www.positive.news/lifestyle/he... Useful article about research that's happening, around reframing ADHD from 'attention deficit' to a form of hypercuriosity. Not a lack of attention but fast-changing deep focus? Arguably so.

Measles is one of those nightmare diseases that, if it hadn't been killing people for hundreds of years, people would ABSOLUTELY be pushing conspiracy theories about right now. It's too nasty in too many different directions to seem natural. But oh, boy, it sure is.

"Why are ADHD and Autism suddenly such a big fucking deal" I dunno, how much louder and brighter and constant did everything get in the last 50 years Do you not think that has overwhelmed people who are easily distracted or prone to sensory overload

As I sit here with my head on my desk once again, I implore people to understand that universities are not just 'big schools'.

Of all the things to rage about at the moment, this is high on my list. Not just because it's such a clear sign of how quickly we're managing to hurtle backwards, but also because this is where the 'avoid the MMR jab, autism is worse than debilitating illness or death' narrative has taken us

www.annafreud.org/news/new-tra... Teaching staff? Parents? Know a school who could use this? Our lovely wider team at Anna Freud Centre are now able to offer free school training to support neurodivergent students. Please share. #Autism #ADHD etc.

Recommending again the huge range of blogs and resources on the Autism Central website, by and for neurodivergent people and parents (whether neurodivergent or not). www.autismcentral.org.uk/news will take you to the blogs, and general articles & news, for example.

It's Day 38 of 2026 and we've only had 1 (half) day in all that time when it wasn't deeply foggy (and also mostly very wet). Literally only seen the sun and the sky once in 38 days, and no end in sight. The perils of living at 1100 feet I guess, but it's beyond depressing now 😭

Sometimes reddit is an amazing resource. www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/co...

Oof.

Another day, another report setting out the grim experiences of disabled students in #UKHE. As usual there are no real surprises in this for university disability practitioners like me, but the fact these issues persist should make unis hang their heads in shame www.gov.uk/government/p...

www.bmj.com/content/392/... Autistic girls & women: By age 20, they were diagnosing pretty much equal numbers of men & women. Huge study, whole population of Sweden born 1985-2020. Not 1 in 10. Not 1 in 4. Not 1 in 3. Equal numbers, just about. 100 years of research, most based on the wrong info.

Monotropism Explained Whether you are new to the theory or interested in digging deeper, there are many possible places to start. Check out our website: monotropism.org/explanations/

There's a whole lot going on in the world right now, and for those who may need it you never know when an otter may decide to hop-hop-slide across the yard

ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-... Latest research roundup for autism, neurodivergence generally, and the best/most debate-worthy of the papers. This one, a double issue Dec 25/Jan 26. The studies span education, healthcare, social work, mental health, relationships, and the built environment.

❤️

Oh ☹️ Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, dies aged 71 | Catherine O'Hara | The Guardian share.google/w5H2huH64SrH...

RNIB Bookshare is a phenomenal resource for students at any level of study, including in #UKHE

Useful new research on autistic communication with other autistic people. Generally, they found easier interactions between autistic people, greater mutual understanding, & absence of judgment and less need to camouflage. Relevant to Double Empathy Theory. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

If we wonder what kids think of GenAI...Nearly 18 year old and friends have drafted a letter to their headteacher about the use of AI by teachers in creating lesson materials. And 16 year old, who is on School Council, formally asked today for the school's policy on AI use by teachers and students

I'm now in the launch webinar for the report. On accountability: it's not that there's no accountability - some people feel extremely accountable. I frequently feel very overwhelmingly accountable at 3am most mornings. It's that the wrong people feel accountable - or don't

I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!

It's @disabledstudentsuk.bsky.social Access Insights Report Publication Day! This is always a big one, as it gives us so much insight into the experiences of disabled students on the ground in #UKHE. And, for the same reasons, it's pretty depressing for a career disability practitioner like me 🧵

Word Fact Whelm Prior to modern usage whelm meant “to cover (with water)” … derived from whelmen meaning “to flip / invert / capsize (a ship)” Whelm by itself mean’s “to drown” … overwhelm mean … as silly as it’s sounds “to over drown” … and underwhelm, means to fail to sufficiently drown.

