Don’t be nAUghty!
Autism awareness is only a start. Why acceptance matters more, how allyship goes wrong, and what genuinely supporting autistic people looks like.
Category: For Schools
Learning about autism?
Learning about autism can feel overwhelming. There is so much information out there, from books and websites to courses, social media accounts, therapies and training programmes. The difficult part is working out what is actually useful and, importantly, what respects Autistic people. Not all autism information comes from the same perspective. Some resources still focus […]
Why Autism Conversations Need Autistic Voices
Autism has been studied, discussed and “understood” by professionals for decades, yet a lot of what gets taught in schools, clinics and workplaces still traces back to ideas from the 1950s and 60s: that autism is a deficit to be corrected, that eye contact and compliance are the goals, and that the people best placed […]
Understanding Autism: What is it?
What is autism, really? What’s the difference between understanding autism and understanding Autistic people?
Supporting Autistic Students at School: A Guide for SNAs and Teachers
Special Needs Assistants and classroom teachers spend more one-to-one time with autistic students than almost anyone else in a child’s day. That makes the approach they take enormously important, far more important than any single lesson plan or behaviour chart. A neuro-affirming approach starts from a simple idea: autistic students are not broken versions of […]
What does anxiety look like? Understanding the Expressions of Anxiety
Anxiety is a complex emotion that can manifest in various ways. It goes beyond the traditional understanding of simply feeling worried or stressed. For Autistics anxiety can take on different expressions, influencing our actions, thoughts, and interactions. By exploring the different expressions of anxiety, such as flight, fight, freeze, fake, and fawn, we can gain […]
Why we are PROUD to be Autistic
Autistic pride is not denial of difficulty. It is a refusal to be ashamed. On strengths, community, and celebrating who you are while still asking for support.
Unmasking Autistic Experiences: Understanding Masking, Fortressing, and the Longing for Authenticity
Masking, also known as fortressing, is a coping mechanism that many people, especially Autistic people, employ to deal with social interactions and life in general. It involves creating a facade or adopting social personas to blend in and protect ourselves from potential harm or rejection. For Autistic people, masking goes beyond surface-level adaptations. It often […]
Analysing the behaviour of behaviour analysts
instead of focusing on the harms that it does and listening to the community it is harming it makes up scripts like “it’s not old ABA, it’s new”, “it’s not new ABA, it’s neuro-affirming”,
Problems with PBS- positive behaviour support
PBS – positive behaviour support sounds so nice doesn’t it? it’s all so positively positive what with that word positive right there for us. How could it be problematic? Here we’ll outline just some of the ways in which PBS (positive bahaviour support) is harmful and not neuro-affrming to say the very least. It’s so nice […]