Chlo, a vibrant, chatty, 28-year-old from Norfolk is passionate about healthcare and plans to become a doctor. They first found out they were neurodivergent in 2020. Before this, their neurodivergence was misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder.

As bipolar disorder is still on Chlo’s records, they are invited to an annual Severe Mental Illness (SMI) review. This means that they know first-hand the advantages of being able to discuss their needs as part of an annual health check.

They were delighted to play a protagonist in our hero film, Our World, 2030, which reflects our 2030 Goal that means so much to them – that every autistic adult is offered a yearly, tailored health check.

Offering autistic people annual health checks is very close to my heart because I'm fortunate enough to have something called an SMI review. By that I mean I'm not fortunate in the sense that I’m on the SMI list; you know, that's not great. But it means that I get a yearly health check.

Every year, around my birthday, I receive a letter from the doctors. They ask me to come in to have a bunch of tests. I have an appointment with this lovely, friendly nurse. She goes through my risks and looks at my blood results. She does a full health check - not just for my mental health, but for my physical health too.

During my most recent SMI review, I spoke to her about some problems that I've been having with food. Although I have an appointment booked with my GP in a month, she contacted my GP directly and said, “This should be dealt with sooner”. The next day, my GP phoned me, so they caught the issue very quickly, and I began treatment. This only happened because I had the opportunity to have that annual review. I believe that that same opportunity, something like the SMI review, should be extended to autistic and neurodivergent people; I know first-hand the difference it makes.

I know plenty of autistic people experience barriers to healthcare, like uncomfortable physical environments. In waiting rooms, you’ll find crying babies, phones ringing and noise from multiple sources. The lights are really bright, and I can hear them buzzing. Things smell kind of funny, the seats are uncomfortable, and they have a weird texture. And then sometimes you deal with a really rude receptionist or doctor on top of that. Everything is so overwhelming!

Quiet rooms are an important part of access to healthcare for people with sensory differences. But, I’ve been to the doctors and the quiet room has been taken up by people in quarantine. Of course, people need space to be in quarantine, but that is taking away space for neurodivergent people.

I hope health checks for autistic people will give us flexibility. This could be for things like booking appointments online, or through the app rather than on the phone. Ringing the GP receptionist is one of my least favourite things to do, because sometimes they’re snappy or grumpy, and making phone calls to people I don’t know is already really stressful

I want all doctors to have actual training in understanding autism. And not just understanding, but how to recognise autism. I’d love to see mandatory training on neurodivergence for healthcare professionals. At least one in seven of us are neurodivergent - that’s a lot of their patients.

I’ve had some brilliant experiences with some doctors, but others are blunt. They don't see you as a person, they just see you as a job: something to get over and done with. I've been told off by doctors a lot for being upset. They’ll tell me to stop crying, to stop panicking, and that I'm fine. I don't think that should be happening at any point at all.

And I want doctors to speak to autistic people like adult humans, and not infantilise us. If I'm having a day where I'm not communicating well, and I've got my squishy dinosaur, I'm stimming a lot, and I'm overwhelmed, I would still rather they didn’t speak to me like a five-year-old child. They don't always do that. I would just like to be spoken to as a person, as I think most autistic people would.

The nurse that I see for my SMI review did a fantastic thing at my surgery recently, that I hope could become more common across the UK: everyone who is disabled, neurodivergent, or who has a long-term health condition was sent a form to request for accommodations when we visit the surgery. We could write down what would be helpful for us in appointments, rather than ask for them in person (which is much more difficult to do). Now, when I go to appointments, they've got that information there.

I think an annual health check for autistic people is vital. Especially considering that autistic people are more likely to have things like POTS, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), epilepsy, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue. Autistic people also have higher rates of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or anorexia. Health checks could mean better physical and mental health for autistic people.I feel so lucky to get to have the annual review and I wish that all autistic people got the same opportunity.

I know some of us don't always feel comfortable visiting a doctor, or we don’t want to make a fuss, or we miss things due to differences in sensory processing. And so, our health suffers. Also, no disrespect to us at all, but neurodivergent people are among the worst at remembering to book appointments or keeping on top of that stuff. A yearly invite would make things so much easier.