From @chrisbonnello.bsky.social "An autistic person’s guide to an autism-friendly Christmas" autisticnotweird.com/christmas/ #autism #neurodiversity #Christmas #holidays

Probably the most important perspective on the "profound autism" debate I've read to date. Because it's written by a disabled autistic man who would absolutely qualify for the diagnosis if it were ever made into a thing.

Giving neurodivergent teenagers extra time in exams for accessibility reasons is "unhealthy", according to a neurologist writing in The Times. Yes, a neurologist. Personally, I'm more interested in what *educators* have to say about the topic.

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

I often get pushback when I make points like this, from those dying to ask “but what about the *really* disabled autistic people?”… all assuming I don’t live with a disabled autistic teenager. I do, by the way, and she’s awesome. And she deserves better than people using her as an anti-ND argument.

Thanks Russel! Forgot to crosspost it here. :)

Make it make sense. Autism was first discovered in 1911, and Tylenol was introduced in 1955.

If we're all a little autistic, why is the world so cruel to autistic people? The phrase "we're all a little autistic" doesn't just trivialise autistic struggles- it's often weaponised against us. Several followers have told me their psychologists even used the line to deny them a valid diagnosis.

Further reading from @chrisbonnello.bsky.social: autisticnotweird.com/teaching/ autisticnotweird.com/building-rel... #OntEd #autism #SpecEd #EduSky

Shoutout to all the non-autistic people who make sincere efforts to listen and learn autistic people's perspectives, just as a matter of principle, despite society not really expecting them to.

enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits

Tomorrow I'm delivering training to a staff team at a college. And whilst thinking it through, I was reminded of this outstanding quote I once heard in a speech by Paul Owen, then-principal of Dover Technical College.

Relationships underpin absolutely everything as a teacher. Not just academic performance, but attendance and effective safeguarding too.

There’s so much that’s awful in here and it barely touches the tip of the iceberg.

The Underdogs series is ready for the next stage of its journey. If you're an agent or publisher interested in representing a (completed) heartfelt neurodivergent YA dystopia saga, please do get in touch. chrisbonnello.com/underdogs

The Unbound/Boundless chapter has now come to a predictably ugly end. The morals of the story being 1) have some basic competence when it comes to money, and 2) pay the people who feed you. Yes, Unbound - without authors, publishing companies are nothing. And fancy that. Now you're nothing.

FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD! Being Your Authentic Autistic Self: Top 10 Tips Inspired by the webinar delivered by Chris Bonnello for The PDA Space Click here to get your copy: https://autisticrealms.com/product/being-your-authentic-autistic-self-top-10-tips/

“If we truly want to support dysregulated students, especially neurodivergent ones, we need to stop putting the burden of managing big emotions solely on them and instead take a hard look at the environments we create.” From @againstrestraint.com: endseclusion.org/2025/07/10/n... #neurodiversity

I use this line in my teacher training all the time. It's sad.

Thanks for sharing! I'd almost forgotten about this one.

Totally forgot to post this on BlueSky. Thanks Caroline!

I love the underdogs series and decided to buy my best friend Shannon the series at the autism show as she's autistic too, then realised my autistic cousin may also love them! Can't wait for them both to read them. Lovely seeing you again @chrisbonnello.bsky.social #autistic #neurodivergent #ADHD

Over on @ukyaspotlight.bsky.social: Interview with Nathanael Lessore, Chris Bonnello, and Bex Hogan #UKYA #UKYASpotlight @chrisbonnello.bsky.social @bexhogan.bsky.social @zephyrbooks.bsky.social @hotkeybooks.bsky.social @neemtreepress.bsky.social ukyaspotlight.co.uk/2025/07/01/a...

