Chris Packham’s BBC Series ‘Inside Our Autistic Minds’ Perpetuates Outdated Views on Nonspeaking Autistics

Tonight, 4 March 2024, and tomorrow night, BBC Two will be showing Chris Packham’s documentary ‘Inside Our Autistic Minds’, which was first aired at the beginning of 2023. After I watched it last year, I wrote a social media post about some aspects of the series which I found highly problematic. This is what I … More Chris Packham’s BBC Series ‘Inside Our Autistic Minds’ Perpetuates Outdated Views on Nonspeaking Autistics

Autistic With Learning Disability Or Intellectual Disability – What Does It Mean?

In this post I will talk about what it means to be autistic with learning disability (a.k.a. general learning disability, intellectual disability, or intellectual impairment). I’m not a medical professional, and I’m not autistic myself – I’m ‘just a mum‘ of an autistic 15 year-old boy. So this post will be based on what I’ve … More Autistic With Learning Disability Or Intellectual Disability – What Does It Mean?

Are ‘Autism Therapies’ Always A Bad Thing?

This week, there has been a lot of discussion online about a recent study which recently published its results, and which got quite a lot of exposure in mainstream media. The published research article can currently be found here: Effect of Preemptive Intervention on Developmental Outcomes Among Infants Showing Early Signs of Autism. The newspaper … More Are ‘Autism Therapies’ Always A Bad Thing?

Differently Abled..? A Story About Letters, Literacy, And Being Nonverbal In Two Languages.

This is a picture of something Penguin created in a drawing app on his iPad last night. He was laying down, scribbling away on the screen, with a contented smile on his face, looking like he was very pleased with his project. At first glance it might look like a random mess of scribbles, and … More Differently Abled..? A Story About Letters, Literacy, And Being Nonverbal In Two Languages.

Interoception: The Lesser Known But Oh So Important Sensory System

How much do you know about our senses? Most people are very familiar with the five senses that helps us process information about the world around us: Our sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell (a.k.a. the visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory and olfactory senses). Then there’s the vestibular and proprioceptive senses, which are both to do … More Interoception: The Lesser Known But Oh So Important Sensory System

Why do I See My Autistic Son As Both Disabled AND Differently Abled?

[If you’d prefer listening to a recording of me reading this post, rather than reading it yourself, please scroll down to the end of the post to find two audio files (as I got interrupted, and haven’t yet worked out how to fuse the two files together, sorry).] I regularly come across discussions on social … More Why do I See My Autistic Son As Both Disabled AND Differently Abled?