A is for Autism, but a capital A is even better
As someone who has taught English and written, both creatively and to earn a living, for almost 40 years, I have a vested interest in language and the way that it’s used. I can’t stand the haphazard use of perfect tenses in the US, which…
What is Autistic masking and why do we do it?
I used to think I knew myself well – but now I’m not so sure. That’s because, since my Autism diagnosis, I don’t always know where ‘Autistic Glenn’ and ‘masking Glenn’ begin and end. Reality itself is something I’m constantly questioning. And the more I…
My most popular post turned me off social media – again
TRIGGER WARNING: THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS SNIPPETS OF POSTS FROM TWITTER THAT CONTAIN LANGUAGE THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING OR DISTRESSING FOR SOME. A funny thing happened over the weekend: one of my tweets went ‘viral’. Viral for me anyway. At time of publishing this article,…
Autistic Pride Day: Not proud, not ashamed either
Sunday 18 June is my first Autistic Pride Day – that’s because it’s the first to occur since I was diagnosed Autistic at the end of 2022. Wikipedia tells me: Autistic Pride Day is a pride celebration for autistic people held on 18 June each year. Autistic pride recognises the importance of…
When it comes to life, I’ve never understood the algorithm
In episode five of season three of ‘Barry’, a fantastic dark comedy about a hitman who discovers the joy of acting while scoping out a target, Sally, Barry’s girlfriend, has her new streaming TV series cancelled 12 hours after its premiere because, “the algorithm felt…
Why my NDIS application was, ultimately, successful
Nobody thought my application to the NDIS would be successful. Not the psychiatrist who first saw me, nor the clinical psychologist who went through hours of diagnostic testing and Q&A sessions with me and, ultimately, gave me my Autism diagnosis. But the NDIS did approve…