Even though the second LVAC is now coming to a formal close, it’s not too late to sign up!

https://events.zoom.us/ev/AqNSGAkx7ZzP_62zZF-6ns8L-Kny8PS0Z2fUmPv7DpC0QZGF41WR~AggLXsr32QYFjq8BlYLZ5I06Dg

If you do, you’ll have access to recordings of all the talks from Wednesday (available now) and today (available by tomorrow)

These will be online until May

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

A very powerful talk by Warda, coming back to institutional racism, anti-Blackness and intersections with ableism

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

‘You need to apply yourself more’

Translation:

‘You need to do things a certain way’

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

Processes for diagnosis are biopolitical, colonial and racist, says Warda – but there is hope for change

#intersectionality #diagnosis #ActuallyAutistic #LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

Warda Farah is up next at LVAC

She is a speech and language therapist who works specifically with Black and minoritised people through her company Language Waves, in an affirming and non-medicalised way

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

Melissa is talking about the intersections of being Black and Autistic in white, neurotypical spaces

She has to mask in (NT) Black spaces because she’s Autistic

And she has to mask in (white) Autistic spaces because she’s Black

#intersectionality #InstitutionalRacism #masking #LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

Next up at LVAC is Melissa Simmonds, who coordinates the Sheffield Autism Partnership Network, which works to foster partnerships between different organisations that support Autistic people

She was born in Yorkshire to Jamaican parents (both first-generation immigrants)

She is continuing to address the theme of transition to adulthood, and like other speakers, she is interested in questioning normative markers of adulthood

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2 #ActuallyAutistic

Just realised that Ben (Usher-Barrass) is the same Ben I’ve seen in Aucademy videos along with Chloe Farahar and others

They have some great material:

https://aucademy.co.uk

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

All three speakers so far today have talked about suicide and Autistic distress, which feels a bit much

The current speaker, Ben, who I think is using AAC, has usefully reminded me that Rachel Cullen came up with the Autistic Language Hypothesis

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2 #ActuallyAutistic

Some messages from Rachel on preparing children for adulthood:

Teach kids to stim

Learn from Autistic adults

Validate the experiences of children

Make Autistic (and queer!) adults visible

(There’s loads more, but they’re cramming a lot into their talk!)

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

Rachel has reminded me of the early-covid-era NHS decision to place do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders on Autistic people and people with learning disabilities

How easily we are considered disposable!

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2 #covid19 #ActuallyAutistic #DoNotResuscitateOrders

They are speaking about their self harm and seven suicide attempts – having kept silent to avoid upsetting people around them

Mental health teams only ever focused on the latest episode, and never saw things from an Autistic perspective

Rachel avoided seeking help because the ‘help’ offered actually made them more suicidal

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2 #suicide #SelfHarm

Rachel Cullen is the next speaker at #LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

I think I remember them speaking last year (unless it was somewhere else) and look forward to what they have to say this time round

#ActuallyAutistic #neuroqueer

Really enjoyed her artwork, which featured on her slides 🥰

(Unfortunately, I don’t have permission to share content from the conference)

She’s also just talking (in Q&A) about the difficulty of accessing healthcare, especially crisis services, by phone – given situational mutism and auditory processing disorder

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2 #ActuallyAutistic #SituationalMutism #AuditoryProcessingDisorder

Victoria Busuttil is the first speaker of day 2 of #LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

A painful recollection of living life as an undiagnosed Autistic person trying to fit into the neurotypical mould 💜

#ActuallyAutistic

I like what Priscilla says about reasonable accommodations in employment – being upfront about them at the application stage, and trialling and renegotiating them as time goes on and your needs change

Salary negotiation and seeking promotion seem such a minefield of unwritten rules – when I was working for employers, I never understood how these things worked!

#LondonVirtualAutisticConference2 #ActuallyAutistic

Looking forward to Priscilla Eyles’s talk, which is starting in a moment at #LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

I particularly like the fact that they’re a JEDI trainer! 😊

(JEDI stands for *Justice*, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion)

#ActuallyAutistic

Morning (if appropriate)! 😊

Going to be spending much of today #LondonVirtualAutisticConference2

Currently listening to Cathy Wassell from Autistic Girls Network

https://events.zoom.us/e/view/IfvocycNSLS2SAg6aFkTKw

#ActuallyAutistic