As most of you will know (especially regular readers here) when it comes to Autistic friendly venues for adults there are precious few - and when it comes to places like pubs even less so. In fact only one was listed way back in 2018 and they seem to have forgotten about it now (no mention on their website tho' I'll have a full review if/when they get back in touch) so it's great to find a Glasgow-based pub that's not only genuinely Autistic friendly but also serves THE best Macaroni cheese on the planet. Ladies and gentlemen I give you The Admiral Woods at  29 Waterloo St, Glasgow.     Everything about the place is perfect, from the layout to the staff to the menu, the website is easy to navigate and the constantly updated social media (on X and Instagram ) means that not only do you get to see the food served but you can also plan your visit around any events taking place (plus football etc.) or even to avoid busier times. To be honest it's quite probably my fav...

  Celebrating the release of Blade Runner way back in 1982 by soundtracking dystopia with Tyrell approved tunes, Roy Batty beats and synthetic samples. And yes, before you ask Blade Runner is probably one of THE most Autistic coded movies ever ( I even tried to explain why once upon a time ) so this post is justified! Anyway, enjoy....   

 ...Was Autistic.  

For these unsure times, a lovingly crafted collection of all things freakish in tribute to Stuart Maconie's 6Music masterclass..... And for those interested here's the tracklist:  1 Dear Mary/Negativland 2 Great Train Robbery/Funki Porcini 3 March/David Cain 4 Sinfonia To Cantata/Wendy Carlos 5 Manhattan Research Inc./Raymond Scott 6 Lullaby/Krzysztof Komeda 7 Chelsea Girls/Warhola 8 Konkubination/Manfred Hubler & Siegfried Schwab 9 Μάγισσες/Lena Platonos 11 Nursery Chymes/Homosexuals 12 Cannibal Holocaust CostCutters Mix/Dissolved 13 Beth yw-r haf i mi/Llio Rhydderch 14 White Horses/Jackie Lee 15 How Do/The Sneaker Pimps 16 Stridulum (The Visitor)/Franco Micalizzi 17 La Polizia Sta A Guardare/Stelvio Cipriani 18 Maneche/Jacques Lasry 19 Hausu Theme/Godiego 20 Russian Lullaby/Unknown 21 Phone Girl/Unknown 22ビラゴンデブラヘラヘララ/菊池俊輔 23 Midnight Sleighride (from The Lieutenant Kije Suite)/Sergei Prokofiev 24 The Lightning Tree/The Settlers 25 Kachakuchane (Edit...

  Amelia asked me yesterday if I knew what Rey's Midichlorian count was compared to other Force sensitive characters in Star Wars. I had to admit that off the top of my head I didn't. As you can imagine this left me feeling a wee bit foolish and slightly embarrassed so I've been up all night figuring it out. Enjoy. Once a Jedi.... Rey - 27, 000 (or there abouts). And the rest? Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader = 27,700 Darth Sidious/Palpatine = 20,500 Yoda = 17,700 Luke Skywalker = 14,500 Leia Organa Solo = 14,500 Aenon Jurtis (Most powerful Jedi Master prior to Yoda) = 14,200 Shintor Beerus (Ancient Jedi Master) = 13,900 Ce Ce Denowai (The Most Powerful Female Jedi) = 13,700 Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus = 13,500 Obi-Wan Kenobi = 13,400 Kaja Sinis (The First Jedi) = 13,250 Mace Windu = 12,000 Darth Maul = 12,000 General Grievous = 11,900 Kit Fisto = 11,800 Exar Kun (Dark Lord of the Sith during the Sith War) = 11,700 Yaddle = 11,300 Xanatos' (Qui-G...

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...

Back to the hospital the end of last week in regards to my psoriasis which was fun. As regular readers may know I've had a few (major) bouts of psoriasis the last few years which my doctor reckons is stress related (which kinda makes sense), the last of which flared up round about the time I was sorting out Cassidy's college and Social Work situation meaning I've spent the last 8 or so months with about 70% of my body covered in what looks like dragon scales that bleed when I move. Which is absolutely brilliant when coupled with that pesky Autistic body dysmorphia that a fair few of us have. Luckily it's been getting a wee bit better of late, partly due to some terrific steroid spray from my doctor but mainly due to the changes that have occurred relating to Cass and college. Plus it's the summer holidays so we get a wee bit of a break from traveling around all day and the like. Yes believe it or not there are parents who actually do enjoy spending time with their k...

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.