Peek at a mighty oak in this acorn. It might live centuries, weathering all sorts, providing food, home, & shelter for countless creatures, witnessing changing animal & human societies. This acorn just needs the right conditions. It knows how to grow. Children's potential depends on our conditions.

I made this chart of structural analysis because colours of course 😂. On a serious note, this applies to all of us, lay people and professionals. I will add each category questions in replies to this post.

You can’t cancel me, we’re the same substance!

Hello bsky 😊 (EBSCOA and Scopus are not helping atm) I am looking for any writing, academic or not, videos, podcasts that explore autistic experience (especially joy) from a decolonising perspective. Ditto neurodivesity affirming approaches to Global Majority autistic families. Thank you.

1/n #autistic #SENDparent I wish for the thinking around autism to be more precise in spelling out for parents co-occurring cognitive, speech, and sensory issues. Ditto neurological. Precision in knowledge emancipates parents, improving their advocacy and outcomes thinking, helping their children

Rhetorical question.Appox Nos based on my reading. World population: 95% Global Majority 5% West Indexed psychology databases: West 80% Global Majority 20% Autism research: Cause/contain: 95% Neurodiversity affirming: 5% Autistic researchers: < 1% What don't we know that we don't know yet?

Knuckling down with my ethics application 💪 Edpsy festival has just reinforced my determination to do a joy focused, decolonising perspective, neurodiversity affirming, participatory study with Global Majority parents. Wish me please plenty of attention to detail in the ethics stage. 📝📝📝📝

#EdPsych Edpsy festival ❤️ The choice of speakers and topics was excellent, addressing colonialism, politics, children's rights, gender support, and race. We live in a world where various supremacies reign freely, oppressing everyone. Festival offered a reflection space and tools for the future. ❤️

#EdPsych who is going to the edpsy festival tomorrow? Any TEPs?

For any England based SEND parents who have not seen this yet, here is the Parliamentary Education Committee's paper regarding SEND crisis. I am still digesting it.

#Edpsychs #decolonise Excellent thesis by a colleague, Rebecca Wright, about colonial 'haunting' of Educational Psychology. I am still reading it, and so far it is super powerful and utterly brilliant. etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/20...

Lit review ponderings... What would psychological theories, frameworks, and interventions be like if there was a greater presence of Global Majority knowledges? What would someone studying at a Western university learn if scientific databases/journals were more equitable towards Global Majority?

Such as the world events are and they really are something, what are the small joys that sustain you at present? I am currently enjoying a deep dive into decolonising methodologies. It feels like a hug. Also, there are lots of tomatoes on my allotment. What are your tiny joys?

Hey bsky... 😊 Do you know of any resources either through anti-racist or disability rights work that use "calling people in" as a strategy for addressing microaggressions? I will look on academic databases and do a general Internet search but thought your collective wisdom is vast. Thank you 😊

#autistic #ADHD folk... any good personal tips/experience on speeding though a very large volume of reading? I have piles of books and journal papers to read, mix of hard copies and online. #hyperfocus I tested AI for summaries & found it totally ineffective for picking up on nuance I would.👎 Ta.

Year 2 academic work finally completed. What a year. Whilst solving any problem arguably strengthens anyone, not all problems are equal. If you're facing a genocide, discrimination, or hardship of any kind, you ARE already doing your best and you ARE 100% valid. You'll, of course, keep going. 💪💪

#EdPsychs #ClinPsychs #EPs #socialwork #teachers #SALT #SLP #genocide Marking the 30th anniversary of Srebrenica genocide and watching my people's souls turn inside out made me wonder: how much do you as a professional understand AND know how to support those with genocide experience? Genuine Q. 🤔

My disabled child graduated yesterday. We struggled so much and needed many to pour into them: NHS, schools, uni, EPs, charities, parent groups, social media friends, our friends & family. As my child worked tirelessly, I advocated, their dad held us, and sibling loved them. It was all worth it❤️

Being sensitive is important in life and psych practice because it tells us we care. Being triggered is also important as it shows us what our soft spots are. Elephants, dolphins, whales, great apes all exhibit empathy behaviour and #Indigenous people know this better than most. Viva la empathy

If you or your ancestors have been affected by colonialism, genocide, wars, and oppression, there isn't a prescribed way to hold and live with that trauma. You might wonder where the icky feeling comes from. And you 100% are your ancestors' wildest dream, for you are here and trying your best.

It has been a season of grief about #genocide especially #Srebrenica (I am Bosnian). Grief tells us we care and it is a compas for our hearts. I grieve for all genocides, for all lost across centuries and continents. Life is fleeting and precious, and hate is so pointless. (Rolls sleeves up.)

Thinking about the opposite of dehumanisation, degradation and destruction. Seeing as how not a single being alive is going to get around death, even if we had billions years on Earth, what exactly would it take for us to live gently, lightly, respectfully, and with love and joy? Genuine question

My heart is heavy this week. It is the 30th anniversary of Srebrenica genocide where 8372 Bosniak men and boys were brutally murdered. Think of the sheer logistical scale for a minute. Genocide IS planned. In killing the victims, the perpetrators kill their own humanity. I stand by this.

Reading studies confused me and saddened me. It feels researchers portray life of a parent of autistic or disabled children as primarily hard. As one such parent: there is nothing more amazing than these beautiful children, mine, my friends', and those I work with. Our joys are real & important.

