News — neurodiversity

More than ever before, this year has focused on accepting Autism - and there have been plenty of discussions around representation in the media, allyship, and the need to actually listen to Autistic individuals.

For me and my son, 15 years before covid pandemic challenged us all, our life was already isolated, restricted, restrained, limited, dictated and debilitating by the complexity of autism and associated conditions.

Thinking about what I could write for this blog, I realised that more than anything, I think of myself as often being in-between. I’m too queer for autistic spaces, and too autistic for queer spaces. Whether I’m in a queer space or an autistic space, a piece of myself is always being hidden and denied. Ableism emerges in queer spaces, and homophobia emerges in disabled spaces. I emerge from one closet, only to be locked into another.

1828 saw a Dutch chemist create a more palatable version, meaning that the bitter taste was no longer a problem - and thus creating a more ‘solid’ product. Joseph Fry is credited with creating the first modern chocolate bar; in 1847 he found that he could mould the paste, creating a more streamlined product.