Tara Overton's Story on Autism

Tara realised she was different in primary school. She was painfully shy and couldn’t seem to make friends as well as others. Tara said she feels like I’m a bit of a contradiction, an extroverted introvert if that’s even a thing. Tara suffered with my mental health since she was little and she also has lots of sensory issues, for example, Tara is extremely sensitive to light. Being around too many people can be overwhelming for me and Tara also have auditory processing difficulties, It takes a while for my brain to catch up when people speak.

I was diagnosed with combined ADHD and ASD privately a while ago. A birthday present to myself. I decided enough was enough and wanted to know for myself why I felt so different to other people and why people thought I was weird or crazy (which I genuinely don’t try to be, so this is quite upsetting). On the one hand, it was kind of a relief but it also made me quite angry and upset that I’ve gone through the majority of my life feeling I don’t quite fit in and not knowing why.

The diagnosis of autism has been great for Tara. Tara says 'I’m less anxious. I can manage myself a lot better. I don’t feel I have to mask as much and I’m very lucky that I have my own business where I can just be myself. It’s also nice to know other people behave similarly to me and that she's not the only one.

Tara said 'Having both ASD and ADHD is very tiring. It’s like having spaghetti in your head, however, It also has its benefits. I don’t think I would be as successful as I am today without it, I think people are more accepting of differences now than they were years ago although I do think there’s still a way to go.

Tara runs her own tattoo shop called 'The Eye of the beholder' she has a natural talent for art and actually did Olivia's 1st tattoo' to book please check her out on Facebook.