#UKYASpotlight Annual Event 2025: Interview with Nathanael Lessore, Chris Bonnello, and Bex Hogan #UKYA #UKYASpotlight @chrisbonnello.bsky.social @bexhogan.bsky.social @zephyrbooks.bsky.social @hotkeybooks.bsky.social @neemtreepress.bsky.social ukyaspotlight.co.uk/2025/07/01/a...

Hi, this is Meg Barnette, Brad's wife. While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE. This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely.

I'm looking for some #ActuallyAutistic #uni students in the UK, for my MSc dissertation. You'll find or create images representing your experiences of identity development at #university. You can share ideas anonymously with other students via Discord. More info here bit.ly/3FuX2l5. Thank you!

Vaccine-preventable disease kills. Vaccines save (autistic) lives, and otherwise have no connection to autism. RFK Jr. is a public health wrecking ball, and we must counter his deadly misinformation. Image via Refutations to Anti-Vaccine Memes. #vaccinesWork

@chrisbonnello.bsky.social This, from an engineering standpoint at least, is pretty sweet: youtube.com/shorts/4kpLc...

Hmm...

Professionals will seriously say “look at these awful behaviours that happen when their needs aren’t met”, then blame the autism rather than the systems that consistently fail to meet the person’s needs.

A few years ago I was speaking at a SEND conference, and the speaker after me was the lead SEND Ofsted inspector (Ofsted being the UK’s school inspectorate). He came up to me afterwards and asked me to send him this quote from my speech, because he wanted to use it in Ofsted SEND staff training.

Today in unsurprising news and research revelations: ABA Therapy’s founder, Ole Ivar Lovaas, was a local leader of A Norwegian WWII fascist youth movement, and "he and his family were Nazi collaborators." journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Pikachu memes aren't dead, right? ...Right? 😉

From @fidgetsandfries.bsky.social Full piece at www.facebook.com/share/p/16HC...

the thing I hate most about that rfk quote is that autistic lives have value and worth and beauty and dignity whether they are able to do the things other people do or not. no one is defined by ability or lack thereof and to frame divergence as lack is monster stuff, utterly godless

Please don't force your autistic person to make eye contact if they find it hard. Because otherwise, who is that eye contact for? It’s not for the autistic child. It’s for the *recipient's* validation to reassure them that the child knows they exist. At TPGA: thinkingautismguide.com/2017/05/eye-...

Do we deserve 'automatic points' for being autistic? No, I wouldn't go that far (and I wasn't serious ten years ago either). But we do need interviews to be structured in ways that don't actively advantage those who can 'play the interview game', as opposed to those who'd be good at the job.

Autistic life for me is I can’t start this task but I also can’t relax until it’s done, so instead the course of action will be I will do neither and just suffer.

Today in Hell Yes, Research! The “social deficit” model of autism is based on non-autistic people interacting with autistic people. When autistic people interact with each other—even in groups—they tend to get along. From Foster, Ackerman, and Sasson: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #autism

I used this graphic at a college I was training at on Monday. But frankly, this applies to any setting that seeks to remove the human instinct for healthy defiance, simply because autistic and/or disabled people are easier to manage when they just obey you- in schools, workplaces or wherever else.

I wrote this just under a month before I started ANW. I definitely had a lot of things to say back then and I'm glad I ended up saying them. But honestly, this is what happens when you pathologise difference.

Today I delivering another speech for MacIntyre - the organisation that introduced me to professional speaking - and gave a talk about becoming your best autistic self. And of course, this quote was among the very first things I told them.

it's not too late to sign up to our Autism Spotlight Session this Wednesday with @chrisbonnello.bsky.social - www.macintyrecharity.org/events/autis... Free to attend All welcome #Autism #Webinar

If this is your workplace/school/family's 'inclusion', thanks but I don't want it.

Something I wrote elsewhere yesterday.

Incidentally, I’m writing this just before driving off to see a 12-year-old client who’s desperately trying to overcome longstanding school trauma, because he spent so long changing his behaviours for teachers who expected him to act like he was fine. Because the school needed accommodating.