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IB NEWS WATERLOO MOM CALLS LATE AUTISM DIAGNOSIS A RELIEF LORAINE CENTENO acenteno@metroland.com Growing up, Waterloo- based mother and company founder Wanda Deschamps knew she wasn'tlike most of her . "I felt different and I didn't know why," she said. Aside from not having the same interests as kids connecting with others. She would often struggle to find ie right words to match concepts, which often led to misunderstandin; and conflict in her erelation: ships. "Twas working hard to fit in, to copy the behaviour that I viewed as acceptable and at the same time I was visible and internal strug- gles Deschamps was going through. And her struggles be- came even more heightened as an adult at work. In 2017, it all became too much for her to handle. "I had a complete breakdown at work on May 12, 2017," she recalls. After seeking help for her mental health and tak- psychological assessment. I I'm autistic as well," she remembers telling the ‘ialist. In July 2017, ene received her autism dia; “Receiving a "diagnosis was like picking up a miss- ing piece of my brain, put- ting it in place and feeling whole for the first time." And it was then that Des- champs began to look at ev- 2886 Dunda: Toronto,ON: M6P “1 dp @cornerstonehome Ry Liberty Co. photo In 2017 Wanda Deschamps found the answer she had been looking for all her life. erything through a new prism. "I had been bullied and harassed starting in childhood and I blamed my- ed, my fault," she said. In 2019, she started Lib- erty Co, a consulting com- pany that helps organiza- tions increase the participa- tion of neurodiverse people in the workforce. GIRLS AND UNDIAGNOSED AUTISM Like Deschamps, many others go into their adult- Cambridd 90 Main St, Cambridge ON NIR 1V7 (519) 740-9991 hood struggling internally not knowing they are on the spectrum. According to Au- tism Ontario, there are "ap- proximately 135, 000 autistic people in Ontario" and i Canada, one to two per cent of the population are on the individuals," she added. may be overlooked, she ex- plained. Scheerer, whose re- search focuses on autism, agnosis. This includes a person's access to trains doctors and the parent's knowledge about autism iS nd Rive N, Paris, ON N3L3R7 @cornerstonefur SS @jo1UosYyD CopezeM | 2 among others. She also says a person's 3 sex can influence the delay § in diagnosis, ae overlooked in females," " she g according toa report by 8 the Public Health Agency of 8 males are diag- nosed approximately four fimesn more frequently than female "(This could be because) the diagnostic criteria for autism was originally based on the observation of autis- ao his study on observa- on many autistic totes, she explained. "This may have introduced some biases into the diagnostic criteria.” Autism also often co-oc- curs with other neurodeve- See STORY, page 8 Bo'9]9|UOIYDOOLLE}2M