Blog Posts

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  Signs of my ADHD that I did not realise were my ADHDMarch 3, 2021
  I’ve written up my ADHD thread as a blog post. If you relate to many of these signs and it impacts your life significantly the it might be worth doing some research into ADHD (please note this is not a diagnostic tool and is purely based on my lived experience). There is info at the
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  What to expect for your COVID VaccineFebruary 28, 2021
  I had my COVID vaccine yesterday, so I thought I’d do a thread doing this as an autistic person, so other autistic people will know what to expect. I got an email from my employer to book my vaccine because I am a key worker. I followed the link from the email to book the
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  Quiet hyperactive ADHD, seven ways I experience it.January 23, 2021
  When I received my ADHD diagnosis, I wasn’t surprised as I had related to other people’s lived experiences a lot. However, I was convinced that my ADHD was only inattentive. Still, it turned out I have combined ADHD (both inattentiveness and hyperactive). that surprised me as I was never the child bouncing around the classroom
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  Grief Post Diagnosis: How Do #ActuallyAutistic People Feel About This?January 17, 2021
  For me, receiving my autism diagnosis at age 24 was a euphoric sense of relief. I was happy and finally on the path to discovering my authentic self. I thought that my diagnosis would only be a positive thing. Although this is true for me most of the time, but I can’t help thinking what
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  Is Yale University Justifying Child Abuse?December 17, 2020
  Recently a study was published where three researchers (Dr Suzanne Macar, Dr Angelina Vernetti and Dr Katarzyna Chawarska) at Yale did an experiment where they aimed to scare both autistic and neurotypical children, trying to establish a link between distress and autism in early childhood, while suggesting it may impact ‘emerging affective and behavioural symptoms.’ 
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  The Neurodivergent Tax; Beyond Just ADHD?December 3, 2020
  Some of you may be familiar with the concept of the ADHD tax. ADHDers have extra expenses due to their condition. E.g. I’m always buying new umbrellas because I can’t remember where I put it! (this happens to me every winter multiple times).  However, I feel that this concept could be extended beyond just ADHD.
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  Sia, Life Updates and Christmas Shopping!November 30, 2020
  Hey, everyone, the last few days has been a bit crazy (both on and off Twitter), so I thought for today’s blog I’d do a little life update with what’s been going on.  Sia  I don’t think I need to repeat how many autistic people feel about Sia’s new film ‘Music’. I was disappointed that
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  Yes My Autism Does Define MeNovember 23, 2020
  This is a post I’ve meant to write for a while, but now seems the right time to share it.  You hear a lot of ‘Your disability doesn’t define you’ and ‘You’re more than just your autism.’  An outsider might see that as a compliment, but it doesn’t reflect my lived experience.  The thing is
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  Openly Autistic, the Good, the Bad and the UglyNovember 17, 2020
  To be openly autistic or not to be openly autistic, that is the question, and there is no easy answer. I decided to be opening autistic as masking regularly was slowly destroying me, and I craved to live more authentically. However, the fact that I have a choice to mask or not is a privilege
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  Autistic Psycholgoy Students, We Want To Here From You!November 4, 2020
  Hello, Hayley Edwards (@Hayley_TEP) and myself have noticed the number of autistic people who’ve had negative experiences studying psychology. To better understand what people have experienced, we are currently doing a survey to help make positive changes in the UK. If you are: -Autistic -Have studied psychology at any level (From GCSE to Doctorate) -Have
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  Why can Job interviews be so challenging for autistic people?October 27, 2020
  We may not give standard or expected answers. Usually, in job interviews, the interviewers will already have some idea of what type of answers they are looking for when asking their questions. However, an autistic person may provide an entirely valid answer, but is not appreciated or misunderstood by the interviewer. Additionally, the interviewer may
• The worst part about being an autistic psychology student by Gemma ShortOctober 26, 2020
  Hello everyone, please read the following post by Gemma Short. It highlights how badly autism can be respresented in academia. The other day I posted a tweet, which was pretty random and just simply venting a feeling that i’ve had for a while. It read: “Honestly one of the … The worst part about being
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  An Autistic’s Guide to getting a COVID testOctober 20, 2020
  If you follow me on twitter, then you may be aware of the COVID scare I had last week which invovled two COVID tests (thankfully, I don’t have COVID). Based on my experinces I decided to share what it’s like, so that other autistic people have some idea of what to expect if they need
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  To My Grandmother Who Never Got Her DiagnosisOctober 11, 2020
  Starting the day with a grapefruit for breakfast, and ending it with a glass of Sherry without fail. They blamed your emotional responses on a physical health condition. I now understand them as your responses to an overwhelming world. You didn’t understand why you experienced social isolation. This was because the world didn’t understand how
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  What is it like to be an autistic teacher?October 5, 2020
  Many people would assume that autistic people cannot be teachers, but trust me there are many autistic teachers out there! (Just have a look at autistic twitter). I have previously worked as a teacher as an autistic woman, so I thought I would share what it’s like from my perspective and experiences. It can be
