Women's European Championship: Wales goalkeeper on her life with autism – Not your Sheldon

"Bazinga!", "Sheldon and his brain, yes! Sheldon and his brain, yes." In the series The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon Cooper is notable for his pedantic compulsions, social skills deficits, and know-it-all attitude. Many associate this demeanor with autism – however, the scriptwriters never officially confirmed that the character is actually autistic. Although the stereotypical portrayal of the (un)closeted (and usually male) weirdo is outdated anyway, many viewers get their knowledge of autistic people almost exclusively from pop culture. Attempts to educate people often mix with clichés. This simplified portrayal reinforces an incomplete understanding of autism, especially in times of TikTok-like self-diagnoses. Two professional female soccer players are now putting this to rest.

"Football is my hyperfocus. I'm obsessed. It's my autism, my superpower," Lucy Bronze told BBC Sport in March in a video interview on the occasion of Neurodiversity Celebration Week . The term neurodiversity covers a variety of neuronal disorders such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia. "Neurodiversity" is intended to reflect the diversity of human brain development and functioning. Chelsea full-back Lucy Bronze, who is hoping to defend her title with England at the European Championships in Switzerland, publicly emphasizes her neurodiverse characteristics as a strength. A trend that has long enjoyed widespread publicity on social media. Her BBC interview went viral.

Welsh international goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel has now followed her example in the run-up to the European Championships and also spoke to the BBC about her life as a professional footballer diagnosed with autism. Bronze's public confession clearly had a signal effect. Middleton-Patel, who guards Manchester United's goal in the league, says: "Ever since I was in the Liverpool academy, I've always looked up to her. When she revealed her diagnosis, it was an eye-opener for me. We're not the same person, our diagnoses aren't identical, but we're both professional athletes. Now I want to be a role model for others, just as she was for me. It's given me more self-confidence."

Nevertheless, until now, the public acknowledgement of an autism or ADHD diagnosis in professional football has been an exception. Bronze and Middleton-Patel are the first professional female footballers ever to take this step. For 20-year-old Middleton-Patel, who received her diagnosis two years earlier at the age of 18, this was said to be a turning point. Not only for her personally, but also for how she deals with the peculiarities that have accompanied her her entire life. "I've always felt different," she says in a BBC interview. "Sometimes I just process information differently. If someone tells me something, I ask questions until I really understand. Because of this, I was often seen as argumentative or difficult." A misunderstanding that many autistic people are familiar with: What is perceived as probing or pedantry is often just an attempt to clarify things.

The challenges Middleton-Patel describes demonstrate the breadth of autistic experiences: Overstimulation—for example, after press conferences or media briefings—would, she says, be so stressful that she would have to withdraw for days. She knows what it feels like to be confined to her own bed for a week. Even everyday situations like filling up her car can quickly become overwhelming. Sometimes she deliberately seeks out self-service gas stations to avoid social contact. But as is often the case with autism, there is also the other side: for example, the ability to hyperfocus, which can be quite advantageous in goalkeeping.

In an interview with the BBC, the goalkeeper reveals that, besides playing football, Lego is not only her greatest passion, but also her special interest. Lego helps her anticipate game situations and stay alert: "I imagine the next pass like a missing Lego brick that I'm looking for." Special interests are a fundamental component of autism diagnosis. This should sound familiar to football fans, after all, they are the ones who absorb all the available knowledge from their club's history and boast about their nerdiness. "Lego is the only store I can go to because I know what I want there. I can actually start a conversation because they love Lego as much as I do." Apparently, talking shop isn't just possible in the local fan bar, but also in the Lego store.

But for Middleton-Patel, Lego pieces mean much more than that – they embody her worldview. What the goalkeeper particularly emphasizes is that she doesn't see herself as deficient. "I'm not difficult, I just think differently," she says. At Manchester United, she says she has found the perfect environment for this: The club approaches her openly, asks questions if she has any uncertainties, rather than directly criticizing her. Her teammates are also learning about autism to better understand it. An example of how inclusion can work in professional sport.

For Middleton-Patel, the diagnosis was a great relief. She felt "freed from the mask" she had long worn to conform to social norms. Masking, or hiding autistic traits, is a common strategy among autistic people, especially women. But it is also extremely psychologically stressful.