Ann Memmott
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annmemmott.bsky.social
Ann Memmott
@annmemmott.bsky.social
6.3K followers 1.1K following 2K posts
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.
Posts Replies Media Videos
annmemmott.bsky.social
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/
October 8, 2025 at 9:11 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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.
September 23, 2025 at 12:25 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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.
September 17, 2025 at 10:47 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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'
September 17, 2025 at 10:05 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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.
August 30, 2025 at 3:36 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
Latest reading material. Neurodiversity Affirming Practices in Early Childhood by Kerry Murphy. (Routledge 2025). Pic is a photo of the front cover.
August 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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.
August 9, 2025 at 9:44 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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?
August 8, 2025 at 11:19 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
Perhaps someone was overly influenced by Star Trek...
A poster for the film Star Trek - Beyond. It shows three characters including Kirk and Spock,
July 24, 2025 at 8:59 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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.
July 20, 2025 at 9:14 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
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.
Gregg Wallace substantiated allegations. 16 sexually explicit comments, 12 inappropriate comments, 7 instances of bullying, 4 instances of culturally insensitive/racist comments, 3 instances of being in a state of undress inappropriately, 2 instances of sexualised comments to or about someone, 1 instance of unwanted physical contact.
July 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
A chance to take part in couples research on romantic relationships & the 'double empathy' situation. Can be autistic or neurotypical. Needs both you & your partner to complete a 10-ish minute survey. Find out more below.
Link forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/respon...
h/t @drmbothapsych.bsky.social
Flyer from Durham University seeking participants for an MSc psychology study. The study examines the effect of the "double empathy problem" on romantic relationships. Participants have a 1 in 4 chance of winning a £20 voucher. Sections of the flyer include: What does the study involve? A 10-minute anonymous online survey. Participation requires both you and your partner to complete the survey. Who can take part? Anyone over 18 who is in a romantic relationship. Participants can be autistic (including self-diagnosed) or neurotypical. How to take part? Fill out a form by clicking the link or scanning the QR code. Enter both your and your partner’s email addresses. The survey will then be sent to your emails. Link provided: https://forms.cloud.microsoft.com/e/NCxS48S1QR Contact information: If you have any questions, contact the researcher at: lucy.o’brien@durham.ac.uk The flyer includes Durham University's logo and a QR code on the right side.
July 13, 2025 at 5:40 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
In the world of 'You just can't make this up', this, from today's Times, in which we are told that Mr W - rich, famous, cannot possibly cover his bits at appropriate times because he can't wear pants. And that's because he's autistic.
I don't know where to begin unpacking how much 'no' this is.
July 10, 2025 at 10:04 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
I found this helpful to reflect upon.
Lana, posting on other social media, gives a view about the antics of groups in the USA. "If you are using undocumented immigrants' tax records to find and kidnap them, then it was never about them paying taxes. If you are showing up at their place of employment, then it was never about them not working. If you are showing up at courthouses, then it was never about getting them to "do it the right way". If you are kidnapping women and children, then it was never about criminals. If you're refusing to give them due process, then it was never about the Constitution. If you are building concentration camps in Florida to keep them here in cages, then it was never about the border. If you're spending billions to do this, then it was never about the economy. And if you're doing all this in the name of a 34 time convicted felon, then it was never about following the law."
July 7, 2025 at 2:00 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
On a day of more daunting international news, thankful for the roses in the garden.
Praying for reconciliation and peace, somehow.
A peach coloured rose in bloom, with other rosebuds close to blooming.
June 22, 2025 at 5:58 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
meridian.allenpress.com/ajidd/articl... I read a new ABA research paper about how to enforce 'correct' play for autistic children (!). It relied heavily on this paper, from 2020, for its main views.
It tells us that happiness is believed to be irrelevant as an outcome of play.
What on earth....
Positive affect. One element of play that was rarely directly measured in this research is positive affect or behavioral indicators of happiness or enjoyment. Although descriptive definitions of play within play taxonomies often include positive affect (Barton, 2014), in the current review, Lang and colleagues (2009) and Reinhartsen and colleagues (2009) were the only authors who measured child affect during or postintervention. Research has advanced to support play as a critical intervention goal, suggesting overt enjoyment or positive affect is not a critical element. That is, changes in affect during academic or adaptive interventions are not generally considered relevant and its role in play research is thus far understudied. Descriptive studies showing changes in affect during play are needed before positive affect should be considered a behavioral marker of play. However, future research could identify methods of measuring changes in positive affect following the acquisition of play skills (e.g., counting smiles and laughter).
