Fern Brady’s fierce battle for autism awareness after years of ‘meltdowns’ led to diagnosis in her 30s

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Fern Brady was diagnosed with autism in 2021 after years of battling to understand her emotions.The Scottish comedian was in her 30s when a series of meltdowns led her to seek out answers and at the age of 34 was diagnosed.Whilst performing a stand-up comedy gig in Berlin in 2017, the star joked that she didn't fit in with other women.

Afterwards, a woman in the audience approached her and told her it sounded like a description of autism, sparking her four-year battle to be diagnosed.Growing up in Bathgate, West Lothian, she was often misunderstood and found herself regularly in trouble, causing the star to have 'meltdowns' as she felt so overwhelmed.Tragically, Fern was misdiagnosed with OCD in her teens and later advised to go on antidepressants which she later revealed did little to make her life feel more manageable and she began self-harming.Heartbreakingly, at the tender age of 15, she took an overdose of pills and ended up in a mental health unit.She told the Metro: "I think I was really privileged to get put in a mental unit, because now teenagers can’t get anything."Now, more than a decade later, she has penned a deeply moving memoir 'Strong Female Character' which details her experience of being a female who is autistic.

The memoir explores class, mental health, societal pressures and individual ambition. While writing her memoir, Fern revealed that she often considered how her autism revelations might affect her comedy career.“I kept thinking, ‘This is probably going to ruin things for me’. "But then I reassured myself that the people I’m most worried about are probably not going to read it, although quite a few comedians I’ve sent it to have read it.Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by