Author Archives: Sarah boon

It’s a debate that has been going on for decades, more or less since autism has been described as a spectrum. This debate has recently come up again since a recent article was posted about the Autism Europe conference earlier this month ‘It’s time to embrace ‘profound autism’ However, subgrouping can lead down a dangerousContinue reading “Why Subgrouping Autism is Dangerous”

I don’t often watch BBC Panorama, however recently a few of their documentaries caught my eye ,as they either relate to my work, my lived experience or both. The 3 Panorama documentaries in particular I’m referring to here are Autistic people (or close to someone who is autistic) are unlikely to be surprised that youngContinue reading “BBC Panorama and autism: identifying the dots, but who is connecting them?”

April has always been a difficult time for the autistic community because of autism awareness and acceptance days, weeks or Month (referred to as ‘autism month’ going forward).  To the average person this may seem like a confusing statement, as they assume that this month is for us and “raising awareness” of the issues weContinue reading “Autism day/week/month. What’s the point?”

*Please note this is a critique of Simon’s research and published work and not personal character defamation. As I have never met Simon, I cannot comment on his character* Simon Baron-Cohen is arguably one of the biggest names in autism research. Unfortunately, his research has negatively impacted autistic people for several reasons. However, this canContinue reading “A Brief Overview Of Simon Baron-Cohen’s Autism Research”

Quite often I tend to tweet things in the moment if I feel a strong emotional reaction to it. This isn’t always wise but the nature of my neurodivergence means this happens from time to time. However, recently I tweeted about autistic people suffering from ableism rather than autism itself. Again this was an inContinue reading ““Suffers from autism””

*This blog post is not parent shaming. It’s critiquing the documentary* This Wednesday on BBC one, there was an incredibly high-profile autism documentary in the UK. Naturally, being an autistic person living here, I was curious but extremely cautious about the documentary. I was cynical before watching it, as autism is frequently misrepresented in theContinue reading “My actually autistic perspective on ‘Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism’”

Before I knew I was autistic, I was only observing autism. This may seem like an odd thing to say as I’ve always been autistic, but I was masking 24/7, and my internalised ableism at the time meant I was viewing everything through a neurotypical lens as the “right” way to experience the world. IContinue reading “Observing autism vs being autistic: it’s not the same”

Within minutes of the spectrum 10K announcements, it’s has been an emotional rollercoaster for many of us, with many twists and turns in the last few weeks. Like many other autistic, I’m exhausted. Also, a lot has been going on in my everyday life too. I’ve increased my work hours in one role and gainedContinue reading “Spectrum 10k paused. Good? Bad? Let’s break it down. ”