Ms Aoife Sheridan:

I thank the committee for having me. I will touch on a few of the points Nem made. I will also highlight the inaccessibility of adult autism assessment. I was diagnosed at 22 years and I paid €800 to be formally diagnosed, which is a much lower rate than the average. It can cost up to €2,000 to get a diagnosis. The importance of a diagnosis in a younger person's life, when they are slightly older than 18 years, is that it means they can access services within universities. I work in a university and people cannot access support services unless they have a diagnosis. This excludes a large population from access to support services in universities. This extends to employment. Last year, I went through an needs assessment for my job. As I said, I work in a university and, as such, in the public service. Although it was due to be entirely painless, I still had to go to a doctor who had very little information of or knowledge of autism. I had to prove that I was autistic enough but not so autistic that I would be unable to do my job. That was a very traumatic experience for me. Ultimately, I knew more than the person who was assessing me about my experiences, my capabilities in my job and also with regard to the accommodations I required such as ear plugs, breaks and clearer communication and so on that would help me with my job. The important point to acknowledge when we discuss these things is the intersectionality of these issues.

Nem discussed how women are underdiagnosed, in particular, how ethnic minorities do not have access to diagnoses and are also being underdiagnosed. A large proportion of the autistic population are trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming. Many of these people often try to access gender-affirming care, which we know is a massive issue in this country in general. Gender-affirming care is very inaccessible and hard to come by but if a person has an autism diagnosis, which, as we have just discussed is wonderful in terms of getting accessibility and accommodations, it can actually be the reason someone can be denied gender-affirming care. People see us as autistic first and therefore they dehumanise us and do not believe we can make up our own minds on our gender and sexuality and what we need going forward with our own healthcare. They essentially infantilise us.

As I mentioned, ethnic minorities and women experience underdiagnosis, which is a major issue. Going forward, we need to get more education and neuro-affirmative care in place. I spend €90 per week on a therapist. That is how much it costs per session and this is one of the only neuro-affirmative therapists I could find in this country. I am privileged enough to be able to access that service but most people do not have access to it. There are not enough public mental health services available, in particular for autistic adults, and that is a massive issue. I thank the committee.