Blogs by Charlie

  • World Mental Health Day

    My reflections for World Mental Health Day by Charlie Hart (Ausome Charlie) “It’s OK not to be OK”, so the well-meaning slogan goes. That slogan bugs my daughter Z, who suffers from moderate depression and severe anxiety. She cannot access treatment through CAMHS (apparently, she does not exhibit anxiety over and above what can be Read more

  • Straight passing relationships and LGBTQIA Pride

    Straight passing relationships and LGBTQIA Pride: “A relationship is referred to as being ‘straight passing’ when even though one or more people in it are queer, their romantic and sexual identities are often perceived by others to be heteroromantic and heterosexual. This can occur, for example, when a cis, bi man is dating a cis, Read more

  • Finishing my CIPD Diploma in HRM

    Conscious I have not been around much recently here, I thought it’s time for an update. At New Year of 2021, I somewhat foolishly decided that I have lots of free time due to working from home, so I resolved to update my professional qualifications (as HR has evolved in 20 years). 15 months of Read more

  • My hopes for an autism inclusive future

    Autism is a common neurotype. Forget all those misleading stats – the majority go undiagnosed. I wasn’t diagnosed until my early forties, after struggling for decades. Many families with one diagnosed autistic have many more who unwittingly camouflage and fly under the radar. Yes, autism runs in the family. Don’t assume you’re neurotypical. Society must Read more

  • Autistic burnout

    #AutismAcceptanceWeek Autistic burnout: Before my autism diagnosis, I didn’t understand why I kept getting depressed. I did notice a link between juggling conflicting priorities e.g. a pressurised project at work at the same time as problems at home (e.g. my eldest was a frequently unwell baby), or two big work projects at the same time. Read more

  • Growing into my weirdness

    Weird Pride Day 2022 When I was growing up, I was never average, standard, typical… and that should have been fine. But I was bothered at school by the cruel taunts of bullies, who mocked me, calling me “square”. I strived to prove them wrong, that I was not a “square”, getting myself into trouble. Read more