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Autism Acceptance Week: What is Autism and What Does Acceptance Look Like? — Authentically Emily
I was sixteen when the question of whether I could possibly be autistic arose and, at this stage, my understanding of autism was limited. I thought about the TV series Atypical that I had recently watched and about Sheldon from The…
One Year of Girl Unmasked — Authentically Emily
It is the 28th March 2025 - one whole year since the publication of Girl Unmasked: How Uncovering My Autism Saved My Life . One year ago today, at my book launch, I stood at the front of a room packed with almost everyone I loved and cried for a solid twenty minutes....
Autism, ADHD and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) — Authentically Emily
I recently worked with the National Centre For Autism and Mental Health (NCAMH) to record some podcasts as part of course content for their diploma. One of these was on autism and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD)…
Neurodiversity Celebration Week — Authentically Emily
It’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week - a week for neurodivergent people to celebrate their neurodivergence (if they want to), to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions and to advocate for more inclusive and supportive environments where everybody can flourish…
International Women’s Day 2025: The Fight For Neurodivergent Women and Girls — Authentically Emily
It’s International Women’s Day 2025 and gender inequality and health inequalities still have major consequences for neurodivergent women and girls. Whilst there have been changes and improvements (for example, the narrowing…
Why World Book Day Is So Important — Authentically Emily
I’m a day late, I know. That’s how life goes sometimes, especially when you’ve got ADHD. But I couldn’t resist writing about World Book Day anyway, because, as I’m sure you know, I love books. Books allow you to step into whole other worlds, explore new cultures, experience different…
The Publishing Process and How I Became a Sunday Times Bestseller — Authentically Emily
As we approach paperback launch week (which is NEXT week!), I feel a bit like I’m saying goodbye to the hardback era of Girl Unmasked. I know many people prefer paperbacks - they’re cheaper, lighter and have a different feel. I’ve always been a firm paperback lover too, but…
School-Based Anxiety and Attendance — Authentically Emily
Sometimes it feels like the only thing that matters to politicians and education leaders is school attendance. And when they declare that the best place for children to be is in school, it makes me feel like my school experience doesn’t matter, and makes me feel angry for all the children…
BBC Disclosure: Kids on the Psychiatric Ward - A Reflection — Authentically Emily
BBC Scotland’s Disclosure ‘Kids on the Psychiatric Ward’ tells the stories of young adults who were patients at Skye House, a children’s mental health unit in Glasgow, between 2017 and 2024. I have just watched the programme and…
ARFID is Not ‘Fussy Eating’: The Truth About Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder — Authentically Emily
Sky News published an article yesterday titled ‘ARFID: The little-known eating disorder that is on the rise’ and the responses on social media highlight the extent of stigma and misunderstanding surrounding this condition…
Managing a Trip to Thailand as an Autistic Person — Authentically Emily
I absolutely love seeing and exploring new places, but when my boyfriend suggested that we plan a trip to Thailand, I was initially hesitant. Being autistic means that some things can be more challenging, and I felt anxious about many things, like…
Things I’ve Learned in 2024 — Authentically Emily
2024, a year of endless growth, authenticity and joy. Somehow we have reached the end of 2024, despite it feeling like only last week that I wrote my ‘Reflections on 2023’ blog post. I couldn’t be more grateful for the past year: for the people in my life; the release of Girl Unmasked and…
Autism and ADHD Book Guide - for Children and Young People — Authentically Emily
To quote Elle McNicoll, incredibly talented and awesome neurodivergent author, “Every child deserves to see themselves reflected positively in stories…The world needs unapologetically neurodivergent characters.” In this book guide you will find book recommendations…
An Autistic Guide to Christmas — Authentically Emily
Some people love Christmas and some people hate it. I imagine most of us who celebrate fall somewhere in the middle. There have been Christmases where I’ve felt so excited and full of joy. There was also a Christmas when I lay on the sofa in another room, too low to join in…
How to Manage a Long-Haul Flight as an Autistic ADHDer — Authentically Emily
I just had the most amazing two weeks in Thailand (like two of the best weeks of my life). We flew to Bangkok where we stayed for 2 nights before going to Chiang Mai for 4 nights, then Koh Samui for 3 nights and Koh Tao for 5 nights before heading back to…
The Mental Health Bill: Autism and Sectioning — Authentically Emily
I survived OCD, anxiety and depression, and growing up autistic without my needs being understood. But I also survived the mental health system - which is something that can be hard to explain. In September, 2,020 autistic people/people with learning disabilities were in mental health hospitals a
ADHD: What is ADHD, Positives of ADHD and Avoiding ADHD Burnout — Authentically Emily
It’s the end of ADHD Awareness Month. In true ADHD fashion, I’ve been putting off writing this blog post for the whole month. Because getting started on tasks and procrastination is something ADHDers tend to struggle with. I found out I had ADHD when I was 21 and it helped make…
World Suicide Prevention Day - Suicide Prevention, Autism, ADHD & Suicide, and a Message to You — Authentically Emily
Today, September 10th, is World Suicide Prevention Day. In 6 days, it will be 7 years since I was admitted to hospital for the first time. I was 16, had just started sixth form and the years of anxiety and OCD had become too much. I didn’t think I had a future. But I was wrong...
