Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society, said:

“We were deeply moved by the new BBC documentary presented by our Celebrity Ambassador, Christine McGuinness. Christine is incredibly brave to share her experiences and explore very personal and difficult subjects including masking, eating disorders and sexual assault. 

“Women and girls may be more likely to 'mask' what we traditionally think of as signs of autism, which can mean it’s harder to identify the challenges they’re facing. Masking can also be exhausting and lead to incredible levels of stress. Without the right support, many women and girls are misdiagnosed or go on to develop co-existing mental health difficulties like anxiety or eating disorders, as shown in the documentary. 

“Gender should never be a barrier to getting a diagnosis and the right support. Public understanding is improving, thanks to autistic people like Christine talking about their experiences, and documentaries like Unmasking My Autism. Autistic representation on our TV screens is so important to increase understanding of autism. Better public understanding across society could transform hundreds of thousands of autistic people's lives.”