.

Skip to content