Autistic Professor

Great advice for designers of offices, healthcare, aged care, and other public spaces - 'calm' looks different for autistic people.
[and, yes, that 'calm' space in the photo gives ME the heebie-jeebies]

Environmental Calm for the Autistic Nervous System The wellness aesthetic that calms most people often fails autistic adults. Sensory research reveals what autistic nervous systems actually need from a space, and why it differs.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neurodivergent-knowledge/202606/autistic-children-are-not-lab-rats

Autistic Children Are Not Lab Rats Personal Perspective: By relaxing standards and protocols, untested treatments may be given to autistic children with high support needs.

This is what happens when people in power make pronouncements without medical evidence.
Is there evidence that leucovorin is beneficial for autistic people? No.
Do medical experts recommend it for autistic people? No.
But non-medically trained people in power declare it so and…“Leucovorin use increased by 1348% among those aged 0 to 10 years (385 prescriptions/week before February 2025 to 5575/week after the FDA announcement) and by 470% among those aged 11 to 20 years”

Use of Leucovorin After the FDA Announcement of Its Use for Autism Spectrum Disorders BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. Leucovorin, or folinic acid (vitamin B9), is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce adverse effects from antifolate cancer treatments including methotrexate. In September 2025, the FDA announced that it would expand the label of leucovorin to include....

My flash fiction piece has just been published in Bright Flash Literary Review
I had fun writing this one, and a great experience with the submission process (thank you Kristen)

The Redhead By Sandra Thom-Jones David fidgeted with the stem of his empty wine glass and glanced anxiously at the front door of the restaurant. They had been dating for three months but he still wondered ever…

I feel so seen!

This is why I do the advocacy work I do: because a lifetime of masking, misunderstanding, exclusion and trauma has such big consequences for ageing autistic people

[note: I realise there is another discussion to be had about “people with autistic traits”]

Middle-aged and older adults with autistic traits face rising anxiety over time | King's College London A major UK study has found that while most middle-aged and older adults experience low levels of anxiety, a small group of people with higher autistic traits are much more likely to report that their anxiety worsens as they age.

What a fun day. Speaking on and at State Conference

The TLDR: Autistic parents (diagnosed or otherwise) are more likely to have autistic children
(An important study in that it discounts a harmful myth - although some of the terminology in the article is a bit off-putting)

Parental mental health — not medication — drives autism correlation, new study finds A new study finds no evidence that antidepressant medications cause autism.

As a knitter (who is never without my needles and has dozens of crates or yarn) and a doll collector (with over 2000 dolls), this really resonates. Although as I get older I am finding that my doll collecting, which was ‘normal’ for a young girl is seen by some as a little strange for an older woman - but my knitting, which was seen as ‘weird’ for a teenager is a very socially acceptable behaviour for an ageing woman

When Special Interests Look Typical: Understanding the Hidden Intensity in Autistic Girls How autistic girls’ intense interests can go unnoticed and why recognizing them matters for emotional wellbeing and accurate diagnosis.