Neuroqueering
"Queer is a term used by those wanting to reject specific labels of romantic orientation, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It can also be a way of rejecting the perceived norms of the LGBT community (racism, sizeism, ableism etc). Although some LGBT people view the word as a
Autistic Wellbeing
This article was co-authored by David Gray-Hammond and Tanya Adkin This article includes exerts from interviews conducted by David, all interviewee's gave their permission for quotes to be used. Tanya has demand avoided weighing in on this topic for quite some time. Not for no good reason. Tanya
Autistic Rights
Autistic children, much like Autistic adults, live in a world that bombards them with traumatic experiences. There is often a misunderstanding around what trauma is caused by the neuronormative standard of what is allowed to be viewed as traumatic. The truth is that trauma can look different for Autistic people.
disability
Autism elicits a wide range of responses from people. In the Autistic community, we are relatively protected from harmful views on our existence if we wish to be. For many of us, however, there is the ever-present threat of our existence being used to enforce beliefs that are overtly harmful.
Healthcare
It's no secret that diagnosis in the UK (and, in fact, the world at large) is increasingly difficult to access. I have written at length about diagnosis, such as this article on why getting a diagnosis is so difficult, and this piece considering the issues with current diagnostic
Mental Health
"The first thing you need to understand about specialist mental health services in the UK is that they don't really use a prevention model for intervention. Instead, they use a crisis-driven intervention model that only begins work with you when you are deeply suffering. This was particularly proble
Autistic Rights
There are many things within this world that can cause controversy in minority communities. One less discussed in mainstream society, but of significant interest to the Autistic community is Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Nothing sets Autistic Rights activists ready to march into battle quite like the normative violence of behaviourism.
Autistic Rights
TW: the content of this article may be upsetting to some. In this article, David looks at the statistics and law that surround the practice of detaining Autistic people under the Mental Health Act and why it paints such a worrying picture.
Society
When we think of mental health services, I'm sure a lot of images are called to mind. Some people might imagine the institutions of days gone by, where people in significant states of dysregulation under the watchful eye of orderlies, nurses, and doctors. Others might think of therapy
Trauma
This article takes a deep dive into the statistics and laws around the use of restraint and the way it is harming children, and highlighting the hypocrisy of the UK government.
disability
Challenging behaviour. It's a term we have likely all heard. It projects images of violent children, unruly and disruptive to the children who behave in the way expected of them. However, this particular term has been used to frame Autistic experience as an abberation of human expression and
Neuroqueering
"Mother is God in the eyes of a child" William Makepeace Tackery The above quote, whilst pertinent to this discussion, is only half of the picture. Adults control most aspects of a child's life, and whether or not we realise it, we do this by being