However, she insisted she was proud of being autistic and disliked it when it was referred to as a disorder.

"It's important we allow ourselves to be authentically autistic," she added.

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The 18-year-old, from Maidenhead in Berkshire, said she was considered "a misbehaving little girl" when she was in fact enduring "sensory overload".

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"People were punishing me for lashing out, having tantrums - when actually I was having a sensory overload or felt down."

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She said she suffered bullying at school and felt "unsupported" by mental health services.

The teenager said she believed this was because she was able to hide her condition, a trait the NHS acknowledges is more common in women and girls.

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She said she had "conditioned" herself to act in the way society expects, citing the example of training herself to maintain eye contact during conversations with strangers.

Read the article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-62565541