A Different Sort of Normal by Abigail Balfe was published a couple of years ago and I feel like I need to apologise for not reviewing it sooner. It has jumped straight into my list of AWESOME books about autism!(*Underlined text and the pictures in this post are affiliate links; as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but it won't cost you any extra!)There seem to be very few ..read more

MindJam is an organisation I first heard about a few years ago, when our PDA daughter was unable to attend school and was struggling to engage with anyone. She began some weekly sessions playing Minecraft with a mentor and this gave us both some hope for the future. Dan Clark is the inspiring, hardworking guy behind MindJam. His experience of music and teaching eventually brought him to a ..read more

This year I took a trip up the amazing Summit One Vanderbilt building, the latest destination skyscraper to visit in New York City. The views were stunning! I thought I would share some of my photos and also a list of top tips that might help if you are thinking of visiting.Top Tips for going up the Summit:1. Buy tickets online in advance.I recommend buying from the Summit website in advance if ..read more

'Girl Unmasked - How Uncovering My Autism Saved My Life' is an awesome new book written by 22 year old Emily Katy.(*Underlined text and the pictures in this post are affiliate links; as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but it won't cost you any extra!)Emily has a brilliant blog called Authentically Emily where she has been sharing some of her experiences for the past few years ..read more

Would you like more information about the Pathological Demand Avoidance profile of autism? Do you know someone else who might benefit from learning more about PDA? Have you heard about the PDA Summit?I have been writing about the PDA profile of autism for over twelve years, after stumbling across the words Pathological Demand Avoidance online. I had realised that the descriptions of PDA ..read more

In the last few years, I have read a lot of books. Most of them have been written by remarkable women who I greatly admire. Most of what I've read is not fiction, but real, true life stories that include an aspect of difference. I didn't have a lot of time for reading when my girls were young and needed a lot of attention, but I feel I'm making up for lost time now!For International Womens Day ..read more

There's a new book out now and it's called Square Me, Round World. Written by Chelsea Luker, an autistic/ADHDer psychologist and owner of Connect Us Psychology, and illustrated by Eliza Fricker from Missing the Mark, this book aims to share insights and prompt conversation around neurodiversity by sharing stories of 'growing up in a world not built for you'.(*Underlined text and the pictures ..read more

There's been a lot going on for us lately but there has been one book at the top of my pile to read and review as soon as I could, and that is A Very Modern Family* by Carrie & David Grant.(*Underlined text and the pictures in this post are affiliate links; as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but it won't cost you any extra!)I bought the audiobook as soon as it was ..read more

Our book, PDA in the Family: Life After the Lightbulb Moment, is out now! Lots of people who use social media will of course know this already (the publication date was in January 2024) but it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't yet updated this blog with the news.We held an online Zoom Q&A session at the end of January to celebrate the book launch. I was honoured that Debbie Wood from ..read more

In January 2010, 14 years ago, I sat down at my computer and the 'Steph's Two Girls blog' was born. I had just returned from an appointment with a paediatrician, and I had been told that our 2 year old daughter was most likely autistic. I had, of course, no clue as to what our life was going to be like from that point on - who does?! I didn't even have much of an idea about what blogging was ..read more