Autism and Disability News
How to Build a Neurodiverse City
Cities and schools are not typically designed by, or for, people with conditions such as autism. Often, the processes for how they get built exclude input from neurodivergent residents.
Architects are developing ways to address these oversights — first experimenting with new ways of surveying diverse users, then designing with the insights they receive.
Autistic women face barriers to safe and supportive maternity care – new research
Childbirth is often described as one of life’s most profound experiences, but for many, it can be fraught with anxiety, pain and trauma. Autism is a lifelong neurotype, which affects around 3% of people. It is linked to differences in communication and sensory processing.
Women have historically been underdiganosed with autism, diagnosed at an older age and misdiagnosed. This may explain why very little research has been conducted on the experiences of autistic women during pregnancy and childbirth – an oversight we have aimed to address in our new research.
How my late autism diagnosis freed me from being the ‘good girl’
Please be good,” my mother would plead when I was little. I tried. I really did. But no matter how hard I worked to follow the rules, to fit in, to be the ‘good girl’ everyone wanted, something always felt off – like trying to read a book in a language I could never quite understand.
At 44, sitting in a psychologist’s office as my five-year old son received his autism diagnosis, everything suddenly clicked into place. My tears weren’t just for my beautiful boy and what this meant for his future—they were tears of recognition.
Cheaper autism and ADHD scheme to be assessed
The body which runs health and social care services in Aberdeenshire has voted to assess developing its own in-house adult autism and ADHD assessment scheme, instead of the provision being cut completely.
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].