A letter to my leading lady on autism awareness day 2023

Yiayia mou (grandmother), it’s been a hard year. It’s autism awareness month and your absence is punching us in the face. Your best friend is thriving though – I think he’s almost as strong as you. You aren’t here to get his tea cup prepared with honey and a boiled kettle for when he arrives

Let’s talk about the family Madrigal..

Our Google Nest knows my favourite playlist at the moment is Disney’s Encanto soundtrack. If you haven’t had the pleasure yet, consider this my recommendation. I pressed play on Encanto having read one sentence about the film – that it had a character with autism in the cast. Knowing only that, I started watching and

Actually, autism awareness day is every day

Yet another thing I’ve been trying to work on during Covid is news intake. All these fake news, scare tactics and conspiracy theories about the pandemic, the numbers and the vaccine have made me more aware of how many of us repeat what we read without putting it into context. How many times do we

Thinking about thoughts

Dr Damian Milton is an author, consultant, Lecturer in Intellectual and Developmental Disability at Tizard Centre, University of Kent and chair of the Participatory Autism Research Collective (PARC).  The ‘double empathy’ theory is based on the notion that misunderstanding behaviours, intentions and attitude are a result of a breakdown in mutual understanding between people with

A thought

During this weird and wonderful and terrible year, I have learned to acknowledge when I have self-deprecating thoughts and try to confront them when they appear. It’s been a revelation to see how harsh I am to myself on a daily basis and how embarrassing I find it to give myself credit or take a

Happy Birthday – 2020 Edition

Dear brother You turn 22 years old tomorrow and this year you are celebrating in the midst of a pandemic. Another memorable celebration with all your loved ones awaits tomorrow; a Mickey mouse cake, your favourite food, and all the things you told mum you wanted for your birthday weeks ago. What an amazing life

Stories that defy lockdown

It’s nearly the end of Week 4 on lockdown and I’m finding it helpful to read other people’s experiences. It kind of normalises the situation a bit, knowing that others think what I think and finding inspiration in [extra]ordinary humans. If you are feeling it this week, here are some inspirational stories I found that

Art in the time of COVID

I will be fundraising for the Smile Project by Autism Support Famagusta. Smile is the first and only day care centre for adults with autism in Famagusta, Cyprus – and it hosts my brother.   In 2015 Autism Support Famagusta I wrote: “Their dream is to build a home within the community to provide care and

Covid Coping

Aren’t you distressed by this lockdown? Imagine the distress of people who find comfort in routine, people who need the security of repetition. Eating the same meal, going to the same shop, drinking the same brand of juice or going to school. We have had a schedule in our home since Christos started using PECS

How being an autism sibling is getting me through the Covid-19 pandemic

Today is a day dedicated to autism awareness/acceptance/knowledge. In the midst of all the powerful things happening around us and in our minds, we need inspiration. We need a good cry about something, well, good. So today, give yourself a break and take a moment to read an autism family’s story (more resources below). In