Ann Memmott

@annmemmott

Autistic disabled researcher, carer & Mum. #AutisticElder Personal page, own views. Like/repost = "I've read it" See also LinkedIn Encouraging moderation, a peaceful & fair society, & better research.

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Ann Memmott@annmemmott· 8d

I love this, by Pete Wharmby, who gives an analogy that may help us understand Uta Frith's apparent argument that it's not autism if it's not 'severe', because we only identified the 'severe' people a long time ago when she first trained. Therefore that's autism and nothing else is. 🤔

An illustration by Pete Wharmby.
In one corner, some chips ('fries') and in the other, a piece of cheese.

"Imagine that when we first found out about cheese, it was a big plate of chips. A doctor comes along and says, oooh look, these chips have something on them. I'll call it cheese.
Then someone sees some cheese on its own, or in a sandwich, or a lovely jacket potato. They say ooh, look, here's some cheese too.
The doctor is unconvinced. No, they say. This is not cheese, for it is not on any chips. This must be something else, and it has no similarity to the cheese on the cheesy chips over here.
Cheese keeps being found all over the place, but no, the doctor says. None of this is cheese...you are broadening the concept of cheese too far, it will be meaningless.

This is a metaphor for Uta Frith's argument"

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jul 20

What we see, in a variety of social media contexts, is variations on this. A group with a lot of power takes a relentlessly negative view of a marginalised community, with endless provocation. If they respond to defend themselves, the powerful claim to be the victim. Are they?

Four illustrations, which apply to a wide variety of situations on social media now, not just LGBTQIA+ lives.
In each, there are two people. In the first, a character in blue says to the other, "I don't like your kind"..in the second, "Know why, Oh just a little book called THE BIBLE!"..."You;re evil! God hates you! I hate you! You don't deserve rights!". The character hits the other one with the Bible. "Ow" says the victim. The victim finally responds by raising both arms in the air and shouting, "Stop That!". The original character looks shocked and says, "OMG, I'm a victim of oppression!"

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jul 17

Exhibit A, M'Lud. Homewares.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jul 1

So, how are things going over the US? Are you at the 'We arrest Nuns whilst they go to Mass, because those are the sorts of, er, criminals, we don't want in the US' stage of dictatorship yet?

A photograph by NBC news, showing the Nun, dressed in white, who was arrested by ICE and detained. She was on her way to Mass. Congress members intervened to get her released.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jun 24

The quick summary of what the paper is about, and why. Snip from the link above.

"Autistic people are often described as having “social deficits,” but many misunderstandings between autistic and
non-autistic people come from both sides. The Double Empathy Problem (DEP) shows that communication difficulties are relational and shaped by differences in experience, expectations, and power, not individual deficits or
problems within the autistic person. Understanding this helps challenge stigma, reduce blame placed on autistic
people, and promote more respectful and equitable relationships."

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jun 13

Our gentle reminder of how far back some extremists want to roll people's rights. And how many years it took women to get basic rights, here. I am old enough to remember when most of this list happened. It's why it's awful to see some people basically voting to bring this horror show back.

A list of rights won by women during the 20th century, discussed in the post. These include the right to vote, the right to divorce, the right to equal pay for equal work (1970s), the right for married women to work (only happened in the 1970s), right to open their own bank account (1970s), the right not to be raped by their husbands (1990s).

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· May 19

I see. So we have £102 billion free for a train line. But we need to punish disabled people over and over again to save a few quid. Fascinating.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· May 18

Are you in England, & looking for help in supporting an autistic family member/person you work with? Free peer supportive sessions through Autism Central. Sessions are delivered by trained & supervised peer guides with lived or family experience. Usually no waiting times. www.autismcentral.nhs.uk

A poster about the service described in the opening post. A service from Autism Central and the NHS. Talk to someone who gets it. Book your free session today.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Apr 29

Only one full day of Autism Bewareness Month to go! We've got this!

An illustration showing an autistic professional, absolutely exhausted, getting home. In the world outside, various pictures showing the colour blue, a small screaming white boy, puzzle piece logos, the words 'Autism Speak' 'Why do autistics like trains' 'profound autism day' 'Is autism curable?" "5 Core Deficits of Autism" and "A quick look at some treatment and therapy options".

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Apr 6

Our usual gentle reminder to look at, every time you read, "But if we don't take even more away from people in need, there won't be enough for you!" Who has actually got nearly all the money? Not the group they've asked you to take money off. Think. Check. There's enough for everyone...

An illustration of two almost identical scenes. The first is set in 1982 where a rich individual in a business suit has hoarded nearly all the cookies. A worker sits next to him, with only one cookie. Opposite, a person with no cookies at all. The rich person says to the person with one cookie, "Careful, buddy, that foreigner wants your cookie".

In the next illustration, it's now 2025, and the rich person's stash of cookies is now about 100 times bigger. The worker only has one cookie. The other person still has no cookies at all. The rich person tries the same line again.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Mar 29

Very much looking forward to reading these two new books. The photo shows the front covers: The Scale of the Spectrum, by Joanna Grace. The Queerly Autistic Workbook, by Erin Ekins

Front cover of two books:
The Scale of the Spectrum - Joanna Grace, and The Queerly Autistic Workbook - Erin Ekins.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Feb 28

This time with Alt Text.

I'd like to congratulate Hannah Spencer on her election as the new MP for Gorton and Denton. This result shows people are bitterly disappointed with Labour but horrified by the rise of Reform. Keir Starmer's government has been consumed by the Westminster soap opera instead of delivering on the issues that matter most, tackling the cost of living crisis and fixing the NHS. It's clear people are willing to vote tactically for the party best placed to beat Reform, and across huge swathes of the country that is the Liberal Democrats. We've seen that in our record gains in local elections, and we will see it again come the elections in May.
Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Feb 15

I find this to be useful for my personal reflection, after a very wealthy footy owner had a go at migrants who moves here bringing their skills, joys and tax contributions. Mmm...

