I occasionally write elsewhere and also sometimes pop up to ramble about autism in unexpected places. I thought I should start keeping track of all that, and might as well do so here!
Are You Autistic?
The Channel 4 documentary aired on 28th March 2018 and doesn’t seem to be available online anymore, but some of the promo we did is below! You can also find Sam and I on Facebook here – and if you’re organising something you’d like us to be involved in, contact info is on the About page!
- BBC Breakfast (28/03/18) – Ahead of the documentary’s broadcast, Sam Ahern, Jo Hoskin and I discuss what autism means for us.
- Are you autistic? How a ‘lost generation’ of women on the spectrum went under the radar (27/03/18, The Telegraph, £) – Interview with Sam Ahern and I about the themes of the documentary and how being autistic has influenced our own lives.
- Why we’re proud of “Are You Autistic?” from Sam, Georgia and Jack in our Youth Council (27/03/18, Ambitious about Autism) – A blog we put together as the programme gained publicity…
- Interviews with Sam and Georgia for Are You Autistic? (26/03/18, Channel 4) – The full press release interview!
- Former Corby pupil to star in Channel 4 documentary (21/03/18, Northants Telegraph) – Local coverage of the upcoming documentary.
- Former student to feature in new Channel 4 documentary on autism (20/03/19, Lodge Park Academy) – As above!
- Ambitious about Autism’s youth council speak out for young people with autism in new Channel 4 documentary (17/03/18, Ambitious about Autism) – The Ambitious press release.
- Are You Autistic? press release (16/03/18, Channel 4) – The initial announcement of the documentary.
Other media
TV
- Channel 5 News (18/03/20) – A Skype interview in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic on the impact on mental health in autistic people.
- Channel 5 News (17/04/19) – I talk about Ambitious about Autism’s Include Autism toolkit for youth groups alongside Kieran Nicholl and Alison Worsley.
- Channel 5 News (20/11/18) – Following Anne Hegerty’s open discussion of being autistic in the I’m A Celebrity… jungle, Sam Ahern and I talk about the importance of visible autistic women!
Podcasts and radio
- Extraordinary Brains, Episode 3 (16/05/21) – I spoke to Max and Tess Davie about growing up neurodivergent, keeping events accessible after lockdown, and the possible negative side-effects of turning off the sun. But mostly the neurodiversity thing.
- Galactic Yo-Yo, Episode Ninety Six (20/02/20) – Molly Marsh (who got this finished and out the same night we recorded!) and I discuss The Haunting of Villa Diodati, the then-new episode of Doctor Who. Featuring ghosts, Cybermen, RuthDoc, toilets and the Tsuranga extended universe…
- Galactic Yo-Yo, Episode Sixty Six (11/02/19) – Having suddenly ended up on a podcast about unpopular Doctor Who opinions, I ramble about what I love in the Series 6 two-parter The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People for the best part of an hour.
- 1800 Seconds on Autism – What are you ‘obsessed’ with? (04/12/18, BBC) – I got to enthuse about Doctor Who and the London Underground for this autistic-led podcast. Featuring a surprise for any other Every Tube Station Song fans…
- Reasons to be Cheerful – Valuing Neurodiversity: how society needs to change (03/12/18) – In this podcast I discussed neurodiversity and how to build a more accepting society with Ed Miliband, Geoff Lloyd and Penny Andrews, and it was very surreal.
- The World Tonight (29/5/18, BBC Radio 4) – Playing the role of “autistic visitor” in a report on the Museum of London’s efforts to be more accessible.
Online video
- Autism Spectrum Condition in Children (31/03/20, Nip in the Bud)) – A broad look at recognising and supporting autistic children, in which I ramble about growing up and finding my place as an autistic person.
- AsIAm Conference 2019 – Building Partnerships in Campaigning (21/09/19) – Sam and I talk about the various partnerships that run through our autism work from 6:04:35, but the whole livestream is really worth a watch!
- Ambitious about Autism – Youth Participation (05/12/18) – Video showcasing the Youth Council, and in particular the We Need An Education campaign.
- myVoice Facebook Live interview with Brook (19/01/17, Ambitious about Autism) – I presented the first ever myVoice Facebook Live event, interviewing an expert from sex and relationships charity Brook with questions from autistic young people.
Articles
- Island living in a pandemic (21/05/20, Ambitious about Autism) – Various young autistic people discuss how Animal Crossing: New Horizons has helped us cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
- “Society is only just starting to recognise that autistic women exist” (02/04/19, NADJA) – Interview for World Autism Awareness Day, focusing on under-diagnosis of women.
- Women Beyond The Box feature (26/03/19) – I was interviewed as part of a project aiming to profile 50 neurodivergent women, particularly in the workplace.
- Social media is the perfect communication tool for autistic people (28/5/18, Metro) – Violet Fenn asked many other autistic people about how social media helps us make friends and communicate with others effectively.
Blogs and articles elsewhere
Autism
- Autism and relationships – a little bit of mythbusting (18/09/19, My Family Our Needs) – For Sexual Health Week, I wrote about the damaging myth that autistic people don’t have relationships, and how to make sex and relationships education more accessible to autistic people.
- Social skills: How to understand and support autistic students (25/03/19, Special Needs Jungle) – On the “they get good grades, they can’t need support” attitudes facing many autistic students, and the rejection, bullying and meltdowns that often follow.
- A Routine Christmas (17/12/17, Ambitious about Autism) – I talk about Christmas routines as part of 25 Days of Autism.
- Not One Size: Parliamentary debate on mental health and suicide in the autism community (12/12/17, Ambitious about Autism) – A write-up of the House of Commons debate on 30th November 2017 and the surrounding campaign by Autistica (a little while before I joined the team myself!)
