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Spock vs. Data: Who is the true autistic icon of Star Trek?

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 Hello All! The title of this post might seem a bit silly. Honestly, I've been dealing with a lot of stress and fatigue lately and I've had this idea for several months so I decided to go for a light hearted post today. However, I do think this is an interesting conversation, especially for an autistic Trekkie like myself. Over the last year or so Star Trek has become a huge special interest and comfort show for me, having been introduced to it during a very difficult time by some very special and important people.  Spock has been adopted by many as an autistic icon for some time now. His literal thinking, difficulties with interaction and rigid behaviours are relatable for many on the spectrum. This has been undoubtedly strengthened by the questionable and unspoken portrayal of Dr Sheldon Cooper as autistic in The Big Bang Theory. For Sheldon Spock is not only a relatable character but a hero and role model. It is clear that Sheldon wants to be more like Spock than he already
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What will Life be like for the Neurodiverse and Disabled Post-Pandemic?

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Hi there! I know that's it's been a while since I've posted here. Being on my year abroad and consequently coming back from my year abroad were big challenges for me and I felt like I needed some time to just readjust and settle back in at home, but today I felt like I really need to speak so I'm back! I know it's been said a million times already but we are truly living in 'unprecedented' times and I hope you are all staying well and safe. I also hope you are trying to be responsible in how you engage with the outside world and those around you. However, what I want to talk about today isn't the pandemic itself, but rather what life will look for those of us who are disabled and/or neurodiverse post-pandemic. Obviously we are no where near going back to complete normality right now but, at least in the UK, rules are starting to relax and the world around us is starting to open up again, be it slowly. This has got me thinking about the challenges po
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Getting Help and Getting Out There: Help and Healing in India

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TRIGGER WARNINGS: mental illness, depression, self-harm and trauma Hi There! Sorry to have kept quiet for a little bit there but as you may or may not know I have recently moved to India for the study abroad aspect of my degree! The last few weeks have been absolutely hectic, amazing and mind blowing so I thought I'd check in with you on quite an important topic; how I'm doing, how receiving mental health support aided my depression 'recovery' (which is a word I actually want to discuss) and how India surprisingly fits brilliantly with all of this. I feel that it's so important to discuss when things are getting better and becoming manageable because there are too many places on the internet where we can feed our depressive thoughts and not enough where we can receive hope. Between February and June of this year I was going through what was definitely the worst depressive episode of my entire life. I had external factors contributing to my poor mental health,
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Autism and Balance: I'm not there yet

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Hey! I hope you are well! Today I wanted to talk about autism and the difficulties of achieving a healthy life balance. This is something I've really found myself struggling with over the last couple of years. One massive misunderstanding surrounding autism is that overload is purely sensory when in fact there are many other aspects which can contribute to feeling overload, including managing too much. I find that as an autistic person things that others may find easy to cope with or ordinary tasks can be a lot more tasking for myself and mentally draining, making it harder to balance lots of things at once. When I was younger I very much thrived on routine and the fact that I had very few things to focus on; my main responsibility was my education and I had particular social groups I attended on particular days, that worked well for me. Since the age of about 16 I've learnt that adult life isn't quite as simple as that, as it encompasses many other rewarding but challe
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Autism: What if I had been Diagnosed Earlier?

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Hey! I hope you are well! I've been SUPER busy with my new job so apologies if I've been a bit quiet online recently. In the search for coping mechanisms to help me manage my own well being and working full-time I've been dive back into the online autistic community and it's raised a question for myself: what if I had been diagnosed earlier? That's what I want to talk about today. One of the loudest arguments I hear for the hesitation around diagnosing young people as autistic is that it places a label on them too early in life. As someone who was diagnosed a bit later than you'd normally expect I see serious issues with this argument. As an undiagnosed autistic person I spent years having labels put on me; weird, socially awkward, annoying, basically every label but the correct one; autistic. All these incorrect labels were the truly detrimental ones, the ones that knocked my confidence. The correct diagnosis of autism isn't just a label, it's under
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Struggling with Struggling

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It can be hard sometimes to maintain confidence when you can find things objectively more difficult than those around you. This is a feeling I've struggled with all my life; why are things harder for me? We're told to be grateful and I swear that I try to be; self-pity has never really been my style, but it can be hard not to be a little jaded after a period of reoccurring meltdowns or nagging back pain. Sometimes I get frustrated with the idea that I shouldn't be angry or feel that it's unfair, that I should lucky 100% of the time that I don't have it as bad as some other people. It can also be extremely difficult not to become critical of myself, not to hate my brain and body for not working the way that I want them to. I am 20 years old and more often than not my various conditions can leave me feeling simultaneously 12 and 70. My anxiety, emotional vulnerability and executive functioning difficulties can leave me feeling like a scared child while my creaking j
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Capitalism and the Job Sector are Ableist

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Good Afternoon, I hope you having an absolutely glorious summer whether you are. Today's topic isn't exactly the most cheerful, sunny topic. Having recently finished university for the year I have been looking for some work so that I can support myself in London for the summer. Trying to get a job is rarely easy for anyone, however the system is undoubtedly ableist. We live in a society where the goal is so often making money and if working with so one requires a change of perspective or environment then that is seen as a frustrating obstacle rather than opportunity to work with a new person with potential skills and experiences. It's true, being disabled or someone who struggles with mental health does increase your life admin, but it kinda puts a bad taste in my mouth when I'm turned away from a full time position because I have regular appointments. This summer I have also found my autism has been a greater challenge in finding employment. It's hard to not fe
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