A nice celebratory post today seeing as it's 30 years(!) since Ro and myself first met (00:02 on Valentine's Day at The Garage in Glasgow for those interested).   And our first dance?     Just wanted to share!

As with last time, there's not much you can say about the Glasgow Film Theatre re: Autism accessibility because as far as venues go it has to be one of the most all round disability friendly and inclusive places in the city, if not the country. And seven years on from the initial Glasgow city council Autism Initiative it's actually gotten even better.  And yes I'm biased. And not just because I've had my work on the big screen there. The cinema does it all -  Access Film Club  (Autism, Neurodivergent and Learning Disabled-friendly screenings), closed caption, Take Two family events,  Visible Cinema  (Deaf and hard of hearing-friendly screenings),  Movie Memories  (Dementia- friendly screenings) and it also has genuinely brilliant and knowledgeable staff (amongst other things) which all adds up to make the GFT a perfect example of how a venue can tackle the issues of inclusion and get it right. And the fact that it's a small cinema with charity status and a majo...

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...

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 - ...

 To show it's not all doom and gloom here - some photos from last nights annual David Bowie event (held in The Admiral Woods - THE most Autistic friendly pub in Glasgow fact fans) featuring some rather splendid DJ equipment and a smattering of my visuals. Enjoy.

 In a change from the usual Social Work shenanigans and the like here's some photos from the opening of the Autism Through An Autistic Lens exhibition I was involved with, currently showing at The Tolbooth in Stirling. Enjoy.

Can't believe it's 6 years since the Glasgow refugee/asylum seekers installation was unveiled at the St Enoch Centre...   ...now thanks to the shortsightedness of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life and the Scottish Government, projects like this, the Glasgow City Mission 'Can You See Me?' and the Castlemilk Parish Men's Group project (among others) will cease to exist...   Fantastic community resources like The Open Museum and Glasgow Museums Resource Centre , organizations that have done more than anyone else in Glasgow to consistently deliver on the city councils 2018 promise to invest in Autism friendly activities and to make the museum environment a more inclusive place for everyone will be lost and all in the (short sighted) name of cost cutting. And it's not just from the viewpoint of an Autistic museum visitor - in a professional capacity The Open Museum is probably THE most Autistic aware/friendly organisation I've ever had the pleasure to work w...

Popped along to the special Autism friendly morning at Kelvin Hall (in Glasgow, natch) at the start of the month so thought I'd pop a wee review together seeing as this was originally what this blog was for....pre-random rants obviously. I was joined on my day out by the twin engines of destruction Amelia and Embeth who, being ultra-cool 18 year olds, skipped the Soft Play and Climbing sessions and headed straight to The National Library of Scotland for an hour or two of interactive history and - in Embeth's case - some chair (and character) based arts fun. The first thing I noticed upon entering was that the staff actually seem aware that the session was going on and were really happy and enthusiastic to answer my questions which is always a good sign so with my arms full of info and leaflets we headed down to the library hub to see what was on offer. The library itself was a lovely subdued environment (as libraries should be) and the staff were (again) really helpful - aski...

A nice post for  a change (and a post focusing on the reason I started this blog in the first place so long ago!) Kelvinhall (in Glasgow) are hosting a Quiet session this coming Saturday with further sessions planned on the following dates: Saturday 4 March Saturday 3 June Saturday 2 September Saturday 2 December       Glasgow Life Museums  Join Glasgow Life Museums for a special Autism friendly morning at Kelvin Hall. Discover some of the fascinating objects in our handling kits and learn about their history, or find out about some of the weird and wonderful chairs we have in our collection and have a go at making your own chair to take away.  Activity Sessions 10am – 12pm  Drop in, free.  Play n’ Climb  Our Soft Play and Climbing sessions will run with reduced capacity, and no music or  flashing lights.  These sessions will be paid as normal. Softplay Sessions: 11.15am & 13.30pm  Clip n’ Climb Sessions: 12pm & ...

