Monday 16th March 2020 was the last day of normalcy my family had before Coronavirus permeated our lives. It had been looming on the horizon, a new threat that only some were taking seriously, but up until that Monday evening we were still able to cling onto some cognitive dissonance: yes we knew Coronavirus was Read more
Note this was originally written for NCMH and can be found here. I feel it’s appropriate that I’ve sat down to write this piece in April, at the start of World Autism Awareness Month. During the build-up, parents and autism professionals alike have (as they do any other day) already used functioning labels as a Read more
Recently the internet has been awash with praise and adulation for ‘brave’ Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine since they announced their documentary about ‘being a [parent] to children with autism*.’ This has followed Paddy’s appearance on John Bishop: In Conversation With… in which (from what I’ve seen in clips posted to Facebook and feedback Read more
2020 Edit – I was thinking about removing this post from the site, but I’ve decided against it. I think it’s important to show a learning curve, and prove that autistic advocates can change their mind over time as they learn more. I am now completely against autistic orgs and charities using the puzzle Read more
There are many things in life which are tested for their “child friendliness”. From pubs to hotels, theme parks to holidays, all parents want to know in advance whether their children will be well catered for and will have a good, safe time. There’s one area which hasn’t been investigated though, how “child friendly” certain Read more
Autism is something I have first hand experience of as my eldest son is autistic, and since writing this blog post a number of years ago, I have also received diagnosis. One thing I have learned while travelling the path of endless appointments, therapies and paediatrician appointments is that autism seems to have an inbuilt Read more
