This Morning star Dr Scott Miller has admitted he felt like ‘his world was crashing down’ when he was diagnosed with autism at the age of 47.

The resident vet on the ITV show has decided to get tested for the disorder after two of his four children were diagnosed.

Speaking to The Mirror to mark World Autism Day, Scott admitted that his life was ‘thrown up in the air’ when he was diagnosed.

However, he said he refuses to see the disorder as a disability, and said that it’s helped him to forgive some of his behaviour from his childhood.

Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental condition that’s can be characterised by persistent challenges in social communication and interaction, along with restricted or repeтιтive behaviors or interests.

Scott said ‘I could relate to certain elements of that diagnostic journey and some of the personality traits.

This Morning star Dr Scott Miller has admitted he felt like ‘his world was crashing down’ when he was diagnosed with autism at the age of 47

‘Initially my life was thrown up in the air and came crashing down but after a while, it was a good filter to be able to look back and forgive the child that struggled socially. 

‘It explains a lot of mistakes that I may have made with regards to social situations and reading between the lines – that’s not my specialist subject. 

Scott added that being diagnosed with autism help him to understand why he struggles with social situations, particularly when he attends awards shows with his This Morning colleagues.

The vet shares children Summer, Quinn, Jackson and Riley with wife Zö Christien.

Despite his own struggles, Scott went onto say that he’s told his children that they should view their autism diagnosis as their superpower.

He said: ‘I refuse to think of it as a disability and there are some people on the spectrum that do struggle but I say to my kids that it’s like a superpower. The benefit of autism is that you can learn and you can learn pretty good.’ 

Scott revealed that his autistic son didn’t speak until his four years old, and his younger daughter only speaks in Gestalt sentences – which are repeated phrases.

He went onto share that while This Morning also has its own autism ᴀssistance dogs, his own pets Mango and Ludo, have been a huge help for his family.

The resident vet on the ITV show has decided to get tested for the disorder after two of his four children were diagnosed

Scott brought along his dog Mango to the This Morning, but was left red-faced when he revealed his pet had chewed through his lead

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Last month, Scott brought along his dog Mango to the This Morning, after taking a phone-in from viewers looking for advice on training their pets.

He covered how to toilet train one caller’s rescue dog, how to stop another puppy destroying it’s owners home and tips for preventing over excitement. 

However Scott, who is originally from Brisbane in Australia, soon discovered his own dog, Mango, had completely chewed through the lead and hilariously broke free when talking to a cat owner about her feline pet not eating enough.

‘… Look at this, he’s just chewed his leash, I am literally the hypocrite of hypocrites right now, I can’t train my own dog,’ he joked.

Dr Scott later advised another viewer to walk her pet alongside other dogs who are sociable and ‘let her dog free’ with them.

‘Sometimes it’s on-lead interactions that can lead to a little bit of angst and feistiness but the more you get to know your dog and the more you get to know other dogs I think the better,’ he said.

The camera showed the Aussie’s pooch walking around the studio with a short piece of lead hanging from his collar. 

Ben and Cat were unable to control their laughter at the scene and Cat quipped, ‘un-lead interaction did you say Dr Scott?’

‘I’m just going to go get my coat,’ the vet replied chuckling.  

What is autism? 

What does being autistic mean? 

Being autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people.

It’s something you’re born with or first appears when you’re very young.

If you’re autistic, you’re autistic your whole life.

Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a ‘cure’. But some people need support to help them with certain things.

Autistic people may: 

find it hard to communicate and interact with other people 

find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable 

find it hard to understand how other people think or feel 

get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events 

take longer to understand information 

do or think the same things over and over 

What causes autism?

It’s not clear what causes autism.

Nobody knows what causes autism, or if it has a cause. It can affect people in the same family. So it may sometimes be pᴀssed on to a child by their parents. 

Autism is not caused by: 

bad parenting vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine diet an infection you can spread to other people 

Source: NHS