Autistic Rights
This evening, I took it upon myself to watch Channel 4's documentary on the abuse of Autistic people in psychiatric institutions. As I sit here reflecting on the way the Autistic participants were treated by those meant to care for them, I will confess that I have shed
Autistic Rights
I've worn many professional hats over the years. Perhaps it may be surprising to some when they learn that I didn't spring forth from the womb clad in rainbow flags and infinity symbols. My undergraduate degree was actually completely unrelated to autism (in the literal sense)
spectrum 10k
I'm going to start with an admission. The text-based images in this article came to me via a DM. I am yet to find their original source, and as such, I can not confirm whether the people behind Spectrum 10k wrote this. I do, however, feel that as
Autistic Rights
For a long time now, Autistic people have been fighting to have the contested title of Autism Spectrum Disorder removed from discourse of medicine. We feel that as an emerging culture, being Autistic is an identity rather than a medical matter. When considering one's identity, we have to
Mental Health
I recently wrote an article about my experiences as a former patient of CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service). In this article, I spoke about the effect that failing to support me properly had on my developing individuality and the immense suffering it led to in my early adult
philosophy
Identity is of importance to most people. It's how we describe and define our experiences and relationships with the wider environment. Some may argue that it is how we relate ourselves to the world, I would argue that it is the visible surface of deep metaphysical structures within
Neurofuturism
Three years ago, I asked the question What does it feel like to be Autistic? By the time I wrote that article, I was quite confident in both my Autistic identity and my blossoming advocacy work, but in the time since writing it, I have learned and grown at an
disability
Throughout the neurodiversity movement and wider into parent-led autism communities, there has been one particular question that comes up time and again: Is autism (and neurodivergence in general, for that matter) a disability? The prevailing opinion of Autistic self-advocates and many people in neurodivergent-led communities is that, yes, it is
Autistic Wellbeing
I don't talk about my childhood much. Partly because I don't want to upset my readers, but also because it is not my story alone to tell. The people who did so much harm to me as a child also caused harm to others that I
Neuroqueer Theory
In some of my recent articles, I have referred to something called neurofuturism. While neurofuturism itself is not a new word (although weirdly, I didn't know this when I first used it), I do believe that reconceptualising it may allow for a new discourse in the Neurodivergent community.
Neuroqueering
With Weird Pride Day coming up on the 4th of March, I have been considering the way I embody my identity, and how I can use my Self-expression to reclaim neurofuturism from the tech industry and use it to drive us into a post-normal society. It seems to me that
Society
I have repeatedly seen bigots use the "correct" meaning of words in order to try and invalidate and oppress minority groups. An immediate example is the use of singular "they/them" pronouns. Ignoring the fact that the singular use of these pronouns outdates the use of