Publications
Partners
The Prison Break star has revealed how stunned he felt when he was told he had the condition.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Wentworth Miller shared how he was diagnosed a year ago.
“Like everyone, life in quarantine took things from me. But in the quiet/isolation, I found unexpected gifts,” the 49-year-old actor, who’s best known for his role as hunky Michael Scofield in the jail drama, wrote in a post marking the anniversary of his diagnosis. “This fall marks 1 year since I received my informal autism diagnosis. Preceded by a self-diagnosis. Followed by a formal diagnosis,” he added.
“It was a long, flawed process in need of updating. IMO. I'm a middle-aged man. Not a 5-year-old,” he captioned the image of a white square. “Let's just say it was a shock. But not a surprise.”
The condition related to brain development is most commonly known to affect a person’s social skills, relationships, and communication and is usually diagnosed in early childhood.
According to Healthline.com, some of the issues adults with high-functioning autism face can include trouble reading social cues or relating to other’s thoughts and feelings and emotional or behavioural difficulties like trouble regulating emotions and responses, among other things.
Although Wenty didn’t elaborate what prompted him to seek diagnosis he hinted that for years he was aware that he was a bit different to the people around him.
"I also want to say to the many (many) people who consciously or unconsciously gave me that extra bit of grace + space over the years, allowed me to move thru the world in a way that made sense to me whether or not it made sense to them... thank you,” he added.
Wentworth, who’s been seen on TV screens in shows like The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, joins other actors such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Daryl Hannah and Dan Aykroyd who’ve all also spoken about their lives with autism spectrum disorder.
This isn’t the first time Wenty has opened up about a personal issue. Back in 2013 he came out as gay and since then has made a name for himself as a vocal LGBQT+ activist. But in his Instagram post he made it clear that having only recently been diagnosed with autism he doesn’t consider himself to be an expert on the subject.
“The #autistic community (this I do know) has historically been talked over. Spoken for. I don’t wish to do additional harm. Only to raise my hand, say, ‘I am here. Have been (w/o realising it),’ he wrote.
“Right now my work looks like evolving my understanding. Re-examining 5 decades of lived experience thru a new lens. That will take time.”
But already he knows that being autistic is nothing to be ashamed about.
“This isn’t something I’d change,” he wrote. “I get – got – immediately being autistic is central to who I am. To everything I’ve achieved.”
SOURCES: HEALTHLINE.COM; INDEPENDENT.CO.UK; THEHOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM; PEOPLE.COM