Girl Unmasked - Signed and Dedicated Limited Edition — Authentically Emily
A limited number of signed and dedicated copies of Girl Unmasked are now available to order exclusively from Coles Books ! Thank you to everyone who has asked for these. I am really excited to be able to dedicate these, sign them and get them into your...
Authentically Emily Store - My Mindmaps — Authentically Emily
OWN PRODUCT/AD Hello! A word of warning - this is less of a blog post and more of an update. I now have a store on my website where you can buy the PDF downloads of my mindmaps. I have been asked so many times about making a way to buy these so I have finally...
You Are Allowed To Make Your Own Adjustments: How I Managed a Hen Do as an Autistic Person — Authentically Emily
It was my friend’s hen do recently and I was worried about how I would manage it. I struggle socialising in big groups, I don’t enjoy bars or clubs and there was lots of things that I felt anxious about, but I really wanted to go and celebrate my friend...
Autistic Masking — Authentically Emily
I was diagnosed with autism when I was 16. Like many autistic people (though not all), I grew up masking my autism. Doing my best to suppress parts of me I recognised seemed different to other people, parts I grew to be ashamed of as things happened which taught me I should be. I didn’t know that wh
The Misdiagnosis of Autistic Distress in the Mental Health System — Authentically Emily
When I am asked why I wrote Girl Unmasked, I say that I was angry. Which is true. I was angry at finding myself sectioned on a psychiatric unit at the age of 16, at the doctor there telling me I just had high social anxiety not autism, at the fact they described my autistic meltdowns as ‘hysteric at
The Good Within The Broken System — Authentically Emily
Amongst the brokenness of the system, the difficult experiences, and the trauma, there is also good. And sometimes the smallest things make the world of difference. What about… The nurse on the CAMHS unit who sat in my room night after night talking to me about her rabbits because…
ARFID Awareness Day — Authentically Emily
Today is the first ever ARFID Awareness Day, thanks to the hard work of ARFID Awareness UK - the UK’s only charity dedicated to raising awareness of ARFID. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (aka ARFID) is an eating disorder which lacks awareness and understanding…
Challenges Autistic and ADHD People Face in Healthcare and What Can Help — Authentically Emily
Research tells us that there are a range of barriers to accessing and receiving healthcare for autistic and ADHD people, at all stages across an individual’s life (Malik-Soni et al., 2022; Young et al., 2021). Autism and ADHD are both associated with lower life expectancies…
Autism and Mental Health: Practical Advice for Managing Your Mental Health — Authentically Emily
Last month, I wrote a rather depressing but important blog post on why so many autistic people struggle with their mental health. Read it here. As promised, I’m back with some practical advice on managing mental health as an autistic person. Firstly, I want to acknowledge that managing mental heal
Mental Health Awareness Week: The Exclusion of Mental Illness and What We Should Be Talking About — Authentically Emily
Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week. It is good that more people are talking about mental health now than in the past. It is good that there are conversations taking place about how to look after your mental health. It is good that people are talking about how important mental hea
Autistic Burnout: Your Brain’s Recovery Mode — Authentically Emily
As an autistic person, life can be a LOT. Research shows that our brains process more information at any one time than non-autistic people’s brains (Brinkert & Remington, 2020). Every day, we have to manage sensory discomfort, overwhelm, social challenges, executive dysfunction, exhaustion f
Graduating ADHD Coaching! — Authentically Emily
From August 4th 2023 to April 26th 2024…I have graduated ADHD Coaching! (if this is even a thing…i have made it a thing). Nine months ago, I was struggling to come to terms with my fairly new ADHD diagnosis and had no sense of how to make life (which just felt constantly stressful) easier for my A
Autism and Mental Health: Why do so many autistic people struggle? — Authentically Emily
Research suggests that 80% of autistic people experience mental health problems throughout their life, and around 40% of suicides are estimated to be autistic people (Autistica, undated; Cassidy et al. 2022). This is incredibly sad. There are a variety of reasons why this might be the case.
GIRL UNMASKED: Publication Week, Podcasts and Waterstones Event — Authentically Emily
The past couple of weeks have been the most surreal of my life. GIRL UNMASKED is officially out in the world, and I am filled with gratitude. On Wednesday 27th March, I saw it in Waterstones for the first time (it was on the shelf a day early!). It’s fair to say that it was a very surreal experien