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Bleeding all over the place and so what!
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...
Viv Dawes
5 days ago6 min read


PIP cuts mean Labour have lost my vote - forever
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,...
Viv Dawes
Mar 198 min read


Being neurodivergent and addiction
a person looking down, out of focus, moving their head quickly I have neurodivergent family members who strugged with substances in the...
Viv Dawes
Mar 67 min read


Death by a thousand cuts
Picture of a white iPhone with lots of different apps on the screen and colourful wallpaper Everyone is talking about neurodivergent...
Viv Dawes
Feb 124 min read


Menopause and burnout in ND people.
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...
Viv Dawes
Feb 88 min read


Your ignorance is killing us! It is time that professionals working with autistic people understood burnout.
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...
Viv Dawes
Jan 1511 min read


Misinterpreting distress in autistic people; change the narrative
Meltdowns, shutdowns, sensory seeking, stimming, demand avoidance - none of this is bad or challenging behaviour. I talk from personal...
Viv Dawes
Jan 94 min read


Neurodivergent people and the school to prison pipeline
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...
Viv Dawes
Jan 94 min read

Are burnt out autistic young people filling up our psychiatric units?
This is not easy to write. It’s painful, as I understand the suffering caused when autistic people are mistreated and unnecessarily...
Viv Dawes
Sep 5, 20246 min read


The problem with resilience
According to the Oxford dictionary resilience means: 1. The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. 2....
Viv Dawes
Aug 31, 20243 min read


Why CBT is often not helpful for an autistic person
Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck were the two main therapists responsible for what we call cognitive behavioural therapy. It was mainly Beck...
Viv Dawes
Aug 31, 20245 min read


The foundation of ABA is unspeakable
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...
Viv Dawes
Aug 31, 20243 min read
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