Chris Bonnello - Autistic Not Weird
@chrisbonnello.bsky.social
Autism and neurodiversity advocate, speaker and former teacher, author of the Underdogs series.
https://linktr.ee/chrisbonnello
https://linktr.ee/chrisbonnello
Probably the most important perspective on the "profound autism" debate I've read to date. Because it's written by a disabled autistic man who would absolutely qualify for the diagnosis if it were ever made into a thing.
October 22, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Probably the most important perspective on the "profound autism" debate I've read to date. Because it's written by a disabled autistic man who would absolutely qualify for the diagnosis if it were ever made into a thing.
Giving neurodivergent teenagers extra time in exams for accessibility reasons is "unhealthy", according to a neurologist writing in The Times.
Yes, a neurologist. Personally, I'm more interested in what *educators* have to say about the topic.
Yes, a neurologist. Personally, I'm more interested in what *educators* have to say about the topic.
October 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Giving neurodivergent teenagers extra time in exams for accessibility reasons is "unhealthy", according to a neurologist writing in The Times.
Yes, a neurologist. Personally, I'm more interested in what *educators* have to say about the topic.
Yes, a neurologist. Personally, I'm more interested in what *educators* have to say about the topic.
I often get pushback when I make points like this, from those dying to ask “but what about the *really* disabled autistic people?”… all assuming I don’t live with a disabled autistic teenager.
I do, by the way, and she’s awesome. And she deserves better than people using her as an anti-ND argument.
I do, by the way, and she’s awesome. And she deserves better than people using her as an anti-ND argument.
September 26, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I often get pushback when I make points like this, from those dying to ask “but what about the *really* disabled autistic people?”… all assuming I don’t live with a disabled autistic teenager.
I do, by the way, and she’s awesome. And she deserves better than people using her as an anti-ND argument.
I do, by the way, and she’s awesome. And she deserves better than people using her as an anti-ND argument.
If we're all a little autistic, why is the world so cruel to autistic people?
The phrase "we're all a little autistic" doesn't just trivialise autistic struggles- it's often weaponised against us. Several followers have told me their psychologists even used the line to deny them a valid diagnosis.
The phrase "we're all a little autistic" doesn't just trivialise autistic struggles- it's often weaponised against us. Several followers have told me their psychologists even used the line to deny them a valid diagnosis.
September 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
If we're all a little autistic, why is the world so cruel to autistic people?
The phrase "we're all a little autistic" doesn't just trivialise autistic struggles- it's often weaponised against us. Several followers have told me their psychologists even used the line to deny them a valid diagnosis.
The phrase "we're all a little autistic" doesn't just trivialise autistic struggles- it's often weaponised against us. Several followers have told me their psychologists even used the line to deny them a valid diagnosis.
Shoutout to all the non-autistic people who make sincere efforts to listen and learn autistic people's perspectives, just as a matter of principle, despite society not really expecting them to.
September 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Shoutout to all the non-autistic people who make sincere efforts to listen and learn autistic people's perspectives, just as a matter of principle, despite society not really expecting them to.
Tomorrow I'm delivering training to a staff team at a college.
And whilst thinking it through, I was reminded of this outstanding quote I once heard in a speech by Paul Owen, then-principal of Dover Technical College.
And whilst thinking it through, I was reminded of this outstanding quote I once heard in a speech by Paul Owen, then-principal of Dover Technical College.
August 26, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Tomorrow I'm delivering training to a staff team at a college.
And whilst thinking it through, I was reminded of this outstanding quote I once heard in a speech by Paul Owen, then-principal of Dover Technical College.
And whilst thinking it through, I was reminded of this outstanding quote I once heard in a speech by Paul Owen, then-principal of Dover Technical College.
The Unbound/Boundless chapter has now come to a predictably ugly end. The morals of the story being 1) have some basic competence when it comes to money, and 2) pay the people who feed you.
Yes, Unbound - without authors, publishing companies are nothing.
And fancy that. Now you're nothing.
Yes, Unbound - without authors, publishing companies are nothing.
And fancy that. Now you're nothing.
August 1, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The Unbound/Boundless chapter has now come to a predictably ugly end. The morals of the story being 1) have some basic competence when it comes to money, and 2) pay the people who feed you.
Yes, Unbound - without authors, publishing companies are nothing.
And fancy that. Now you're nothing.
Yes, Unbound - without authors, publishing companies are nothing.
And fancy that. Now you're nothing.
I use this line in my teacher training all the time. It's sad.
