-
2025 in Review: Advocacy Wins and Personal Growth
The year was transformative, marked by advocacy wins such as the closure of the Spectrum 10K project, significant academic achievements including the completion of a PhD year, and a strong sense of community in research. Ongoing efforts highlight the importance of Autistic voices and mental health, fueling hope for future progress.
-
Trans Aware Cancer Care: Why Listening Saves Lives
Trans+ individuals in the UK face significant barriers in accessing cancer care, leading to lower screening rates and heightened health risks. The Trans Aware Cancer Care project highlights personal stories, emphasising the need for systemic changes, including inclusive practices and staff education. Positive interactions can improve care experiences and outcomes significantly.
-
Understanding Double Empathy in TGD Autistic Healthcare
The blog discusses healthcare inequities faced by gender diverse autistic adults, emphasizing the Double Empathy Problem. It highlights systemic barriers, biases in healthcare, and the challenges posed by transmedicalism. Recommendations for practitioners include checking biases, using inclusive language, and valuing lived experiences to foster equitable healthcare environments.
-
Breaking the Model: On Cisgenderism, Ableism, and Academic Survival
The blog discusses a conversation on The Autism Podcast addressing issues of cisgenderism, ableism, and intersectionality, particularly for trans autistic individuals in healthcare. The author shares experiences about community involvement, the challenges faced by autistic youth, substance use among autistic adults, and the complexities of research within a deficit-oriented psychological field.
-
Inclusive Cancer Care: Voices of the Disabled Community
The project led by Rosie Tansley and Katie Munday focuses on making cancer care accessible for disabled and neurodivergent individuals. Through participatory methods, it identifies barriers such as inaccessible information and poor communication, while proposing solutions that prioritise empathy and inclusivity in healthcare. Meaningful changes are essential for effective support.
-
The Power of Kindness in Healthcare
Kindness is a free yet scarce resource in healthcare, often hindered by systemic issues like staff exhaustion and bias. Sharing personal stories fosters empathy and connection, creating a sense of belonging. Community-driven research enriches understanding and advocacy, reminding us of the importance of kindness in sustaining human connection amidst challenges.
-
Transforming Care: Benefits of Neuro-Affirming Approaches
Neuro-affirming practice involves unlearning harmful methods and embracing neurodiversity as valid. It emphasizes inclusive, empathetic approaches that respect individual autonomy and lived experiences. Practitioners should adapt their methods to support neurodivergent clients, fostering an environment of trust and safety through continuous reflection and advocacy for systemic change.
-
Inclusive Practices for Better Gender Identity Care
To improve gender identity healthcare for autistic and neurodivergent individuals, key recommendations include hiring a trans healthcare coordinator, enhancing GP training, prioritizing trauma-informed care, and ensuring accessibility. Participants emphasise the need for empathy, communication, and a patient-centered approach that recognises and addresses the unique challenges faced by this community.
-
Transforming Cancer Care: Listening to Disabled Voices
The project with Help and Care, Wessex Cancer Alliance, and Macmillan Cancer Support highlights the inequities disabled people face within cancer services. Participants shared distressing experiences showing systemic bias and barriers. The research emphasizes the importance of listening to these voices, advocating for dignity, and fostering empathy to ensure equitable treatment for all individuals in…
-
Supporting Neurodivergent Lives: Embracing Complexity
Human beings are complex. We’re constantly changing, adapting, and responding to our environments emotionally, mentally, and physically. For neurodivergent people, this complexity is often heightened by a world that isn’t built with our brains in mind. Supporting neurodivergent people means embracing the unpredictability and the chaos that makes us human. Chaos theory reminds us that…