Ms Marja-Kristina Akinsha:

I thank Senators Higgins and Seery Kearney for their insightful questions and comments. I will quickly connect to what Ms Kearns said and provide a short personal story. I am a woman, a mother and an autistic person. I was diagnosed a few years ago, before I became a mother and that helped me a lot. When I went through pregnancy and dealt with the maternity system, I had knowledge of why things were difficult. There are many people who do not know before they become pregnant and who struggle with sensory overwhelm in hospitals. They do not know why it is so difficult and they question whether they will be a good parent. My diagnosis, which I was privileged to get, allowed me to really understand. As Ms Kearns said, a diagnosis is hard to get but once you get it, you realise what it is worth. Instead of questioning yourself for years or thinking "if only I did something better" or "if only I were to try harder", you understand it is not you. You figure out what you are meant to be like.

I wish to bring attention to the continuing difficulty for women in accessing diagnoses. I spoke to a public health nurse recently. As an autistic mother who has a child, I was wondering whether I also have a neurodiverse child. I was told all the old criteria, like if a child does not speak or if a child does not do this. However, that was not me as a child, because I was talkative. The old criteria are still being used, even for the new generation of potentially autistic children. There needs to be understanding that the criteria are often outdated and that people do not have training. This all needs to be brought up to the current research and understanding of autism.