So much research happens about us without us. @autgeek.bsky.social and I co-wrote this piece for @isrfoundation.bsky.social on why lived experience needs to be central to research, not an afterthought. isrf.org/blog/why-is-... #ResearchWithUs #ExpertsByExperience #Inclusion

Why Is There So Much Research About Us Without Us? @drhelenkara.bsky.social and @autgeek.bsky.social outline why #neurodivergent led research is essential to building trust in communities and affirming neurodivergent ways of being. isrf.org/blog/why-is-...

Would you like to contribute to a free booklet for Autistic young people? All messages will come from Autistic people. If you are not Autistic but are the caregiver of an Autistic child who would like to contribute, that’s fine - you’re welcome to help them share their message. lnkd.in/djmpg8WS

I'm so excited for this! Please share with anyone you know who might be interested!

New blog post! We look back at the M-WAY qualitative study - led by @schampton.bsky.social - which explored autistic young people’s experiences of anxiety & depression. Read more 👉 m-way24.blogspot.com/2025/09/look...

Next on autistic people with a learning disability from Izy Utley and @autgeek.bsky.social.

Do you know any autistic adults based near Dunfermline? If so then I need your help! I need a few more participants to join my study which is starting next week! Please share this poster with anyone who might be interested Feel free to email me with any questions at [email protected]

I was out with my dog earlier and someone walking towards us said enthusiastically to their dog "look it's a lovely collie!" and then as they passed they said "Hello Collie-wobble!" to my dog (who is indeed a collie) while completely ignoring me. I like this stranger a lot, it made my day.

Being autistic often feels like being the kid in The Emperor's New Clothes; people don't like it if you point out the obvious and it's very confusing that everyone insists on pretending the obvious isn't true just to maintain expected social conventions

Is my mental health terrible or did I just forget to eat again? - an autistic memoir.

I'll have you know these are my emotional support fish fingers and custard. That is all.

I now have photographic evidence of this phenomenon! I also have more questions.

I’m a non-binary Autistic classically trained chef and author! I wrote a food aversion acceptance cookbook and guide titled COLOR TASTE TEXTURE! It’s all about learning how to make food work to your needs, for all ages and all levels of cooking ability (even those who’ve never cooked before).

So Autism Speaks Canada is ceasing operations tomorrow and Spectrum 10K has closed today. What a brilliant week for moving towards autistic liberation.

Congrats to @kmunday.bsky.social and all of us in autism community who helped to #StopSpectrum10K. Today the S10K team announced study's cancellation. See the report from Hopkins Van Mil and Karen Leneh Buckle, and a reflective blog by Simon Baron-Cohen: www.autismresearchcentre.com/projects/spe...

Important announcement: My mother has just informed me that there are small buses running in our local area which do not have bells any to let the driver know when people want to get off. One enterprising driver has solved this problem by installing rubber chickens for people to squeeze instead!

Finally on train home. Giving off my best 'please leave me alone or I might cry or bite you' vibes. Contemplating how people likely perceive me as having low support needs when I'm standing up there speaking about my research but they don't see me at times like now.

I really enjoyed delivering training for the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective last night and speaking about my research at the @scottishautism.bsky.social Centre for Practice Policy and Research launch today.

My kids to their therapists in 20 years time: "... and every time there was a big storm they would tell us the same story about The Great Storm of '87 and force us to listen to 'John Kettley is a Weatherman', I wasn't born until 2018 but I still have nightmares about Michael Fish 😭😭😭"

I have now had emails from school, uni, an after school activity club and even my local village hall saying everything planned for tomorrow is cancelled due to the severe weather warning. Tomorrow is officially a pyjama day. Let's hope the power isn't down for too long this time.

Just realised what I remind myself of. I'm sick in bed and croakily trying to call my eldest in the hope I might get made a cuppa - I sound exactly like the mother in law in Allo Allo: "Will nobody hear the cries of a poor old woman?!"

Merry Maskin' - the traditional festive greeting between autistic folk

I can do all things through the power of galloping anxiety 🫠

Remind me to book time off next December. Also please don't tell me that you've already stopped work for the holidays, I am happy for you but also right now I will hate you for it.

Some people are dog people, some prefer cats, some like both or none at all. Most folk are ok with this, we don't say those who like both are faking it and must be dog people! We accept some of us just aren't pet people. Is it really so much harder to accept different sexualities in the same way?

I feel like the frequency of saying "I can't believe it's nearly Christmas" increases slightly every day in December.

What did I even used to tweet about? I'm out of the habit now and everything seems like a bad idea!

I've been mulling over whether it's fair to suggest that if you can pay a company without using the phone then you should also be able to reach customer services without having to be able to make phone calls?

Today in #EverydayAbleism apparently you can only inform SP Energy of a power cut by phone. It's not clear if anyone monitors their emails at weekends and being on their priority register doesn't seem to make any difference.

I got excited when the physio self-referral form (which it's taken me approx 3 months of being in low level but ongoing pain to fill in) asked me if I had any communication needs - finally somewhere to say I can't use the phone so then they'll know and they'll email or text me instead right! Right?

I feel like I should get more credit for all the things I manage to refrain from saying.

Defining autistic wellbeing according to non autistic standards is like measuring if a cat is happy by looking at whether it's wagging its tail.

It's reached the stage where everything not urgent is now a January problem. January me is gonna hate me.

Agreed. I'd like to go back to using emojis as tone indicators more but don't they also make things less accessible for people who use screen readers? Is there a solution to this?

This is kind of a call to action (although it's also a very long essay, I do know these things are in tension). What Wikipedia says about #autism is profoundly important in shaping what people think about #autistic people. Unfortunately, much of it is terrible, and it misses many key things. Help?

If anyone ever wonders why I headcannon Aziraphale as autistic and Crowley as ADHD, I'm going to point to this gif Look at the autistic response to an unexpected, loud noise Look at that ADHD response to a vibrant surprise

I'm also a bit confused as to why people who I don't think I know from the other place or anywhere are following me on here? I haven't even gotten around to writing a bio yet...

I really want to start being active here but there's also approximately 173 other things I want to do with the small amount of downtime I can eek out so I mostly just think about being on here at times when it's not possible.

I must say my dominant feeling after spending my first hour on here is one of relief.

Apparently this is now the place to be. People say Bluesky is like Twitter used to be. My first impressions are good but I'm cautious about getting my hopes up bc I loved Twitter intensely, I connected with so many amazing people there and really these last years I've been mourning that experience.