London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

The NHS consultant who was diagnosed with autism at 46

The NHS consultant who was diagnosed with autism at 46

An autistic ICU consultant believes stigma and fear of discrimination is delaying some health professionals from seeking help and diagnosis.

Dr Rosie Baruah, who works for NHS Lothian, was diagnosed in December at the age of 46.

Earlier this year she took to social media in a bid to raise awareness of neurodiversity.

Dr Baruah believes better education and support should be made available to help autistic people in the workplace.

The consultant was diagnosed at the same time as her 16-year-old daughter and said the news allowed her to make sense of her life.

But she understands why others in her profession may be less willing to share their experiences.

Dr Baruah told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime: "Since I was open about my diagnosis of autism on Twitter I have had messages from people who either strongly suspect they are autistic or have been diagnosed formally as autistic but they do not feel safe to be open about it because they fear discrimination.

"They fear that people will not think they are safe to be a clinician."

Dr Baruah, who is based at Edinburgh's Western General Infirmary, said said it was a "great shame" that some people did not feel confident about sharing their own diagnosis.

She added: "I think there is still a huge amount of fear and stigma, particularly people who are early in their careers and are depending on approval of people who are more established to progress.

"The more 'normal' you make yourself look the less likely you are to risk being discriminated against by people who simply don't understand what being autistic is like and how it can affect you.

"It still means you can be a completely safe doctor."

Dr Baruah was diagnosed with autism last December


Dr Baruah also called for more investment and a sharper focus on raising awareness.

She explained: "Until fairly recently I had a narrow stereotypical view of what autistic people were like.

"I also had the very great privilege that my daughter and I could pursue a private diagnosis because the waiting times for diagnosis on the NHS are, as you can imagine, horrifically long.

"I think there is a huge amount that could be done in terms of both funding as well as education to allow destigmatising of conditions and neurotypes, like autism, that I think really hold people back from being able to live their lives."

Autism is not defined as an illness or a disease, according to the NHS. Instead, an autistic person's brain works differently than other people.

And it's a spectrum, meaning every autistic person is different. Some common characteristics might include finding it hard to communicate and interact with others, getting anxious about unfamiliar situations or doing the same thing repeatedly.


'That's how I have always felt'


Dr Baruah suspected she may be autistic after reading an interview in The Times with author Holly Smale, who was diagnosed at the age of 39.

The creator of the bestselling series of children's books, Geek Girl, later spoke about her experiences for BBC Radio Four's Room 5.

Describing her lightbulb moment, Dr Baruah recalled the author's description of social interactions always requiring a "degree of rehearsal".

She said: "I just thought 'Oh my goodness. That's how I have always felt.'"

The consultant began to reassess her own life, from her birth in the west of Ireland to an upbringing that took in London, Kirkcaldy, Fort William, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Women and girls might be overlooked from getting an autism diagnosis because of the historical perception that autism mostly affects men and boys, or because they're adept at "masking" or camouflaging their autistic traits.


'Every lunchtime I would go home'


Dr Baruah recalled that at primary school she could be abrupt, "truthful when it was not appropriate to be truthful" and not very good at imaginative play.

She also said she struggled with forming female friendships.

By the time she reached secondary school the environment was "so much busier and noisier".

Dr Baruah admitted she only had "one or two close friends" built on a shared obsession with the cult US TV drama Twin Peaks.

She said: "Every lunchtime I would go home because I couldn't cope with the entire day at school.

"I retrospect so much of my behaviour was, absolutely, a function of the fact that I am autistic."

Her research also helped explain other aspects of her life.

Dr Baruah added: "The thing that really got me was realising that autism isn't a spectrum in the way that people think its a linear spectrum, from very mild to very severe, its a spectrum more in terms of the different components of it."

The anaesthetist said in her case her communication challenges were very mild but she found social interactions "really challenging".

She said: "Now for instance, at the end of a working day, I am in bed by half eight with the lights down really low and no noise.

"I need that time to decompress after a day of interacting because its incredibly demanding."

Dr Baruah also revealed she didn't realise when she studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh how well suited she was to her chosen career.


'A lot of it was a relief'


She said: "Autistic people generally thrive on routine and intensive care medicine generally involves a lot of routine."

For example, we spend a lot of time paying very close attention to detail such as going through checklists with patients.

She explained professional conversations also follow a similar pattern.

Dr Baruah added: "That's what I have been doing most of my life - rehearsing conversations in advance and using social scripts so from that point of view it really suits autistic people."

But conversely she admitted some aspects of the job, including the noise, smells and dealing with unfamiliar people could be "overwhelming".

In the four months since her diagnosis Dr Baruah has drawn comfort from reinterpreting her life through a different lens and the recognition that her brain works in a different way.

She admitted: "A lot of it was a relief.

"It allows a reinterpretation of the past that is more accurate and makes you feel less broken."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×