♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, cardiac arrest. >> unconsciou unconscious. >> bronny james, son of

legendary lebron james, heart stopped. >> we don't know what caused the arrest at this point. he will undergo extensive testing in the next few days to get to the bottom of this. >> byron: what we are learning about the condition of the 18-year-old rising star. plus adult autism. reality tv star demi burnett broke through on "the bachelor" but masked a secret xsht. >> it's performance to save your life. it's like -- it's necessary. >> byron: the autism diagnosis that changed everything. >> what clicked into place at that moment? >> that feeling of being out of the loop, of like, why is this coming natural for everyone else? impulsivity. you might say something or do something that you really regret doing. >> byron: the growing number of adults living with autism. >> multiple girls, especially girls of color, have been missed throughout the years. >> byron: what you need to know. monumental honor. remembering emmett till and his mother on what would have been

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♪ good evening. thank you for join iing us. nba superstar lebron james' son

bronny is now recovering after a terrifying cardiac emergency. the latest on his condition later in our broadcast. fir first, when many of us think of autism, we think of children. a growing number of adults are learning they too have autism, and the condition has gone untreated for years. here's my "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> this cabinet i feel like is the star of the show in the kitchen. >> juju: stardom and fame. everything demi burnett dreamed of. >> i can transform myself into a 10, you know? >> juju: it was her on-screen antics on "the bachelor" -- >> i will happily accept your rose. >> juju: that made her famous. >> the queen is back! >> juju: acting out drawing eyes on "bachelor in paradise." >> anybody there who doesn't know who i am? >> juju: behind the scenes demi was grappling with autism and

didn't know it. >> so mortified, god! >> juju: what do people not know about you, from what they've seen publicly? >> i'm really known for being so bold and confident and, like, if someone confronts me, i could handle it and stuff. but i really don't like that kind of stuff. >> juju: it's a performance? >> yeah. for the theater. >> juju: it's an act, all an act? >> it's performance to save your life, though. because it's necessary. >> juju: demi says that performance helped her navigate a crippling social anxiety she could never understand. she says she initially self-medicated by abusing alcohol. >> i sobered up. it was six months after. and i had been struggling with being on the same page as people. like, them misunderstanding me or me misunderstanding them. >> juju: last year, an autism diagnosis suddenly put things into perspective for the 28-year-old. what clicked into place at that

moment? >> that feeling of being out of the loop, of like, why is this coming natural for everyone else? impulsivity. you might say something or do something that you really regret doing. >> juju: why do you feel like you want to speak out about it and be public about it? >> i want to be able to provide, like, that space for people to relate. and not feel, like, alone in this, or not feel stupid about it. >> juju: demi is one of a growing number of people diagnosed with autism as adults. >> autism is characterized by challenges and differences in social interaction and communication. preferences for routine, repetition, as well as sensory sensitivities. >> juju: of the 5.4 million adults living with autism, some get diagnosed as kids. others reach adulthood before ever recognizing signs their neuro divergence. also speaking out, celebrities like "chandelier" singer sia.

recently discussing her autism on "rob has a podcast." >> 45 years i was, like, i've got to put my human suit on. and only the last two years have i become, like, fully, fully myself. >> juju: prominent athletes like former nfl player joe barksdale. former nba player tony snell. also revealing their diagnoses. actor wentworth miller went decades not knowing he had autism until 2020 at the age of 48. >> those who might have average or above-average intellectual ability might kind of fly under the radar or be able to mask some of their symptoms. and also, we're sometimes seeing more adult diagnoses as more children are getting diagnosed. >> juju: demi's diagnosis brought relief. in college she suspected she might have autism. what were your social interactions like that gave you the feeling, maybe i am? >> it's in the like there's a

specific social interaction. there's just this feeling of, oh, like -- anxiety. of, like, i need to put on the show, put on the mask of, like, i'm a person who functions and does things, hi, how are you? but i think that the mask is very protective. because you can't be your true self in the real world sometimes, because we have been ourselves and there were negative reactions that trauma tithed us. >> reporter: when demi watches herself, she can see beyond the mask shelf wearing. >> can i interrupt? >> yeah. >> juju: here you grab him. >> i want to show you something. >> watch how people get upset with me. >> we're going to go upstairs. >> [ bleep ]. >> wait, what? >> juju: it may seem like an ordinary reality tv moment, but demi says she was struggling with social cues and anxiety. >> that's not me trying to do a

