I produce a podcast. To Here Knows When- Great Irish Albums Revisited. It's about (checks notes) Great Irish Albums. EP48 coming soon. Here's a video of the first 40 episodes. All details here: www.paulmcdermott.ie/podcast

We need to be really aware of the danger of this. GenAI is a tool of oppression & conformity. When all art looks & sounds the same, it has no impact to change the world.

I'm excited to be at the 'Interview' stage of my Doctoral research. If you work in the Republic of Ireland and might have contacts with students who could participate, please share with parents (for age 13-15 years) and/or students (age 16+). Thank you!

Roundup of last year: My trans moral panics article came out: bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal... And I also did an interview based on it for @reacpolrn.bsky.social : reacpol.net/moral-panics... (screenshot of a paragraph from this below)

I am not and will never be a Big Name - I am too awkward, bad at networking, and autistic for that - and I remain resolutely within the academy alongside my outreach and voluntary work so I know that alienates me from many. But I am proud, I think, of what I have achieved quietly last year.

Happy New Year! On the eighth day of Christmas, make it your New Year's resolution to post and repost Occupational Therapy content, and to follow more OTs. go.bsky.app/JxmUjnc

Hiberno English Pronounciation Question #SpeirGorm 🙏 Cistern=Cisterdn Carol= Cardlle Pattern=Patterdn Lantern= Lanterdn As in the still commonly heard "Lanterdn Divine Jaysis" Is this a Dublin thing or cross country? What is the name of this, and explanation, if any?! @darach.bsky.social

Gorgeous episode of @deshocks.bsky.social @clodaghfinn.bsky.social podcast,detailing life of Maureen O'Sullivan,French resistance agent, by way of rathmines,and possible Neurodivergent Legend. Do listen to this fab series if you can! #LaochNearaEagsulacht #SpeirGorm open.spotify.com/episode/7daa...

Universal basic income is nothing less than a goddamn human right just as much as universal healthcare and education are. And I don't care if anyone works less because we should be working less. We should have shorter weeks instead of bullshit jobs. We have the productive capacity to meet ALL NEEDS.

On the third day of Christmas, I give to you a starter pack with even more occupational therapists to follow. Wouldn't it be great if we could support each other? go.bsky.app/A7zkhS7

If you need a data center chock full of GPUs to streamline and accelerate cancer research, I'm down with that. However, that's not where the money is.

NEW on Wonkhe: Suanne Gibson, Francesca Peruzzo and Zeta Williams-Brown argue that the barriers faced by disabled students need to be understood as part of an ecosystem rather than one-off roadblocks buff.ly/7DXS7KR

Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama. Us: Across your entire career? Reiner: In a 6 year period. Us: That sounds- Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.

I knew two brothers called Trevor and Robert and one time a girl we knew said "that's mad because Trevor is Robert backwards" and we said "no, it's Rovert backwards!" and she said "close enough" and we said "no" and she said "you'll regret not humouring me"

For this artwork we especially wanted to include the tricolour along with this quote - can't be letting fascists claim sole ownership now can we

Alright that's it! I'm doing it! I'm doing the James Connolly totes! Gets yours here: selkiesstudio.com/shop/connolly-tote

A cost-of-living crisis isn't the easiest time to sell art, but: www.ciaraioch.com is where you can support my work, with each archival-quality print on textured heavy paper being produced here in Ireland, shipping internationally in eco-friendly packaging, with free mini-treats in every order 🎁

If we can bail out the banks overnight, and transfer massive amounts of wealth upwards from the taxpayer to failed private contractors, we can get our shit together and have a non-profit state builder.

Ah...Fionnán Sheahan, impartiality personified in a 20ft forehead. If a state construction company had been set up the 1st time it was suggested by PBP-Sol we'd have houses now....and jobs...and less emigration. In an endless loop of people who don't want it done saying it can't be done.

I wish I knew more about sensory needs and how it overlaps with things I can do. It took literally 5 years to work out that my ability to understand & do things can be entirely flattened by the wrong sensory environment. Eg, Can’t get dressed in a loud room. Can’t read if chair has wrong texture

Seeking volunteers to write 350 word summaries of current policies and laws that negatively impact the lives of disabled people. Email us to get involved: Disabilityarkmedia(at)gmail.com

3/3 When environments become predictable, affirming, and relationally safe, emotional balance and engagement tend to return naturally- not through compliance, but through restored safety and trust.

2/3 Authentic self-expression and autonomy consistently show up as key anchors of regulation and recovery.

1/3 Withdrawal, masking, and avoidance appear not as “problems,” but as intelligent nervous-system responses to overstimulating, invalidating, or unpredictable environments.

Two of our founders worked on a pair of affirming animations for @thrivingautistic.bsky.social, introducing key ideas. The first is Discovering You're Autistic, basically giving people the messages we most needed to hear when we were first realising we're Autistic... www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDv...

