21 and Atypical: Planet Blue💙

It’s autism awareness month and you may notice that a lot of the posts are blue. You may also scroll past or see numerous autism-friendly events and educational activities which will be taking place all month, everywhere in the world, in order to increase understanding, acceptance and further support people with autism. But why blue

21 and Atypical: Dancing with the Stars (aka Sisters)

Christina is Stephanos’ older sister and she shared this story with me earlier this week. “When I was around 15 and Steph was 14 we used to listen to this song “I will survive” by  Gloria Gaynor and we used to just dance to it“. Christina is a year older than Stephanos and has loved

An autism sister watching Atypical Season 2, Episodes 3-10

It took me a while to get through this season because it is so emotionally charged. It’s a bit too relatable for me. Ultimately, I want you to watch it and see these 6 things. 1: In episode 3, Sam walks out of his class at some point due to sensory overload. The way he

April 2018: 2 Science Headlines

1/ Social pressure A drug is being tested which claims to help people on the autism spectrum with social skills. Balovaptan, said drug, acts on receptors. Receptors are located on the outside of cells and communicate commands to the inside of the cell. There receptors receive a hormone called vasopressin, which is a hormone from

April 2018: 2 new facts

In 2007, the Qatar representative to the UN, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned,  put forward a UN General Assembly resolution, to create World Autism Awareness Day. This gave way to today, a day dedicated to raising awareness about ASD across the world. Numbers published by the World Health Organisation show that approx

The Biology of Autism

The gut. You may recall me talking about a ground-breaking new study in January (Hope in Poo) where alterations in the gut ecosystem were linked to autism traits. These scientists used Microbiota Transfer Therapy (Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), also known as a stool transplant, is the process of transplantation of fecal bacteria from a healthy individual

Dog Treats, Ice Cube and Rutgers University for Autism

What is Silver Linings? I go to Silver Linings to watch for any balloons we can reach and move to our world, and here are the ones I have been following in the last couple of months: Finley’s Barkery in Minnesota “embraces neurodiversity and empowers people to do what they love. 80-90% of adults with

I’m Blue

You may wonder, why blue? Here’s why. You may wonder, why a puzzle piece? Okay, you probably don’t. But I did and here is what I found out. The puzzle piece symbol was first created in 1963 as the logo for the National Autistic Society (NAS.) This first NAS logo was designed by a parent

Hope in April – Until everyone understands

World Autism Awareness Week: 27 March–2 April 2017 World Autism Awareness Day: 2nd April 2017 USA National Autism Awareness Month: April 2017 As I write this, I am listening to Theresa May trying to answer questions about triggering Article 50 earlier on today. And then I look over at Christos playing on his game boy

Hope in Love

I’ve gone back to fiction books now. I’m reading A change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. You may remember her name through the floods of tears that consumed you if you read My Sister’s Keeper. This book is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about love. Overwhelming, unconditional love that makes us do things our