A brand new addition to the Autism friendly venue/shopping list now (I do like to keep you on your toes) and it's the HMV store in Argyle Street in Glasgow.   Since the girls have been at college we've gotten into the routine of visiting the same few shops on our way to the bus, one of which is the aforementioned store and over the last 18 months we've noticed how friendly and accommodating the staff are. Whenever the girls walk in they're greeted by a 'hello' and always answer Embeth when she says "Hi" to them, no-one bats an eyelid at their DVD cover chat routine as Amelia teases me with a copy of The Last Jedi and at the cash desks the staff are always chatty and attentive, happily talking about each others badges and t-shirts and even joining in with the high fives as they leave. Friendly and helpful, it's a great place that the girls genuinely get excited about visiting. And not just for the cool t-shirts and brilliant Disney and cult TV secti...

First up in my re-review/catch up on Glasgow's Autistic friendly venues is one of our favourites and a place we visit frequently - the fantastic  Riverside Museum   (AKA the Transport Museum).   As mentioned previously , the Riverside has over 3,000 objects on display - there's everything from skateboards to steam trains, paintings to prams and cars to a Star Wars Stormtrooper and often hosts a myriad of (free) transport themed events within the museum grounds including hands on vintage vehicle days and even interactive Star Wars events ( reviewed here ).  And to be fair I've said before that there's not much you can do to realistically  'Autism-up' something like an art gallery or museum but the Riverside (and its staff) have always seemed to be totally onboard when it comes to the needs of Autistic visitors - the layout of the museum has a nice, consistent feel and the map (handed out as you enter) is clear and uncluttered, there's a dedicated q...

Way, way back in the mists of time and when the universe was half its present size I decided (against my better judgement) to start this Autism blog partly because my adopted home town of Glasgow had decided to go all Autism-friendly even going as far as making a map of all the Spectrum-safe places in the city and awarding a rather spiffy Autism Aware badge to venues that are deemed worthy. So seeing as I was bored one afternoon waiting for the girls to finish dance rehearsals I decided to go visit every single one of them (unannounced obviously) and review them all. Yup, tell me you're Autistic without telling me you're Autistic.     Around the same time Glasgow City Council proudly (and somewhat foolishly you might say) decreed that by 2025 - or thereabouts - Glasgow would be 'the most Autistic friendly city in Europe'. So here we are 7 years later and I've decided to revisit and re-review every one of those venues - well the ones that are still open obviously - ...

So, it's 4 years today since my Sedgley UFO tweet went a wee bit mental so to celebrate the only time I've ever been popular here's a link to the post explaining the full sorry tale .  Plus as a special treat here's myself and Rho excitedly discussing it on the Ashrology podcast .  Enjoy. And remember, the truth is out there. Probably.