What's new in Autism? February 2026 Celebrity Ambassadors Brit Award-nominated singer Cat Burns is a new Celebrity Ambassador to the National Autistic Society (NAS) in the UK, following her appearance on reality show The Celebrity Traitors in the last year, where she reached the final. The NAS has several Celebrity Ambassadors, an important position, as …
Continue reading Understanding Autism: Challenges and Celebrity Support
What did discovering I was autistic mean? I found out about my autism later in life, during a session with a Senior Clinical Psychologist who was helping me address some anger issues. At the age of 58, in 2012, I learned that I exhibited symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, a condition that was still considered distinct …
Continue reading Understanding Autism: My Journey to Diagnosis at 58
MEDIA WATCH There are more of us than you thought Is there an autism epidemic? Some say so, but the opinion of experts in the autism field is that it is not so. There is no evidence that there are any more autistic people as a proportion of society, but changes in diagnostic criteria, a …
In December 1963 my family moved the short distance from Kirkheaton to Mirfield. I started a new school in January of 1964. There was a teacher there who recommended that I, aged 10, see a psychologist, but as Asperger’s syndrome would not be known in Britain for another 20 years and autism was only known …
The unknown Aspie Before I come to anything negative, let me say I had fun. Some of it was fun with other children and some of it was fun on my own. Climbing trees when I was supposed to be walking the dog was fun, and dogs are easy to see from a tree. A …
Continue reading Growing up without knowing you are autistic
Diagnosis is not imminent. The BBC this weekend featured a story that one health authority in England is to restrict diagnosis for autism to the most severe cases, whatever that means. Who decides the most severe before diagnosis? Isn't that what diagnosis is about? Story here. As an adult I have been told, after being strongly …
Making an ass of myself 