Most of you reading this will be aware of the awful news regarding the Autistic Professor Jason Arday. Jason was literally hounded to death by the newspapers, with certain papers being the main culprits, but all guilty in my opinion (they are still hounding his poor family outside their home!). Jason resigned from his position at Cambridge University in early August where he had been appointed Professor of Sociology of Education aged only 37. He was the youngest ever Black pr

Language In this blog I am going to use the word neurodivergent. What do we mean by this and why is it important? Neurodivergent is a word first used by Kassaine Asasumasu in the late 1990s, early 2000s to describe people ‘whose neurocognitive functioning diverges from dominant societal norms in multiple ways’. As Sonny Jane Wise (The lived experience educator, https://www.livedexperienceeducator.com/) explains ‘Neurodivergent refers to anyone who diverges from neuronormativi

Out of the children who cannot attend school in the UK, 92% are neurodivergent and 85% of these are autistic (Mullally and Connolly). Out of these autistic students many will be PDAers (PDA known as a persistent desire for authenticity, or persistent drive for autonomy) and most have likely been missed. From a young age their need for their own agenda will be seen as defiance, wilfulness and needing control ‘they are so difficult’ ‘they always have to have things their own wa

Although autism is not a health, a mental health or a behavioural condition or disorder, many still think of it in these ways. When it comes to health conditions ‘mild’ means ‘not serious or dangerous’. It’s essentially saying that when an autistic person is classed in this way that they only have ‘a mild case of autism’ and their life is not seriously or dangerously impacted. Mild autism would be considered Level 1 where an autistic person is seen as having ‘some need’. Seei

There are different forms of trauma that we can experience as children, teenagers and adults, namely individual, interpersonal, structural and collective trauma. Neurodivergent people are however often more vulnerable to experiencing trauma, especially for example bullying, victimisation, sexual abuse, generational trauma and accidents. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/adhd-and-trauma/?srsltid=AfmBOoqlLQ8ZhWUonjZhlcVx1j3Dg18eiVE4gmL62kfIltW7_W--rdOS In various studies it h

We can all laugh at Trump and Robert Kennedy’s completely ridiculous ideas about autism and that it is linked to paracetamol taken during...

My speech at the 2025 London Autism and ADHD Show I am Viv Dawes autistic advocate, trainer, consultant and author. I am a late...

I am 57 this year. I still haven't learned to be fully independent. Why? Because as humans we are actually not built for this. As...

A pair of scissors I am angry, so very angry! I have voted for the UK Labour Party my whole life and have always been a proud socialist,...

a person looking down, out of focus, moving their head quickly I have neurodivergent family members who strugged with substances in the...

Picture of a white iPhone with lots of different apps on the screen and colourful wallpaper Everyone is talking about neurodivergent...

Two cars that have crashed into each other and one is on its side I am now almost 57 and post menopausal, although I am still struggling...

Too many autistic people end up in psychiatric wards and hospitals in the UK and I am sure in other parts of the world also. Autism is...

Meltdowns, shutdowns, sensory seeking, stimming, demand avoidance - none of this is bad or challenging behaviour. I talk from personal...

I was born and raised in a very deprived part of South London and went to schools that had a lot of challenges, due to poor funding and...

This is not easy to write. It’s painful, as I understand the suffering caused when autistic people are mistreated and unnecessarily...

According to the Oxford dictionary resilience means: 1. The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. 2....

Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck were the two main therapists responsible for what we call cognitive behavioural therapy. It was mainly Beck...

You might just think I am bonkers for what I am about to say and dismiss it. However, many of us in the autistic community know what it...