Latest Blog Posts

Speaker, writer, educator, consultant, mentor. Below is the latest of my writing and co-writing. It is based on my experiences as a professional, and Autistic community member.

My Latest Posts

• Autistic Substance Use Survey 202218th May 2022
  Below is a survey on Autistic people and substance use. The aim is to collate data anonymously on the use of drugs and alcohol in the Autistic community, and use that data to write a report that will be published on this website. The hope is that these insights may help Autistic people better advocateContinue reading “Autistic Substance Use Survey 2022”
• Creating Autistic Suffering: Clustered injustice compounds minority stress in Autistic experiences17th May 2022
  This article was co-authored between David Gray-Hammond and Tanya Adkin Trigger Warning: Injustice, mental health, systemic oppression, minority stress, fabricated and induced illness, stigma. “The state creates the rules and dictates the processes to be followed: processes that fragment, silo, and compartmentalise, and in doing so, generate the complexity that is the root cause ofContinue reading “Creating Autistic Suffering: Clustered injustice compounds minority stress in Autistic experiences”
• Double empathy, solipsism, and neurotypicality11th May 2022
  Why do interventions such as Applied Behavioural Analysis and Positive Behavioural Support exist? Why is it that our world uses neurotypicality as the standard from which neuronormativity is drawn? Fundamentally, I believe that it comes down to the double empathy problem. Autistic people have a different style of communications to those with a predominant neurocognitiveContinue reading “Double empathy, solipsism, and neurotypicality”
• Mental health and the neurodiversity paradigm9th May 2022
  When considering the landscape of mental health, we also have to consider the normalisation of stigma and the dehumanisation of those who are struggling. Since the advent of psychiatric medicine, mental health concerns have been described in pathological language. What if we used the language of the neurodiversity paradigm? How would it impact the wellbeingContinue reading “Mental health and the neurodiversity paradigm”
• A reflection on the nature of Autistic joy3rd May 2022
  What is Autistic joy? Is it different to neurotypical joy? Honestly, I can’t answer the second question. I am Autistic, and always have been. The neurotypical mind is a puzzle I can not solve. I can however discuss what is Autistic joy is to me. Inspired by the recent livestream I hosted with Aucademy. IContinue reading “A reflection on the nature of Autistic joy”