This is about livid experience of autism. Lived experience, but the things we’re really angry about. People who preach “be kind”, then bully or mock people for being weird and different. People who think we’re shifty and dishonest due to eye contact differences, whether not holding eye contact because it’s uncomfortable, or holding it tooContinue reading “Livid experience of autism”
Category Archives: Autism
Another autistic blurt and more rumination
My last anecdote made quite an impact, and I’ve been asked for more. Here’s another classic “blurt” 🤦‍♀️ The CEO in a previous job used to like to take a group of employees out for tea and cake at a fancy restaurant (Harvey Nicols) when they reached ten years of service. When it was myContinue reading “Another autistic blurt and more rumination”
Autistic social gaffe
Social gaffes that haunt you, this one’s a corker. When I was 22 and 23, I had a fixed term contract job in HR for an organisation going through downsizing with a “voluntary redundancy” scheme. Many of my colleagues were at risk of redundancy, and some had been there many years and were sensitive aboutContinue reading “Autistic social gaffe”
My lived experience as a late-diagnosed autistic
Here is another extract from my talk for #NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek 2023, this one about my lived experience as a late-diagnosed #autistic woman. I was a loner and tomboy at school. Oh, I doodled a lot in lessons, and daydreamed, and often gazed out of the window. I had very intense interests, so there were some thingsContinue reading “My lived experience as a late-diagnosed autistic”
My autism diagnosis story
My autism diagnosis – how and why, and where did this lead me? I am often asked how and why I was diagnosed autistic, what is even the point later in life. Well, I was diagnosed aged 42 after struggling for decades, and not knowing why. In 2018, I took my eldest child Iggy, whoContinue reading “My autism diagnosis story”
Weird Pride Day 2023
Have you ever been told you’re weird? Do you identify as weird? You are invited to the third annual Weird Pride Day! Date: 4 March 2023Venue: International social media This is a day for people to embrace their weirdness, and reject the stigma associated with being weird, to publicly express pride in the things thatContinue reading “Weird Pride Day 2023”
Background on me
Having made it into Theo Smith’s list of Top 80 UK Neurodiversity Evangelists to follow, here is some background for my new followers. In 2018, I took my eldest child, who was 14 at the time, to see a psychiatrist about his extreme anxiety attacks. She listened and observed, then concluded that what he wasContinue reading “Background on me”
Leaders who dominate conversations
When a diverse group of individuals have a meeting, and a senior person (not openly autistic) dominates the conversation, clueless about how and why to be inclusive to introverts, who may have their own interesting backgrounds, ideas, stories to tell, but can only react politely. Don’t preach diversity and inclusion if that’s the best youContinue reading “Leaders who dominate conversations”
Neurodiversity and mental health conditions
An interesting debate from a LinkedIn group I’m in. Apparently there’s a TikTok trend from people with Cluster B personality disorders to identify as neurodivergent. Some people in the recognised neurodivergent community, with lifelong neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, are not sure how to feel about it. Here’s my personal view. Caveat –Continue reading “Neurodiversity and mental health conditions”
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 beContinue reading “World Mental Health Day”
Ausome Charlie 