End of School, End of Exams

So last Thursday I sat my final exam of the Leaving Certificate. The Leaving Cert is the Irish equivalent to the SAT's or ACT, the English A-Levels and O-Levels, the French Bac, the Spanish Selectividad, the Scottish SQC and the German Abitur. Application to public universities in Ireland is based off a points system, which may be …

Guest Post by Aodh – A Rant + Self Care for Autistic Teens and Adults

Hi! I'm Aodh. I'm an autistic, non-binary Leaving Cert student. I've never actually blogged, but I'm active on Tumblr and Facebook. I talk a lot about ASD, mental health, and LGBTQ+ issues! I met Tadhg last year when we both spoke at ASD: Myths and Legends in Dublin Castle. Today I'm going to have a rant about …

ASD & Empathy – Guest Post by Finn

"ASD: Myths and Legends" took place in Dublin Castle last Saturday. The event went really well and I think definitely gave the audience an insight into the sheer broadness of the Spectrum. It showed clearly those of us on the spectrum are individuals. We don't just fit into a stereotypes that society has set forth …

ASD: Myths and Legends

To my readers in Ireland, if you can, please support this event that I will be taking part in at Dublin Castle on the 24th September 2016. Six teenagers and adults on the Autistic Spectrum (the "legends") will be speaking about their life experiences, debunking popular myths about our condition and, most importantly, making Autistic …

Sleep, ASD and Mental Health

Sleep is a huge part of our lives; the average person will spend a third of their life asleep. Yet sleep is not something many people give enough thought to. There is a huge correlation between Autism and difficulty with sleeping, this is not something that affects everyone with an Autism Spectrum Disorder but it …

The Other Side of the Internet

The internet can be a great thing, it can educate and bring people together. The internet has given people with Asperger's and other conditions like myself a platform for self expression. It has given us ways to spread awareness around disability and mental health as well as many other world issues, at a previously unprecedented level. It has given …

An Asperger’s Talk For School

Well, the bad new is I'm sick again and the good news is the bad news means I have time to post this. I call that a lose-win situation! 😀 I think I may have mentioned before on my blog that I moved schools last September. I'd rather not go into that too much online. There …

Teenage Mental Health – Guest Post by Kate

Hi , my name is Kate and I'm a friend of Tadhg's and writer of http://blankasmycanvas.blogspot.ie/ Tadhg has asked me to write a guest post on teenage mental health, particularly anxiety for this fabulous blog that he writes. To be honest I don't really know where to start but I suppose the uncomfortableness that I …

The Autism Diagnosis Gender Gap

Today is International Women's Day, a day we set apart each year to recognise the strength of women, to remember the obstacles the Women's Right Movement has overcome and to think about what still needs to be done to combat the issue of sexism in our society. Therefore, I think today is the ideal time …

Echo: A Poem on Bullying

I have previously touched on the subject of bullying on my blog before. Bullying is an issue which affects so many teenagers, and I regret to say I am among their number. It seems in secondary school especially, that there are some people that just make it their mission to single out anyone who is …