Harriet Cannon
@harrietcannon.bsky.social
University Disability Practitioner and Manager, NADP Senior Accredited member, NADP Director, AAPHE founder. Accidental competence standards nerd. Pronouns: she/her. Views entirely my own.
Pinned
Harriet Cannon
@harrietcannon.bsky.social
· Oct 20
Maybe I should introduce myself? I'm a university disability practitioner, managing a disability team in a large Russell Group uni. I'm an autism specialist, and an inclusive assessment and competence standards nerd. I will rant frequently about ableism and disablism in HE.
Ooh, this is very, very good.
I wrote about systemic medical bias, chocolate medals and Eamonn Holmes
Diagnosed but not believed: Autistic women and the medical gaze
A GP I met for the first time three minutes ago is glancing over my electronic health record, trying to match it with the woman before him…
medium.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Ooh, this is very, very good.
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
My latest blog on some of the best/ most debate-worthy new research on autism and wider neurodiversity & intersectionality.
Inc. hearing in noisy places, what do we use assistance dogs for, ADHD lived experience, & does ABA enforcement link to mental health crises?
ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-...
Inc. hearing in noisy places, what do we use assistance dogs for, ADHD lived experience, & does ABA enforcement link to mental health crises?
ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-...
Autism, ADHD, Lived Experience and Inclusion—What’s New in November — Neurodiverse Connection
In this month’s research roundup, Ann Memmott brings together new work exploring Autism, ADHD, first‑person perspectives and inclusion. Ann reflects on sensory and communication challenges, access b...
ndconnection.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 11:52 AM
My latest blog on some of the best/ most debate-worthy new research on autism and wider neurodiversity & intersectionality.
Inc. hearing in noisy places, what do we use assistance dogs for, ADHD lived experience, & does ABA enforcement link to mental health crises?
ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-...
Inc. hearing in noisy places, what do we use assistance dogs for, ADHD lived experience, & does ABA enforcement link to mental health crises?
ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-...
The school my kids go to:
Monday: send your kids to school! High temp or cough or cold is no reason to keep them at home!
Wednesday: everyone is ill! Keep your kids at home if they have a high temp or cough or cold!
🙄
Monday: send your kids to school! High temp or cough or cold is no reason to keep them at home!
Wednesday: everyone is ill! Keep your kids at home if they have a high temp or cough or cold!
🙄
November 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The school my kids go to:
Monday: send your kids to school! High temp or cough or cold is no reason to keep them at home!
Wednesday: everyone is ill! Keep your kids at home if they have a high temp or cough or cold!
🙄
Monday: send your kids to school! High temp or cough or cold is no reason to keep them at home!
Wednesday: everyone is ill! Keep your kids at home if they have a high temp or cough or cold!
🙄
Everything you need to know in one handy (grim) quote
“The Motability scheme was set up to protect the most vulnerable. Not to subsidise the lease on a Mercedes Benz,” Reeves says.
Misleading and nasty in equal measure.
Misleading and nasty in equal measure.
November 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Everything you need to know in one handy (grim) quote
What a time to work in #UKHE and to have a child in the middle of applying to university 😬
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
What a time to work in #UKHE and to have a child in the middle of applying to university 😬
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
I'm just a line manager, standing in front of every bit of university guidance on every imaginable scenario, asking for the answer not always to be 'ask/tell/speak to your line manager' when there is zero advice, guidance or support for line managers expected to shoulder/support/fix everything 😩
November 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'm just a line manager, standing in front of every bit of university guidance on every imaginable scenario, asking for the answer not always to be 'ask/tell/speak to your line manager' when there is zero advice, guidance or support for line managers expected to shoulder/support/fix everything 😩
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
For more than a decade now the government’s answer to how to fund universities has been to make money from overseas students.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 7:43 AM
For more than a decade now the government’s answer to how to fund universities has been to make money from overseas students.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
If you would like a signed Everything Will Swallow You hardback for RRP + P&P, I have a fabulous selection of art by my mum, Jo, which I'm sending out for free (one linoprint with each book). Let me know your address via [email protected] while stocks last.
Sorry, this is just for UK folk, BUT...
Sorry, this is just for UK folk, BUT...
November 22, 2025 at 7:57 AM
If you would like a signed Everything Will Swallow You hardback for RRP + P&P, I have a fabulous selection of art by my mum, Jo, which I'm sending out for free (one linoprint with each book). Let me know your address via [email protected] while stocks last.
Sorry, this is just for UK folk, BUT...
Sorry, this is just for UK folk, BUT...
In a stellar act of public shaming, and after a tour of much of the British Isles, my package has arrived!
Now that I've basically given up on ever receiving it, I'm quite enjoying tracking the package that's spent over a week going to pretty much every Royal Mail delivery office other than my own. Having been in Yorkshire (where I live, but the wrong bit), then Scotland, it's now down near Birmingham
November 21, 2025 at 11:04 AM
In a stellar act of public shaming, and after a tour of much of the British Isles, my package has arrived!
This is the thread I've been waiting for, since horses and ponies are my best favourites, even more than cows. Please read the alt text!
