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…
Air and light and time and space: how successful academics write (a book review)
Given I am about to begin writing my dissertation the process of ‘how’ to write, as in, finding the time, space, company, motivation and craft to write are of interest to me. Writing has always been an agonising, if increasingly more rewarding process, as I find my own style and confidence in the feedback that…
Social change, and how it is like making sand.
This week, alongside several other people, I am about to embark and what will probably turn into a lengthy and complex complaint regarding my treatment within the NHS. This is sadly the third time I have had to undertake such a journey. The previous two related to both my experience as an inpatient and also…
My United Kingdom travels
In amongst all the Brexit anxiety and heightened awareness of the climate damage that air travel causes I have tried to spend more time exploring the United Kingdom this summer, rather than relying on the old fall back of a cheap package holiday. Time away this summer break has been particularly important. Last summer, most…
Support spaces in Derby
There are umpteen different local and national phone lines available for people who are experiencing distress or looking for someone to talk to, but having been in this situation myself these can often feel lacking. I have recently become aware of several community based projects specifically designed to support the citizens of Derby face-to-face, at…
Derby’s food heroes
Having lived in Derby, albeit in two houses now for nearly seven years, I am reaching the watershed where it will overtake, in the next eighteen months, the places I have previously spent the longest in my life. I have had a rather nomadic existence up until now but overall I like Derby. It has…
The ethics of ethics
So I have to make my position very clear here. I am in no way denying the need for an independent ethics approval process, within either the academy or the NHS. The need to ensure absolute protection for vulnerable groups and individuals is paramount. Ethics reviews also ensure research methodologies and rationale are robust. As…
DLINKS library logo
Derbyshire is a large county with a diverse spread of population and geography. Much of this is covered by the Derbyshire Community Foundation Trust, whose staff can struggle to reach a medical library in the course of their work, given commuting time. Collaborating to solve this problem, the three library services across the different trusts…