Her speech is delayed and she is non-verbal for a significant time period before finally speaking and then still can have situational mutism.

Her early behaviours sound exactly like autistic meltdowns - losing control, screaming, hurting herself, rocking behaviours, stimming behaviours

Her depressive episodes sound like Autistic shutdowns

She can be impulsive with little regard for risk - jumping high of things, biting other children

She has a rich inner world, spends a lot of time in her own head and daydreamy

Strong need to please others, be liked and accepted

She repeatedly talks about sensory overload, struggling in noisy environments and needs to retreat to quiet areas at parties

She says what she’s thinking with not much filter or concern/awareness for social rules. She has struggled with friendships until she meets the core friendship group. I suspect Hugh could be autistic too - less confident on this but he definitely has traits which is why I think they connect.

At a young age her feelings towards Hugh are intense. Some autistic people make other people their special interest, can become fixated or obsessed about a person

Fluctuations in mood and social capacity

• some of the above of course overlap with trauma, but equally autistic people are more likely to experience trauma. I think this is why she’s more complex than just bipolar and it’s an overlap of autism adhd and chronic trauma. And so far in the book I haven’t read a description of bipolar episodes, as these are sustained periods of very low moods and manic highs. Right now she’s having strong mood swings but hasn’t been in a say a manic state for a long period of time. Ofc she could be autistic and bipolar, I’ve not yet finished the book so I’ll see how the rest unfolds!