A few words on autism, from the perspective of a father whoās just had his own diagnosis. More on that here.
One of the weird ways the internet works is that – under Google rules – your website is deemed to be better and will rise up search engine results screens if it links to lots of other sites. We’ve been down this road discussing such things before: a computer algorithm assesses the quality of a site, not a human being. Hence, clickbait and endless articles about a simple thing.
The problem is in the midst of that, articles that could really use eyes on them get a little lost in the mix. As such, this particular weekly chapter of our Mental Health Matters series is about an article on another site, that we just wanted to amplify. In fact, I’m just going to send you straight to another site, if you don’t mind. Please come back though.
It’s a piece written by a friend of Film Stories, Dan Turner, whose son was diagnosed autistic, and then many years later, Dan has his own diagnosis. He’s been talking about this in an article written at the National Autistic Society, and his words speak for themselves. Hopefully, a link to the article will give it a tiny push in the Google search engine too.
Hereās the piece in question. Hope to see you back here, but either way, you all look after yourselves and take care.
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/stories/dan-s-story
This column will return, ideally back on this site, next weekā¦
Related Stories
- Mental Health Matters | The S Word
Huge trigger warnings for this piece, as our mental health chat this week goes into the topic of suicide.
Yesterday was the 23rd anniversary of my brother’s death. He was 17 at the time, and he died by suicide.
Having battled my own mental health, trauma, and more over the cough-cough years of my life, I too [...]
- Mental Health Matters | Straws that break our back
In our regular mental health chat, a few words on the smaller things that really get on our nerves. Feel free to add to the list...
We’ve all heard the variations of the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ phrase, indicating that just one final small frustration was too much. The one thing that overwhelmed our [...]
- Mental Health Matters | Old dog, new tricks
For our latest mental health chat, a few thoughts on being open to new things, and pushing ourselves just a little...
Did you know that tarantulas have eight eyes, but still have terrible vision? Or that, like an octopus, if they lose a leg it can regrow? Have you ever considered learning how to crochet in [...]
- Mental Health Matters | My chemical balancing act
In our weekly mental health chat, a few words on long term medication, and the taboo that sometimes surrounds it.
My first repeat prescription was given to me at approximately age 12. Now, 30 years later, I am on significantly more daily medications.
For any physical ailment, medication is expected and understood. The same applies to short [...]
- Mental Health Matters | Lowering expectations
Our regular mental health chat returns for 2025, with a few thoughts on lowering expectations of ourselves a bit.
12 mini tubes of acrylic paint, one roll of cling film, and a 20cm x 20cm canvas board. Those were my main tools, a couple of days ago, as I watched reruns of Young Sheldon. It was [...]