Autistic and Zoning Out when the Social Battery Runs Out…

Imagine you start a new job and they send a strict dress code, down to the colour of your socks and style of your shoe. They also send you a list of equipment which they say you must have every day. Some of it seems a bit strange - two green pens?- but off you go dutifully to

The right support opens up the world for people like Bethany. Staff who really understand the person they support and who do their utmost to fulfil dreams. Community Integrated Care have helped Beth fulfil a lifetime dream today.. A trip to Comic Con. They are awesome!!

Half terms, holidays, weekends.. Everyone was out and about. Photos of activities, healthy outdoors, seeing friends. But often this wasn’t ours at all. Instead we were on our own. Not doing stuff or seeing people. Now I know it’s what they needed.1/

There are those children who struggle with demands, who are overwhelmed easily, find school exhausting and need lots of reset or quiet time. So our ideas of what childhood looks like can seem different for our children. 1/

There is so much navigating of social situations with expectations of others and the misinterpretation on how they perceive our children. Sometimes they can be seen as rude. Sometimes they don’t speak when spoken to. Often they are misconstrued as stand offish. 1/

By peers, friends or family. We know it is more than that. That they are upset or overwhelmed. But others feel hurt too. So we often rush to make this right. For everyone to feel okay. Then they may shut us down. 2/

So instead we wait until way past the event when all are calm. And for those very sensitive to any pressure we may not even mention them. Instead we use examples of other people or ourselves to remove any demand or expectation. 3/

Giving them the chance to reflect and collaborate without feeling any load whatsoever. A time to feel heard and seen without judgment.

When I was much younger, before I had children, before I had a child who couldn’t go to school, I worked for a children’s charity. I got a call one day from Channel4. Can we comment on the first parent to be sent to jail for not sending her child to school? 🧵1/9

#Oliverscampaign WHY Oliver was administered psychotropic drugs following being admitted to Bristol Childrens hospital with focal seizures This is Oliver before he was chemically abused. His behaviour was NOT challenging. The 2nd video is what they did to him. Oculogyric Crisis

“Perception is not a passive process of receiving information; it is an active process of making sense of the world.” Merleau-Ponty

#Oliverscampaign ⚠️ The child death review in learning disabled children & autistic children has been published As a country we should be hanging our heads in shame These children are dehumanised treated less than Wes Streeting MP Karin Smyth Stephen Kinnock ncmd.info/publications/c…

An unpaid carer can’t just leave the house, go for a walk, pick up some shopping, go to the gym. An unpaid carer has to go through a carers assessment, has to justify the need to go for a walk, pick up shopping, go to the gym. 🧵

#Oliverscampaign This is who Oliver was, strong, kind, and brave. Prejudice, bias, diagnostic overshadowing, and laziness must not be tolerated any longer from health care professionals who are ignorant about #autism & or learning disabilities

A hard truth I am reminded of frequently 😅

I’ve just had 8 days of the worst depression and anxiety imaginable. Horrendous. Today it has finaly lifted. I wanted to share a thread to help people who suffer but also non sufferers to grasp what it is. This is what depression feels like for me... (1/12) 🧵

What happens when you see children's distressed behaviour as a sign that they need to be punished? Suspensions. Isolation. Detentions. More than ever before. And none of it makes any difference and in fact has the potential to make things worse. This generation of children

Another day, another parent receives a very serious letter in the post. Their child's school attendance level has triggered legal action under the Single Justice Procedure. The parent has to respond by telling the magistrate if they are guilty or not guilty. 1/