🚀 Traditional marketing can feel all wrong for neurodivergent business owners. Your brand should feel like you, not a performance. This mini-guide dives into Values Modes, Enneagram & MBTI to help you build a brand that fits who you are. No burnout, no cringe. open.substack.com/pub/voiceand...

When we think of Stoicism, it's Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius... But women lived by Stoic principles too, even if their voices were excluded from the written record. I’m exploring these forgotten voices and will share on theintrepidpeace.substack.com soon – and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For the parent carers out there… I wrote this piece about finding our way. A meditation on hope, acceptance, and the profound beauty that exists in different ways of moving through the world. #SEND open.substack.com/pub/passthes...

For fellow rewilders, this starter pack is fantastic.

'Do what you can, with what you have, where you are'. Unexpected wisdom for autistic burnout recovery. New piece on The Intrepid Peace about finding our own rhythm, working with our brain's patterns, and refusing to diminish our dreams. open.substack.com/pub/theintre...

It’s a doom-laden #BlueMonday so I wanted to share this mildly hopeful sunrise from my back door in Cornwall. Yes it is drizzly and chilly. And yet the birds are singing, the cats are out scampering and there is sunlight out there beneath the clouds. ☀️

Maybe this betrays me as not very sympathetic but as someone who experienced burnout in 2017 before it was cool, I am incensed by what a throwaway self-diagnosis it’s become. No, if you ‘hit burnout in November and are now ready and rested to hit 2025’ then it wasn't burnout. You were tired.

As a working parent carer and home educator I get about 0.1hrs a week to myself. Nervously awaiting child no1 as she does something independent and social, trying to channel that energy into my writer’s notebook, and some reading…

So many wonderful literary gifts in this post, and… some lovely, nurturing ideas for how to support our fellow humans in LA through their loss and shock right now. open.substack.com/pub/janeratc...

It happened AGAIN this week. A professional who should know better called me "Mum" in a meeting. Not Katherine. Just "Mum." I wrote about why this seemingly "harmless" habit is actually a power play that needs to stop. SEND parents - tell me I'm not alone? open.substack.com/pub/passthes...

New piece up on my Substack, 'The Intrepid Peace', exploring how seeing the world as interconnected - rather than something "other" to save - might shift our approach to climate action. Thoughts through a neurodivergent lens. 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/theintre...

Today the whole village has been tucked in under a beautiful blanket of sea fog and I don't think there can be a better kind of weather for Boxing Day.

Bob does Boxing Day 💤

My Christmas present to myself this year. Worth it alone for for the brilliant essay in this issue on the uncanny similarities between the fall of Constantinople and the ‘Liz Truss Economic Event’ Just [email protected]

The solstice reminds us that even the darkest night tilts toward light. 🌙 This year, I’m reflecting on the comfort of nature’s rhythms and the quiet resonance of this season as a late-diagnosed autistic woman. open.substack.com/pub/theintre...

ND folks and #SENDfamily... there's some absolutely FANTASTIC stuff on this Substack newsletter from Jade Farrington. Definitely one to watch in the ND/mental health space. Neurodiversity Newsletter December Edition open.substack.com/pub/jadefarr...

Spot the extra special gift under the Christmas tree 🎄🐾

Love this essay too. As a comms consultant, not least because of this: 'Often the actual impact of what we do is elusive and hard to measure. The economist Joseph Stiglitz once said, “what we measure is what we do” and so we chase easy-to-gather metrics more than we chase the more elusive stuff.'

Last night I fell into a rabbit hole. Exploring the Navajo understanding of identity which is totally fascinating. It inspired some writing, about how labels impact us as late-diagosed autistic women. Empowering? Or limiting? I'm still not sure I know... open.substack.com/pub/theintre...

I’ve just published a new piece on Pass The Salt Water, my long-time blog and now Substack exploring the parent carer experience. It’s a soft re-entry, exploring the reasons for my silence and the personal reflections that encouraged me to reconnect. passthesaltwater.substack.com/p/returning-...

