Sophie Hinchliffe has spoken out about her diagnosis with autism.
In December of last year, the cleaning expert revealed that she and her four-year-old son Ronnie had both been diagnosed with autism.
At the time, Sophie, known to her fans as Mrs Hinch, explained that her family were ‘taking their time to process’ their diagnoses, and now she has opened up about her and Ronnie’s journey.
While answering a Q&A from some of her 4.8M Instagram followers, one fan asked, ‘How did you know you were autistic if you don't mind me asking’.
Hinch replied by sharing a snap of her and Ron laughing together and admitting, “I had no idea. It never even crossed my mind. Until it came to Ron’s Autism assessment”.
“I was filling in pages and pages of paperwork answering questions about Ron's needs and behaviours. And I broke down in tears”.
“Everything I was answering was like the question had been made for me. I started feeling sick but told no one”.
The mum-of-two continued, “When Jamie and I were in Ron's assessment room, answering questions etc… we were given Ron's diagnoses”.
“However when we got back into the car I cried. Cried with relief but also I felt scared. I looked at Jamie and said it's me isn't it. he held my hand”.
“So I went ahead and went through the whole process again for an adult assessment and I was diagnosed too. Mixed emotions but God I stand proud, and I'll make sure Ronnie feels the same”.
Sophie closed off by adding, “The old fashioned stigma around autism needs to go!! and I'll do anything I can to help. the bottom line is Ronnie changed my life”.
The cleaning guru was also asked if she and her husband Jamie, who share four-year-old Ronnie and two-year-old Lennie together, were planning on having any more children.
She responded by explaining, “I hope so. Jamie and I would absolutely love another baby. But right now we're navigating so much behind closed doors as a family and it's not the right time. I wouldn't change this journey for the world but to say I've found it easy would be a lie”.
“So I'm taking each day as it comes, learning, trying to grow, trying to do better each day. I guess when the time is right we'll know”.
When previously sharing an insight into her and Ronnie’s autism diagnoses, Sophie revealed, “Our wonderful Ronnie is autistic. In fact, I am too. Both Ron and I have had confirmation for a while now”.
“We decided as a family to take our time to process, to learn, to grow and to find our way together before we shared. So that’s exactly what we did and are continuing to do each day. We have hard days but we also have lots of magical days”.
Mrs Hinch went on to say, “And if only everyone accepted and understood autism, the world really would be a much better place”.
