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“Growing up, I felt very out of place,” Ward explained to host Sophia Thomas, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, on the latest episode of NP Pulse: The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner® entitled “Neurodivergence: An Autistic NP’s Lived Experience.” Ward recalls they would “often get in trouble for speaking during class,” and “got into conflict with other students because there was a big social gap — and we know that’s a huge component, as one of the diagnostic criteria for autism. When I struggled with those social connections, I would get very frustrated, and I would find myself arguing with other students...and I would get put in in-school suspension (ISS).” In ISS, Ward was able to “finish all my work within the first day of my suspension, and then I would spend the rest of the time just reading books, and it was the best time that I ever had in school.”
“I only got diagnosed because I had gotten pregnant with my
daughter, and I just didn’t feel connected to my body, to her, and I was really
worried something was wrong with me,” they tell Thomas. “I had her, and then
spent a year trying to find a good fit to get diagnosed.” Ward connected with a
psychologist (“she was wonderful”) and went through the assessment process,
which Ward recalls “was about two whole days’ worth of diagnostic procedures.”
At first, Ward suspected they might have PTSD or autism, and then learned that
they in fact had both. Later, Ward was able to combine this new knowledge with
their training as an NP, and created a presentation entitled “Neurodivergence
in Clinical Practice: Perspectives from an Autistic NP,” which they recently gave
to other NPs at the 2024 AANP National Conference.
Read more at:
An Autistic Nurse Practitioner Speaks on Neurodivergence
Cheers!
Donna
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