Andy Clark on enhanced sensory precision in autism.

This is really good; very nicely put visual. I think / hope (!) I work this way partly through having had a great role model early on in my paeds OT career and partly through my deep interest in phenomenology.

In a follow-up column, Richard Dawkins wanted to eliminate any possible doubt that he's become delusional by inventing a brother for his beloved Claudia and having them write letters to each other. And of course they oblige, while flattering him frequently archive.is/1LugJ

Wonderful book and I also recommend the amazing work by Hospital Rooms. hospital-rooms.com

That's the right answer and the right length. Behaviourism fails because it describes what organisms do without asking what they experience. Phenomenology starts from experience. Intersubjectivity explains how experiences coordinate. 4,975 words might be generous.

I’m raging that I missed this, but events happened. Was it recorded anywhere?

More on the moral panic about smartphone-related “brain rot”. In this BBC interview journalist Joss Fong states that there is no scientific evidence scrolling causes permanent damage to our focus, but then immediately says “but we don’t need scientific evidence to make those judgements”. 🤦‍♂️

Remember guys: In Ireland you are officially counted as homeless *only* if you are in emergency accommodation. In your parents' box room? Not homeless. Sleeping on a friend's couch? Not homeless. In a tent on the Sam Beckett Bridge? Not homeless. In the same house as your abusive ex? Not homeless.

Please support research about PANS/PANDAS. Share, across your networks, it is important to get neuro-affirming and neurodivergent parents & practitioners involved with this too. PARENT Link: chapmanu.co1.qualtrics.com/.../SV_6W4T1... CLINICIAN Link: chapmanu.co1.qualtrics.com/.../SV_eVUFn...

Bedtime music youtu.be/qtRr07z_eSQ?...

At last I have got around to responding to Professor Dame Uta Frith's TES piece, in which she questions the autism spectrum In a nutshell, I disagree... "yes, autism is a broad and diverse category — that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with the category itself" medium.com/@suefletcher...

There's no such thing as "official diagnosis". It's bourgeois classist pseudo-science. It's Autphobic violence. It causes arbitrary division between documented and undocumented Autistics. Diagnosis is evil. #autism

Now attending the Past Presidents discussion at #INSAR2026 I arrived slightly late, so I missed the start of the session. First topic seems to be on onset of autism & the statement is that the controversy has been resolved on this as evidence shows it is predominantly pre-natal & not environmental.

So happy @thrivingautistic.bsky.social have been nominated! Recognising the work we do to support Autistic & neurodivergent people across the UK, Ireland & globally, from our peer support & Discovery Programme, to our Practitioners Directory & ongoing advocacy for disability justice & human rights.

Why is the Rapid Prompting Method being promoted with so little scrutiny or skepticism? Is it because it - superficially at least - aligns with neuroaffirmative practice? Am I missing something here? Educate me!

Our regular gentle reminder that autistic people are, on average, more peaceful than nonautistic people. Research shows that it is also generally a protective factor against crime, not a cause of it. Any person can claim that something 'caused' someone to be violent. That does not mean it is true.

Please watch @bendybrain.bsky.social chat with our chair @jgjanegreenmbe.bsky.social about pain, getting ill, being a ‘bad’ person, mother employee & how she crashed out & our charity was born as no one would talk about the connections bit.ly/4cx4qtF #Autism #ADHD #Dyspraxia #Dyslexia #Dyscalculia

Smartphone bans for teens and children is simply the latest moral panic, based on the flimsiest evidence. Social media on the other hand has been proven to harm children and adults alike.

They’ll be banning pens and paper next.

A belated Happy Trans Day of Visibility. I see you! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

Happy to see more recognition of this key idea The brain is not mental : frontiersin.org/journals/integ… And all cells in the body are key for what we usually call « mental » or « self » processes !

Thank you @mohospark.bsky.social for this guide which I’ve come back to time and time again.

@jonkskearns.bsky.social I want to be SO involved in @neuroprideireland.bsky.social this year. Hope I can chat to you about that.

1/ 🧵 Haven’t posted here for a while because life got in the way but I’ve got middle of the night thoughts 4U on the subject of Neurodiversity-Lite and (not sure what else to call it…) Neuroaffirmative Brain Drain.

