In 1983, a documentary titled The Children of Darkness aired, casting an unflinching spotlight on the challenges faced by children with autism and the underexposed world of psychiatric institutions in America. At the time of its release, the documentary stunned audiences with its raw portrayal of autistic children and the conditions they lived under in the 1970s
Self-injurious behaviour (SIB), such as hitting the head or body, is one of the most distressing things a caregiver can witness. It’s frightening, confusing, and often misunderstood. The uncomfortable truth: this behaviour is not random, attention-seeking, or “bad behaviour.”It is communication, usually of distress, in a child whose nervous system is overloaded and whose ability
Dementia wandering is often dismissed as “confusion” or “restlessness.” That framing is not just wrong, it’s unsafe. Wandering is meaningful, patterned behaviour driven by unmet needs, distorted perception, and failing internal navigation systems. If you don’t understand why it happens, you’ll default to containment. Containment increases distress. Distress increases wandering. That’s the loop many families get trapped in. This
Autistic children don’t wander because they are careless, disobedient, or poorly supervised. Those explanations are lazy and dangerous. Wandering, often called elopement – is a predictable response to unmet needs, environmental stressors, and communication gaps. If you treat it as a behavioural problem, you will keep reacting too late. If you treat it as a systems problem,
“Aging in place” has become the gold standard of elderly care. Ask older adults where they want to live, and the answer is almost universal: at home. Ask policymakers and service providers, and you’ll hear the same phrase repeated with confidence, as if the debate is settled. It isn’t. The conversation around aging in place
In recent years, the term AUDHD has gained traction within both neurodivergent communities and clinical discussions. Short for Autism + ADHD, AUDHD refers to individuals who are diagnosed with, or strongly identify with both Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Because these conditions frequently overlap, many people find that “AUDHD” captures their lived
