Bathgate comedian and star of Taskmaster Fern Brady speaks about new book and autism diagnosis
dailyrecord.co.ukA Bathgate comedian and star of Dave hit show Taskmaster has been talking about about her new book and why more understanding is needed about autism.Fern Brady says she still has the meltdowns which have plagued her life – overwhelming anxiety which she masks until she gets behind closed doors, kicking furniture, smashing ornaments, punching walls.“I’ll always have a sensory system that is wired differently; where a light touch makes me want to scratch my skin off, sudden noises cause me pain and fluorescent light feels like it’s sucking the life out of me,” the stand-up comedian and TV’s Taskmaster contestant writes in her new book, Strong Female Character, in which she charts living with autism.Brady was only diagnosed in 2021.
She pursued an assessment following a gig in Berlin in 2017, where Brady joked onstage that she didn’t fit in with other women.
A woman in the audience approached her afterwards and told her it sounded like a description of autism.Today, at 36, she says the meltdowns are less prevalent. “I reduced them a lot with some really good therapy and amazing coaching and over the years I’ve managed to reduce the meltdowns more and more, but it will never go away.
All you can do is prevent the build-up.”Some of the therapy involves Brady learning scripted lines to help her navigate her way through situations which can be stress-inducing to her, from social engagements to hair and make-up sessions for TV.
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