TV presenter Melanie Sykes praised for opening up about late autism diagnosis at 51

TV presenter Melanie Sykes has been applauded for her candid approach to discussing her recent autism diagnosis.

Sykes, from Ashton-under-Lyne, initially revealed the ‘life-changing’ diagnosis earlier this month in an email addressed to readers of her magazine, the Frank. There, she expressed her relief that things in her life had finally started to ‘make sense’. 

In the email, she wrote: “This week has been truly life-changing, or rather, life-affirming. As many of you may or may not know, I was diagnosed with autism late Thursday afternoon. And then, finally, so many things made sense.

“I now have a deeper understanding of myself, my life, and the things I have endured.”

@msmelaniesykes / Instagram

In the email, she also explained the struggles she has experienced throughout her television career, including the pressures of working on live TV, writing: “The sensitivities around working in television have come up.

“I have often accidentally responded to the director in my ear, live on air, as I cannot juggle the person I am interviewing and the person in my ear at the same time.”

And yesterday, Sykes appeared on ITV’s Loose Women to discuss her diagnosis further, explaining that she ‘feels great’. 

Speaking to the panelists, Sykes said: “They call it a disorder which needs to get scrapped because it isn’t the things I can’t do, it’s the things I can do.”

She also recalled the moment she realised she may be on the autistic spectrum, explaining that she had been working on a documentary with Harry Thompson, who is autistic, when he began to suspect that she might have an ADHD or autism profile.

She said: “Ten minutes in he thought I might have an DHD profile, and autistic profile because of how I was… I know now what makes me autistic and it’s the fabric of me… And I think I’m fantastic!

“I’m here for everyone who’s autistic. It’s a good thing, because it’s not a disorder… It’s the things that we can do!”

And, when asked what she would have done differently if she had been diagnosed earlier, she said: “I would have asked for more of what I needed… There was a lot of sensitivities that I would have dealt with.”

Since her appearance on the talk show, people have been applauding Sykes for opening up about the diagnosis and breaking down the stigma surrounding autism.

One Twitter user wrote: “Go Mel! ‘We weren’t visible’: growing awareness leads more women to autism diagnosis.”

Another commented: “Watching Melanie Sykes discussing her Autism diagnosis on #LooseWomen and being so open about it makes me so relieved as someone who is also on the spectrum, it’s a shame women aren’t getting diagnosed as much as men and things have to change, we should drop the disorder as well.”

According to Autism.org, autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. One in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.