Dr Katie Twomey

An Autistic Response to: Uta Frith’s “why I no longer think autism is a spectrum” “The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom,” researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass in a recent interview, and my...

I’m having a hard time putting words to my thoughts so for now I’m sharing @neurodivergentrebel.substack.com, thank you for articulating this so well 💜

neurodivergentrebel.com/2026/03/08/a...

Oh my actual god. That's appalling.

Followed you without hesitation for your mention of the Holy Snack

I love how different it is in the UK /s. People will open their windows to get the smell out no doubt. Speaking as a UK person.

THIS. If you’re in central Glasgow tonight please close your windows; if you have to be out please wear the best mask you have available. If you can smell it, you’re at risk.

Reddit screenshot from Glasgow thread. Bright flames rising out the side of a Victorian building.

Video screenshot from Reddit. Building is now a shell with flames visible in every window.

The roof has collapsed embers rise into the night sky.

The fire at Glasgow central station is utterly devastating. Shops, homes and our transport link to England are being wiped out.
I am amazed by the limited news coverage.

This, and the ones that people use for prelinguistic infants are often more simply explained in other ways e.g. perceptual salience.

I grew up in England with an Irish dad so learned about it from him and my Irish family. We got taught nothing about Ireland at school. I remember going to the Imperial War museum and there was one section in a single case that mentioned anything about it. It's shocking.

It was 15 odd years ago but these days I would and then give them a lecture about modern Irish history (these were academics by the way)

🫂 finding out community makes everything better doesn't it. Thank you!

Thank you! I'm glad for you too. It should not take us this long to get the help we need. I'm on the waiting list for oof probably about the next 20 years

I was given one in Iowa effing city and I was so offended

and autistic children, and that's very valuable. I have no regrets apart from my age at diagnosis. Oh, and voting for Nick Clegg in the 90s.

It's a common story isn't it, people getting diagnosed after their kids are, or getting diagnosed when the parenting world gets too much. I wish there'd been better understanding when we were young (assume we're the same age ish). But we're out in the world advocating for and supporting each other

Ha yes! And thank you. It is sad, but I'm not if that makes sense. I have amazing nieces and nephews 💛 and I confess to enjoying lie-ins.

I am at peace with this decision but I'd like to have been able to make it on a better-informed basis.

I didn't get diagnosed until my late 30s by which stage I'd already decided not to have children because I'd struggled so much in life and didn't want to inflict that on anyone else. Who knows where I'd be now if I'd have known (well, soft play probably)

I'm going to mention this again because enough people have signed up to make it non-embarrassing. Among many other things, you get four tickets to my shows a year, so if you were thinking of maybe coming, it pays for itself: a little like a Two Together railcard, which I also really recommend.

Young autistic Irish writers: we want to hear from you! What: Essay between 1000-1500 When: Deadline of Monday 6th April 2026 Where: Send your submissions or queries to irishautisticanthology@gmail.com

More info here: niamhgarvey.com/2026/03/08/s...

@littleislandbooks.bsky.social @newislandbooks.bsky.social

‘Why the hell am I doing this?’ The man navigating Manchester’s biggest job Students cheating via AI and international applications ‘tanking’ – Duncan Ivison is at the helm of a big ship in stormy waters

Today we profile the man who may have the most important job in Manchester. Duncan Ivison runs one of the country's biggest universities, but he faces "tanking" international applications and the threat of AI.

Can his new style of leadership work?

manchestermill.co.uk/why-the-hell...

Never miss a chance to tell my favourite science joke:

Q: What did Crick & Watson discover?

A: Rosalind Franklin’s lab book.

Screenshot from youraislopbores.me. Prompt: "I've had a sad day and now I'm in bed. Could you write me something to cheer me up?" Response: "The reason trains in the UK have a speed limit of 125 is because that's how fast intercity 125s went (I like trains)"

Thank you train person. Knowing you're out there being kind did cheer me up ❤️

This

I very much respect you and we have contacts in common in the disability sphere but please consider not promoting this. I am a late-diagnosed autistic woman and this interview gave me chills. Frith has not listened to the autistic community.

🌳

I honestly wonder whether this would have happened if the pandemic hadn't

They are v pretty. I suppose one way of fighting the bullshit/staying sane is to create nice things. Let's leave academia and start something we can subsist on living in atelier making something beautiful with our hands.

I would love to understand the psychology of it, because it feels like everyone in my sector (higher education) has got their fingers in their ears going HELLO CLOUDS HELLO TREES EVERYTHING IS FINE when it's patently heading towards a collapse, which ultimately we're all going to have to sort out

It’s not as if scholars and writers and artists have been grappling with understanding and explaining and expressing human consciousness for centuries is it

I'm happy for you that you're escaping. I'm sad for you and me and anyone who thinks tech could be a force for good. It must be soul-destroying for anyone with any critical thinking skills in the industry.