Author: Aimee Grant, Associate Professor in Public Health and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, Swansea University

Around a third of autistic people – children and adults alike – are unable to share what they want using speech. You may have heard the term “non-verbal” to describe them, but that’s nearly always inaccurate. Many people without reliable speech still make noises which those close to them can interpret. Others use a small […]

The phrases “autism spectrum” or “on the spectrum” have become part of everyday language. They are often used as different ways of referring to someone who is “neurodivergent”. The term was coined in the 1980s by psychiatrist Dr Lorna Wing, whose work transformed how autism was understood in the UK. At the time, her “autism […]