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  CALL TO ACTION: Help Osime BrownOctober 1, 2020
  Osime is disabled. He is vulnerable. He has been failed by the services and people that were supposed to protect him. He has been harshly and wrongfully imprisoned. He is traumatised and has been worryingly ill since July (he has a heart condition that has previously required two surgeries). Now he faces being torn away
• I was the perfectly behaved girl, but school traumatised meSeptember 28, 2020
  TW: Bullying and Sexual Assault It isn’t an easy topic to write about, but it’s necessary. Its been on my mind to write this post for a while. But one tweet I saw recently made me realise it was essential to talk about this, as I am not the only one. So thank you, Dr
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  Did my ADHD mask my autism? (and vice-versa)September 25, 2020
  Most people think if you are autistic or an ADHDer, then you’re diagnosed as a child and then all of a sudden, it magically disappears when you turn 18. Oh, how naïve this assumption is. I didn’t even get my autism confirmed until I was 24, and my ADHD the following year. Now I’ve talked about gender-bias a
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  Life updates, Neuro Pride, Petition and Blog PostsSeptember 21, 2020
  Hello everyone! I thought I do a quick post updating everyone what’s been going on recently and my plans for the blog. Firstly, I have finished my master’s degree (yah), it was a lot of work. Still, I really enjoyed doing a dissertation in the end. Once I get my feedback (and I know I’ve
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  What does a dyslexic person think about ‘The Battle over dyslexia’ article?September 18, 2020
  If you’re involved with education or neurodiversity advocacy, chances are you came across a recent article in the guardian ‘The battle over dyslexia’ by Sirin Kale. The main part of The article explores Julian Elliott (an educational psychologist) views on dyslexia. Naturally, as a dyslexic person, I was intrigued by the headline alone and wanted
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  My Autiversary: Celebrating the first Aniversary of my autism diagnosisSeptember 17, 2020
  So two weeks ago was the anniversary of my autism diagnosis. As being diagnosed autistic late was such a positive thing for me, I decided to celebrate as if it was my birthday. I was aware of the other autistic people acknowledging their autiversary on the anniversary of their diagnosis. I love this idea, so
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  So What Can Autism Look Like In Young Girls?August 9, 2020
  I talk a lot about how autism presents differently in women and girls. I’ve just been looking through old home videos from my family and to me, it’s obvious looking back! (even though I was undiagnosed). So I thought I’d share some clips, so more people understand how autism can present. Also, it’s not only
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  Review: Sims 4 Autism ModJuly 9, 2020
  If you follow me on twitter, you may be aware I’m a Sims fan. I loved the video game since I was a child during the early days of The Sims 1. However, it’s only recently I’ve come across mods and custom content on the sims (which I have found to be a game-changer). While
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  Going Through School as an Undiagnosed Autistic: Twitter threadMay 5, 2020
  For the original twitter thread see here: https://twitter.com/Saraheboon/status/1249393998579597312 Too often, autistic girls go through school undiagnosed or unrecognised as being autistic. As a late-diagnosed autistic woman, I thought I would share a thread on my experiences of going through the education system. (Pls share with those who work in education/anyone interested) I was seen as
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  Why Autism Awareness Isn’t EnoughMarch 30, 2020
  CW: A$ Now April is the time when the world “Lights up blue” for autism awareness, because nobody has heard of autism before right….????? To be honest, the vast majority of people have heard of autism by this point, but do they truly understand what it is? Do they know how to empower autistic people?
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  What Is An Adult Autism Assessment Like?February 23, 2020
  Now unless you have been through it, being assessed for autism may seem like a mysterious process. To be honest, it is, and I had very little idea of what my day would entail until it arrived. I completed the whole assessment process in one day, with the diagnosis confirmed by the end of the
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  Why Getting My Autism Diagnosis As An Adult MattersFebruary 16, 2020
  I’ve often heard people say ‘Why do you need an Autism Diagnosis? You’re an adult!’. However, receiving my diagnosis in my twenties was genuinely life-changing. Here is why I consider it crucial that I received my autism diagnosis later, rather than never. I’m not going to outgrow my autism Autism is lifelong and isn’t exclusively
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  10 Signs Of Autism That Were MissedFebruary 9, 2020
  I have been autistic all my life, but it was not recognised until my twenties (which was a massive relief) However, the signs were there, even if they were less noticeable.  I am going to write about what signs there were before I was recognised as autistic. Hopefully, this article will help some people who
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  19 Reasons Why I Am Convinced Elsa Is AutisticDecember 8, 2019
  Now I know you might be thinking really? With this headline. However, after watching Frozen 2. I am convinced Elsa is autistic. As a woman on the spectrum, she displays a more subtle profile (on a surface level) of autism, as many autistic women do. So here are my reasons why I am convinced Elsa
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  How Did I Discover I Was Autistic?November 27, 2019
  Hello and welcome to my first post on my blog! And thank you for taking a look. I thought the based place to start is how I found out I am autistic in my mid-twenties. As many people are diagnosed in childhood. Not for me! Here is one of many stories of discovering you are