Autism and Disability News
'You've got to give people with ADHD and autism a chance to work'
For Cameron Clarke trying to find work after university was a familiar pattern; application, interview, rejection, repeat. The 26-year-old spent more than a year searching unsuccessfully for employment after graduating - and he is not alone.
According to a recent review, external there are around 680,000 people of working age with an autism diagnosis in the UK, but just 30% of those are employed.
Ella Maisy Purvis on crime drama Patience and why she doesn't want to be a 'robotic, asexual drone'
“It was an open-call audition, and they said: ‘We want an autistic actor to play an autistic role.’” Ella Maisy Purvis is recalling the first time she heard about Patience, the new Channel 4 crime drama in which she plays the title role. “So I did a self-tape, got a meeting, thought I fucked it. But clearly I didn’t.”
'Creativity rules the space' at new performances
Neurodiverse performers have been taking to the stage in Exeter. Actors, comedians and singers have created cabarets, staged open microphone nights and toured new shows across the South West.
'My autistic brain defined my haphazard career'
Until a chance conversation during lockdown, Neil Laurenson never thought he could be autistic. The woman from a mental health helpline asked if he had considered the possibility, and "within a minute or two changed my life".Mr Laurenson finally received a diagnosis in 2023 when he was in his 40s.
The Worcester city councillor is now creating YouTube videos to help others.
Neurodivergence in the arts: 'Revealing my ADHD was the best thing'
About one in seven people in the UK are neurodiverse and with knowledge of the brain increasing, diagnoses are on the up. Not surprisingly, neurodiversity is gaining visibility on screen, stage and on the social scene.
Autism in Entertainment Begins With a Deep Dive into 1988's RAIN MAN
In the weird world of autism-themed entertainment, one movie looms above all others. It was so successful in every conceivable way that for decades, it was better known and more famous than the neurological condition at its core.
I’m speaking, of course, about 1988’s Rain Man, the top-grossing film of the year (beating the runner-up, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, by twenty-five million dollars) and won Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Adjusted for inflation, Rain Man grossed the 2024 equivalent of nearly a billion dollars.
The culture wars are coming for children with special needs – Labour must tread carefully
For millions of us who have children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), 2024 was a strange and often unsettling year. For a long time, we have been used to quietly fighting our battles in a political and media vacuum. But suddenly, everything has exploded: as the crisis in provision seems to constantly deepen, barely a week goes by without some or other Send story making it into the news.
We post news stories about autism on the live feed once a week on a Thursday. If you see any news stories related to autism, neurodiversity, disability or Ambitious about Autism, please email them to us at [email protected].