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent horses and ponies I have met on walks.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
November 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
This is the thread I've been waiting for, since horses and ponies are my best favourites, even more than cows. Please read the alt text!
Now that I've basically given up on ever receiving it, I'm quite enjoying tracking the package that's spent over a week going to pretty much every Royal Mail delivery office other than my own. Having been in Yorkshire (where I live, but the wrong bit), then Scotland, it's now down near Birmingham
November 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Now that I've basically given up on ever receiving it, I'm quite enjoying tracking the package that's spent over a week going to pretty much every Royal Mail delivery office other than my own. Having been in Yorkshire (where I live, but the wrong bit), then Scotland, it's now down near Birmingham
Pretty snow, menacing clouds this morning
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Pretty snow, menacing clouds this morning
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
One of the most damaging myths about autism is the idea that autistic people are “permanent teenagers.”
It’s patronising.
It’s insulting.
And it’s nowhere near reality. 1/10
It’s patronising.
It’s insulting.
And it’s nowhere near reality. 1/10
November 17, 2025 at 11:13 AM
One of the most damaging myths about autism is the idea that autistic people are “permanent teenagers.”
It’s patronising.
It’s insulting.
And it’s nowhere near reality. 1/10
It’s patronising.
It’s insulting.
And it’s nowhere near reality. 1/10
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent cattle I have met on walks.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
November 15, 2025 at 8:38 AM
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent cattle I have met on walks.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
Such a loss, but what a legacy Alice leaves, along with a responsibility we all bear to keep pushing forward.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51
Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Such a loss, but what a legacy Alice leaves, along with a responsibility we all bear to keep pushing forward.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Not all school students will go on to Higher Education, but I'm telling you now that the huge SEND increases schools and colleges are seeing are already translating into huge increases in HE.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Special needs services in England face ‘total collapse’ from increasing demand
Councils say 59 authorities could go bankrupt by March 2028 without urgent structural reform
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Not all school students will go on to Higher Education, but I'm telling you now that the huge SEND increases schools and colleges are seeing are already translating into huge increases in HE.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
I spent a year living and working on a sheep station in Australia so this brings back fond memories of just how daft/characterful these woolly little beings are. Also, please read the alt text!
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent sheep I have met on walks.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
November 14, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I spent a year living and working on a sheep station in Australia so this brings back fond memories of just how daft/characterful these woolly little beings are. Also, please read the alt text!
This evening's run was....delightful (dog went on strike shortly after this)
November 7, 2025 at 6:09 PM
This evening's run was....delightful (dog went on strike shortly after this)
Reposted by Harriet Cannon
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 AM
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
As I'm currently in my own why-doesn't-the-NHS-do-something persistent low ferritin battle, this is all very familiar. Especially fun when mixed with hypothyroidism and endometriosis for a fatigue triple whammy 😩
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Tired all the time? There may be a simple reason for that
Levels of fatigue among women in Britain are soaring, and this isn’t the kind that can be cured by a nap. What lies behind the exhaustion epidemic?
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:48 AM
As I'm currently in my own why-doesn't-the-NHS-do-something persistent low ferritin battle, this is all very familiar. Especially fun when mixed with hypothyroidism and endometriosis for a fatigue triple whammy 😩
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
@dannyrobins.bsky.social Saw this on an ad. Nearly had a heart attack 😨 #EltonsPhone
October 29, 2025 at 8:33 AM
@dannyrobins.bsky.social Saw this on an ad. Nearly had a heart attack 😨 #EltonsPhone
Nope. No no no. Autistic students do not 'face growing challenges on campus'. They do however experience existing, entrenched, systemic barriers created and perpetuated by structural inequities that are baked into pretty much every element of the student journey from pre-applicant to graduate...
Autistic students face growing challenges in higher education. Learn how universities can help them adjust to campus life, build supportive social connections and find calm with some four-legged support: https://ow.ly/UNGv50XjabA #Academia #HigherEd #AcademicSky #Autism #Neurodiversity
How to help autistic students adjust to life on campus
With autistic students’ drop-out rate spiking, here’s how to help them ease into their university career, allow for neurodiversity-friendly socialising and reduce their anxiety with a furry friend
ow.ly
October 29, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Nope. No no no. Autistic students do not 'face growing challenges on campus'. They do however experience existing, entrenched, systemic barriers created and perpetuated by structural inequities that are baked into pretty much every element of the student journey from pre-applicant to graduate...
This is desperately sad as it is identical to the experience I had giving birth to my first daughter. I also haemorrhaged, my daughter also had to be resuscitated (twice). The difference is that we were in hospital, with two full crash teams, and we both survived.
‘Gross failure’ led to deaths of mother and baby in Prestwich home birth
‘Gross failure’ led to deaths of mother and baby in Prestwich home birth
Jennifer Cahill and her daughter, Agnes Lily, died in birth described by coroner as ‘a Victorian-age nightmare’
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:31 AM
This is desperately sad as it is identical to the experience I had giving birth to my first daughter. I also haemorrhaged, my daughter also had to be resuscitated (twice). The difference is that we were in hospital, with two full crash teams, and we both survived.