Vaila

Grey cloud hanging over a sunny coastline.

Not that you can tell but it was snowing when I took this. And unfortunately there was also a camera crew loitering in my normally deserted locale, probably looking for otters. So I went home.

#Winter #Scotland

Cover illustration for the board game Birdwatcher. A pair of Blue Birds-of-Paradise are here courting among tropical foliage. The male hangs upside down above the female, flaring out his breast and flank feathers and waving two long ribbon-like tail plumes while she assesses his display.

Looking for new and creative ways to impress your valentine? Try hanging upside down by your toenails and making yourself look extra-wide!

🎨🪶 #SciArt #BirdArt

Ice sitting on top of a voe. Yellowed grass and grey clouds.

Sea freezing again here.

#Winter #Scotland

AUTSCAPE (@autscape@c.im) Attached: 1 image Dear Autscape attendees and allies, We at Autscape are very happy to announce that registration for #OnlineAutscape2026 “Evolving Autistic Space Online” is now open! The event wil...

Please spread the word: registration for #OnlineAutscape2026 “Evolving Autistic Space Online” is now open! We've got an amazing line-up of presenters & more: c.im/@autscape/11...
#Autscape #ActuallyAutistic #neurodiversity #neurodivergent #neurodivergence #autism #AutisticSpace #autistic #conference

Colourful bubbles in the dark, with Happy New Year! and the Autscape logo.

Save the dates for our 2026 events:

⭐ #OnlineAutscape2026: Evolving Autistic Space Online
📅 6-8 February, Zoom & Discord

⭐ #Autscape2026: Autism and Neurodiversity in Society
📅 17-20 August, High Leigh conference centre in Hertfordshire

www.autscape.org

#Autscape #ActuallyAutistic #autisticspace

Remember applications close on 28th February 2026. Get your application in now! (Also still taking donations to the fund)

AUTSCAPE (@autscape@c.im) Attached: 1 image Registration for #OnlineAutscape2026 is nearly ready to open! The Autscape Programme Team received an abundance of high quality proposals. We have included as many as possible in ...

Registration for #OnlineAutscape2026 is nearly ready to open!

As we wait for final confirmations to publish the whole programme, we would like to introduce our guest from Australia, Dr Sharon Zivkovic. See: c.im/@autscape/11...

#autscape #autism #ActuallyAutistic #employment #SocialEnterprise

Woof! - Album by Hannah Gadsby Listen to Woof! by Hannah Gadsby on YouTube Music - a dedicated music app with official songs, music videos, remixes, covers, and more.

New Hannah Gadsby for us all. #woof

music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

A coloured pencil drawing of a mountain hare in snow. Drawn on warm grey paper. There are snowflakes falling, and the hare is in the bottom right of the image, hunkered down.

Day twenty-three of #ArtAdventCalendar

Here is a coloured pencil drawing of a mountain hare in the snow.

angled-down image of a toad, facing right and sitting on a substrate of dirt and dried grasses. The toad's overall color is a pale yellowish green, and there are random splotches of charcoal gray and greenish yellow. The sides and limbs of the toad are covered with warty tubercules, some greenish, some yellow. The iris of the eye is greenish yellow and flecked with black, and the pupil is dark and horizontally elliptical.

For #FrogFriday here's one from back in 2021, an Eastern Green Toad (Anaxyrus debilis debilis) from southern Texas. One of the smaller 'true toads' in the U.S. and toadally lovely. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿

#TigerBeetles — the #Christmas lights of the #insect world! #biodiversity

(Fig. 1 from Duran et al. 2020)
doi.org/10.3390/genes1…

Photograph of a brown velvety butterfly with light yellow band and blue spots along the edges of its wings. It is perched on a bare twig with wings spread. The background is soft focus beige.

Spring survivor #ArtAdventCalendar #Photography

An overwintered Mourning Cloak butterfly warms up in the early spring sunshine

A closeup photo of a beautiful, sparkling turquoise weevil on a mossy stick against and orange background.

Here is your Wednesday Weevil, waving. It's a broad-nosed weevil, (unsure of the species), that I spotted on a dirt road in the mountains of Colombia in '23. I initially moved to pick it up because I thought it was a small piece of trash, like a bit of shiny candy wrapper. 🐙🌿📷 #BugSky

📈💚
New poll shows @scottishgreens.org on course to double MSPs

The IPSOS Mori poll shows a record Green result and puts us within touching distance of Labour in 2nd place.

People want bold solutions to the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency.

