Autistic and Living the Dream

Category: Ableism

  • No, Joe Wicks, ADHD isn’t a dietary issue

    No, Joe Wicks, ADHD isn’t a dietary issue

    Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, has recently suggested (on a BBC podcast) that the “surge” in childhood ADHD diagnoses is linked to poor diet. He shared:  “Looking back now, there’s no doubt the food I was eating was directly linked to my behaviour. I was never diagnosed with ADHD, but I think nowadays it’s…

  • School toilets under lock and key

    School toilets under lock and key

    ‘Cages’ have been installed at Foxford Community School, Coventry, to stop students from going to the toilet. Pupils are now unable to use the toilet during lessons and can only make a bathroom trip if supervised. Children aged 10-16 years old have to ask permission to go to the bathroom and go supervised. We all…

  • UK university ethics applications – a neurodivergent nightmare?

    UK university ethics applications – a neurodivergent nightmare?

    Policies within UK universities outline that research undertaken therein requires ethical review, however the process of obtaining favourable opinion can be inaccessible to Autistic ADHD students due to ableism within Higher Education. I wanted to know whether I was the only Autistic and ADHD / Attention Hyperactive person who really struggled with my degree ethics…

  • The ARC is at it again

    The ARC is at it again

    CW: suicide, ableism, Simon Baron-Cohen Another study suggested by Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre (ARC) has been paused. The new study by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen planned to read and pick apart the diaries of CSL*, a young Autistic girl who killed herself. The intention was that researchers could use her diaries to improve their understanding of…

  • “I’m a little OCD” and other nonsense

    “I’m a little OCD” and other nonsense

    Content warning: Intrusive thoughts, mention of HIV / AIDS, Sexual assault, death. I have often heard people say “I’m a little OCD” as in they like to keep things tidy, and that it bothers them if items aren’t where they’re supposed to be. It’s one of those microaggressions people don’t realise is harmful. It seriously…

  • I won’t be unbiased in the face of violence

    I won’t be unbiased in the face of violence

    It’s not the job of the oppressed to meet our oppressors ‘half way’. There is no half way. There is no half violence, half stigma, or half isolation. I don’t need to engage with people who are harmful to me and the people I love, and that absolutely goes for ABA practitioners. I don’t want…

  • Things to think about before getting involved in autism research

    Things to think about before getting involved in autism research

    I have been a participant in a fair amount of Autistic experience research (what others may call autism research) and I’ve led and assisted on a few more besides. There’s a few things I look for when deciding whether to engage in such research. First, I look at who is running the research – are…

  • Community psychology and models of disability

    Community psychology and models of disability

    Community psychology examines and supports people’s attitudes, actions and thoughts within the social contexts of their lives, supporting marginalised groups to challenge systems, institutions and legislations which oppress and discriminate (Orford, 2008). Additionally, community psychology (CP)  can contribute to the understanding of social issues for both professionals and participants by framing people within their local…

  • My experience of Masking

    My experience of Masking

    These are my experiences so they may not match yours, and that’s okay. There is this idea that we totally lose ourselves in our Autistic masking, as if the person we project is a falacy, a made-up persona that we wear often, and, for some of us, all of the time. Identity, for the most…

  • Tired but not broken

    Tired but not broken

    I asked the community: If you could let people know one thing about being Autistic what would it be? This blog is based off your amazing answers. Anyone of any identity, culture or heritage can be Autistic so we obviously aren’t all the same! However, we do seem to experience similar things across cultures, namely…