adhd
The other day, I wrote a response to this article about how such irresponsible reporting puts ADHD and otherwise neurodivergent people at risk. Since then there has been growing concern about the ethics behind the article and associated BBC Panorama documentary. The first thing to note is this article written
Mental Health
I have written a fair amount about how I don't view my being Schizophrenic as an illness. This in itself seems like a bold claim given the way that society has pathologised anyone who (by means of their bodyminds neurology) can not perform neuronormativity. Neurotypicality has been set
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.
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
"For as long as we've existed, psychological distress has been ignored in us. I often think of my own 14 year journey to get a schizophrenia diagnosis from psychiatrists who would tell me I was "just anxious" and that anxiety was "normal" in autism. Normal. Professionals have come to see our sufferi
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.
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
Autism
The International Coalition Against Restraint and Seclusion have just published their report into the use of restraint and seclusion in English schools and the results are terrifying. With Autistic children being the most likely to be the victims of inappropriate restrictive practice, it is clear that normative violence is taking
Neurodiversity
The above scene is quite poinient to the topic of this article. Here we have Rogue, a mutant who kills everything she touches, and Storm, who can control the weather. One might be forgiven for not necessarily seeing the connection between this and Autistic experience, but it is in fact
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
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
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