Happy (Upcoming) Intersex Awareness Day 2025! Intersex Awareness Day is October 26th, and we're celebrating as we do with books that have intersex rep! All of these titles either have intersex MCs, or have intersex secondary characters but are also by intersex authors.  Middle Grade Fiction…

Resharing my starter pack of neuro-affirming Autistic advocates, orgs and charities if you are looking for a good list of people to follow go.bsky.app/9N5UEUC

Embracing Complexity's priority-setting exercise for research on neurodivergence is now published in Neurodiversity! Huge project led by @agatataga.bsky.social, paper co-written by @drrachaeldavis.bsky.social, @drhollyjoseph.bsky.social, and yours truly: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

To mark LGBTQ+ History Month, the New York Historical Museum on the Upper West Side of New York City has just launched an exhibition to commemorate and celebrate Black, queer life in Harlem in the first half of the 20th century. www.gaycities.com/articles/101...

one of my favourite findings from my work on Belfast is how Harlem’s queer culture was a direct inspiration for many Irish men, to the extent that “strange brother” - the eponymous title of a 1931 novel partially set in Harlem - was a local code word!

Over 55 and recently discovered you’re Autistic? 🌿 Join our 6-week Discovery Programme starting Jan 20 2026 — a supportive space to explore your identity in a neuro-affirming space 🇮🇪 Free fully funded for Irish citizens | 🌍 Sliding-scale for international 👉 www.thrivingautistic.org/discovery-pr...

"When we fight for the right of autistic trans people to access transition care on the same terms as neurotypical trans people, we fight for disability rights. When we fight against cuts to disability benefits that our community disproportionately needs, we fight for trans rights."

The second flotilla continues to sail. No matter what we hear about prison conditions for the first wave of participants, our solidarity with Palestine is unconditional. We’re on track to reach Gaza in just a few days www.independent.ie/opinion/comm...

This woman is on fire in the EU parliament.

Wow. So. Wayward. ...huh. Damn.

This is the part that Elliot just doesn’t seem to understand. It might help if he simultaneously championed alternative ways of assessing people’s knowledge & understanding that don’t use methods by which dyslexics are already disadvantaged. Extra time doesn’t cut it!

🧩 Therapy through the lens of autism What makes therapy feel safe & effective for autistic adults? This new qualitative study highlights the adjustments that matter most — from flexible communication to sensory-friendly environments. 🧵 THREAD #Autism #Therapy #MentalHealth

It's a type of "Quiet Quitting" from before that was even a phrase. People won't say out loud, "I don't like going to town because I hate having to plan my trip around where I can access a toilet." They just won't go to town.

Only Dublin could treat the provision of public toilets as if they were being asked to land people on Mars.

There's an enormous feeling that we just don't deserve better, being filthy little beasts with no right to wander the city.

Created by animator Iara Abigalil, @autisticrealms.bsky.social , @fergus.oolong.co.uk , @scrappapertiger.bsky.social , @jessicakdoyle.bsky.social , Laura Buckland Mason and music by @somebodysomeone.bsky.social Join us for our launch: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/discovery-...

So, right now, the only reliable way to diagnose endometriosis is with exploratory surgery. But finally, real scientists (instead of male scientists), are on the job & of course they’ve identified multiple markers in menstrual blood that point to noninvasive testing. www.science.org/content/arti...

Healthcare settings tend to be designed for neurotypical patients. Neurodivergent patients can find them noisy and chaotic and so intolerable from a sensory perspective. #neurodiversity #SNS25

Stanford Neurodiversity Summit Day 2 starts now! Dr. Lawrence Fung is talking about barriers to healthcare for neurodivergent individuals across systemic levels. They include limited insurance coverage and barriers when transitioning out of pediatric care. #neurodiversity #SNS25

I'm kind of shocked that anyone is still proposing technocratic solutions to the "debate" over immigration. Even if this were a good idea (and it is not), Republican elites and media will never tell their base about it. You can't policy your way out of a propaganda problem!

#AECongress25 attendees: here's some Autism Research Starter Packs, where I've tried to collate BlueSky accounts from those who do/support/facilitate autism research. Let me know if I've missed anyone! 1. go.bsky.app/B9XV8UA 2. go.bsky.app/Pfbbvot 3. go.bsky.app/DWvXhk6

So my keynote at #AECongress25 involved a lot of memes to illustrate my points about how to understand and apply the neurodiversity paradigm. The focus is on LIBERATION from OPPRESSIVE systems and beliefs. This will work best, I believe, when we COLLECTIVISE our action. Here we go…

these are great fall outfits

The life changing Bernadette Grosjean on the myth of overdiagnosis "If you need to change the name, do that, but don't cancel us", people trying to understand their mental health and identity Is good, actually. #AEC2025