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Anna Stenning

@annastenning.bsky.social
1K followers 921 following 74 posts

Companion to cats. State school educated. Medical humanities, literature & disability studies. Against techno-authoritarianism. Allotmenteer.

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Reposted by Anna Stenning
Autistic Realms (Helen Edgar) @autisticrealms.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Critical Neurodiversity Studies Divergent Textualities in Literature and Culture by Jenny Bergenmar, @louisecreechan.bsky.social @annastenning.bsky.social was a joy to review! 💫 It takes “a neurodivergent turn” in literary & cultural studies, queering a way of reading against neuronormativity.💫
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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 21/08/2026
Arday's scholarship was about making immediate and material improvements in people's lives. I think that should be the first thing people remember about him
Here are some of the influential papers written by Jason Arday, whose subject was the sociology of education. It is not surprising in the least that a neuroatypical Black scholar was in an advantageous position to offer valuable perspectives on his area of research, which seems essentially to have been: How do we dismantle racial inequality in our institutions, so that everyone can learn, and teach, and contribute to society, to the best of their ability?

    Understanding Mental Health: What Are the Issues for Black and Ethnic Minority Students at University? (The social science, 2018)
    Attempting to break the chain: reimaging inclusive pedagogy and decolonising the curriculum within the academy (Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2020)
    Same storm, different boats: the impact of COVID-19 on Black students and academic staff in UK and US higher education (Higher Education, 2022)
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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 29/08/2026
Immaculate analysis of the media response to the Arday tragedy by education scholar Henry Giroux. THIS x infinity www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/28/t...
Race is central to this process, but racism must be understood as more than personal prejudice. Arday entered public life as a Black academic whose appointment at Cambridge had itself been invested with enormous symbolic significance. Once allegations emerged against him, his alleged failures could therefore be mobilized as evidence against diversity, racial equality, and the presence of Black scholars within elite institutions. His individual story became politically useful to forces already engaged in a broader assault on DEI, multiculturalism, immigration, and racial justice. The racist right understood this immediately.

But liberal journalism too often answers this problem by condemning the vulgar racism of the right while refusing to interrogate the structures through which racialized narratives acquire their extraordinary visibility and force. Racism today does not circulate solely through explicit slurs. It moves through moral panics, narratives of undeserving advancement, claims of declining standards, manufactured crises of merit, and spectacles in which Black and brown individuals are made to carry the burden of representing entire communities.
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NevereverDave.bsky.social @nevereverdave.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
" Monetised Racebait "
Clipped from the report.

Simon Baron-Cohen

Jul 31st

In 2014 we published the first large-scale study of suicidality in autism, 

subsequently widely replicated, revealing that 1 in 4 autistic people 

have planned or attempted suicide. 

That's why I'm very concerned about the impact of the media coverage 

on Professor Jason Arday who is autistic. 

He has been accused of plagiarism and he was cleared of any academic

misconduct following a rigorous investigation by

Liverpool John Moores University. 

And yet he continues to be systematically discredited 

over every detail of his life, daily. 

We should of course always investigate plagiarism to protect academic 

standards. However, I cannot stand by and watch when an autistic man 

is on the ground and the kicking continues. 

This is relentless bullying of a vulnerable autistic man and 

raises safe-guarding issues. 

It's time to stop.

