DISMISSED as a fussy mother, Lynne McLaren had to fight for years before her daughter
Joanne was diagnosed with autism.

"Because she has learning difficulties as well, everyone was looking at that," says Lynne, 49,
from Middlesbrough. "But I wanted answers. Every time I looked at an article about autism I
thought - that's my daughter."

The signs were all there. Joanne didn't talk till she was two-and-a-half, she would tip-toe
everywhere and walked around with the dinner ladies at lunch time because she didn't have
any friends.

"She finds it difficult keeping relationships because she'll chat at you rather than with you,
and it wears you down," says Lynne. "She loves to be around people, she's very chatty and
interested in what you're doing so she's the opposite of what you would expect. But then
she'll tell you your hair smells, because she has no concept of what's acceptable."

Because Joanne didn't tick all the boxes, doctors said it wasn't autism. "She's always
been very compliant," says Lynne, who remembers seeing yet another pediatrician
when Joanne was eight. "She sat on my knee and didn't utter a word but when we came out
and went to the toilet she hadn't put her knickers on."

After pushing for more tests, Joanne was finally diagnosed at 13. "You don't want your
child to be labelled but I was relieved because you have access to more services," says Lynne,
who's married to Peter, a supermarket warehouseman and has another daughter
Gemma, 24, a trainee social worker.

After spending three years living at the RNIB college in Loughborough, Joanne is much more
independent and has gained more social skills. Although she still needed support at 25 - she
has a whiteboard in her bedroom displaying her daily routine and help from social services
with basic skills - Joanne now has a job in the stockroom at Bhs.

The family have also received a grant to adapt one of their bedrooms into a sitting area
for her. "She's living quite independently within our house," says Lynne. "We're not even
allowed to watch her TV!"

Although Joanne still sits on her mum's knee, and gets very upset if anyone argues or raises
their voice, Lynne says she's "doing amazing".

"I've always brought her up with the ethos that she's just as good as anybody else," she
says. "With support, she's as capable as anyone else."

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