Steffanie Preissner says she was relieved at her recent diagnosis of Autism, because it gave her the language to explain what she was experiencing.
The 34 year old Screenwriter behind 'Can't Cope, Won't Cope,' received the diagnosis after a prolonged evaluation by a Psychologist, which involved input from her family.
Steffanie says knowing she has the condition means she can describe more clearly why her energy levels drop after social interaction:
"I'd be on The Late Late Show and the next day I wouldn't be able to talk. Now I know that's called 'shut down' and it's very normal for autistic people."
Ms. Preissner says she doesn't agree with the general tendency to differentiate between 'high functioning' and 'low functioning' autism.
She says to her, the autism spectrum is like a radio desk with a number of faders, with each fader representing something different:
"Ability to make eye-contact, ability to process sound, ability to process light, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, ability to tolerate change, the whole gamut. For each individual autistic person, those faders are at different levels."
