The former Playboy model turned entrepreneur is opening up about her autism diagnosis.
Holly Madison recently appeared in an episode of the Talking to Death podcast, where she explains how she is dealing with her autism diagnosis and how it is affecting her daily relationships. Per People, she began by saying, “The doctor told me that I have high executive functioning, which means I can pretty much go about my life and do things ‘normally.’”
She adds, “I think because I’m more quiet, I’ve only recently learned to make eye contact, I’m often in my own thoughts, things like that, so people take that as offensive. They’re like, ‘Damn, you’re not super interested in me, f— you,’” she continued with a laugh, “Like, I’m just not on the same social wavelength as other people but don’t take it personally. So I like being able to explain that.”
The 43-year-old star continued, “I also don’t really have a gauge for when other people are gonna be done speaking so I tend to interrupt a lot, which pisses people off.” After this, the host, Lindsey, reassured her, “You’re doing fine right now,” to which Madison replied, “Thanks, I’m learning.”
When asked what message Madison would like to share with people living with the disease or wanting to know more about it, she said, “That everybody operates differently and [when] interacting with anybody, just have a little bit of patience because you don’t know what they’re dealing with or what their level of social function is.”
In April 2021, the Down the Rabbit Hole author made an appearance on the Call Me Daddy podcast, where she told host Alex Cooper that she believed she had Asperger’s and was contemplating seeing a doctor. Asperger’s syndrome and autism both come under the autism spectrum disorder. She said at the time, “I want to go get diagnosed because I’ve always had a difficult time connecting with other people.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave. Although it can be diagnosed at any age, symptoms generally appear in the first two years of life.