During Lockdown Number Two (the sequel to the ever-popular Lockdown Number One) I started writing a story for my daughter. I’d write a chapter during the day whilst she was homeschooling and then later on we’d snuggle up and I’d read it to her. It was our thing and it was lovely. Then the world … Continue reading The Token Autistic
Tag: autistic
Autistic Turbulence
The last couple of days have been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. I am a hive of activity and then a still, mountain lake. I’m either overachieving or motionless, really happy or distraught. In the past few years when I’ve been like this it’s always been pointed out to me, but due to too … Continue reading Autistic Turbulence
Virtually Accessible Interviews
Almost three years ago to the day I wrote about a gruelling interview process that took me months to recover from. Reading through it recently it struck me how different my experience of interviewing has been during the pandemic. It’s not a perfect process and I don’t want to pretend that it’s easy, but in … Continue reading Virtually Accessible Interviews
Resilience
People often question the resilience of autistic people, but I believe they are more resilient than most will ever know. I salute you all #ActuallyAutistic
5 Lockdown Tips to get you Through
As England is about to join Wales in a National Lockdown, I thought it might be time to write something about how this year has changed my life and how I deal with the tricky bits. Tip number 1: Focus on the good things I really struggled with this one during the first lockdown and … Continue reading 5 Lockdown Tips to get you Through
If the world were built for me
If the world were built for me there would be no start times or end times, there would just be the work that needed doing and the space in which to do it. If the world were built for me no one would ever assume poor eye contact meant low trustworthiness. If the world were … Continue reading If the world were built for me
Autistic Pride
Today is Autistic Pride day and I am contemplating what that means to me. My journey since discovering I was autistic has been one of ups and downs. I’ve had a lot of rethinking to do, a lot of processing, a ridiculous number of times exclaiming, ‘Oh that’s why I reacted like that; it was … Continue reading Autistic Pride
Autistic Art
I’ve been thinking a lot about being an autistic artist. I’ve been thinking a lot about everything. There’s been a lot to think about during Lockdown, a lot to realise and come to terms with. I’ve been thinking about being an autistic artist, and what that means, how it works for me. There can be … Continue reading Autistic Art
Autistic Joy
I remember the first time I heard the term Autism actually being applied to someone: I was seventeen, it was 1997, and I was volunteering with a local respite care team during the Summer Holidays. There was a huge group of children with various disabilities and difficulties, and I was there to... well... play with … Continue reading Autistic Joy
When the World Changes…
One of the first things I noticed about people when I started my informal psychological studies of them as a teenager, was that angry people are often frightened people trying to regain control. Someone added me to a local Coronavirus Support Group on social media this week. At first I thought, “That sounds great - … Continue reading When the World Changes…