Hello new followers. This is me. I would be thrilled if a few of you might subscribe to my newsletter: www.tom-cox.com. Quite a bit of what I write is free but I try to make the rest affordable. You can read everything for just £2 a month (or £20 a year). You'll find a few samples in the replies....

The source of many a frustrated conversation in my household

Moved into a new office so that I have my own actual desk with side benefit of a window that doesn't look out directly at a wall so that I can actually see the sky. Might be more of a benefit in summer...😆

These puzzles were training us to spot AI images. We need to bring them back.

It is still incomprehensible that we lost Steve Silberman more than a year ago. While I got it together well enough to speak at his memorial service, it has taken me until now to be able to share my tribute to him, from that ceremony.

This reminds me of the time that a senior person told me, very sternly, to be sure I had read through, fully understood, and was prepared to talk in detail about a piece of guidance...that I'd written 🙃

A few days ago, I stood in the graveyard of an 1100 year old church, getting damper and damper in the drizzling rain. A woman walked into the graveyard, waved, said hello, and, as we had previously arranged, handed me a paper bag full of human bones. The life of a churchwarden is a strange one...

The best way of describing someone who’s all talk and no action that I’ve ever heard in the UK, by far, is “they’re all wardrobe and no Narnia.” * read on for fun ways of saying “all talk and no action” in other languages (a thread)

Why Sensory Overload Isn’t About “Too Much”: Often, it’s about how much interpretive work the brain is being asked to do as it constantly combines sensory information to figure out what’s happening, and whether it matters. By @neuroscientist.bsky.social: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/givi...

What are people's feelings on A-Level lessons being taught which have been fully created using GenAI, including language lessons which use AI to generate examples of 'good' written work in another language?

Weirdly, and without knowing that it was Penguin Awareness Day yesterday, I spent a random half an hour with my teens and my 11 year old watching Pingu compilations. Eldest two loved it from their youth, youngest was a bit baffled, having missed out 😆 But this little video is just lovely!

Still pondering this reply sent in an email to me today: 'If my reply is not helpful to you, please discard as if an autumn leaf'

I’m seeing increased use of this word and I just want to gently suggest that if there’s one word you can manage to remove from your vocabulary it should be this one. It was coined by a eugenicist who used it as a diagnosis to forcibly institutionalize and sterilize mentally disabled people.

This is interesting about the psychology of people when faced with a fire. That social inertia of not taking action because no one else is - you can see it in so many other dangerous situations. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking? Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me. 1/

Hard agree!

This might well become a thread. I am calling it 'Bloody Hell, Aren't Doors On Old Walls Fucking Brilliant?'

THREAD. A collection of random dogs I have met on my adventures in the British countryside. You will find the captions to the photos in the alt text.

Today @advancehe.bsky.social published the Disabled Student Commitment Year Two Report, highlighting all the work that has happened around the DSC over the last year. I had a great time annotating it to highlight all the ways we've been involved here at Leeds 😊 advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hu...

Totally made up figure, but it feels like about 90% of our casework with disabled students is wrangling group work, and especially any that has a live feedback or presentation element. MANY students find this stuff hard, and many disabled students find it deeply inaccessible and exclusionary

Our fabulous team at Autism Central have some amazing funded events for families with an autistic young person. www.autismcentral.org.uk/events In this thread, I'll outline some of them/

World's longest day at work so what a lovely sight to come home to 😍 Thanks so much @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social (and mum)!

Gibson Mill, taken on our death-defying slide around an ice-bound Hardcastle Crags this afternoon

The Regal Cinema in Wymondham, Norfolk. Watched everything here, from Back to the Future, to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, to The Muppets, to Home Alone, and so many more. When it closed in 1993, you were allowed to take your seat with you - The Bodyguard was the last film it screened. Fond memories!

Yes please!