Amy might look familiar. She’s an Irish actress who you would see on your screens. I had the fortune of working with on a movie a few years back, but it’s not her acting career we sat down to talk about for today’s Sin Sceal Eile podcast.

In 2021, her second child, River, was born. When it was time to start saying his first few words, they noticed he was a bit delayed. After that, came a diagnosis of autism.

Amy felt that after the diagnosis, the onus was very much on herself and her husband Sean to find the help that they needed for River, so she started researching as much as she could.

She quickly realised that the stereotype of autism that she had seen depicted on TV and in film is not a fair representation of the spectrum of autism, or the autistic traits that she has since experienced with River. This misrepresentation can sometimes lead to more trauma and even in some cases, a delayed diagnosis.

In order to show the more nuanced and brilliant side of her son’s autistic traits, Amy took it upon herself to write a short film, Samhain. It’s about a mother processing her grief and love following her son's autism diagnosis.