Transcript

ARABELLA:

Well, to some can be very isolating. You worry as a parent how other people react to your child. Iris quite clearly now is autistic. When she walks down the street, it's obvious. She tip-toes along, she gets excited by-- she'll see a bit of texture on the stone, on a sort of old building. And she'll go up to it, and she'll feel it, and she'll be sort of inspecting it. And people will walk by and think, oh god, what is she up to?

And I can tell now when she's in a book shop. That people are seeing it. That I can't hide it anymore. But then, I've got past that point of caring. I really do celebrate the fact that different it's brilliant, now. And I don't feel that kind of awkwardness, and the embarrassment I used to feel. I used to want to fit in with her, I used to want her to fit in. I needed her to be like other children. And now, I don't.

I love the fact that she's different. And that difference will probably be the greatest thing in her life. Because if you celebrate those differences, and follow them it'll end up being some sort of career. Or it'll end up making her-- separating her from struggling in a sort of mainstream world to be extraordinary at something.