An Autistic Guide to Christmas
Some people love Christmas and some people hate it. I imagine most of us who celebrate fall somewhere in the middle. There have been Christmases where I’ve felt so excited and full of joy. There was also a Christmas when I lay on the sofa in another room, too low to join in…
How to Manage a Long-Haul Flight as an Autistic ADHDer
I just had the most amazing two weeks in Thailand (like two of the best weeks of my life). We flew to Bangkok where we stayed for 2 nights before going to Chiang Mai for 4 nights, then Koh Samui for 3 nights and Koh Tao for 5 nights before heading back to…
Anti-Bullying Week: Autism and Bullying
This week (11th - 15th November) is anti-bullying week, which takes place every year. Considering that approximately 30% of children are bullied each year, with 1 child in every classroom experiencing bullying…
The Mental Health Bill: Autism and Sectioning
I survived OCD, anxiety and depression, and growing up autistic without my needs being understood. But I also survived the mental health system - which is something that can be hard to explain.
In September, 2,020 autistic people/people with learning disabilities were in mental health hospitals across England…
ADHD: What is ADHD, Positives of ADHD and Avoiding ADHD Burnout
It’s the end of ADHD Awareness Month. In true ADHD fashion, I’ve been putting off writing this blog post for the whole month. Because getting started on tasks and procrastination is something ADHDers tend to struggle with.
I found out I had ADHD when I was 21 and it helped make…
A Letter To My ADHD Brain: ADHD Awareness Month
To my ADHD brain,
I love you and I hate you. You exist as a total contradiction. You are both what makes life feel worth living but also why I am drowning.
It is because of you that I feel so alive…
World Suicide Prevention Day - Suicide Prevention, Autism, ADHD & Suicide, and a Message to You
Today, September 10th, is World Suicide Prevention Day. In 6 days, it will be 7 years since I was admitted to hospital for the first time. I was 16, had just started sixth form and the years of anxiety and OCD had become too much. I didn’t think I had a future. But I was wrong...
Girl Unmasked - Signed and Dedicated Limited Edition
A limited number of signed and dedicated copies of Girl Unmasked are now available to order exclusively from Coles Books!
Thank you to everyone who has asked for these. I am really excited to be able to dedicate these, sign them and get them into your...
Authentically Emily Store - My Mindmaps
OWN PRODUCT/AD
Hello! A word of warning - this is less of a blog post and more of an update.
I now have a store on my website where you can buy the PDF downloads of my mindmaps. I have been asked so many times about making a way to buy these so I have finally...
You Are Allowed To Make Your Own Adjustments: How I Managed a Hen Do as an Autistic Person
It was my friend’s hen do recently and I was worried about how I would manage it. I struggle socialising in big groups, I don’t enjoy bars or clubs and there was lots of things that I felt anxious about, but I really wanted to go and celebrate my friend...
Autistic Masking
I was diagnosed with autism when I was 16. Like many autistic people (though not all), I grew up masking my autism. Doing my best to suppress parts of me I recognised seemed different to other people, parts I grew to be ashamed of as things happened which taught me I should be. I didn’t know that what I was doing was called masking…
The Misdiagnosis of Autistic Distress in the Mental Health System
When I am asked why I wrote Girl Unmasked, I say that I was angry. Which is true. I was angry at finding myself sectioned on a psychiatric unit at the age of 16, at the doctor there telling me I just had high social anxiety not autism, at the fact they described my autistic meltdowns as ‘hysteric attacks when she doesn’t get her own way’…
The Good Within The Broken System
Amongst the brokenness of the system, the difficult experiences, and the trauma, there is also good. And sometimes the smallest things make the world of difference. What about…
The nurse on the CAMHS unit who sat in my room night after night talking to me about her rabbits because…
ARFID Awareness Day
Today is the first ever ARFID Awareness Day, thanks to the hard work of ARFID Awareness UK - the UK’s only charity dedicated to raising awareness of ARFID.
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (aka ARFID) is an eating disorder which lacks awareness and understanding…
Challenges Autistic and ADHD People Face in Healthcare and What Can Help
Research tells us that there are a range of barriers to accessing and receiving healthcare for autistic and ADHD people, at all stages across an individual’s life (Malik-Soni et al., 2022; Young et al., 2021). Autism and ADHD are both associated with lower life expectancies…
Autism and Mental Health: Practical Advice for Managing Your Mental Health
Last month, I wrote a rather depressing but important blog post on why so many autistic people struggle with their mental health. Read it here. As promised, I’m back with some practical advice on managing mental health as an autistic person.
Firstly, I want to acknowledge that managing mental health is different…
Mental Health Awareness Week: The Exclusion of Mental Illness and What We Should Be Talking About
Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week.
It is good that more people are talking about mental health now than in the past. It is good that there are conversations taking place about how to look after your mental health. It is good that people are talking about how important mental health is. But the above…
Autistic Burnout: Your Brain’s Recovery Mode
As an autistic person, life can be a LOT. Research shows that our brains process more information at any one time than non-autistic people’s brains (Brinkert & Remington, 2020). Every day, we have to manage sensory discomfort, overwhelm, social challenges, executive dysfunction, exhaustion from masking, and the…
Graduating ADHD Coaching!
From August 4th 2023 to April 26th 2024…I have graduated ADHD Coaching! (if this is even a thing…i have made it a thing).
Nine months ago, I was struggling to come to terms with my fairly new ADHD diagnosis and had no sense of how to make life (which just felt constantly stressful) easier for my ADHD brain. Access to Work…
Autism and Mental Health: Why do so many autistic people struggle?
Research suggests that 80% of autistic people experience mental health problems throughout their life, and around 40% of suicides are estimated to be autistic people (Autistica, undated; Cassidy et al. 2022). This is incredibly sad.
There are a variety of reasons why this might be the case.