- Using the London Underground (17/10/17, Ambitious about Autism) – a nine-page guide to preparing for your first Tube journey, which I had far too much fun compiling!
- A Response to Great Yarmouth Charter Academy (12/09/17, Ambitious about Autism) – Exploring the ableism within a controversial academy rules document that was doing the rounds on social media.
- The Sky’s The Limit? Weather, Meltdowns and Shutdowns (28/06/17, Ambitious about Autism) – My first attempt at nailing down The Heat Thing…
- Everyone’s “normal” is different: Autism is not a binary (11/04/17, Ambitious about Autism) – Alongside the launch of the Know Your Normal campaign, an attempt to counter the “not just quirky” narrative of those who view autism through functioning-label stereotypes.
- Autism and Consent: It’s Time for a Rethink (29/03/17, Disabled Survivors Unite) – For World Autism Awareness Week, I explored the barriers faced by autistic survivors and the use of autism as a scapegoat by perpetrators.
- Keeping autistic girls safe online – the benefits of the internet, and the importance of consent (14/02/17, Ambitious about Autism, 14/02/17) – Adapted from my part in an Ambitious about Autism presentation at the NAS Women and Girls Conference 2016.
- 10 Misconceptions About Autism That Seriously Need To Be Cleared Up (06/05/16, Ambitious about Autism) – My best Buzzfeed impression…
- myVoice Networking and Evaluation Day (30/10/15, Ambitious about Autism) – A write-up of my first ever myVoice meeting!
- Studying abroad on the autistic spectrum? It’s a real challenge, but it’s worth it (14/09/15, Ambitious about Autism) – My first ever blog for Ambitious about Autism/myVoice, on the ups and downs of my then-recent year in Paris.
Doctor Who
Most of these are for the Oxford Doctor Who Society fanzine The Tides of Time – here’s a full list of all their online issues.
- There’s Some-Pting About Tsuranga (May 2020, Tides of Time double issue 45 & 46) – As part of a wider special section on our favourite bits of Doctor Who intended to lift spirits in lockdown, I outline everything I love about The Tsuranga Conundrum.
- Never The Bride (December 2019, online January 2020, Tides of Time issue 44) – Filip Wieland and I review Doctor Who: The Runaway, the show’s first foray into VR – and my own first foray into VR!
- 28: Invaders from Mars (Review) and 28: Invaders from Mars (Discussion) (July 2019, Big Who Listen) – The Big Who Listen team are working their way through Big Finish from the start, and I joined them to review this 2002 Eighth Doctor adventure!
- “If I was still a bloke, I could just get on with the job and not have to waste time defending myself” (April 2019, online June 2019, Tides of Time issue 43) – An exploration of some of the responses to Series 11 which is hopefully just the right amount of angry!
- “I’ve lost track of what’s actually happening” (April 2019, Tides of Time issue 43) – From the full issue, in which I liveblog every episode of Series 11 for a Facebook group and summarise the responses.
- “You all right, Hun?” (April 2019, Tides of Time issue 43) – A review of the then-new Thirteenth Doctor novel Combat Magicks.
- “Tonight I should liveblog…” (November 2018, online February 2019, Tides of Time issue 42) – Looking back on a summer spent revisiting twenty-first century Doctor Who for a discerning audience.
- At Last, the Universe is Calling (November 2018, online September 2019, Tides of Time issue 42) – In the full issue, I look ahead from September 2018 to the very exciting promise of the Thirteenth Doctor…
- Jodie Whittaker is the Doctor and the World is a Wonderful Place (June 2018, Tides of Time issue 41) – I gush about the emerging era of the Thirteenth Doctor, again.
- “Your petty human obsession”(Michaelmas 2017, Tides of Time issue 40) – My first Tides article, in which I get very excited about the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor.
Know Your Normal
Back in 2017, I was involved in this autistic-led campaign to improve recognition and services for autistic people’s mental health, and enough of the material is online that it gets its own section on this thing:
- Autism research project and toolkit wins public engagement award (08/06/18, UCL) – Know Your Normal won a UCL Provost’s Public Engagement Award!
- Mental health in young autistic people (01/05/18, Network Autism) – A summary of Know Your Normal and the wider context of research around mental health in autistic people.
- On SAGE Insight: Mental health experiences of young autistic adults (20/02/18, SAGE Insight) – A short summary of the academic paper from the publishers.
- ‘Something needs to change’: Mental health experiences of young autistic adults in England (07/02/18, Autism) – The final academic paper!
- UCL Provost’s Awards Spotlight: Collaborative research on the wellbeing of young people with autism (14/09/17, UCL) – A summary of the project on the UCL website.
- Researching in Partnership (08/09/17, Ambitious about Autism) – Jack Welch interviews the other Youth Patrons and CRAE academics involved in the Know Your Normal research.
- Know Your Normal presentation for CRAE (29/06/17) – Video of Jack Welch and I presenting our research findings at CRAE.
- Know Your Normal interview with CRAE (29/06/17) – Video interview of Dr Laura Crane and Professor Liz Pellicano, the academics involved in the project, by Jack Welch and I.
- Mental health services are failing young autistic people (26/06/17, The Conversation) – Professor Liz Pellicano and Dr Laura Crane write about our research findings and the implications for mental health services.
- Full Know Your Normal research report (26/09/17, Ambitious about Autism/CRAE)
- Summary Know Your Normal report (26/09/17, Ambitious about Autism/CRAE)
- Know Your Normal research: four out of five young people with autism experience mental health issues (26/09/17, Ambitious about Autism) – Ambitious about Autism’s press release alongside the report publication
- Presenting our research at the Know Your Normal launch event (29/03/17) – Fern Adams and I present the project’s initial findings for the first time alongside the launch of the toolkit and social media campaign.
Mind the Flap 