Illustration: Hayley Wall Sondra Williams is no stranger to medical diagnoses and treatments. As a teenager and young adult, she spent a decade in and out of mental-health facilities, medicated for conditions including schizophrenia and social anxiety. ‘I am not a broken version of normal’ — autistic people argue for a stronger voice in research It wasn’t until she was in her late 30s that she finally received a diagnosis that made sense. By then, she had married and had four children. After two of her kids were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), doctors reviewed her medical history. Williams, too, met the criteria for the neurodevelopmental condition. “When I finally got the diagnosis, it felt like being in labour as a mom, being in labour for most of my life and finally delivering that baby, that relief,” says Williams, who lives in Dublin, Ohio. “It was a relief to me knowing that my differences had a meaning to it. And it wasn’t me being crazy or mentally ill.…