Mastodawn

There was a weird epilogue just now to the #LondonVirtualAutisticConference

Si (without his pigeon filter) and Ben (still a potato at first, but transmuting) appeared on-screen for a double act, making me jump!

Then Si became a giant eyeball 🙀

Way too much eye contact! 😬😂

Postscript: Andrew Carpenter closing the #LondonVirtualAutisticConference by quoting from a really powerful (and forward-thinking) speech given by Jim Sinclair in 1993 💜

(Jim was the first #ActuallyAutistic person to be invited to speak at an autism conference!)

Great end to the conference (and pleased to hear that @haringeycouncil and @NBNLondonRegion are planning another conference later in the year

#PDA (medically ‘pathological demand avoidance’) is better described as ‘pervasive desire for autonomy’) 😊

As a PDAer, I’ve found the discussion here really interesting

And good responses in the Q&A on #SituationalMutism

I do love the discussion about #SituationalMutism in Zoom calls, because I know exactly what it’s like to sometimes only be able to type words in the chat box, depending on group dynamics and how I feel at the time

Now at #LondonVirtualAutisticConference is a presentation on situational mutism and PDA, led by Chloe Farahar (Aucademy), joined by non-speaking or semi-speaking Si (with a pigeon filter), Ben (with a potato filter) and Libby

Graysen related their experience of seeking a referral for an autism diagnosis: their GP listened to their reasons for seeking a diagnosis, and then dismissed them at first, saying there’s no treatment for autism 😳

They want to complain but are afraid of taking up space – no one should be afraid of taking up space

Moving from self-ID to being ‘diagnosed’ professionally is something that both #trans people and #ActuallyAutistic people still have to do to gain access to various kinds of support