From the show Les Maternelles on France 5 to Le Grand Journal on Canal +, including La Matinale and Le Supplément, Maïtena Biraben has managed to impose her direct style on television. Known for her frankness, the host has always felt different for many years without understanding why.
In a video posted on the Instagram account of her media Mesdames on March 31, 2026, she explains that everything changed since she was diagnosed with several neurodivergent disorders.
The long journey of Maïtena Biraben “It’s been 28 years that I’ve been trying to understand what’s wrong with me,” says Maïtena Biraben. “I always felt like I couldn’t connect with others.”
Maïtena Biraben’s turning point occurred during a live broadcast on her media. When a woman appeared on the screen, she felt a real connection. “Nothing was right and everything was familiar,” she recalls in front of the camera. Then come the words: “Hello, I am HPI and I am autistic”, and everything changes. “It broke me,” says the host, describing an immediate realization that led her to do extensive research on autism.
And she continues: “I was shattered. Everything I read, everything I found as information told me who I was. I got hit by a bus.” After a medical journey with a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist, the results come: in addition to her autism, Maïtena at the age of 57 is diagnosed with attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) and high intellectual potential (HPI).
The blind spots of neurodivergent diagnosis in women This diagnosis comes at the right time for Maïtena Biraben. “For me, it’s good, it helps me understand myself, to explain my limits to others,” she says. But it also leads to a reassessment of her personal history, relationships, and perception of others. “It means I have 57 years of my life to revisit,” she emphasizes.
Beyond her personal case, Maïtena Biraben points out that “women are diagnosed very little” and that many have to hide who they are. “I know many of you feel incredibly different and increasingly distant from others,” she acknowledges, before delivering a conviction: “We can do it, we can get out of this immense grief of never being able to connect with others.”
