Kissing the air at Aunty’s: On being an Autistic migrant woman

With society’s understanding of Autism so focussed on white, middle class Autistic boys, many Autistic people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds miss out on getting formal identification and access to services.

In this illuminating blog, Autistic advocate and migrant, Helen Said, shares the challenges of her upbringing as an undiagnosed Autistic, migrant girl and how she is working to instigate change for CALD Autistic adults.

Does Learning You Are Autistic at a Younger Age Lead to Better Adult Outcomes? A Summary for Non-Academics

Does learning you’re Autistic at a younger age lead to increased wellbeing and quality of life? That is the question researchers sought to answer when they embarked on this study. They asked 78 university students how they learned they were Autistic, how they felt about Autism when first learning they are Autistic and now, and when they would tell Autistic children about their Autism. Read this research summary here to find out the results.

Introduction to Autism, Part 4: The Autism spectrum is not linear

Very often we think of the Autism spectrum as a two-dimensional straight line. In this piece, Dr Melanie Heyworth discusses the flawed notion of a linear spectrum and puts forward an alternative analogy to capture the complexity, the fluidity of the Autism spectrum.

Introduction to Autism, Part 2: Next steps after a childhood diagnosis

The early days following an Autism diagnosis can be a bewildering time. Read Dr Melanie Heyworth’s top five tips for parents of newly diagnosed Autistic children, to help you on your journey.

A plea to diagnosticians

Dear Diagnosing Professional,

See those parents sitting in front of you? Yes, the ones with the shadow behind their eyes, the furrow on their brows, the ones whose worry is a palpable aura surrounding them as their eyes dart between you and their child, sitting on the floor at their feet. See that father who sits with his arms crossed, leaning away from you as if to escape what you’re about to say? See that mother who is eyeing you with a mixture of hope and fear?