July 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I use this line in my teacher training all the time. It's sad.
Hmm...
May 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Hmm...
A few years ago I was speaking at a SEND conference, and the speaker after me was the lead SEND Ofsted inspector (Ofsted being the UK’s school inspectorate).
He came up to me afterwards and asked me to send him this quote from my speech, because he wanted to use it in Ofsted SEND staff training.
He came up to me afterwards and asked me to send him this quote from my speech, because he wanted to use it in Ofsted SEND staff training.
May 22, 2025 at 11:52 AM
A few years ago I was speaking at a SEND conference, and the speaker after me was the lead SEND Ofsted inspector (Ofsted being the UK’s school inspectorate).
He came up to me afterwards and asked me to send him this quote from my speech, because he wanted to use it in Ofsted SEND staff training.
He came up to me afterwards and asked me to send him this quote from my speech, because he wanted to use it in Ofsted SEND staff training.
Pikachu memes aren't dead, right?
...Right?
😉
...Right?
😉
May 8, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Pikachu memes aren't dead, right?
...Right?
😉
...Right?
😉
Do we deserve 'automatic points' for being autistic? No, I wouldn't go that far (and I wasn't serious ten years ago either). But we do need interviews to be structured in ways that don't actively advantage those who can 'play the interview game', as opposed to those who'd be good at the job.
March 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Do we deserve 'automatic points' for being autistic? No, I wouldn't go that far (and I wasn't serious ten years ago either). But we do need interviews to be structured in ways that don't actively advantage those who can 'play the interview game', as opposed to those who'd be good at the job.
I used this graphic at a college I was training at on Monday.
But frankly, this applies to any setting that seeks to remove the human instinct for healthy defiance, simply because autistic and/or disabled people are easier to manage when they just obey you- in schools, workplaces or wherever else.
But frankly, this applies to any setting that seeks to remove the human instinct for healthy defiance, simply because autistic and/or disabled people are easier to manage when they just obey you- in schools, workplaces or wherever else.
March 13, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I used this graphic at a college I was training at on Monday.
But frankly, this applies to any setting that seeks to remove the human instinct for healthy defiance, simply because autistic and/or disabled people are easier to manage when they just obey you- in schools, workplaces or wherever else.
But frankly, this applies to any setting that seeks to remove the human instinct for healthy defiance, simply because autistic and/or disabled people are easier to manage when they just obey you- in schools, workplaces or wherever else.
I wrote this just under a month before I started ANW. I definitely had a lot of things to say back then and I'm glad I ended up saying them.
But honestly, this is what happens when you pathologise difference.
But honestly, this is what happens when you pathologise difference.
March 10, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I wrote this just under a month before I started ANW. I definitely had a lot of things to say back then and I'm glad I ended up saying them.
But honestly, this is what happens when you pathologise difference.
But honestly, this is what happens when you pathologise difference.
Today I delivering another speech for MacIntyre - the organisation that introduced me to professional speaking - and gave a talk about becoming your best autistic self.
And of course, this quote was among the very first things I told them.
And of course, this quote was among the very first things I told them.
February 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Today I delivering another speech for MacIntyre - the organisation that introduced me to professional speaking - and gave a talk about becoming your best autistic self.
And of course, this quote was among the very first things I told them.
And of course, this quote was among the very first things I told them.
If this is your workplace/school/family's 'inclusion', thanks but I don't want it.
February 18, 2025 at 6:34 PM
If this is your workplace/school/family's 'inclusion', thanks but I don't want it.
Something I wrote elsewhere yesterday.
February 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Something I wrote elsewhere yesterday.
Incidentally, I’m writing this just before driving off to see a 12-year-old client who’s desperately trying to overcome longstanding school trauma, because he spent so long changing his behaviours for teachers who expected him to act like he was fine.
Because the school needed accommodating.
Because the school needed accommodating.
January 30, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Incidentally, I’m writing this just before driving off to see a 12-year-old client who’s desperately trying to overcome longstanding school trauma, because he spent so long changing his behaviours for teachers who expected him to act like he was fine.
Because the school needed accommodating.
Because the school needed accommodating.
Now more than ever before, it's not just "nice" to see autistic by their strengths, including those with complex disabilities.
It is literally the *safer* option.
It is literally the *safer* option.
January 23, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Now more than ever before, it's not just "nice" to see autistic by their strengths, including those with complex disabilities.
It is literally the *safer* option.
It is literally the *safer* option.
