Thank you kindly!

The preprint I've worked on with colleagues from ShaRL and UoM is out now.

"Exploring The Phenomenology of Autistic Attention".

Read about how autistic adults experience hidden costs managing their attention in neuronormative world and find sanctuary in engaging with their interests.

Autistic Burnout recovery isn’t a dramatic overnight transformation.

It’s quiet work.

Learning your limits.

Learning your rhythms.

Learning when to stop before collapse.

It’s not easy.

But it’s how autistic humans build lives that we don't have to escape from.

Megan Peneton Rest in Peace 2025 #MillionsMissing #mecfs #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #pwME

All I Want For Christmas is UCU YouTube video by Ucu Trade Union Account

Day 16 of our strike action! What better time to bring out this classic banger

The rain won't dampen our sprit today!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnZV...

No lockout for University of Sheffield staff UCU members have been standing up against the continual cutting and restructuring of the last several years which has significantly damaged the University’s international standing, the quality of educ...

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...

Beatrix talking a selfie indoors at the event, wearing large sunglasses, a cap with headphones over it, and a fluffy light-coloured jumper. Curly hair frames her face. The background shows warm lighting and the industrial ceiling of the venue.

A dimly lit event space with tables and chairs arranged café-style. A large projector screen at the front displays the Café Autistique logo and the text “Autism research discussed in a relaxed café atmosphere. The talks will begin shortly.” Overhead industrial ceiling fixtures are visible.

Alexandra Sturrock standing on a small stage in front of the same Café Autistique projector slide. She gestures while speaking. A laptop sits on a table beside her. The room is dark with spot lighting and scattered round tables in the foreground. “A community of academics, students, professionals, autistic people, family members, and other stakeholders.” It includes contact details: the website (autism.manchester.ac.uk), email (autism@manchester.ac.uk), and social media handles (@AutismAtMCR, @AutismManchester). A laptop is on a table beside her, with black chairs and round tables in the dim room.

Café Autistique 3 December 2025 💜 ♾️

Autism research in a sensory friendly neuro-affirming space. We learned about the experiences of trans and non-binary autistic people as well as teachers supporting the mental health of autistic students. Thank you Autism At Manchester

The WEIRDEST Theory of Autism You've Probably Never Heard of... YouTube video by I'm Autistic, Now What?

youtube.com/watch?v=5cIa...
Monotropism, Monotropic Split, Meerkat Mode, Monotropic Spiral and how it relates to Autistic Burnout, all explained casually by the lovely Meg.

Reyt Wild & Free OT

Reyt Wild and Free Occupational Therapy is a wellness consultancy based in Sheffield and the surrounding areas. They specialise in supporting children with complex needs, their families, and their schools.

Alt text: Two African grey parrots sit in adjacent metal cages. One has a pile of metal rings, the other has a single walnut. Between them is a small hole in the divider. The image illustrates a study where parrots passed rings through the hole so their partners could trade them for treats. Post text: Scientists taught African grey parrots to swap metal rings for treats. Then they paired birds so one had ten rings and the other had none. The ring-rich parrots started passing rings through a hole so partners could “buy” walnuts — even with no reward for themselves.

Brucks, D., Krasheninnikova, A., von Bayern, A. M. P., & Bugnyar, T. (2020). Parrots voluntarily help each other to obtain food rewards. Current Biology, 30(2), 292–297.e5. doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

Screenshot of a tweet from user @_grimm (@ExileGrimm). It reads: “What’s the dumbest beliefs you had as a child? When I was 4–5 I swore that bird seeds grew birds, thus the name. When my parents asked me to prove it to them, I planted a pile of bird seeds. The next day there were loads of birds where I planted the seeds, showing I was right.”

This adorable story shows how an experiment can seem to work but measure the wrong thing! A child tested if bird seeds grow birds, and birds appeared, confirming the idea. But the seeds *attracted* birds. In science that’s a threat to construct validity, and it happens to the best of scientists!

Discovery Programme Resources Gentle, neuroaffirming resources created by and for Autistic adults.

@thrivingautistic.bsky.social has a new resource signposting page about:
Masking, Emotional Regulation & Self-Care, Internalised Ableism, Sensory, Self-Advocacy, Intersectionality, Imposter Syndrome, Disclosure, Monotropism, Relationships, Burnout & more!
www.thrivingautistic.org/discovery-pr...