June 17, 2025 at 8:56 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
Strange belief sets about 'rescuing' autistic children from their 'own world', or indeed magically creating them from spare parts of some kind, aren't just found in DIR Floortime of course. Here's the bizarre thinking of co-founder of Applied Behaviour Analysis, Ivar Lovaas (!)
Sigh.
A picture of Ivar Lovaas, a white older man. "You see, you start pretty much from scratch when you work with an autistic child. You have a person in the physical sense - they have hair, a nose and a mouth - but they are not people in the psychological sense. One way to look at the job of helping autistic kids is to see it as a matter of constructing a person. You have the raw materials, but you have to build the person". Interview with Paul Chance, 1974.
June 11, 2025 at 1:41 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
According to the Autism Society in the USA, DIR/Floortime is there to 'increase socialisation...and decrease repetitive behaviours".
The Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based (DIR) intervention model, also known as Floor Time™, is designed to help children work around processing difficulties to reestablish effective contact with caregivers or play partners and begin to master developmentally appropriate skills. It is designed to increase socialization, improve language, and decrease repetitive behaviors.
June 10, 2025 at 7:35 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
These photos may help as one example. Top photo, busy restaurant, as many might see it. Bottom photo, how I might see it if I'm in there long enough - utterly overwhelmed by the noise, smells, whirl of bodies, lighting, etc etc. The effect is just awful. Not a 'behaviour'. Understandable distress.
Two example photos of a crowded noisy restaurant. The scene at the top as it might appear to most people, perhaps. The scene at the bottom for some autistic people once in sensory and social overwhelm. Blinding, deafening, overpowering stench of competing foods and aftershaves, perfumes and drinks, clattering, clanging, shouting, laughing, music blaring, and very understandably some cannot tolerate it any more and have to leave, or become very distressed and enter a meltdown, or go into a silent and awful-to-experience shutdown. It's not a 'bad behaviour' from us. It's being put into an environment that we're simply not designed for.
June 3, 2025 at 6:27 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
Given how many fabulous autistic Anaesthetists there are (amongst other Medical/wider Professionals), I sense this team could do with reading something more modern than the 1980s. And, reading what autistic people say about using such drugs to stop us stimming etc (an aim in their paper).
Poll from X, for autistic people, 2200 votes in total. Do they want autism charities to help groups do experiments on autistic children, giving them a drug to see if it 'normalises' their social skills? The vast majority said no.
June 3, 2025 at 11:05 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
New book by Routledge, "An Essential Guide to Caring for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People". (Routledge publishers, 2025). Focusing mostly on learning disability, and written with Nurses in mind, but loads that's relevant to everyone involved. Lots to like in this.
An essential guide to caring for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Book by Routledge Publishers, 2025. The cover is hand drawn and shows inspirational quotes, a planet, a field, trees and a house, with a pathway. Colour scheme mostly blue and green with some orange and brown.
June 1, 2025 at 8:33 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
The longer list, according to the parents who wanted these for their children.
Huge list of things the autistic children could do after having social skill normalisation from a robot, apparently, according to their parents. Snip from the paper.
May 31, 2025 at 10:01 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... is our link to the paper.
And these are some of the outcomes they want, after the robot intervention.
There's a huge list, including all of the standard normalisation ones.
Who decides what is appropriate or inappropriate?/
Less preoccupied with self-interested topics. Reduced inappropriate body touch with others. Reduced inappropriate self-muttering and voice-making. Maintained appropriate social distance with others. Improved eye contact. Improved manner. Enhanced attending and listening during communication Etc etc within paper.
May 30, 2025 at 12:07 PM
annmemmott.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... I think Frances Ryan and I have the same set of thoughts. Terrible poverty is a political choice, for countries with as much wealth as we have. Glad of the many Politicians who are challenging this awful situation.
@francesryan.bsky.social
There are moments when I wonder how exactly a Labour landslide has come to this. How a government that was elected with gutter-low expectations less than a year ago has, with such efficiency, failed to meet even them. I remember the headlines in recent years about children sleeping on their bedroom floor because they don’t have a bed, or pretending to eat out of an empty lunchbox as they’re ashamed their parents can’t afford a sandwich, and I wonder how this column even needs to be written. A Labour government is in power and we are still debating whether the state should help children who are cold, hungry and dirty
May 26, 2025 at 10:48 AM
annmemmott.bsky.social
Lovely to see the peacocks enjoying the Spring, at a local Arboretum.
A peacock and hen, resting in grass by a tree.
May 25, 2025 at 9:37 AM