If you're looking at this and thinking "well, this clearly looks like a LinkedIn kind of thing", then you're right, I made this for LinkedIn. 😛 But I get the feeling I *might* not be alone here too in despising the recruitment system's inaccessibility for neurodivergent people. 😉
January 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
If you're looking at this and thinking "well, this clearly looks like a LinkedIn kind of thing", then you're right, I made this for LinkedIn. 😛 But I get the feeling I *might* not be alone here too in despising the recruitment system's inaccessibility for neurodivergent people. 😉
I originally said this to a client a week ago - totally making it up on the spot. My improvised analogies are hit and miss, but I'm glad this one worked. 😉
But yes- if people's perception of your/your child's autism is entirely weakness-based, then you/they deserve better.
But yes- if people's perception of your/your child's autism is entirely weakness-based, then you/they deserve better.
January 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I originally said this to a client a week ago - totally making it up on the spot. My improvised analogies are hit and miss, but I'm glad this one worked. 😉
But yes- if people's perception of your/your child's autism is entirely weakness-based, then you/they deserve better.
But yes- if people's perception of your/your child's autism is entirely weakness-based, then you/they deserve better.
I literally had a colleague approach me and say "but you're only running this tournament because of your own personal obsession with chess!"... having not noticed the enormous jump in confidence and self-esteem in some of the students around her, as a direct result of them playing chess well.
January 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
I literally had a colleague approach me and say "but you're only running this tournament because of your own personal obsession with chess!"... having not noticed the enormous jump in confidence and self-esteem in some of the students around her, as a direct result of them playing chess well.
And that’s it! A happy holiday season to one and all. ❤️
![[Image description: blue text on a translucent photo of a teenage boy in a red hoodie stood next to a snow-covered hedge. Text reads:
“Autistic Not Weird Advent calendar
24 tips for an autism-friendly Christmas
Day 24
You’re not doing Christmas wrong by being happy atypically. Celebrate Christmas on your own terms, and make no apologies for what brings you joy.”]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:eheju3ukbc27hcadzk63v7qm/bafkreic6svr23ommpet6cipg4nwxa36kuhqdfyncdtzzihal2il467syeq@jpeg)
December 24, 2024 at 7:17 PM
And that’s it! A happy holiday season to one and all. ❤️
The same people who say “you shouldn’t listen to Christmas songs in March” are probably the same people who tell me I’m too old to love Sonic the Hedgehog.
In both cases, they’re wrong.
In both cases, they’re wrong.
![[Image description: blue text on a translucent photo of a teenage boy in a red hoodie stood next to a snow-covered hedge. Text reads:
“Autistic Not Weird Advent calendar
24 tips for an autism-friendly Christmas
Day 23
If you want to listen to Christmas songs in March, you can. If you want to pack up on Boxing Day and ignore it for a year, you can. Who’s to say otherwise?”]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:eheju3ukbc27hcadzk63v7qm/bafkreihnrdnhgldmtqxooqggomckph2key76zmgrei2ct6htqr6r77zgsy@jpeg)
December 23, 2024 at 6:08 PM
The same people who say “you shouldn’t listen to Christmas songs in March” are probably the same people who tell me I’m too old to love Sonic the Hedgehog.
In both cases, they’re wrong.
In both cases, they’re wrong.
I’ll forever remember the morning I surprised one of my godsons (then aged 11) with tickets to Legoland.
He gave a voiceless laugh, and then stayed silent. Ten seconds later he asked “can I have a Dr Pepper?” 😂
He gave a voiceless laugh, and then stayed silent. Ten seconds later he asked “can I have a Dr Pepper?” 😂
![[Image description: blue text on a translucent photo of a teenage boy in a red hoodie stood next to a snow-covered hedge. Text reads:
“Autistic Not Weird Advent calendar
24 tips for an autism-friendly Christmas
Day 22
If an autistic child opens a present and doesn’t smile, that doesn’t mean they’re unthankful. They may be joyous and sincerely grateful on the inside, but struggling with the performative element of receiving presents.”]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:eheju3ukbc27hcadzk63v7qm/bafkreibpg3vutxznt7ndfd65k5exq2esj44y36mhq376qo44qvwbsadtt4@jpeg)
December 22, 2024 at 8:07 PM
I’ll forever remember the morning I surprised one of my godsons (then aged 11) with tickets to Legoland.
He gave a voiceless laugh, and then stayed silent. Ten seconds later he asked “can I have a Dr Pepper?” 😂
He gave a voiceless laugh, and then stayed silent. Ten seconds later he asked “can I have a Dr Pepper?” 😂