2025 is coming to an end. It’s been an interesting year. From an emergency operation to remove a benign tumour, to finally receiving an autism diagnosis, a lot shifted, physically and mentally. 1/2

One thing I’ve noticed in autistic people is how differently we respond to conflict, often in opposite ways, for the same underlying reason. 1/4

We always carry on. I show up, I endure, I keep going. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It means quitting isn’t an option, even when we desperately want the effort to stop. 1/4

Living with anxiety as an autistic person is hard in a way that’s difficult to explain. The anxiety isn’t occasional. It’s not just when something goes wrong. It’s there 24/7, just under the surface. 1/5

What's really written between the lines of my posts.

A question I keep coming back to: would an autistic majority world approach war differently? This isn’t about autistic people being morally superior. It’s about how different ways of thinking shape societies. 1/9

Autism and sport, let’s clear something up. There’s a persistent idea that autistic people can’t play sports, can’t do teamwork, and lack coordination. That idea is based on stereotypes, not reality. 1/8

Something I’ve noticed since my autism diagnosis. Since being diagnosed, hardly anyone has asked me about it. Not how I’m feeling. Not what it’s been like. Not what it’s changed. 1/3

Being autistic feels like my brain takes in more information than it can comfortably process, all the time. I’m not worse at living, I’m just doing it with the volume turned up. 1/6

What does autism look like? People often say, “you don’t look autistic.” That usually says more about expectations than about autism. 1/8

I’m going to step back and log off for a bit now, until after Christmas. For many people this time of year is joyful. For others, it can be overwhelming, lonely, or emotionally complicated, and often a mix of all three. 1/2

Alexithymia is one of the most invisible parts of my neurodivergence, yet it shapes almost everything. This isn’t about lacking emotion. It’s about struggling to recognise, interpret, and make sense of what I feel while it’s happening. 1/11

This is my story. This is my life. It may resonate. It may put words to feelings you recognise. Or you may disagree completely. This is simply my experience. My perspective. My truth. Thank you for following and for taking the time to read the thoughts that fly around my head.

For me, autism has never felt like a superpower. It’s been a challenge. That doesn’t mean there are no strengths. It means the strengths don’t erase the difficulty. 1/4

I don’t reject who I am. I reject the pain that comes from chronic anxiety, overload, and dysregulation. I’m not ashamed of being autistic. I just don’t want to live in constant anxiety and dysregulation. 1/4

Physical pain and autism don’t always mix the way people expect. For many autistic adults, it’s not that pain is worse, it’s that it’s processed differently. And that changes everything. 1/6

Many late diagnosed autistic people struggle with the idea that we “don’t look autistic”. Others say it to us. And sometimes we ask it of ourselves. The usual answers don’t really touch the issue. 1/6

Since I began to understand myself properly, and especially since my autism diagnosis this year, something unexpected has happened. My anxiety is higher. My tolerance is lower. Things I once managed fairly easily now feel much harder. It can look like regression. 1/7

The Autistica Tips Hub is a free app to help you find reliable autism tips and evidence-based resources. Created by and for the autistic community, it offers practical tips and high-quality resources to make everyday life easier. www.autistica.org.uk/get-involved...

One of the hardest parts of autism isn’t the anxiety or the overload. It’s trying to explain what it feels like to people who don’t experience it. There isn’t a single moment or symptom you can point to. It’s a constant background state, high alert, always regulating, always adjusting. 1/3

Autism isn’t defined by what stresses me. It’s defined by how I regulate stress. High anxiety, often one step from the edge. So life becomes about controlling the controllables and learning how to exist in a world that often feels hard to comprehend.

A lot of autistic people learn to fit in by hiding in plain sight. We use our special interests as social cover. They give us a shared language, clear rules, and something safe to talk about. 1/3

I think I’m lucky that one of my special interests is football. I work with football fans, and football is the main language. As long as the conversation stays there, I’m fine. 1/3

Following reports of Rob Reiner’s death, this was Trump’s response. Not condolence. Not restraint. Not even basic respect for the dead. Just mockery, dehumanisation, and political spite, using death as a prop. 1/5

Faith over Fear. Celtic toppled by the Paisley Saints youtu.be/xXx9U5339jg?...

