Highlights
- Tallulah Willis bravely shared her autism diagnosis, changing her life and inspiring others.
- Many adults are undiagnosed with autism, Tallulah’s openness helps raise awareness.
- Fan response to Tallulah’s revelation has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive.
As one of the four daughters of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Tallulah Willis has always been outspoken about her famous family, and that means sharing how she feels about the tough times she has experienced. Although she and the legendary Die Hard star are super close, she once had trouble being compared to her father. She also explained how she was dealing with her father’s dementia diagnosis, which has understandably been horrible and heartbreaking.
In March 2024, Tallulah Willis opened up even more and shared that she was diagnosed with autism. In this article, we’ll take a look at how the diagnosis affected her life, along with what the fan response was like.
Inside Bruce Willis’ Daughter Tallulah Willis’s Autism Diagnosis
Tallulah Willis was diagnosed with autism in the summer of 2023 when she was 29 years old and it has altered everything for her. While, at the time of this writing, she hasn’t given interviews about the subject or explained exactly how this diagnosis has affected her life, fans can guess that she feels more secure knowing more about herself.
Willis lived much of her adult life without realizing that she was autistic. Fans can only speculate until she shares more details, but Willis could have felt confused or uncomfortable in certain situations. If she had been diagnosed earlier, she could have been given some comfort. However, now she can talk to the people in her life openly, and hopefully, she doesn’t feel alone.
After Tallulah Willis learned that she is autistic, she looked back on her childhood and young adulthood and realized that she showed some signs and behaviors of autism. This is likely a common experience that others can relate to. When Willis shared a video saying that she has autism in March 2024, she responded to a fan comment and wrote:
“Actually this is the first time I’ve ever publicly shared my diagnosis. Found out this summer and it’s changed my life.”
According to The Daily Mail, the video showed her and Bruce Willis at a premiere of The Whole Nine Yards when she was 10 years old. She was rubbing her dad’s head and touching his ears, which is an example of an autism behavior called “stimming.” At the time, she likely didn’t know that term.
She wrote:
“Tell me [you’re] autistic without telling me [you’re] autistic.”
What Is Stimming? (According to WebMD)
- “tactile” (moving arms and hands, tapping fingers, moving fists, rubbing skin)
- “vocal” (humming, saying a word repeatedly, clearing throat, coughing)
- “auditory” (touching ears, wanting to hear a sound repeatedly, snapping fingers)
Tallulah Willis’s honest discussion of her autism diagnosis also sheds light on the fact that millions of adults are autistic and many aren’t diagnosed until they are adults as well. According to Yahoo! News, the CDC says that more than 5.4 million adults have autism. According to Healthline, adults can’t take a test to receive an autism diagnosis, but they can talk to a doctor and an expert can look at them and see if they are showing common behaviors.
While Willis hasn’t given interviews about autism yet, she has been open about several other topics, including mental health. It’s possible to compare what she said about going on this journey and learning more about herself with learning that she is autistic.
In 2020, Willis talked about depression and anxiety with Who What Wear and said, “Mental health has been paramount in my adulthood. Understanding my mental health, understanding my journey in my early teens and adolescence, I had a lot of feelings and no language around what was happening, and what this was, and what these feelings were.” She added:
“That can cause a lot of loneliness and the polarizing feeling of not being heard and being alone. As I got older and I started to get an understanding of what these things were and what anxiety is and what depression is and what these certain diagnoses are, it created a lot more room for me to have acceptance for myself.”
As soon as Tallulah Willis shared that she has autism on her Instagram account, the fan response was immediate and positive. People shared their own stories, especially if they have children who are autistic, and they seemed glad that she was speaking up.
One fan was curious when Willis got diagnosed and noted that they are a psychologist who has noticed that sometimes, people go a long time without a diagnosis. They wrote:
“If you’re open to sharing, did you get diagnosed as a child? I’m a psychologist (specializing in EDs and DBT) and we catch undiagnosed ASD in girls and women quite often (they have unique presentations and often turn to other ways of coping to manage the dysregulation). Not sure how much of your journey you’ve shared but would love to read more. You’re brave and inspiring and this is a very sweet video. All the best!”
Another fan praised Willis for using her public platform to talk about autism. They wrote, “Any way of normalizing and lovingly putting a spotlight on people with autism is such a wonderful thing to do and is helping young people out there right now. The more people in the public eye that normalize this like you’re doing, the less strange it will be to know kids who do this or similar at school on the playground?”
The fact that Tallulah Willis talks about autism so honestly is positive and important. As soon as she shared her video from The Whole Nine Yards premiere on Instagram, she proved that she will likely continue to talk about autism. She has already created a warm, supportive community for her fans.
Source: NewsFinale
