This book is one of the most beautiful pieces of poetic prose I’ve read in a long time, and I’m studying literature. Beginning with Saturday 21 March – spring – Dara takes us through an entire year of his life as an Autistic naturalist. I bought the book to add to my collection of works Read more
This is a comprehensive book in which (mostly) Autistic (including non-speaking) members of the Neurodiversity Movement write about how they, and the organisations they work with, have contributed to creating a world which better caters for Autistic people’s needs. While this book chronicles the Neurodiversity Movement, there aren’t any entries which come from outside the Read more
Today (2nd May 2020), I was asked to write about ABA, providing evidence as to why it should not be promoted. While I’m willing to do this, particularly because I haven’t actually written a post specifically on ABA before (I mean, let’s be honest, I’d be adding to the hundreds already out there), this does Read more
Special interests; intense interests; passions; or the judgmental ‘obsessions’. There are a lot of different labels for the things which bring joy to autistic people across the globe. As an autistic’s support needs increase, the label becomes more insulting – this is where we venture into ‘obsession’ territory – and it also seems that externally Read more
Press release from us all at Autistic UK-Cymru: To all in the Autistic community, We at Autistic UK Cymru have heard your plea for clarity on the Welsh Government guidelines during the Coronavirus pandemic. We can see that the community is being further marginalised, particularly when taking into account the English guidance changes, and we Read more
For an autistic person, shopping can be a nightmare at the best of times. The fluorescent lights flicker and burn our eyes as they glaringly reflect off the multitude of brightly coloured shiny plastic packaging. The music which blares from the speakers – a marketing ploy to get people in a better mood so they Read more
A new paper regarding autistic women and eating disorders has been published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders entitled ““For me, the Anorexia is Just a Symptom, and the Cause is the Autism”: Investigating Restrictive Eating Disorders in Autistic Women”. The study was conducted and written by Janina Brede, Charli Babb, Catherine Jones, Read more
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