It is only Greens who are offering them.

Very true in my experience, the system that’s supposed to be there to help you inflicts the most horrible experiences by not believing you, manipulations, incompetence, gaslighting, and threats of lawyers. The power they hold makes everything worse. Good to know it’s recognised somewhere at least.

Would recommend signing up to mailing list for these seminars, this one was excellent.

A beautiful male mountain bluebird (two shades of blue light and dark) sits on a line of barb wire against a brown backdrop.

Bird on a wire (mountain bluebird) #Bird #Nature #Wildlife #ArtAdventCalendar

Brutal.

“Streeting, whose Wikipedia page falsely asserts he was born “in 1983” instead of “yesterday”, has recently decided to go after the ADHDers with the same punk-rock disregard for scientific rigour and empirical evidence he applies to attacking trans and disabled people.”

RSF massacres left Sudanese city ‘a slaughterhouse’, satellite images show Up to 150,000 residents of El Fasher are missing since North Darfur capital fell to paramilitary Rapid Support Forces

In the devastated city of El Fasher, satellites have spotted a network of newly dug incineration and burial pits thought to be for the disposal of large numbers of bodies. 150,000 residents remain unaccounted for since the city fell to the RSF.

“Yet ADHD is significantly underdiagnosed in the UK, with only one in nine ADHD adults receiving a diagnosis. Autistic adults face similarly large gaps in identification and access to support.“

Deaf people who use BSL face ‘entrenched’ health and social care exclusion, say government advisers Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) face “entrenched” and “systemic” exclusion from health and social care services across Britain, according to a new report by government advisers. The…

Deaf people who use British Sign Language face “entrenched” and “systemic” exclusion from health and social care services across Britain, according to a new report by government advisers.
#BSL #Deaf #Deafblind
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/deaf-people-...

Did you know that disabled people are far more likely to experience domestic abuse or be trapped in violent relationships?

There’s an imbalance of power when you’re depending on others for activities of daily living.

Disability also keeps you below the poverty line.

I described masking (without knowing what it was) burnout etc to several different mental health professionals. Did any one of them ever suggest autism? No. It took me researching my arse off and directly asking for an autism assessment.

Took several years and finally get told I’m “textbook.” (!)

And what autistic adults are receiving a formal diagnosis without first self-diagnosing? It's not like we go to the doctor and they notice traits and refer us for a neuropsych eval. The only difference between me with my official dx and a self-dx autistic is that I found an assessor and had money.

onlooker: [insufferable whining] but Aslynn! Self diagnosis is baaaad 😠

👏🏻 tell
👏🏻 me
👏🏻 why

when adults w/ autism self-identify, risk of suicide goes down, psychotherapy becomes more effective, people find community, insight, coping skills, forgiveness for themselves & their families because… 🧵

Blackbird in a tree in the process of swallowing a red berry surrounded by red berries

Blackbird with a gobstopper! 😁
Taken last weekend at RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset. 😊🐦
#birds 🪶

You can buy my exclusive 2026 Birds calendars here;
www.carlbovis.com/2026-birds-c... 😊❤️

Pink clouds at the horizon mixed with grey wispy ones.

Orange patches of cloud with grey ones above.

Nice morning here. 8.15 and 8.30.

#sunrise #Scotland #SkySky

Does anyone know an Autistic artist/craftsperson that does simple wood working or burning or something similar?

I need 2 tiny signs for my office doors, in/out of office, flip the sign

I have a logo and stuff but I honestly don’t care if it uses my logos/fonts/whatevs

Thank you internet pals!

Heartbreak! Autistic woman unsure how to tell special interest she’s fallen out of love with it An autistic woman is just going through the motions with her special interest because she doesn’t have the heart to tell it the spark is gone, sources have confirmed. Freya Emerson, 30, and her…

Freya Emerson, 30, and her long-term hyperfixation, dinosaurs, 225 million, have reportedly been growing apart lately, with Emerson unexpectedly developing feelings for Greek mythology.

“I Guess when a Lot of People Collectively Outwardly Don’t Like you, you Start to find a Dislike Within Yourself”: Experiences of Belonging Among Autistic Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth in Mains... There is evidence that feeling a sense of belonging supports pupils’ social acceptance and is a protective factor against harmful psychological outcomes. Despite this, limited research has considered ...

The title of our paper is drawn from a participant’s words. It is a stark reminder of how social environments shape our inner worlds.
And yet, these voices are also deeply hopeful. They show us not only what is missing but what could be.... link.springer.com/article/10.1...