**“My memory has always been problematic, and remembering pieces to camera could spin me out, resulting in sleepless nights beforehand.

There have been many tears of fear and frustration.

”**In a video on Instagram, Sykes further explained how the conversation came up when she was making a documentary about the failures of the education system, especially for children who are autistic, so she decided to do the assessments.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, which is defined by having difficulties with social communication and restricted or repetitive behaviours, activities or interests.

It is a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning that these difficulties would have existed since childhood even if someone is diagnosed as an adult.

Autistic traits appear on a spectrum, meaning that people are affected in different ways and to different degrees.

For instance, some autistic people are unable to speak or have very limited verbal communication, while others have sophisticated language skills, but may struggle with taking things literally or find abstract concepts harder to follow.

Autistic people may have difficulty reading other people’s emotions or intentions, which can make socialising difficult to navigate.

They may struggle to make friends or sustain friendships.

That doesn’t mean that autistic people lack emotion or do not desire friendships and social acceptance, however.

Changes to routines or unexpected events can be stressful.

Autistic people may prefer to stick closely to a known pattern of behaviour, such as eating the same meal each morning, wearing the same clothes.

Some autistic people repeat movements such as flapping their hands, rocking or twirling around and find that these behaviours help calm them down when they are feeling anxious.

Autism is linked to highly focused interests or hobbies.

The topic could be something niche like stamp collecting or electricity pylons, or something more mainstream such as environmental activism or fashion.

It’s the nature and intensity of the interest that is unusual, not necessarily the topic.

Autistic people may also have sensory sensitivities, such as finding loud noises overwhelming, finding scratchy materials particularly uncomfortable or having an aversion to certain food textures.

An autism diagnosis is made on behavioural criteria and this criteria has broadened over time.

This means that autism spectrum disorder is a very diverse group with some needing full-time support and others having specific challenges in certain areas of their lives.

**“There’s a sense of relief about it and a sense of mourning.

Not because I don’t want to be who I am, it’s that I wish I’d known sooner so I could have understood exactly why things were rolling the way they were rolling.

I’ve been vulnerable to abusive people, I’ve been vulnerable to people that lie because I only see and take on board what people tell me.

I’ve always been a bit funny with jokes, if somebody tells me something with a deadpan delivery I believe them.

”**Sykes has previously spoken about her youngest son being diagnosed with autism at the age of three, and said it gave her the push she needed to leave her marriage.

**“I couldn’t be in a marriage that I wasn’t happy in, in order to help him,”** she told The Hot Mess Mums Club podcast.

The model and activist Christine McGuinness recently revealed she had been diagnosed as autistic.

Appearing on ITV’s Loose Women on Monday, McGuinness discussed how autism had affected her life and relationships, including having to **“learn how to behave”**.

**“I’ve always been afraid to say it out loud because I know it seems odd and it seems different,”** said McGuinness.

**“If I go to a hotel room I will rearrange the furniture, I’ll take the pictures off the wall.

”**