As part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Hannah Rees from Llysyfran YFC, in Pembrokeshire shares how her neurodivergence impacts being a YFC member and working in agriculture as a sales specialist
A. I’m epileptic with diagnosed autism and ADHD. The epilepsy impacts my life the most – I always have to be careful and I wasn’t able to drive until I was 26!
You get treated differently but it’s something you have to deal with. Once you overcome wishing you were like everyone else, you learn to make the most out of everything and live your life for yourself, even if it’s lonely at times!
A. My late father inspired me. I grew up spending the summer silaging with him. We often believe he may have been neurodiverse, but it wasn’t commonly diagnosed 20 years ago.
It wasn’t quite as normalised as it is now. My father was one of the most hard-working, successful people I know, so it was a no brainer to want to be like him.
A. Working in an office environment was 100% a challenge. Within six weeks of passing my driving test, I gave up on office jobs, and decided the rep life was far more up my street.
I work closely with farmers, and when I’m not on farm I’m soil sampling on my own or work from home. As I only work 1-to-1 with my manager I don’t have any of the difficulties and exclusions I’d get working in an office.
A. You think differently when you’re neurodiverse. I also feel you have a different mentality to things. I approach everything with a calculated mindset, considering how it will benefit me in the future. The need to be precise is also an advantage.
A. It was different. I always felt welcome – I’m 28 now and have been a member since I was 10!
I found the opening social events a nightmare, but that’s because I could never think of an interesting fact about myself on the spot. I need three-to-five working days to prepare for that question!
I was very lucky because when I joined my club was made up of mainly older members who all looked past the epilepsy. I didn’t have an ADHD diagnosis until I was 21. It might have made it easier if I’d been diagnosed when I joined because without it, I was just ‘different’ or a bit ‘weird’!
A. I always felt welcome. Not being diagnosed until I was an adult made it more difficult to accept as it wasn’t a label I had grown up with. I’d never classed epilepsy as being neurodiverse it was always just something I had.
I feel club officers and leaders would benefit from additional needs training as part of their role – either delivered at a county or national level. It’s so normal now to have ADHD, autism etc – with or without a diagnosis!
A. I wish people would understand I’m not awkward or weird or annoying – I just want what’s best for members and my club. That will come across differently to a neurodiverse person than a neurotypical person. Please have patience – I’m not a bad person, I’m just different to you.
A. There’s such a broad spectrum of neurodiverse members. I’ll be totally different to that boy in the corner who might have autism or that girl on the stage who might have ADHD. Someone might not have a diagnosis as they might dismiss it as being weird! So, treat anyone you consider ‘different’ the same as anyone else. Be patient with us, as our lives and challenges are very different to yours.
YFC makes us less alone. We’re still people we just see the world a little bit differently.
For more information about how NFYFC supports members with additional needs, please see the Additional Needs Support Guide.