Simon Baron-Cohen


"The media hounding didn't just continue, it increased."
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
www.thehastingscenter.org/artificial-e...
thehastingscenter.org
Artificial Empathy: What AI Is Teaching Future Physicians About Caring   : The Hastings Center for Bioethics
I worry that future healthcare professionals are increasingly being socialized into forms of communication that privilege emotional performance over genuine human presence.
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Steven Kapp @drstevenkapp.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Could you repost Chloe's post (simply or adding that participants could've been assigned similar terms eg "problem behaviour"? Thanks! @dramypearson.bsky.social @annastenning.bsky.social @autismadvocate.co.uk @elliottspaeth.bsky.social @oolong.co.uk @autgeek.bsky.social @gillloomesquinn.bsky.social
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Josep Goded @josepgoded.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Two Palestinians were killed and two others injured after an Israeli strike hit a civilian vehicle in Khan Younis.
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AMEND - eArly Modern European NeuroDivergence @amendproject.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Lots of exciting research on early modern neurodivergence being published recently! Have a look at these very exciting new chapters, articles, and presentations🤩🎉
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Ms M 💚🌱💙🦊🌳🦔🌸🐞🧶♾️ @themorganic.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
We’re having record breaking May heatwaves in U.K. 🔥☀️🥵 It is NOT NORMAL‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ Now’s a good time to flag up the need for the People’s Emergency Briefing and get our government to ACT fast on #climate resilience. www.nebriefing.org/the-film
nebriefing.org
National Emergency Briefing
A 50-min film centred around the National Emergency Briefing. The frank facts, but also the huge opportunity if Government steps up and leads a WW2-scale response. Designed to be watched by communitie...
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
goodlawproject.org/s/7946a6
goodlawproject.org
Misan Harriman Handraiser | Good Law Project
Far right newspapers are trying to run a smear campaign against Misan Harriman. Add your name to the open letter, and stand against hate and division.
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
mediasovereignty.org/petition/?fb...
mediasovereignty.org
Petition
Parliamentary Petition Do YOU want Britain to take back control of our media and democracy from the international billionaires who have hijacked it?They use it to force our politicians to act again…
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Dr Kelly Birtwell @kellybirtwell.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
⬆️⬆️ @ashmore1973.bsky.social @sedsconnective.org @nihrspcr.bsky.social @sapc.ac.uk @semascot.bsky.social @drcharleshay.bsky.social @dr-nicky.bsky.social @rosematthews.bsky.social @annastenning.bsky.social @danpoole.bsky.social @ka81.bsky.social @johnharris1969.bsky.social See 🧵above, all welcome!
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Can anyone recommend a web designer to me, for a community-focused research project? I'm looking for people with experience of: accessibility (WCAG standards) - community engagement content (stories, blogs, events) - long-term research outputs (toolkits, publications)?
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
www.thenerve.news/p/technofasc...
thenerve.news
What’s happening in America is technofascism. It could happen here
Peter Thiel's data surveillance company Palantir is powering Trump's ICE operation in the US. Carole Cadwalladr argues that the UK will be next
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=evyW...
youtube.com
How to Survive Techno-Hellscapes: On Crip Wisdom and Critique
YouTube video by DISCO Network
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AMEND - eArly Modern European NeuroDivergence @amendproject.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Exciting news🎉 AMEND will be presenting at Disability and the Archives: Access, Absences and Action. This 2-day conference will be held online from 23–24 January 2026! Tickets are available for purchase here: www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/dis.... Hope to see some of you there!🤩
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Dale McDowell @dalelmcdowell.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
illegal assault with a chemical weapon
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
It's quite simple. Very rich people are blaming immigrants and disabled people, for stealing all the money (exactly as Adolf Hitler did). Because they are stealing all the money. This trick is literally hundreds of years old, and it is the only one they have.
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to help anyone else financially at the moment - I wish I had. I hope others will.
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
www.societyandspace.org/articles/on-...
societyandspace.org
On Biopolitics And The Anthropocene: Elizabeth Povinelli, interviewed by Kathryn Yusoff and Mat Coleman
Elizabeth Povinelli speaks to her latest work on political theory and philosophy, anthropology, and cultural and legal studies with ethnographic encounters in Indigenous Australia and queer America.
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Jonathan Gullis "I'm sick of seeing the Palestine flag all over the place" Lets make him sick.
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Ash Paley @ashpaley.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Call for Papers: Leeds IMC 2026 Neurodivergent and Neuroqueer Temporalities Deadline: Monday 15th September 9am #CFP #IMC2026 #Medievalsky #Neurodiversity #Neuroqueer
Call for papaers poster. Medieval image of Hildegard of Bingen as header. Neurodivergent infinity loop behind text.