The day we won the cup @stmirren.com

St Mirren 3 Celtic 1

I love going to the football. Before I go, my anxiety spikes. When I’m there, part of me can’t wait for it to end. That isn’t a contradiction. I don’t fear the thing, I fear the intensity and the lack of an off switch. 1/3

The Big day. Our beloved St Mirren are playing Celtic in the Scottish League Cup Final at Hampden Park. Win or Loose this love will never die Come on Ye Saints 🇾🇪 🐼

The voices of unity can grow stronger. We can show that strength lies in solidarity. That the change we need comes from us working together for hope not despair, for unity not racism. Together we can reject narratives of division and racism. www.togetheralliance.org.uk/endorsements

Hours? Lets make it minutes. But when sanity is back in the States we will return.

Thank the alternative rock gods i like bands like: The Clash, The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Jam, The Doors, Linkin Park, Green Day, Social Distortion, MCR and a whole raft of other bands and singers that mattered. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

One mistake defenders of democracy keep making is assuming authoritarianism spreads because people are “misled”. Often, people aren’t confused. 1/2

A common response to democratic erosion is: “People will see how bad it gets and reject it.” History says otherwise. Authoritarian movements don’t collapse because they fail morally. They collapse only when they fail structurally. 1/2

People keep saying “Trump is the problem.” That’s comforting, because it implies removing one man fixes everything. It doesn’t. MAGA is not a personality cult only. It’s a movement embedded in media, courts, parties, police culture, churches, and grievance politics.

The left must stop fighting the wrong battle One of the biggest mistakes historically is this: Treating authoritarian movements as debates to be won rather than power structures to be constrained. Facts alone don’t stop this. Mockery doesn’t stop this. Moral superiority doesn’t stop this. 1/2

If you were a kid in the 70s or 80s, autism diagnosis was basically locked behind three gates: only the most “classic” cases were recognised the idea of autistic adults didn’t exist Asperger’s existed on paper, not in practice 1/7

Being positive about life only works if you’re willing to deal with the negatives. Real optimism isn’t pretending things are fine, it’s facing the hard parts head on and still choosing to keep going.

People talk about a “perfect world” as if it would magically erase the hard parts of autism. It wouldn’t. Even with ideal support, I’d still have meltdowns. I’d still have challenges. My brain is built a certain way. You can remove stressors, but you can’t rewrite the wiring. 1/3

Aliens 👽 "Take me to your leader" Leader 🤡

Does my communication style need fixing? It’s logical. It’s clear. It’s how my brain works. Most people speak in a way shaped by social convention. I speak in a way shaped by clarity. That’s not a deficit, just a different set of priorities. 1/3

I’ve been thinking about the word neurodivergent. It originally described people like us who are born this way, autistic, ADHD, dyspraxic, etc. Lifelong wiring, not something that “happened” to us. 1/5

We keep hearing that the number of kids with Additional Support Needs is “suddenly” rising. It gets framed as if something new is wrong with children today. But nothing new is happening. What’s changing is recognition. 1/5

Dear US Border Patrol...F**k Trump news.sky.com/story/us-pla...

The same people who shed crocodile tears for men’s mental health are often the first to slash support for autistic and ADHD kids. They’ll say men are struggling while voting for cuts to the very services that keep people alive. 1/5

The right wing culture war is in full swing. Neurodivergent people are in their reactionary crosshairs.

"explosion" in children with additional support needs. 😡 Aye i was an explosion that happened in the 1970s and 1980s! We were abandoned and flushed down the f**king toilet! There is no "explosion" there are and always have been kids who need help. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

People often say “I was taught this” or “I learned that growing up.” For me, that never really applied. 1/5

"Overdiagnosis" the new right wing buzz word. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I’ve struggled with overeating and weight gain my whole life, and I’ve noticed the same pattern in other autistic people, including in my own neurodivergent family. 1/5