Day 1 without #AccessToWork support and rather than do what I should, I've impulsively done this: www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-ann... With ATW support I would have done what I actually need to do... But, hey ho, until my renewal gets sorted, be prepared for random new initiatives like this!

This is a first attempt at making paper from marram grass. There was permission to harvest it, I hasten to add. It needs some work before it’s marketable, but it is showing potential for sewing as a book cover and translucent light shades.

A rare foray into the wild for me. It was a privilege to speak at the @publicmap.bsky.social on inclusive public engagement with the title “Whose voices matter?” I know we’re not disembodied voices. I’m still wondering what I could have used as a more accurate title. Maybe insights? Or knowledge?

This is not an access ramp. This is a ski jump slope.

If you are a therapist, read the paper - or at least read the conclusions. With thanks as always to @thementalelf.bsky.social for making important research more accessible.

New rule: if you can't pronounce it, you're not qualified to ban it.

#GoodNewsStory #TfW #DisabledTravel For some reason, Passenger Assist had me changing trains at Shrewsbury (not the usual Cardiff or Newport). Lifts at Shrewsbury not working. So - rather than get *me* to the train they are doing complex platform alterations to bring the *train* to me.

Autism Announcement: 1. It’s not an epidemic 2. It’s not caused by anything mothers do or take during pregnancy any more than Down Syndrome is 3. Just like non-autistic people, we come with a range of skills, deficits and care & support needs. 4. Check you understand the scientific method

We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit at our chapel. Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness Self-control If we allow the Spirit to work within us, these fruit will become more obvious in our lives over time. Praying this for all Christians involved in politics.

I’m a Christian. My understanding of my faith affects how I respond to world events: 1. We (Christians) are called to be peace makers. 2. My basis for hope is God and my confidence is in God, not politics. 3. The Bible needs reading *as a whole*. We tend to focus on the bits that suit our culture.

I am part of the British public. I’m as British as they come. And I’m an evangelical Christian. I refuse to describe political extremism as ‘centre ground’. I reject calling far right beliefs ‘common sense’. I abhor people claiming to protect Christian values while ignoring most Bible teaching.

Thank you to @hjellis.bsky.social for the fab live-posting from #AECongress2025 It’s been a treat to follow along from Wales.

Courage and peace-beyond-understanding in the midst of war. I will be praying for them and all who cannot evacuate in the light of today’s announcement by the IDF. www.lpj.org/en/news/stat...

I wonder how RFK junior is getting on with discovering what ‘causes autism’. He promised answers by September.

A prayer for today: “It’s brain-dump time. It’s going to spill out in one tangled mass , sprawling across my life. And you can hold all of it. You will not be overwhelmed. Thank you that you exchange my fears and worries and preoccupations for your strong, kind, gracious peace.”

I miss the old Twitter where I met my tribes and knew (or guessed) the social rules well enough to enjoy conversations and my feed. I could post a plea for info 24/7 and someone I didn’t know IRL would respond. BlueSky still feels like shouting into the void.

Lots of people really happy that new research from Edinburgh shows there is an association between genetics and ME/CFS. I’m just terrified in case this means I’ve passed on a susceptibility to three children and a grandchild.

Solidarity from across the pond to those taking to the streets in peaceful protest to remind the world that the US has #NoKings

I was in a specialist weight loss group. An adult asked if they were ‘allowed’ treats. We are adults. We are allowed to do anything we want as long as it is legal and moral! Diet culture has done some much harm :-(

That was fun! #DoctorWho

Before I retire, I want to equip as many people as possible to be effective as social activists and entrepreneurs when I’m long gone. Hence designing The Pebble Path, eight standalone modules. Drop me a message or comment if interested. (Insurance means UK only at the moment)

I am trying to process news coming from US about RFK and pronouncements about autism. What is happening affects people across the whole spectrum of autistic experience: autistic people like me, autistic people who are in supported living, and autistic people who need 24/7 care.

New published article with Angharad Butler-Rees 📰 which seems very pertinent given current disability protests against new benefit reform - Vulnerability in action: the role of the disabled body in shaping geographies of protest. #disability #protest #DirectAction

I’ve just discovered that what my husband does is a ‘heritage craft’. www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wild... He’s also future-focused and has worked with a 3D printer to create high quality heart, star and circle mould & deckle sets so you can make shaped deckled paper

Cymraeg/English translation is so difficult. ‘Assisted dying’ is officially translated as ‘cymorth i farw’ (‘help to die’). Changing the adjective (assisted) to a noun (cymorth) - and so changing the type of verb - makes it feel closer to euthanasia. Is that just a me thing?

