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.

Please don’t ask me to be brave

In this powerful piece by one of the Reframing Autism team, she takes us behind one of her particularly damaging masks – the one called “courage”. “This mask is a warrior. It rushes headlong into battle without fear, or even better, despite fear … it lives by the mantra “act first, think later”. It is arrogant. It makes me say “yes” when inside I am screaming “no”. It says to my children “Be brave – like me!”

Autistic Adolescent Boys’ Perspectives on Engagement in Online Video Gaming, A summary for Non-Academics

In this research, published in 2022, researchers interviewed 12 autistic adolescent boys (aged between 13-15 years old) to ask them about their perspectives on online gaming.

The study is the first to explore in-depth the positive views of Autistic adolescents on online gaming.

How to respond empathetically to a meltdown

Our simple, effective and Autistically informed Meltdown Response Plan will have you responding compassionately during your loved one’s meltdown, rather than adding to their overwhelm.

Emotional regulation, part two: Using co-regulation to teach emotional regulation

In part two of our series on emotional regulation, Reframing Autism founder and CEO Dr Melanie Heyworth explores how we can use co-regulation to teach our children the skill of emotional self-regulation. Specifically, she focuses on how we can cultivate our children’s self-regulation by demonstrating and modelling our own self-regulation through consistent calm connection and compassion.

Emotional regulation, part one: What is it and why is it so hard?

In this piece – the first in a two-part series – Reframing Autism founder and CEO, Dr Melanie Heyworth, examines emotional regulation: what it is, what we mean when we ask our children to regulate their emotions, and why it is so very difficult to learn to do so.