Turns out academic databases have way,way more on autism pain than on the joy of autistic children and adults. I have been pondering about joy in general & its importance to our survival. I sincerely wish you to feel joy, especially if the world feels unkind, especially! Joy is your birthright.

What if we designed primary care around Indigenous people — not just added them to a system built for someone else? In Episode 2 of Primary Focus, Dr. Mandy Buss shares a vision for care grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and healing. 🎥👇 Listen to the full episode: www.primaryfocus.ca

Writing my research proposal: "joy of autistic Global Majority families" All parents say they want their children to be happy (and well obv) and in autistic adult groups people want joy. I am pondering what health, education, & disability support systems would be like if joy was a goal 🤔🤔

Here is a fantastic video of Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith talking about decolonising research. I am currently reading her and Professior Chillisa's books and thinking about how to decolonise my research. Also, I hear definite echos of my grandmothers, aunties and my mum in what they have to say.

#autistic #ADHD #trauma I both reconnected with family and rested properly on a recent visit home, Bosnia ❤️❤️. My executive function improved too. Makes me wonder for ND adults and children how much of challenges with daily functioning is due to overwhelment,tiredness and social disconnection?

Open Access journal from the University of East London. Well worth a read.

Binge watching decolonising research videos on YouTube. This is a really good talk about Ubuntu origins, key ideas and key thinkers. By Rugare J Mugumbate from 2021. Really, really recommend it. Also African Social Work Network website is a real treasure trove.

New blog - Monotropism and Autistic Play autisticrealms.com/monotropism-... New resource page - Neuro-Affirming Autistic autisticrealms.com/autistic-pla...

Rethinking compassionate mental health, by the well. @victischler.bsky.social, Chartered Psychologist and Professor of Behavioural Science at the University of Surrey, visits a pop-up therapeutic community in Coed Hills, Wales. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

Eid Mubarak or as we say in Bosnia Bajram Šerif Mubarak Olsun. I wish you good health and harmony with your loved ones, and for all of us liberty and peace.

absolutely love this and its howling noise... the Sun is steady, just as it always...so much meaning can be read into this. gorgeous work.

#the100dayproject #clouds Watercolour paintings on A4 pink printer paper. #scape #west #landscape #painting #watercolour #aquarell #akwarela #aquarelle #art

Neurodivergence - a collection of articles, interviews and more from The Psychologist and @researchdigest.bsky.social www.bps.org.uk/collections/...

#autistic #ADHD #trauma Reflection 4 Figures vary on prevalence of mental health issues in ND population but it is high, anything from 40 to 60%, some even higher. Worse you consider race (incl ethinicity & culture), gender, class, etc How do you flourish or snatch moments of flourishing?

#edpsy #flourish #autistic #Black #Muslim #Asian #Indigeneous EBSCO database is not being my friend. I will persevere but if anyone knows of any flourishing resources about Global Majority (incl Indigenous) autistic or disabled children families or even adults please could you share.

If you are interested in child and adolescent mental health then sign up for a free ACAMH account at www.acamhlearn.org It is for professionals and parents and covers the latest research. Their podcast is brilliant. there are also great short videos.

A BBC article about noise pollution and its negative impact on people. I have always suffered a headache from open plan offices and noisy traffic (i thought i was anxious until i found about sensory sensitivities, after an OT assessment). Chainsaws, petrol mowers, leafblowers are awful.

#autistic #adhd #trauma Reflection 3. If neurodivergent states of distress disarm / disempower a person (I have witnessed this so often, lit agrees), then surely compassionate co-regulation is the answer? Why do we focus on self-regulation in children so much when adults seek co-regulation?

#autistic #ADHD #trauma #neurodivergent Just me? As an ND adult i feel distress acutely (stress,trauma, anxiety, sensory overload). It has always felt like a physiological and mental wire brush. I have complex multiple lines of defence. How do your distress experience and coping feel?

Thank you for engaging with my question about anxiety, trauma, sensory overload and stress.... I've been pondering about it and wonder if they are all some forms of distress? What do we think about this basic chart? It's not supposed to be perfect - just approximate. Let me know what you think

I wish it were possible to easily charge our own, our families', workplaces', societies' compassion batteries. I know it is the 21st century, the era of AI and rapid science development, and I still feel compassion for ourselves, our loved ones, those in need, and the world would go a long way.

#autistic #ADHD #trauma Finishing some ND child reports and wondering this: as a neurodivergent adult, how do you tell the difference between stress, anxiety, trauma response, and sensory overload? How do you differentiate these in your neurodivergent child? I feel it can be hard to unpick IRL.

Wild garlic is out here in South East England. All parts of it are edible. It is delicious. Reminds me how we also get buried in life things and hibernate to just stay alive. Then, when the conditions change, hibernation becomes growth. We are nature just as much as wild garlic.

Are you interested in the latest research on the efficacy of social stories? There is an excellent critique here by Sophie Brinsmead, a 3rd year trainee. youtu.be/4J_3YV54AME and click on our blog to see the references and search strategy blog.soton.ac.uk/edpsych/

#edpsuchs #autistic there is an inquiry into the government autism strategy. Some of you might be interested.