New year, new Autism friendly sessions....and the (usually great) Riverside Museum have posted their Autism Friendly hours....         Yup you read it right, Autism friendly hours are one hour a week 10-11 Friday mornings...but not in December obviously because as we all know we stop being Autistic at Christmas.   Other than that the hours are great, if you're a pre-schooler or retired obviously.   For everyone else not so much.   As someone had posted in reply to them on Twitter, if your kids are school age it's of absolutely no use and I had to add that as an Autistic parent to Autistic children, navigating 'normal' opening hours with kids in tow can be twice as stressful, which is why the previous Sunday sessions were much more convenient.   And Riverside's reply?       There's a lot to unpack in this tweet...way too much to actually reply to in a thread but as a starter.... 'Having these Friday morning sessions allows us to off...

Way back in 2018 I did a review of every (well nearly every) Autistic friendly venue in Glasgow, you see at the time our fair city had announced that it would be Europe's most Autistic friendly place by 2024 which would have been nice if they'd not got bored by 2019. Oh well. Luckily some of the venues involved have kept up the good work, including  The St. Enoch Centre , a huge shopping hub located in the city centre adjacent to St Enoch subway station. You can read the original review here . As an added bonus for them they also kindly agreed to showcase the Glasgow Refugee project I created in 2017 so fair play to them.     Anyway, recently the St Enoch centre has launched updated sensory maps for autistic people to use when visiting the centre. The maps were created in collaboration with Scottish Autism and includes guidance on sounds, smells, lighting and temperature changes to make a more Autism-friendly environment.      Anne Ledgerwood, centre di...

It's been recently reported that Blairvadach outdoor centre - one of the largest of its type in Scotland - will be closing in less than four months as part of a raft of savings in Glasgow council's 2020-21 budget. In response to this, Glasgow City Council has commented that it is committed to exploring "new, innovative and alternative" ways to offer outdoor learning that "complements" a pupil's education. So if it's anything like their stunning ASN transport provision it'll consist of staff turning up when they feel like it - or not at all - and having the day of with a hangover after Old Firm matches whilst constantly bitching about their pay. And all this whilst the folk in the office organizing it cry on the phone at you and tell you how difficult their job is. But why is it so important? I hear you cry. Well in my past life as an arts/play development type (yes I am allowed to work with children, scary as that may seem...

As is the norm around here (well at this time of year anyway) gonna start listing the autism friendly events around Glasgow this coming 'holiday' season. As ever, more to follow! Glasgow's traditional George Square Christmas Market is up and running and although they have a quiet area, no idea if they're doing an Autism-friendly day as last year, which is a wee bit annoying if they don't because inclusion and all that. Mmore to follow when/if they email me back. As last year The Irn Bru Carnival at the SEC goes Autism Friendly over two sessions on December 31 and January 7 for the third year running. Will add times when I get them. The St Enoch Centre has a dedicated Santa time slot for children with learning difficulties and sensory challenges and those dedicated 5 minutes slots are entirely free. Quiet Santa sessions will be held from 10am to 10.40am on Sunday the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd of December. Over at Braehead Shoppin...

Glad to report that Glasgow in general (and especially the museums) are forging ahead with their plan to make the city as autism accessible as possible - from their training programme delivered over the summer (by an actual autistic trainer no less) to their autism friendly events the city is going from strength to strength. As well as the lovely Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (whose Romans event was reviewed here ) the Riverside Museum has also been offering autism-friendly family workshops over summer alongside a quiet safe space on a weekly basis. Talking - well typing - about Riverside from early 2020 their quiet safe space will also be open on the last Saturday of the month (except December) from 10am until 3pm and as always their staff training and consultations with the autistic community will be ongoing too.  Which is all good! The Riverside Museum’s next early opening - which is part of an Accessible Explorathon Event - is on Friday 27th September, 10-11am. A...