‘I’ve had difficulties’: Coronation Street legend addresses autism diagnosis at age 67
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Shelley King has spoken about her recent autism diagnosis, and how it’s impacted her life.
The Coronation Street actress wasn’t given the official diagnosis until she was aged 67. Before the medical assessment, she never understood why last-minute script changes and unexplained plot twists were difficult, but now feels she is able to understand herself more.
Discussing her experience on Good Morning Britain, Shelley, who plays Yasmeen Nazir on the ITV soap, explained that when she’s given time to learn and rehearse she finds it much easier, but that isn’t the case with every job.
‘On Coronation Street, things can change all the time. If someone goes ill, you can suddenly be doing their scenes,’ she shared.
On her first day ten years ago, she hadn’t met any of the cast before aside from knowing Jimi Mistry ‘socially’. ‘I found that very difficult,’ she stated.
Shelley, now 68, said it took her months to feel comfortable, as she struggles with change.
Shelley discussed what she finds difficult (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Hosts Ed Balls and Susanna Reid then asked how she was able to find out about her autism.
Shelley explained that her partner Trilby James encouraged her to speak to a GP, and eventually, after a long phone conversation where they discussed her difficulties, she was able to get a referral for a test.
However, due to the NHS having to prioritise Covid-19, she was only able to get the answers years later.
Trilby encouraged Shelley to speak to a GP (Picture: Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)
Since joining Coronation Street in 2014, Shelley has taken on some hard-hitting narratives.
Most notably, she was involved in a high-profile coercive control storyline with her on-screen husband Geoff Metcalfe, played by Ian Bartholomew.
When discussing whether an autism diagnosis could be a future plot for Yasmeen, Shelley said she would be open to it but she believes there is certain criteria they’d need to ensure.
Shelley joined Coronation Street in 2014 (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Shelley would want the storyline to be given time (Picture: ITV/Danielle Baguley)
‘This is a condition that you need to explore over time. If we are to explore it I think it will need a great deal to do so, rather like the abuse story,’ she shared.
Shelley added that it could be a storyline for Roy Cropper (David Neilson), who she called ‘the most autistic character in Coronation Street’.
Autism is not an illness or disease, but something that means the brain works in a different way. There are no treatments, instead, some people need support to help them with certain things.
The NHS website states that autistic people may find it hard to communicate and interact with other people, find it hard to understand how other people think or feel, find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable, get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events, take longer to understand information, and do or think the same things over and over.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV and ITVX.
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