Random fact for you: Did you know your eyes influence what you hear? It's called the McGurk effect, where your brain expects something to be true and so overrides what your ears actually hear. Wanna try it out? This short video explains and demonstrates it well. youtu.be/2k8fHR9jKVM?...

Super interesting!

wouldn't it be funny if EVERYONE blocked this Attie AI account @ bsky.app/profile/atti... before they could do anything with it

Oh how I don’t miss “X”…

No one is truly 'independent,' folks: "While interdependence is often framed as a disability issue, even neurotypical individuals who appear self-sufficient rely on social, familial, and professional networks." From @neuroscientist.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Respecting a child's pace, sensory needs & body signals can make all the difference. Ideas to support Autistic children. https://autisticrealms.com/toileting-a-neuroaffirming-approach-to-support-your-autistic-child/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Spotting red flags in job specs has become my superpower.

Something that could be added to this bullet point list is: - bodies

When explaining the senses to clients I always say interoception covers MANY senses. This bears that out I suppose.

I find myself drafted into workplaces who say they’re neuroaffirmative but it’s just a front, and I become the face of it. I’d like to move on, so any genuine Irish private autism / ND services out there? Get in touch.

Emphasis on difficulties (located within the person) and discussion of”symptoms” giving me the ick in the original article tbh although I can see why may people see this as progress. From my pov it’s not shareable without caveats.

I’m excited to dig into this resource but I don’t love EVERYTHING on the Stimpunks site, I don’t know if Stimpunks people are one to hearing what I mean? I’m thinking of some citations, that could be a lot stronger. I want to be able to recommend the site in autism identification reports.

omfg this is BONKERSbrilliant! excuse me while my rhizomic brain glimmers itself into ecstasy 🥹🤩

Drops this into the Bluesky abyss www.beamconsultancy.co.uk/the-blog/202...

For me, listening to dissenting voices on assisted dying was one of those moments where I had to stop, listen to the other side of a debate and ultimately change my mind completely. I would have been pro-some kind of assistive dying legislation but counterarguments were so compelling.

Today's offering for #NeurodiversityAwareness and celebration week. Transforming care: The benefits of neuro-affirming approaches autisticltd.co.uk/2025/11/03/t... #Neurodiverse #Neurodivergent #Neurodiversity #Care #Accessibility

Check out our free signposting resources covering lots of topics including; masking, intersectionality, sensory systems, relationships and a new resource about Autistic Burnout thrivingautistic.org/discovery-pr...

I see a lot of conflicting info about these terms

A pioneer #OccupationalTherapist with an amazing legacy. Learn about her life and contributions to #OccupationalTherapy across the world. We've expanded her biography. Enjoy. Be inspired to commemorate notable occupational therapists with an entry on Wikipedia too en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_S...

I tend towards MOHO in my work though I am aware other models are available and mixing models is fine - we can drop models, we’re at the service of the client not the model. But MOHO has lots of scope to talk about motivation, the environment sustaining or constraining us, and the lived body.

There are some good things about SI in practice; the rapport building, the sense of having a regular appointed safe space. But it’s still an expensive investment and I think the sunk cost fallacy does some of the work. I raise points from SI in my work but then contextualise them.

Also SI doesn’t pay enough attention to context, and some practitioners claim that there are sensations which are universally calming. Really? This is easily disproven. If someone tells you a hug is “calming” offer to hug them on the spot; if they’re a colleague or stranger watch them panic!

Some objections I have to SI: it may get the picture of what’s going on in sensory processing back to front. Instead of an inward flow of information to the brain, our brain might be “hallucinating” reality and the checking its veracity via the senses (predictive brain idea).

There are SI practitioners I really admire like Greg Santucci (to pick a famous one). And he for example leans into the work of Stephen Porges and Mona Delahooke which I can also get behind. Play-based, child-led OT is the way to go in working with neurodivergent kids. But SI has issues too.

I think something that skews the value placed on Ayers SI is the American context where the main alternative to it is ABA. It’s a whole world better than ABA of course but that doesn’t lend it credibility. The research on SI is a bit of a minefield.