Jonathan Ross says one of his daughters is on the autistic spectrum but was misdiagnosed as a child

Chat show host says daughter ;was very late to talk' and 'fixed on certain things' as a child

Jonathan Ross has revealed one of his daughters is on the autistic spectrum.

During an appearance on Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Lockdown Parenting Hell podcast, the chat show host explained that his daughter was first assessed back in the 1990s but was not diagnosed with autism.

However, when he recently showed the medical report to a professional, they claimed that nowadays, she would be considered autistic.

Ross did not confirm which of his daughters he was referring to. He is father to three children, daughters Betty, 28, and Honey, 23, and son Harvey, 26.

During the interview, the 59-year-old described what he believed were indicative signs of autism in his daughter when she was younger, including slower development of speech, “fixing” on things and being “very strange about people”.

The NHS states that the symptoms of autism can vary, however common signs of the condition in young children include not responding to their name, avoiding eye contact, repetitive movements, such as flapping their hands, flicking their fingers or rocking their body, not talking as much as other children and finding it hard to say how they feel.

“One of my children, I’m pretty sure, has a level of autism,” Ross said.

“She was very late to talk and she fixed on certain things, and she was very strange about people. We took her to be assessed and because this was early 1990s, when that stuff wasn’t really talked about as much.”

He continued: “But now, we showed someone the medical report and they said, 'yes, now she would absolutely be diagnosed as autistic', but back then she wasn’t.”

According to the National Autistic Society (NAS), autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others.

A person with autism experiences their surroundings differently to others, which can impact their communication skills and their ability to relate to others.

As the name suggests, autism is a spectrum condition meaning that while all autistic people share certain characteristics, they can experience the condition in different ways.

Currently, there are around 700,000 autistic people in the UK – that’s more than one in 100 people, the NAS adds.

Earlier this month, Ross opened up about the effect the coronavirus lockdown has had on his relationship with his children, explaining that he sees them now more than ever.

“I see them more than I need to, to be honest,” Ross said during an appearance on Loose Women. “I'm online all the time. We're probably, in a way, as a family, spending more time together than not actually being physically together than ever before.

“I know my wife misses the physical contact – she really wants to hug them, she misses that side of it all, but I think overall we just count our blessings.”