Zen Master* Bear** Speaks***

I have written a piece for NeuroClastic about the plight of Osime Brown. Osime is a young, black, autistic man who has been failed horribly by multiple government agencies. I believe that his case is symptomatic of broad governmental and societal failures which expose how far we are from eradicating racism in the UK. Please read and share the article, and…

The idea that neurotypical and autistic might be different regions of the same spectrum seems sensible. The presumption that all members of either group maintain a position of inferiority or superiority relative to all members of the other group is deeply wrong and encourages anti-autistic biases.

If we really want to claim that our societies value diversity and inclusion we must expand beyond the disability model, and hold everyone to a standard of not just removing the barriers caused by difference, but of actively valuing the ways in which difference is a strength.

Then it happened. My heart rate suddenly jumped from 160 beats per minute to over 180. My max heart rate is in the low- to mid-180s. I almost never manage to push it this high even in my toughest workouts.

The UK Government has far from covered itself in glory in its response to the COVID-19 crisis.