Geraldton woman running to raise money, awareness for autism following diagnosis as an adult

A Geraldton woman is looking to raise money and awareness for early diagnosis of autism, following her experience being diagnosed as an adult.

Chloe Rowe is a youth work TAFE student, has a part-time role with the PCYC, and is a massive basketball fan, being a statistician with the Geraldton Buccaneers.

A few years ago, she said she was encouraged to seek an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis after struggling with her mental health as a teenager.

“I’ve always struggled with anxiety, and I went through multiple psychiatrists who diagnosed me with schizophrenia, which I found out later on is quite common for females to get diagnosed misdiagnosed with schizophrenia when they actually have autism,” she said.

“I ended up in one of the locked wards in Perth, and the psychiatrist told me that I don’t need to be on all these medications, that they’re actually making me worse because my brain is wired differently, and then I need to get tested.”

It was a two-year process for Ms Rowe, who was 19 when she was officially diagnosed with ASD.

Aspect Australia estimated one in 40 Australians were on the autism spectrum.

Ms Rowe said she had struggled in school, both with work and with socialising, without knowing about her condition at the time.

Ms Rowe said early diagnosis could help people get the assistance they needed.

“They’ll be able to get the help they need and . . . the teachers will know, and if they can have a support person with them in the class that can help them out,” she said.

“Otherwise they may feel very frustrated with themselves. I felt that with myself.”

“So having that early diagnosis, they’re able to get the early support that they need and to help them out through life. Especially when they get to adulthood, they’ll be able to help them out to get a job, and a lot easier to get out in the world and meet more people.”

Ms Rowe will be running 40km this month to raise money as part of Aspect’s Run for Autism.

She hopes to raise as much money as she can, posting a goal of $1000 on her page, which she hopes will go towards helping families get an early diagnosis for children and create inclusive, safe environments for people on the autism spectrum.

Anyone wishing to donate to Ms Rowe’s cause can do so at www.runforautism.org.au/fundraisers/chloerowe.