How Adult ADHD, Autism Diagnoses Changed Woman's Life

Publish date: 2024-07-24

Ellie Middleton was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 24, after years of struggling at work.
She started posting about her experiences with neurodivergence on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram.
Middleton grew her audience and published a book in October.

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This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Ellie Middleton, a 26-year-old author and creator from Manchester, England. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was a high school dropout who couldn't hold down a job. But, two years ago, I learned I had ADHD and autism.

Since my diagnosis, I've done so much I never thought I'd be able to do. I've gathered a large following on social media and published my book, "Unmasked, The Ultimate Guide to ADHD, Autism and Neurodivergence."

I was first diagnosed with anxiety at school

I started having panic attacks in school and getting teary and shaky when I was 15. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.

I was also diagnosed with a panic disorder and agoraphobia in 2011 and put on antidepressants.

Throughout school, I felt like I was constantly burned out. In my final year of school, I had to drop out.

I couldn't stay in a job for long

I got a job in the Post Office, but after six months, I got overwhelmed and had to leave.

I then worked in customer service for a bank, but I got overwhelmed and tearful and struggled to leave the house. I left the job after one year.

I accepted that I'd only ever be able to have a basic, entry-level job because I couldn't handle much stress.

I knew I'd never climb the career ladder if, every six months, I had to take a month off. But, at the same time, there was a lot I wanted to do. I had a million ideas.

Working made me bored and exhausted

Putting on a fake voice, making small talk, and making eye contact with people all day left me exhausted.

At the same time, I need a lot of stimulation to keep focused. My brain is overactive. Doing the same thing on repeat was mind-numbing. I'd find myself reading a book while taking a call for my job.

Learning I had ADHD and autism was a relief

I'd taken several different types of antidepressants, and nothing seemed to work. I felt stuck and didn't want to be in the cycle anymore.

I realized I should get tested for autism when I was speaking to my counselor, and she suggested I might be neurodivergent. I looked into it and realized I might have autism and ADHD.

I decided to get tested for ADHD at first because I knew I could get medication for that, unlike autism. I was diagnosed with ADHD in October 2021 and autism the following April. It was validating to know that I wasn't broken. I just didn't know how my brain worked.

I started posting about my experiences

Getting diagnosed was a lightbulb moment. So many people were experiencing what I had. I was lucky to have an answer and I needed to tell people about it.

I knew speaking about it online would increase the chances of other people realizing they had ADHD and autism too.

I was working for a personal branding agency focusing on creating LinkedIn content for CEOs and founders, which encouraged us to post about our work lives on LinkedIn.

I posted on LinkedIn about what it means to "be professional" in 2021. I listed features about me, such as my piercings, which didn't make me any less professional in the post. The post blew up — so many people commented and engaged with it.

I went from having no audience to 10,000 followers from that post.

I grew my audience

I got offered a job at Great Influence, a content-marketing agency, in 2022. I was in a good place to learn more about content creation and building brands.

I started posting about my experiences as a neurodivergent person in the workplace on LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram.

Having a neurodiverse brain means I work in different ways to other people. Learning how to work with my brain, rather than against it, has been a game changer.

It means I can generate lots of ideas all the time, communicate a point concisely through posts, and analyze what works well.

After four months, I was hired to do workplace talks and training. I've spoken at companies like Google, Compare The Market, Coca-Cola, and Samsung.

I published a book

I'd built up audiences across platforms by posting every day and live-blogging on TikTok and Instagram about my experiences with autism and ADHD in depth. I have more than 200,000 followers on LinkedIn, 87,000 on TikTok, and 55,300 on Instagram.

But I wanted to do something again that allowed me to explore these issues in depth. I decided to write my book, which was published in October.

It's been amazing to see people reading it and hear how much it means to readers.

Being self-employed has helped me manage my career. If I'm struggling with verbal communication, I can avoid doing calls and just email people instead — or write instead of doing videos.

I have more control over supporting myself and making sure that I don't completely burn myself out.

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