Can't believe that's been 2 years since our (award winning) little film AUTISM PLAYS ITSELF had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival so felt it was only right to     re-share it for those who hadn't yet seen it (and if not why not?) or wanted to watch it again,  suffice to say it would be an understatement to say that this is one of the pieces of work I'm still most proud of.           And don't forget that you can actually listen to a version of it on the Radio 4 series Short Cuts  too.       A film shot in 1957 in at the Maudsley Hospital, London, captures the movements and behaviour of children under observation for atypical behaviour. In the present day, three autistic respondents watch the footage, bringing new insightful interpretations of the children’s behaviour as they explore the sparse environment of the clinic. Through speculation and identification, with wit and audacity, the responses fo...

  Can't believe it's been 7 years since I was at the Scottish Parliament ( talking about an art instillation I'd been involved with )....I'll be there Wednesday excitedly - and probably angrily - talking all things Autism to anyone who'll listen (and a fair few who wont) if you see me say "Hi!"  

It popped up in my (Facebook) memories today that it's been exactly 2 years since the magnificent Paul Wady invited me to do 'a wee turn' (which I think is the professional term) during his Eccentrics Unite! Fringe show with my take on Autism and dating as a cult movie fan. They do say write what you know and let's be fair that's all I do know. Well  that and how to hold a pencil.   The actual gig was edited for timing reasons/my rambling ways so it was fairly short 'n' snappy which was unusual for me but as far as I recall it seemed to go down OK. I mean there were no walk-outs but I did make a man visibly uncomfortable with the sheer Autistic intensity of my love for the films of 1982. This has been a dream of mine for years if I'm honest. Which I always am obviously seeing as Autistics are incapable of lying. Probably.  So (any excuse) here to celebrate this monumental cultural event I present the - slightly - longer version of my Fringe debut. As a...

Can't believe that's been a year since our (award winning) little film AUTISM PLAYS ITSELF had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival so felt it was only right to reshare it for those who hadn't seen it (or wanted to watch it again),  suffice to say it would be an understatement to say that this is one of the pieces of work I'm most proud of.           And don't forget that you can actually listen to a version of it on the Radio 4 series Short Cuts  too.       A film shot in 1957 in at the Maudsley Hospital, London, captures the movements and behaviour of children under observation for atypical behaviour. In the present day, three autistic respondents watch the footage, bringing new insightful interpretations of the children’s behaviour as they explore the sparse environment of the clinic. Through speculation and identification, with wit and audacity, the responses forge a new soundtrack from an autistic point of vie...

  I reckon that World Autism Acceptance Week is as good an excuse as any to reshare (again) the transcript of my Spectrum Sinema performance from The Edinburgh Fringe - the actual gig was edited for timing reasons/my rambling ways so it was fairly short 'n' snappy which was unusual for me but it seemed to go down OK. I mean there were no walk-outs but I did make a man visibly uncomfortable with the sheer Autistic intensity of my love for the films of 1982. This has been a dream of mine for years if I'm honest. Which I always am obviously seeing as Autistics are incapable of lying. Probably. Anyway, rather than share the short 'live' presentation I've decided instead to post the current work in progress long version of it. You see I'm currently (still) writing what could either be a book or a show based around the whole idea of Spectrum Sinema so see this as a (saucy) taster. Yes I'm such a tease. Regular readers may recognize some bits from previou...

 Couldn't let Nastassja Kinski's birthday pass without a mention here so here you go.   And for those of you wondering what it has to do with 'The Autism' I suggest you read this . Enjoy.

  So sad to hear that the rather wonderful Tony Slattery has died,  I met him way back in 2019 after he'd seen an illustration I did of him as Doctor Who (he auditioned for the TV movie in '95).     He saw it online and liked it and politely asked for a copy and I was glad to oblige!     If there ever was a national treasures national treasure it would be this man.  Not only was he a story-weaving wizard but an all round top bloke to boot.   RIP sir.

 Well you'll be pleased to know (possibly) that I can actually hear again after a week of horribly tasting antibiotics and slimy eardrops, typically my 'restful' week has been fairly hectic between meetings with the Alasdair Gray Archive (exciting project stuff), the aforementioned exhibition launch in Stirling and tonight I'm off to  the Autism Cross-Party Group meeting at the Scottish Parliament.  And yes I promise to behave.   Tomorrow booze!

Been a busy rollercoaster of a week at chez Loydon 'tween the lows of the whole Social Work/college debacle and the highs of AUTISM PLAYS ITSELF having its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival so we decided to celebrate the fast approaching end of the summer holidays with a family trip thru to The Edinburgh Fringe to see Paul Wady's excellent Eccentrics Assemble – Guerrilla Autistics Year 10 show .   Now I've been good friends with Paul for the last 6 or so years but bizarrely we only ever get to meet up 'in the flesh' as it were during the Fringe or on one of my (infrequent) trips to London so we decided (on a whim) to take the entire Autistic clan (and token NT Rho) to see the show this year so he could finally meet everyone as I'm pretty sure he was beginning to think I'd actually made up my entire family.   Obligatory Twins point at dads artwork shot.    Suffice to say that everyone had a ball - Cassidy sat for the longest time ever (the full sho...

Well that's me back home and (mostly) recovered from the UK premiere of AUTISM PLAYS ITSELF at the Edinburgh Film Festival yesterday and what a day it was.     Yes it was great to finally meet my fellow contributors in the flesh (and yes, they were very lovely) and catch up with the director Janet Harbord after what seems like an age but more importantly (and scarily) it was brilliant - and daunting - to watch the film with an actual audience. Obviously I made merch. And I'm happy to say it seemed to go down fantastically, the audience members I spoke to appeared to just 'get it'....much chat, laughs and excited social interaction ensued.   Team Autism Assemble!   To be honest I'm still processing the whole thing here so no doubt I'll come back to it at some point when I've fully recovered but suffice to say it would be an understatement to say that this is one of the pieces of work I'm most proud of. I hope you can all see it at some point.   But whilst...