Holly Madison, 42, received an autism diagnosis just this summer.
The former Playboy model tells People magazine that she truly treasures the revelation since it helped her reconcile a lot of her earlier interpersonal experiences. After leaving the house, she went on to become a bestselling author, podcast host, and producer of true crime series.
“I'm so glad I got that diagnosis because I can recognize how I operate the way I do, why I operate the way I do, how I relate to people,” Madison, now 43, says. “I feel like it's helped my social skills just knowing that.”
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental illness that affects a person's ability to interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave, according to the National Institutes of Health.
In an appearance in December on the Talking to Death podcast, she stated, "The doctor told me that I have high executive functioning, which means I can pretty much go about my life and do things 'normally.'"
“I think because I’m more quiet, I’ve only recently learned to make eye contact, I’m often in my own thoughts, things like that, so people take that as offensive. They’re like, ‘Damn, you’re not super interested in me, f--- you,’” she said with a laugh. “Like, I'm just not on the same social wavelength as other people but don’t take it personally. So I like being able to explain that.”