It is time to close the mental health gap that autistic women experience Autistic people deserve good mental health just as much as their non-autistic peers. Jenn Layton Annable, an autistic woman and master’s student, explains why good quality co-produced research is needed to address this. Autistic people matter. Autistic women matter. There is, however,…
Author: pixie
My first authorship has been published!
The book that I contributed to (here is a link to the publication page), as my first authorship, was published last month. We received some really positive testimonials from experts across a number of fields on the blurb section on the back. ‘This must-read research-based text represents a step-change in our understanding of neurodiversity;…
If you think you’re beaten you are…
A rather fab poem that I return to from time to time when I am feeling deflated. I like the sentiment. It reminds me to keep going and enjoy the journey. “If you think you are beaten, you are If you think you dare not, you don’t, If you like to win, but you think…
Dissertation work and life progress
The last three months have been so fraught trying to work and study and parent during lock-down I have hardly had time to think, let alone write about what has been going on. The good news is that I have completed my literature review which has had some amazing feedback (including an offer for support…
Hope – a letter from my long past.
Hope Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune–without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I’ve heard it in the chillest…
Letters of Constraint
To whom it may concern, Autistic people struggle with many things that their neurotypical peers can not only cope well with but also enjoy and thrive in. These might include include busy spaces, socialising with friends, meeting new people, travelling or employment in a lively work place. For many autistic people these situations are our…
Creative people in my life – Catherine Booker
In 2019 I have made retreat several times, including in May when I attended a mindfulness weekend, which I blogged about previously. Although it was not as successful as I had hoped, one of the most positive things to come out was me meeting Catherine Booker, a beautiful and very talented woman who creates wonderful…
Autistic parenting an autistic child
Being an autistic parent, to someone who may also turn out to be an autistic little person can be really hard. Since M was a baby, I have picked up the subtleties of his way of being that whispered to me about him also being somewhere on the spectrum. When he was a baby he…
The memory of trees
This week I was walking and the trees spoke to me. They told me of their memories. These trees we plant, interspersed between our tarmaced roads, and brick boxes. That we cut and maim and kill as we desire. These trees remember and they weep. They remember the primordial forests, where they ruled the land…
I am Autistic
My name is Jenn and I am autistic. It could however just be that my name is autistic and I am Jenn. You see both these concepts are interchangeable in my head; existing the same space. They join my other identities as a mum, a fashion designer, a digital marketing professional, a business owner and…