Text reads: Call for Papers: International Medieval Congress 2026
Neurodivergent and Neuroqueer Temporalities

Over the past decade, critical neurodiversity studies and neuroqueer theory have come to prominence. These new paradigms seek to explore differences in mind through an understanding that there are naturally diverse ways of being rather than through pathologisation. While the paradigms are beginning to be used in other academic disciplines, they are yet to be implemented in a significant way in medieval studies. This panel seeks to change this by encouraging medievalists to see the potentials in neuroqueer and neurodivergent scholarship and prompting discussion in these areas.
This panel is requesting proposals for papers which examine aspects of medieval temporalities through a neurodivergent or neuroqueer lens. This includes, but is not limited to:
•	Application of contemporary neuroqueer or neurodivergent theory to medieval temporal concerns.
•	Examination of non-normative experiences of time, e.g. in mystical ecstasy.
•	Exploration of neuroqueer attitudes to normative lifecycles.
•	Examination of the effects of time and age on the mind in medieval texts.
•	Neurodivergent readings of medieval material relating to temporalities.

Paper proposals should be under 200 words and accompanied by a short bio. Proposals should be sent to A.T.Paley1@leeds.ac.uk for the attention of Ash Paley and Daniel Coultas by 9am on Monday 15th September 2025.
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
caat.org.uk/data/countri...
caat.org.uk
CAAT - Israel
Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza for over a year. Despite this, UK arms supplies to Israel continue.
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Sonny Hallett @scrappapertiger.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Time to re-share this piece I made a year ago today about neurodiversity and neurodivergence, and why the important distinctions between them is not about grammar/linguistics.
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Dr Kelly Birtwell @kellybirtwell.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Our survey is still open for autistic adults in the UK ⬇️ 😀 Thanks to everyone who has taken part already. 🙏
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Dr Kelly Birtwell @kellybirtwell.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
💡 Our online survey for #autistic adults in any country is still open: share your experiences of stimming, #mindfulness, and other contemplative practices. To find out more and take part see: tinyurl.com/Aut-Mindful Developed with autistic project advisors. Reposts appreciated. 🙏
Poster for a research study run by the University of Manchester. Text says: Researchers at the University of Manchester seek autistic volunteers to take part in research into experiences of stimming, mindfulness, and other contemplative practices. Are you Autistic? Aged 18 or over? Able to understand written information given in English? The study involves completing an online survey. The survey takes around 30-45 minutes to complete and includes questions about your background (e.g. age, gender), and your experiences of stimming, mindfulness, and other contemplative practices. Stimming is soothing or repetitive sensory activity that can help people to feel calm or may bring joy. The research has been developed in collaboration with autistic project advisors. To find out more visit https://tinyurl.com/Aut-Mindful  Or contact: Kelly.birtwell@manchester.ac.uk
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 17/07/2025
"Writers have been using me long before the advent of AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actually cold, and worn year-round by screenwriters. I am not new here."
buff.ly
The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations
“In recent months, a curious fixation has emerged in corners of academia: the em dash. More specifically, the apparent moral panic around how it is...
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Asylum Magazine @asylummagazine.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Please register for and attend this meeting on Friday 18th July Show your solidarity and discuss what we can do to defend the right to protest. Registration link bit.ly/ProtestCrime
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Oliver @oliver48.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
"Great recap of the historic end of June 2025 heatwave in Spain and Portugal. Graphics by our partners Climatebook" via Severe Weather Europe
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The Polyphony @the-polyphony.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
On Day 6 of the Critical Neurodiversity Studies takeover @tasha-tasha.bsky.social calls for literary scholars within Mad Studies & Neurodiversity Studies to engage with one another, exploring the possibilities of and justifications for a ‘Mad[]Neurodiverse’ literary analysis. tinyurl.com/mr3dr8kc
tinyurl.com
On Mad[]Neurodiverse Literary Possibilities
Critical Neurodiversity Studies takeover: Natasha Downs calls for literary scholars within Mad Studies and Neurodiversity Studies to engage with one another, exploring the possibilities of and just…
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 30/06/2025
Palestine Action spraying paint is not terrorism. As ministers abuse their powers, I feel a duty to speak out | Juliet Stevenson
theguardian.com
Palestine Action spraying paint is not terrorism. As ministers abuse their powers, I feel a duty to speak out | Juliet Stevenson
We have laws to deal with crimes linked to protest. What this is really about is ministers complicit in the Gaza atrocities seeking to silence dissent, says actor Juliet Stevenson
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Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
