Walking to increase autism awareness

GROWING up, Bacchus Marsh resident Jennifer Mclean said she always felt like the odd one out.

“I grew up being known as a shy kid and when I looked around at my friends and my family, I just felt like they found life so easy whether it was school or social interactions,” she said.

“It felt like I had to put in double the amount of energy than everyone else did.”

It wasn’t until last year when Ms Mclean was diagnosed with autism that everything began to make sense.

“It was life-changing and it really forced me to start reflecting on everything that I had found challenging when I was growing up and almost reframe my whole life based on this new lens,” she said.

“Receiving a diagnosis and receiving a word for what it was, really validated me, so I think that validation as well as giving me an answer that I could then go and find support that is specifically for autistic people, was really helpful.”

Ms Mclean is walking 7000 steps a day throughout May to raise awareness and understanding of autism as part of Autism Spectrum Australia’s annual Walk for Autism campaign.

Autism Spectrum Australia is one of Australia’s largest autism-specific service providers that works to deliver individualised support.

“What they do with the funds is help raise awareness, they put money towards really important research, and they also do a lot around education for autistic people and are creating more inclusion,” Ms Mclean said.

“I wanted to try and give back and raise that awareness.”

Ms Mclean said she hopes to debunk common misconceptions.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions based on sort of the stereotypical, young male with special interests who might act out when they’re a child and a lot of that is because that’s what’s portrayed in the media and on TV,” she said.

“That’s just not the case; it’s a whole variety of experiences that people have.

“A lot of girls and women hide their autistic traits from a very early age and that’s why women get diagnosed later in life.”

To donate to Ms Mclean’s cause visit bit.ly/4jYSNNA .