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jan 11

A snip, showing that the only thing they could 'prove' was that if a parent wanted a child to e.g. put a cup on a shelf at the end of 40 hrs of ABA, they could put the cup on the shelf (evidence = according to the parent paying for ABA...risk of bias anyone?).

A snip from the linked paper, showing that higher hours of ABA didn't do most of the things it claimed to do.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Dec 28

I see the Sunday Times is as anti-Trans as ever, misrepresenting the Court Judgement in the recent Peggie case,, and giving space to a group announcing this, in their pages: www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/... Goodness me.

"A lot of these men are classic narcissistic abusive men and now that we're starting to say no, they can't come into our spaces, all of their entitlement and rage comes out", says Smith.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Dec 15

This is a snip from that link, showing the review team's findings. Well, this....isn't good. Needless to say, no-one seems to have considered quality of life, ethics of any of this, asking the children, showing compassion, understanding autistic needs or...just about anything else. Horrifying.

"...using 'protective equipment' [e.g. ankle restraints, arm restraints, helmets with full visors etc] with [autistic] individuals who exhibited overactivity (e.g. continual pacing), excessive bids for attention (e.g. repetitive questioning) and repetitive behavior (e.g. stereotypy)..."

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Dec 3

I note that the Women's Institute have disabled commentary every way they can think of, on their BlueSky account. But their website statement more or less says, "We support Trans women, honest guv, we had no choice - they can't be members any more" except the Supreme Court told them no such thing.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Dec 3

Another daunting day for existing NonBinary, Intersex and Trans Women's Institute members. What extraordinary power the billionaires have, to make society do whatever they command, and make the lives of millions in the country more hellish, eh?

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Nov 19

Yep. And so many other things that are apparently 'all wrong' if you're autistic. I made this illustration...

An illustration by Ann Memmott, showing the burden on autistic children. It shows a child holding a huge pile of books, whilst teetering up a flight of steps and with a heavy rucksack on their back. The steps have labels such as 'no empathy, deficit, illness, disorder, tragedy, incapable'. A side box lists the number of things they must 'improve', including never moving hands without permission, not using natural speech or voice note, not using natural body language or face expressions, using eye contact even if it hurts to do so, coping with blinding, deafening environments without complaint.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Oct 8

This is a graphic showing the SPELL framework, from the AT-Autism link above. It's about making the world more enjoyable, meaningful & accessible, for autistic individuals. Developing empathy, joy, development, and opportunity/

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Sep 23

Well done to whoever created this pic for the 'rapid release' autism tablets, parodying the Tylenol claims of a well known leader. I'll be topping up with an extra one, just to be sure that I've had the right daily autism dose. Needed the smile. *This is not medical advice. Always read the label.

A red and white pill bottle with "Autism - Rapid Release gels - 24 gelcaps" written on it.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Sep 17

Not many places left on this splendid conference in London 18-19 October 2025. "Can these bones live?" St Martin in the Fields and Inclusive Church and the marvellous teams. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/can-these-... Link here with text and details. Onsite, online, BSL, etc.

Flyer for the conference, details of which are on the link which is in the post.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Sep 17

The ABA industry continues to test whether its 'interventions' make autistic children hide being autistic. www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11... is a new review of ABA based 'interventions' which uses e.g. the ADOS checklists for alleged abnormal behaviour/

A list of things that the ADOS autism assessment tests for, to see if the child isn't autistic yet.
Normalised use of pointing, gestures, eye contact, face expressions, shared enjoyment, 'quality' of social interactions, lack of 'stereotyped' words and phrased, lack of unusual sensory 'behaviours', lack of autistic 'mannerisms' and lack of 'repetitive interests and behaviours'

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Aug 30

This is a snip from the paper linked above, which shows the amount of people diagnosed, in each age group, split into basic male/female groups. Well...er....we're absolute rubbish at finding older people, aren't we. Makes a mess of all we think we 'know' about autism, too. #AutisticElders

Snip showing the numbers diagnosed/not diagnosed, by age and male/female.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Aug 10

Latest reading material. Neurodiversity Affirming Practices in Early Childhood by Kerry Murphy. (Routledge 2025). Pic is a photo of the front cover.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Aug 9

It appears this is a response from M&S, re "Bra-gate" - in which a Mum alleged a tall shop assistant had asked her & her teenage daughter if they needed anything, so she decided they must be Trans, & then freaked out & called the Press. Sigh. I hope the teenage daughter is coping with this Mum..

Thank you for contacting us about the article you have seen. We want our stores to be inclusive and welcoming places for our colleagues and customers. We have written to this customer and explained that our colleagues typically work across all departments in our stores and customers can always ask to speak to the colleague they feel most comfortable with. We also explained that our colleague was asking a customer if they needed help. They were not working on a bra fitting or offering this.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Aug 8

Here's a picture of an example birth certificate from public records, anonymised. We can note that it says clearly that it is not a ID document. Married women would probably only have a birth certificate showing their unmarried name. There is of course no photo. Bizarre idea, eh?

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jul 24

Perhaps someone was overly influenced by Star Trek...

A poster for the film Star Trek - Beyond. It shows three characters including Kirk and Spock,

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jul 20

journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1... Loving this! Yes indeed, autistic/ADHD people do indeed have more autistic/ADHD etc neurodivergent friendships. The research article talks about the joys and perils.

Ann Memmott@annmemmott· Jul 14

News today shows the complaints upheld against Gregg Wallace, from 2006 to 2024. That from the new report by Banijay, the production company. These are not autism characteristics. I think we need to be continually clear about this.