In a world where so much research about autism/being autistic assumes we are ‘broken’, @acornsoton.bsky.social is a breath of fresh air. Welcome to the BlueSky family!

It’s the last week of January already. January has been a full-on month, but somehow I’m not ready for February yet.

I’m sat in an extremely long queue for IKEA customer support. Fortunately they play really nice music and don’t keep interrupting it with apologies.

Well this seems apposite today... Text is a little faint, it reads "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." George Orwell, outside BBC Broadcasting House.

If this comes up in the feed of anyone who supports Trump, help me understand. The ‘him’ trafficked drugs. Didn’t he need to convicted? "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me,"

I think AVIVA need @cjforms.bsky.social Here’s why (short thread) 1. I hate an email where you click the first scale and it opens a webpage with loads of survey questions. 2. I hate not knowing how far I’ve got (the little coloured progress trackers are awesome - please use them!)

I have been involved in documentary-type video-making. I have pointed out potential consequences where people want to take part without anonymity. I check consent is informed. But I don’t censor them or forbid them to speak. Women and girls are too often silenced, belittled, ignored.

So happy to know there will be an extra (online) Autscape this year.

Sometimes it helps when skin conditions run in the family. By age 60, I can spot hand eczema that needs an antifungal and hydrocortisone to shift it - unlike the person who leaped straight to prescribing dermovate (which, unsurprisingly, didn’t work).

I have no idea what 2025 holds. I suspect it will be an adventure. I doubt it will be challenge-free.

Research question: Can anyone suggest a name for research practices that don’t involve elements of extractive social research? Non-extractive and post-extractive don’t quite hit the spot because they are defined in relation to extraction. Maybe invested research?

Seeing as many of us are starting out here on 🦋, it's a nice time to think consciously about having diversity amongst those you follow. Especially in terms of gender, ethnicity/race, country, disability etc..

Data archive provided. Account deactivated #Xodus I have great memories from the earlier days of Twitter. I got some of my best insights and built some amazing networks. But...

With a groundswell of support for Eryri and Y Bannau, the mood for change in Cymru couldn't be stronger, which leads us to question why the name of our very country has yet to receive a similar ‘decolonisation’ ✍️ Stephen Price wp.me/p8Mk4U-QNf

Big thank you to @martinnutbeem.bsky.social for this. I know a load of people who follow me are either new here or haven’t managed to make themselves at home here yet. Martin’s thread is worth a read.

I am thankful for investigative journalists like @lucymanning who click into professional mode when a sexual offence is being committed against them so they collect essential evidence, then refuse to let the case go. But it shouldn’t be like this. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

After having a foot in both camps, I’m deactivating the other as part of the #Xodus.

For my US Christian friends (the ones who care equally about life *after* birth, truth and rights for ‘the widow and the foreigner’), today’s verse in the Bible app is apt. Jesus prayed this just before crucifixion and persecution of believers. It is still true today - in all circumstances.

New BIMM University graduate in event management and vocal performance. BIMM equips people for the music industry. Bekah is already freelancing and employed in the industry. She has some capacity to work with me on improving event accessibility - esp bilingual audio tours, trails and access info.

I’d like to buy more gifts from neurodivergent and/or disabled creatives who have shops on Etsy. Here are two to get me started. Who else sells niche and creative gifts? www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wild... www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Book...

Me being a bit of a numpty. How do I discover relevant starter packs here? (Love the concept as I’d lost so many connections coming here instead of ‘you know where’. Then @gobbyio.bsky.social kindly shared a starter pack they’d made.)

I’m Autistic. I’m also obese. Although a wonderful #OccupationalTherapist has been working with me on interoception, I still have no sense of fullness until my stomach is stretched. Has anyone done research about weight loss injections that reduce appetite in Autistic folk?

I’d not heard of #CosyGaming before. I was fascinated by its use for being part of a community and building a sense of belonging. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #ActuallyAutistic

Can someone remind me which party won power in the UK in the last election? It may be how the statement is reported; it may be ableism at its strongest; it is frankly terrifying (with glimmers of high quality therapeutic support does improve life chances) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...