The charity IPSEA have a free webinar on Thursday 5th December, 12.30 - 1.30 for parents/carers "A guide to Education, Health and Care Plans" Register via the link below or request a recording if you're unable to attend the live session. www.ipsea.org.uk/webinar-a-gu... #send #sendfamily

“Make your mess your message” I heard this somewhere once and it just popped back in to my head today. Serendipitous perhaps… I’m finding it helpful anyway. Parent carers & #SENDfamily maybe it will resonate ❤️

Like others in strategic comms I’ve been advising clients for a while now to evolve their social media strategies away from X. Good to see our industry body making the switch: newsroom.cipr.co.uk/cipr-to-ceas...

Came across this while doing a bit of online Christmas shopping. Spot the problem…

Can anyone recommend some recent examples of experimental techniques in fiction? Any length/format. I’ve just finished Fever Dream and looking for more examples to inspire and develop my own writing.

There are about 15 British citizens with learning disabilities for every UK farmer. And about 7 British citizens with autism for every UK farmer. Just imagine how their landscape for living might improve with similar political support and media interest

A huge issue. Thanks @wmadass.bsky.social for this work highlighting parent carer blame. Professionals, I urge you to learn as much about this as you can. For me, raising one physically and learning disabled child, and one autistic child, the difference in professionals' attitudes has been marked.

For the evening crowd, I’m excited to show you the cover for my new book, Who Wants Normal? The Disabled Girls’ Guide to Life. Stay tuned tomorrow for the pre-order details every author must shamelessly plug.

If you are a fan of memoir then you will love the latest interview on Katherine May’s podcast with Sarah Moss. “Books make bodies and bodies make books” (TW for EDs)

It’s BACK! And on BlueSky! Friday’s #SENDSky (pls RT) For everyone who parents/supports/teaches children with Special Educational Needs & disabilities (SEND) How to join 👍 Like & RT this post ✍️ Reply with your bio & ‘#SENDSKY’ 😃 Follow all the lovely people 👥 Tag friends Grow your network

Book recommendation for a Sunday… I shared this on Insta a few weeks ago so sorry to those I’m connected with there… but this one is too good not to share twice. Zone One by Colson Whitehead. Literary fiction does zombie apocalypse. An unbelievable piece of writing. #bookrecommendation

A message for anybody else trying to write today…

In my view this is what’s missing from the discussion about Public Engagement in #climatechange. We can design the best research methods science can offer, but if underrepresented voices don’t have a seat at decision making tables, will they ever trust the outcome? And will the outcome be as good?

Lovely starter pack for flash and short fiction writers

If you’re a parent of a disabled child who relies on the LA to provide transport to school, please consider taking part in this survey. Contact A Family are campaigning for better transport to school, esp for those who are not of statutory school age. #SEND www.surveymonkey.com/r/TransportM...

This is an excellent resource I’ve referred to many times as a parent carer when I’ve needed to quote best practice while in such joys as CETRs, CPA meetings and S117 planning / reviews. #autism #mentalhealth

Describe yourself using 5 things that are probably in your purse/backpack at any given moment: 1. Writer’s notebook 2. Pens in at least 5 different colours 3. Essential oil pulse point roller, ‘inner calm’ blend (fake it til you make it 😥) 4. Airpods (dead) 5. A scratched pair of glasses (no case)

That moment when you realise a writing project, once merely a germ of an idea, then just scene sketching, character play, fun… has become bigger than you. And now it simply must be fully written. Oh shit… #writingfiction

I haven’t shared a picture of my cats yet. It feels like the only proper way to break in a new social media platform… so here’s one of my boys, who gave us a huge health scare this week. Bob. A total legend. #cats

The timing of this platform booming couldn't be better really. I'm not ashamed to say the #SEND system totally broke me and I felt silenced and broken for a few years. Now, well... resurgam. Here's an old post that went mad in the old place, for posterity: passthesaltwater.com/2021/03/24/a...

I miss the #SEND #parentcarer community from twitter of old... if you're here, come and say hello!

Hello BlueSky! I'm Katherine Kowalski, co-founder of ethical strategic comms agency Analogy, substack author, novelist-in-progress and tired but determined neurodivergent parent carer / SEND survivor. After months watching BlueSky evolve from a professional perspective, I've made the leap. Hi!