‘About Me’: a downloadable template for your child’s new teacher

It is the RA team’s greatest hope that all Autistic children feel safe, understood and supported at school, so we have created this downloadable template – an ‘About Me’ you can fill in using our sample responses and give to your child’s new teachers. 

Navigating Autistic Burnout: Self-care strategies to recover and recalibrate

Burnout is sometimes referred to as ‘Autistic regression’ because the reduction in functioning across a range of areas makes it seem as though skills are ‘lost’.  As masking falls away, we may seem ‘more Autistic’ because our capacity to sustain it is reduced. But how do you recover and recalibrate when, as an Autistic person, you’re already working harder just to exist in the world? Autistic lawyer, Justine Field, provides some tips on how to muster self care when it seems out of reach.

Neurodivergent and under duress: an Autistic experience of medical consent

In this important personal account, Autistic cancer survivor Brenton Gray, highlights the problem of medical consent obtained in a healthcare system built by neurotypicals, for neurotypicals. “The fawn response is heavily programmed into a lot of Autistic people from a very early age,” he writes. “I never formed emotional boundaries, so much as a picket fence made of toothpicks. I’ve become a people-pleaser; learnt to say, “Yes” when instead I mean, “Whatever you want to hear. Now piss off!”.

The unbearable heartache of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

Content warning: suicide ideation. In this painfully raw and heartfelt blog, Autistic advocate, Chantell Marshall (aka Shy Little Pixie) gives a rare and illuminating account of what it is like to live with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and the revelation that has helped her quieten her self-sabotaging inner critic.

What makes Autistic women thrive in their career? Not quite fitting in.

In this guest blog by Autistic researcher, Annette Eriksen, she shares with us her experience growing up and entering the workforce, and tackles the greater question of what makes Autistic women, not just survive, but thrive in their career.

She writes of her hopes for her research to pave the way for more Autistic women to be able to work in a way that makes them, “thrive, contribute, and feel supported and able to be open about their Autism without fear of losing family, friends and work opportunities.”

Neuroinclusive Christmas Planner for Kids

Christmas is almost upon us, and if your Autistic child is anything like the RA team’s Autistic kiddos, they may be starting to get a bit anxious.

There is the looming knowledge of surprise gifts, strange foods, unsolicited hugs and kisses and – on top of this – a bearded old stranger promising to break into their house and leave a sack full of the unknown. It is little wonder they can struggle at this time!

So, in order to make this a really happy Christmas for everyone, our team have created a fun downloadable activity sheet for you to do with your child so, together, you can establish some certainties and give them a Christmas they can count on.

Dissociation in How Core Autism Features Relate to Interoceptive Dimensions: Evidence from Cardiac Awareness in Children – A Summary for Non-Academics

In this research, published in 2019, researchers set out to discover how Autism affects interoception. The study found that different Autistic profiles correlate and affect different domains of interoceptive processing. It also found that repetitive, stimming behaviours are self-soothing and help to regulate the autonomic nervous system, which in turn generates interoceptive signals.

Autistic Insights: Terra Vance on Relating Through Autistic Identity

In this webinar, presented by Terra Vance with support from Kate Jones of NeuroClastic, Terra explores the topic of relating to Autistic people through Autistic identity, and how to forge authentic relationships.

Living with Misophonia: “I love you, but I hate the noises you make”

Do you have an extreme reaction to certain sounds? If you’re misophonic, it is, in fact, a rational reaction to the fight-or-flight response that certain noises trigger in your brain. In this fascinating blog, late-diagnosed Autistic woman Suzanne Roman reveals what it’s like to live your life with this misunderstood and sometimes debilitating and isolating condition.