*Urgent action for academics and trade unionists - sign this letter opposing the ban on Palestine Action* The UK government's plan to extend terrorism laws is a grave threat to civil liberties and freedom of expression. Join us in opposing this repressive move. tinyurl.com/PalActionlet...
tinyurl.com
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
I'm looking to connect with anyone working at the intersection of AI, care, and the medical humanities. Are you exploring this yourself or do you know someone who is? Thanks in advance!
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Lindsay Wiley @lindsaywiley.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Several states have adopted shield laws to protect providers of gender affirming care, including from out-of-state actors who want to punish them for treating ban-state residents. Some states cover repro but not GAC. Know your state’s law & advocate for your state leaders to strengthen protections
law.ucla.edu
Shield Laws for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care: A State Law Guide | UCLA Law
UCLA Law's Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy has produced the comprehensive "Shield Laws for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care: A State Law Guide."
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
There's still time to sign up.
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Cinzia Greco @cinziag.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
"Each extension or renewal of a visa can cost up to almost £2,000, in addition to the £1,035 annual NHS surcharge that migrants need to pay." It's worth noting that the NHS surcharge was £200 in 2018; since then, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, it has been increased year after year.
theguardian.com
I got British citizenship via the five-year route. Labour’s new 10-year rule will cause untold pain | Nesrine Malik
Starmer claims to want integration. Yet denying people safety, belonging and the right to vote for a decade amounts to the exact opposite, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
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Ria Cheyne @riacheyne.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Now recruiting for the first workshop for our @edicaucus.bsky.social funded project on neurodivergent archive accessibility!
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Does anyone know of any neurodivergent arts organisations around that cover Northern England, including the south bank of the Humber?
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
thepolyphony.org/2025/05/13/b...
thepolyphony.org
Book Review: Narrating the Many Autisms: Identity, Agency, Mattering
Robert Manzo reviews Anna Stenning’s latest publication Narrating the Many Autisms, exploring its position within critical autism studies.
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Josep Goded (Backup Account But Still Active) @josepgoded2.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Mahmoud Kilani, a young Palestinian boy, was killed alongside his mother and several relatives in an Israeli airstrike that struck their home in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, last night.
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
If we get rid of immigrants your Energy bill won't come down, or your Water bill, or your Rent, or your Mortgage, or your Food bill, nor will your wages go up, or your benefits. But if we get rid of, or at least tax billionaires they all will.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
NHS maternal mental health services slash funding. Unaddressed perinatal mental illness affects the whole family, costs UK economy £8.1bn a year Suicide is the major cause of death for women from six weeks to 12 months after birth. Put people B4 fiscal rules.
independent.co.uk
NHS maternal mental health services slash funding despite soaring demand
NHS officials proposed to cut £3.6 million from specialist maternal mental health budgets
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Marc Owen Jones @marcowenjones.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
Must read from Josep Borrell. "“We’re facing the largest ethnic cleansing operation since the end of the second world war in order to create a splendid holiday destination" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, says EU’s former top diplomat
Josep Borrell also criticises EU response to what he calls largest ethnic cleansing operation since second world war
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Do I know anyone who is an academic in the humanities and went to a mainstream British state school? How do you think it has shaped your experiences?
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
blogs.manchester.ac.uk
Rethinking Neurodevelopment: From WHO Policies to Neurodiversity and Care
Workshop Conference. 17 June 2025 The University of Manchester
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 24/02/2025
1. Nearly a century ago, Nazis burned trans books to usher in fascism. Now, Trump is doing the same, digitally burning all records of transgender people and striking the community from records. This must be seen for what it is: a move towards atrocity. Subscribe to support my journalism.
erininthemorning.com
Nazis Burned Trans Books To Usher In Fascism: Now Trump Does The Same
Transgender people have often been a canary in the coalmines of Democracy.
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Anna Stenning @annastenning.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
posthumanpress.com/pages/neuroq...
posthumanpress.com
Neurodiversity Anthology
Our second anthology will gather a wide range of creative responses on the theme of Neurodiversity and the More-Than-Human. We want to foster neurodivergent situated knowledge that is not limited to t...
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