Former Playboy model Holly Madison shares autism diagnosis

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She's 44. I highly, highly doubt she's "autistic".

I was diagnosed at age 57 and agree. I find someone being questioned beacuse of a late diagnosis as deeply offensive. In my case it's not like I have lived an easy life until I suddenly after half a century on some kind impulse decided to get myself a diagnosis.

TV personality Holly Madison has shared a health update after her autism diagnosis, revealing she struggled to find a doctor who would treat her.

Last summer, the former Playboy House Bunny and Girls Next Door star revealed she had been diagnosed with autism after struggling with social cues throughout her life.

Appearing on the Talk Tuah with Hailey Welch podcast, Madison told Welch how she was initially diagnosed over Zoom after struggling to find a doctor.

"I finally found a doctor that did it [autism diagnosis] because it's really hard to find a doctor that will do it for adults," she said. "We did seven different sessions over Zoom and they do all kind of tests on you."

Part of the testing process, Madison added, was the doctor meeting with her mother and ex-husband, experience creator Pasquale Rotella, to get their "breakdown on how they have experiences interacting with me, what they have observed in my childhood or being married to me."

"I always thought there was something a little off with me," Madison told Welch. "I didn't understand why I was so introverted or why I would have trouble interacting with people. I just always thought 'well hey, I'm different in some way' and I didn't really get it.

"For me, it [autism] wasn't a conclusion that I came to. It was something when I was getting a divorce a few years ago, my ex-husband was talking to my mom about it and about some of my behavior and she said she always suspected I was on the spectrum. She used the term Asperger's, which is not a term people like to use anymore, but it is a term for high-functioning autism. And then I looked online and was looking at what the symptoms were and thought this sounds exactly like me. So I became more and more intrigued."

The former Bunny also said her past choices and relationship with Hugh Hefner made a lot more sense to her now.

Madison added that she is on medication for depression, but that she does not take any autism specific medications.