A rectangular infographic titled “Challenges, Strengths, and Joys of Autistic Parents: An Abductive Qualitative Content Analysis of Parent Interviews” by Thom-Jones, Brownlow, and Abel (2025). The background is a muted green with a white rounded rectangle in the center containing text. The infographic highlights that major challenges for Autistic parents are external, including lack of access to appropriate supports, inappropriate supports, and discrimination from professionals and service providers. It notes feelings of not being good enough or failing as a parent. It also states that some participants reported joy in parenting and strengths such as egalitarian parenting, open and honest communication, and insight and understanding. The bottom includes a formal citation and a small circular Autistic Realms logo with the words “Neurodiversity Affirming.

More new research!

Challenges, Strengths, and Joys of Autistic Parents: An abductive qualitative content analysis of parent interviews. Thom-Jones, S., Brownlow, C., & Abel, S. (2025).https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581251385735

Viv Dawes and Helen Edgar YouTube video by Autistic Burnout Network

Free training from @vivdawes.bsky.social and myself: Supporting Autistic Children and Young People through Burnout.
Shared via Autistic Burnout Network - lots more resources available!
autisticburnoutnetwork.com

youtu.be/LzBaTGZos8s?...

Pink smiling unicorn t-shirt with real sunglasses hanging as if under its eyes, curly purple hair strands and a multi colour polka dot scarf. The unicorn is my embodied metaphor for Monotropism, the horn (attention tunnel) coming out of the prefrontal cortex and converving into a singular point of focus, which often feels ike magic.

Beauty is in the eye of the monotropic unicorn. #monotropism

Hummingbird Hawk Moth in my garden this morning!

Can everyone take more paracetamol please? It would really help my headaches.

/Joke

Just to flag another thing from my recent experience at the GP... topimarate, an epilepsy drug, is absolutely tagged by the NHS as causing autism and it is legally mandated to take a pregnancy test before starting it. But the stats are 4-9 out of 100 pregnant people + epilepsy is a co-occurant...

Autism isn’t caused by medicine.
Claims that paracetamol in pregnancy causes autism are false.
We do not need to prevent or cure autism.
Autistic people are valuable.

Great guidance here from @contactfamilies.bsky.social for anyone who is worried or concerned with the news today.

#TheMostInterestingThinginMentalHealth: #Insomnia is major factor contributing to many mental health problems. @ProfEspie University of Oxford
@ox.ac.uk gives top tips for clinicians at the European CBT Conference
#EABCT2025 @babcpevents.bsky.social
@babcpjournals.bsky.social @babcp.com

Discovering You're Autistic YouTube video by Thriving Autistic

youtube.com/watch?v=-eDv...
This made me cry tears of joy. So beautiful.

Most beautiful video about this topic I've seen

Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic YouTube video by Thriving Autistic

Hurrah!
We can finally share the animations I have been working on with @thrivingautistic.bsky.social

Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic

Please do let us know what you think and share if you find valuable!

youtu.be/3O6hy-usIug?...

Thank you, yay. I am sick and couldn't attend yesterday. Glad I can still watch this!

Copper-coloured leaves with lots of little raindrops on them.

#glimmer I love these little raindrops.

So very happy to be part of the @stimpunks.org team working on this!
Updated page - have a look... exciting things happening and thoughts evolving...

Dish rack where a big white tray with colourful bird prints is sitting

#glimmer my work kitchen has a beautiful bird tray and I'm so happy

The Autistic Poetry of Emily Dickinson YouTube video by Meeka le Fay

youtube.com/watch?v=mldC...
Very interesting. In school the girls were asked to stand up if they were Christian. Emily didn't. She said, "They thought it queer I didn't rise, I thought a lie would be queerer."

Hope you can join us!
FREE tickets!
A great opportunity to watch the 2 new animations about being Autistic that I've been working on with @iara-abigalil.bsky.social, @fergus.oolong.co.uk , @scrappapertiger.bsky.social , @jessicakdoyle.bsky.social, Laura Buckland Mason & @somebodysomeone.bsky.social