I have the reading age of a seven-year-old but not because I’m lazy or stupid – and as an occupational therapist of 20 years, I’m proof that conditions like ADHD and autism are NOT being overdiagnosed, and this is why it’s vital they are identified…

The presenter of an RTÉ documentary on neurodivergence has challenged claims that conditions such as autism and ADHD are being overdiagnosed.

The number of children and adults being identified as neurodivergent has risen significantly in recent years.

Some have argued that parents have been too quick to seek a diagnosis for behavioural or learning issues, unhelpfully applying a ‘label’ to their child in the process.

But Hannah Daly, an experienced occupational therapist who has multiple neurodivergences and was identified as autistic aged 37, has argued that such labels are more helpful than harmful in adults and children alike.

And she said identifying a neurodivergence can help someone lean into their own strengths and reduce the likelihood of mental health issues.

Asked about the notion of ‘overdiagnosing’ – or overidentifying as she prefers – Ms Daly told the Irish Mail on Sunday the sharp increase is because ‘we missed so many people over the years’.

On the question of labels potentially being harmful, she said neurodivergent people who haven’t been identified ‘may be given labels: stupid, lazy, annoying, rude, all these other terms, when they don’t understand who they are.

‘And think about someone who’s constantly fighting themselves to fit into something that they just aren’t – then you’re going to have issues.

‘Just because you’re neurodivergent doesn’t mean you have mental health issues, but there’s a higher possibility of negative mental health outcomes.’

Those issues are not inherently connected to neurodivergence, she explained, but come with ‘trauma that comes from not knowing, and being in environments that are unhelpful and negative’.

She said there are higher rates of addiction, suicide ideation and completion, unemployment and internment among neurodivergent communities – all of which are naturally more likely if you are ‘not supported from a young age’ and ‘constantly having your nervous system stressed’.

Ms Daly has dyslexia and dyspraxia, and describes herself as having ‘the reading age of a seven-year-old’. 

Her Junior Cert was the first exam she ever took, as it was the first time resources were made available for her to participate.

She was bullied as a child and attended multiple schools, but said she was ‘a bit more comfortable with being different’ because her younger brother was born deaf and with Down syndrome, and ‘in hindsight was probably also autistic’.

She had been working closely with autistic people as a social care worker and occupational therapist for almost 20 years before being identified as autistic herself, which she initially kept private, ‘because I didn’t want other people’s response to shade how I felt about myself’, she explained.

But, like many of the adults in the documentary, her identification changed her life for the better, and led her to a community who had similar traits that could previously be seen as hindrances.

‘It could be analysing every conversation afterwards, or it could be the way you’re a very direct communicator, or you might interrupt people, or you might skip think [bypassing step-by-step reasoning], or you might constantly be pattern recognising, or you might find certain environments very stressful, so you avoid them, or you like to sit in the same space.

‘Or these other things that people do, that you now go, “OK, that’s really comforting.”’

It was also helpful for people in her life, such as her husband, who could now understand her communicational and expectational differences better.

The mother-of-four called for more ‘flexibility’ in education and society as a whole to accommodate neurodivergent people.

‘It’s not just about inclusivity. It’s also about promoting positive mental health and wellbeing by [for example] not saying a good listener is making eye contact.

‘I hear all the time about making eye contact. Actually, a lot of autistic people naturally don’t make eye contact or don’t feel comfortable doing it, and that’s OK. It’s not a failing. It’s a difference in communication style.

‘If you’re saying to someone who is neurodivergent, “You need to fight against who you are,” that is where the mental health challenges can come from. 

‘That is where someone is spending their entire life focusing on a deficit, and we’re moving away from this when it comes to neurodivergence.’

The documentary also focuses on the common traits in neurodivergent communities that often lead to positive outcomes.

Ms Daly said: ‘We’re often quite detail-orientated. We’re often not one to give up easily. A lot of us are great problem-solvers because our minds are inquisitive.

‘With ADHD, people can be hyper-curious. One of the researchers that we met during the making of the documentary spoke about hyper-curiosity rather than labelling it as impulsive, and actually these are traits that we kind of need. We need people to take chances.’

■ Neurodivergence – The Making of Me is on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player this Thursday at 10:15pm