gimmick, that was a moment of pure autistic isolation. misunderstanding, misreading. i'm in a firefight until i'm done talking with colton every single time. >> juju: she's begun to work in a way more comfortable for her, doing what's called to unmasking. >> unmasking refers to the idea of kind of allowing yourself to be yourself, essentially. if you feel like you need to rock or use some sort of sensory accommodations, less energy focused on trying to hide those autism symptoms. >> juju: demi's headphones gives her a noise buffer she says she needs. subtle, repetitive movements calm her. painting eases her anxiety. >> hi, baby! >> juju: her biggest source of support and comfort is her dog, sandor. >> my dog regulates me. one of the biggest things i need is another nervous system to let me know i'm safe. >> juju: demi has begun chronicling her journey on

social media. >> my mornings are like this. i wake up, 30 sends of bliss. demands hit me. i can be sensory seeking, so people talk about being autistic, it means that the less we have to hide that part of ourselves. >> juju: joining a growing community of men and women. >> it also can make us not really want to be around people. >> hey, maxi, guess how many followers you have on tiktok? >> juju: who are showing how they're living with autism. >> all my social media and stuff, just change the stigmas around it. >> i've always known i was a tinge different. >> what's important about finding out you're autistic, it removes this idea that you're weird, and it puts it in a spot where you can say, oh, i'm ought tick, and it's okay for me to need these things. >> juju: last december, shortly after being diagnosed with adhd, chelsea potts was diagnosed with autism at age 33. >> multiple girls, especially girls of color, have been missed

throughout the years because we were never included in what would be considered the criteria for autism. >> we see it most often in women, then people of color. women might be a little bit more prone to masking as one reason. and also, historically, autism was really thought of as kind of a male disorder. >> i did buy one thing -- >> juju: chelsea's daughter, kennedy, is also autistic. kennedy and her twin, braylon, have adhd. kennedy's diagnosis came after chelsea's. >> i have autism. i was like, oh. oh. it's hard. she's 10, so i look back to the time where she would freak out when we would go to places. i'm like, oh, just get it together, why can't we just have a nice trip? and i never thought about, what does she need? even as i speak about it now, it makes me emotional. because that's my baby.

and i just didn't -- i didn't notice. i didn't notice. >> oh no, seriously, look -- >> juju: on a visit to the cincinnati zoo with her 10-year-old twins, it's clear chelsea is determined to help her daughters navigate the world. >> they look weird. >> juju: no one from the outside can see what they're up against. >> it's a sensory map. this can tell us where the areas are really loud. where they're really crowded so we don't want to be around a whole lot of people, we can avoid those. any place you want to avoid? >> i don't want to go to a crowded location. >> okay. i have to put on these glasses -- >> juju: chelsea is already in sensory overload. >> my head is starting to hurt. >> why? >> i don't know. it's loud and it's hot. >> juju: kennedy is having a crisis of her own. >> getting tired? >> yeah. >> okay. >> juju: their family stopping by the "'s calming room for a moment of quiet. >> i'm relaxing and taking it

in. >> it feels soft. >> juju: seeing kennedy takes chelsea back to her own childhood. >> i think getting diagnosed as a kid can help you advocate for your needs early and practice this in a much safer environment. whereas when you're diagnosed as an adult, then you're really going back and you're rethinking your whole life. >> juju: as an adult, chelsea has thrived professionally. she's an assistant dean at miami university in ohio. but work is still a challenge. communication is a minefield. >> my words are usually jumbled. a lot of times i will leave conversations with regrets. >> juju: chelsea considers herself lucky. studies suggest up to 75% of adults with awe tip are underemployed. >> there are so many gaps in what we have available for autistic adults. it's nowhere near where it needs to be. >> people describe it as falling off a services cliff. there's really not many opportunities for individuals,

and especially for individuals who are creative, which is an area we specialize in. >> juju: heidi created a nonprofit to provide services for all levels of autism. the group employs people in video production. >> so there's a stereotype of individuals on the spectrum that excel in math and science. but we have the rest of the spectrum to consider. >> juju: 25-year-old jon karl barth is one of the participants. >> i had a terrible experience in school. i studied video production. i dropped out, no degree, no prospects, seemingly. now, against all odds, i have a job in a field i want to work in. this is a workplace that is very much made with adults on the spectrum in mind, which most jobs in any field aren't. >> oh my gosh. there's a lot of stuff in here.

