Open Society

RFK Jr. went full "useless eaters" on autistics—& Profound Autism parents are thrilled. Here's why "profound autism" is harmful, not helpful.

England sadly now has third-highest figure of any nation within the TIMSS study saying they do not like school

From ‘wellness farms’ to expanded involuntary commitment policies, the US is embracing psychiatric incarceration under the guise of compassion

Background Despite receiving autism diagnoses in early life, autistic children are not routinely supported to understand these diagnoses post-diagnostically ([1][1]). Consequently, they typically grow-up lacking an accurate understanding of what it means to be autistic on both a collective and individual level ([2][2]). Without this foundational knowledge, children’s understanding of autism is garnered from how others perceive their autism, resulting in an understanding of autism, and of themselves, that is inherently negative ([3][3]). This lack of appreciation of their own individual needs, also denies them the important self-understanding afforded by the diagnosis in the first instance, alongside the opportunity to effectively self-advocate for themselves when these needs go unmet. Aims Here we sought to directly assess the benefit of a pre-recorded, online autistic-led psychoeducation course about autism and the lived experience of being autistic (i.e., ‘NeuroBears’ ), for children’s understanding of autism and their autistic experiences, their feeling about being autistic, their communication with others about their autistic experiences, and their confidence to self-advocate for their needs. Methods Using a concurrent embedded mixed-methods, repeated-measures design, autistic children (aged 8-14 years), completed a bespoke questionnaire exploring the above topics, both before and after completing NeuroBears at home with a nominated safe adult. A total of 63 children (mean age=10.57 years) completed sufficient content to be included in the analysis. Results Significant benefit was observed across a range of areas, including a significant improvement in the children’s knowledge and understanding of being autistic and of their unique strengths and challenges, a significant rebalancing of how the children viewed being autistic, evidence of emerging positive autistic identities and a growing sense of belongingness, a significant change in the children’s abilities to communicate about being autistic, and evidence of strengthening self-advocacy skills. Conclusion Learning about autism in a neutral and non-stigmatizing manner, and presented through the lens of autistic lived experience, conferred numerous benefits on autistic children’s self-understanding, emergent autistic identity, sense of belonging, and on their communication/self-advocacy skills. Future work is needed to establish the downstream benefits on wellbeing and quality of life. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The Faculty of Medical Sciences Research Ethics Committee of Newcastle University's Research Ethics Committee gave ethical approval for this work I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

You may know that ABA is a questionable therapy. But since not every parent can avoid ABA, what can those parents do to protect their kids?

Interpretations of the goals and meaning of the neurodiversity movement (NDM) have varied within scholarly, advocacy, and general public communities, as it has ...

This study explored the caregiving and attachment relationships of parents of autistic children, analysing 16 Parent Development Interviews conducted as part of...

830 likes, 45 comments - autistic.thought on February 16, 2023: "Because I think more in pictures and concepts, its hard to clearly articulate my feelings. But I feel. Deeply. Often. Its like putting an emotional label on it is diminishing the experience. Its part of why I'd say I have hyper empathy. I might not understand cognitive empathy as well, but I feel someone else's feelings in my own body. What if none of that difference is a problem? I dont think we have to be able to translate our experiences into words in order to address them. While I'm thankful for the time I've spent learning to name my emotions and communicate my experience to others (its a great skill set to sharpen), I think there are ways to approach emotional regulation without having to translate my experiences into a more neurotypical format. #autismacceptance #audhd #autisticwomen #autisticmasking #adhd #neurodivergent #neurodiversityacceptance #autisticjoy #onthespectrum #latediagnosedautistic #autismcommunity #autisticadults #latediagnosisadhd #aspergers #actuallyautistic #explore #explorepage #fyp #mentalhealth #alexithymia #bpd #anxiety #emotionaldysregulation #shutdown #meltdown".

Our collective understanding and perceptions of autism—or more importantly, autistic people—continue to evolve for the better and truer. The visual symbols that represent autism have morphed in tandem.

The best way to get autistic minds is in terms of a thinking style which concentrates resources, rather than distributing them widely. Here’s what that means.

An extract from The Neurodiversity Affirmative Child Autism Assessment Handbook by Dr Maeve Kavanagh, Dr Anna Day, Davida Hartman, Tara O'Donnell-Killen and Jessica K Doyle.

Research showed parents of children who struggle with attending school regularly feel the effects of school distress across all aspects of their lives, rating i

The author identifies as a radical researcher feeling out of place in academia, criticizing its foundations in oppressive systems like white supremacy and patriarchy. They question whether reform i…

From anxious children unable to cope with school to those with more complex, profound disabilities, support for Send children in England is broken. The Guardian meets parents and children to get a sense of the scale of the issue

New research shows that social behaviors often misunderstood by interviewers can overshadow qualifications, leading to unfair hiring decisions.

© Ombre Tarragnat 2024 With the concept and framework of ethodiversity, I am trying to contribute to a more-than-human and more-than-neurological turn in neurodiversity studies.

For someone who's been talking about it for so long, the HHS secretary got many basic facts wrong.

His lies endanger neurodivergent people — and everyone else.

While unfortunately some organizations are still making decisions about on-site office work that are based on old management principles and as a distraction, many are trying to evolve for a better …