Hello!

I’m writing this in my final year of study to become a veterinary surgeon from the University of Edinburgh. I’m have a long standing love for cats and is lucky to be the owner of 5 cats (well technically they’re my mom’s). Why cat’s are important will come later in the story. Oh, yeah and I’m late diagnosed autistic. 

When I’m not in ‘vet’ mode, I play video games and table top games, I also make trinkets like mini-figures or crocheted creatures. Today I would like to raise awareness about something I’ve came to be quite passionate about – autism in the veterinary profession. It’s just a topic I can’t seem to find enough resources about.

I’m late diagnosed autistic, what does that mean? It just means instead of being diagnosed as a child, I was diagnosed when I’m an adult. It would have been called Asperger’s syndrome if it hadn’t been missed earlier, but that’s not the matter. I uncovered my autism between first and second year of vet school, actually from eavesdropping at the bus station as one does, it’s a funny story. 

I can’t tell you what life being a diagnosed as an autistic child with support actually feels like, and I won’t know if it’d have solved my problems being diagnosed earlier. I only know that, navigating a neurotypical world as an autistic adult, specifically in the veterinary field, can present its own unique challenges. Often I have to fight hard, internally and externally, just to be heard.

Hallmarks of autism includes social communication difficulties,  repetitive behaviour, sensory challenges and sensitivity to change, among a host of other things…. Every autistic person present themselves differently, each with their own spectral profiles. 

Social Communication Difficulties

• I’ll tell you about my special power and my curse, I have crippling social anxiety and selective mutism, I can’t even order food that I really wanted to eat. However, when there are animals that I can help around – I suddenly can do anything. When I’m advocating for animals, when I’m in ‘vet’ mode, I can suddenly do presentations, mentor students, do eye contact, or even put my hand up to answer questions. Isn’t that amazing? This might be what some people call masking or having a persona, but this is why I love veterinary medicine. Suddenly I can help people, I can be useful. It’s exhausting at the end of the day yes, but a good balance of it, coupled with the fulfilment, makes life worth living. Imposter syndrome is something widely known in both the realms of autism and vet med, we tend to be self critical people and that comes with anxiety of not being enough. Acknowledging this is the first step to feeling better.
• I also have challenges with small talk, especially be asked to talk louder and questions that involves emotions – like the simple ‘how are you feeling today’. This makes it really awkward at the beginning of consultations where first impressions are paramount and we begin to fall into the uncanny valley. I personally then struggle to relay the information back to the client since I need time to process questions and to open up to individual clinicians. Blatant honesty also makes student life difficult sometimes. 

Repetitive Behaviour

• • All cats have autism by Kathy Hoopmann is a wonderful book, not only because it has a lot of cute cat pictures – but also because it made me rethink the world. I really liked animal behaviour – think dog training (revolution). I often compare human behaviour and psychology to animal behaviour, it just made more sense that way. I also like solving puzzles and finer details of things, such as handy craft and crochet. This is why vet med ticks all the boxes and why autistic people can make such good vets, we are so passionate and detail orientated making study and diagnosing so fun. Physical repetitive behaviour, like leg shaking or using a fidget toy, on the other hand, is looked at in less of a positive light. I’ll have to say though, it’s a mighty good way to calm down all the things inside so we don’t explode. Maybe you should try it sometimes.

Sensory Challenges

• The clinic can be very loud, bright and fast paced environment. Occasionally, I get dazed and struggle to follow. I sometimes need timeout or a break. I like to be kind to myself and give myself rest days every now and then just to recover from it all. Vet school is a very intense course. But I recover fast, I don’t tend to let this affect my study or work, I am very reliable, honest and responsible to my patients. 
• Reflections also form a big part of veterinary medicine, having done a fair share of reflective writing, I struggle with noting down my feelings. Nevertheless I’m very good with applying things, evaluating things and finding ways to improve upon my mistakes. I stick to my plans and strive for the best version of myself, even if that meant asking for help.

Sensitivity to change 

• I despise sudden changes in my routine, and I spiral out with the uni’s schedule. I don’t like my meeting being cancelled, the meeting I’ve built my whole week’s worth of schedule around. This is where it’s important to allow yourself time get to know things, know the people, know the place etc. before your placements. A simple tour and introduction can be paramount to a better EMS experience.

Disclosure and asking for adjustment can be challenging, I’m lucky to have a good student support team behind backing me up. However, it seems like others aren’t so lucky, I feel like the vet med selection process draws in autistic folks yet does not accommodate for them very well. There is still much to adapt to and with so much of us struggling in silence, I think it’s important to extend some sympathy to our colleagues and look more into ways we can accommodate others.