>> juju: for demi, success in her field looks like being her most authentic self. >> what do you want for demi's future? >> i want to exist and not have to be so frantic about how to survive all the time. >> juju: back in ohio, chelsea wants the same for her family. >> when i think about my daughters, i want them to be able to really, really love themselves. sometimes we don't think about how we have been socialized to do certain things. am i really all that different? or am i just coming from a different perspective? >> byron: our thanks to juju. up next, the dramatic health scare for the son of legendary basketball star lebron james. if you have moderate to severe crohn's disease skyrizi is the first and only il-23 inhibitor that can deliver clinical remission and endoscopic improvement.

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♪ >> byron: the news about bronny james reminded many of damar hamlin, the buffalo bills safety who suffered cardiac arrest on the field in january. both young athletes in the prime of their lives. here's abc's mola langgy. >> reporter: bronny james, son of basketball legend lebron james, collapsing during practice at usc after ufring cardiac arrest. the 18-year-old college freshman rushed to the hospital yesterday morning. >> rescue unconscious, 3400 south figueroa. >> reporter: the family says bronny is in stable condition and out of the icu, "lebron and savannah wish to publicly send

their deepest thanks and appreciation to the usc medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes." >> it's pretty uncommon for someone to be so quickly out of the icu after resuscitation from cardiac arrest. this is a very good sign. >> reporter: bronny, a 2023 mcdonald's all american, was one of the most highly sought after high school basketball players in the country. it's the second time in just over a year that a usc player suffered cardiac arrest. last july, team trainers jumped in to do cpr on a freshman after a coach saw him struggling. the school posting a video about the experience. >> they're superheroes. they're the definition of superheroes. superheroes save people's lives and that's what they did. >> reporter: he recovered and was back on the court six months later. unlike a heart attack where an artery is blocked which can cause chest pain and shortness of breath, cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating, causing a person to collapse or stop breathing. patients need immediate cpr or a

shock from a defibrillator. the leading causes in young athletes are cardio high yop raeth or arrythmia. doctors will now try to determine what exactly happened to bronny james. >> we don't know what caused his arrest, at this point. he will undergo extensive testing in the next few days, i'm sure, to get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: lebron has talked about one day playing on the same nba team with bronny. >> that would be ideal for sure, being with him, spending a full year with him in the same uniform. that would be the icing on the cake. >> reporter: weeks ago, bronny and the family presented his father with an the same night the buffalo bi bills' damar hamlin honoring the medical staff and trainers who saved him after his cardiac arrest. the family tweeting, prayers to bronny and the james family, here for you guys like you have been for me my entire process.

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♪ >> byron: emmett till was 14 years old when he was murdered in 1955. he never got the chance to grow up, he never knew that he and his mother would help to change the world forever. president biden today sought to honor them both. here's abc's sheaf white house correspondent mary bruce. >> reporter: on what could have been emmett till's 82nd

birthday, president biden today establishing a new national monument to honor the teenager whose brutal murder in 1955 helped spark the civil rights movement. >> i can't fathom what it must have been like. >> reporter: just 14 years old, till was visiting family in mississippi when he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed by two white men after a white woman accused him of whistling at her. till's mother, mamie till-mobley, heroically insisting on an open casket at his funeral in chicago, wanting the whole nation to see his battered body and bear witness to what racist hate did to her ton. the new monument established today will honor her as well. >> she said, "let the people see what i see. let the people see what i have seen." my god. >> reporter: the president today declaring the importance of telling our nation's full history, even as some now seek

to change how black history is taught. florida governor and republican presidential candidate ron desantis has defended his state's new educational guidelines that will teach students that some slaves may have benefited from the skills they developed. >> at a time when there are those who seek to ban books, bury history, we're making it clear, crystal, crystal clear. while darkness and denialism can hide much, they erase nothing. >> reporter: the president's stern warning today, silence is complicity. >> byron: a place in history for those who changed history. our thanks to mary. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.