Other Writing

Lyrical Muse writes: Our third essay in the Disability Pride series comes from Katie-jo Gracie, a writer from Bedford who is a passionate advocate for disability inclusion in churches. In her essay, she shares the realities of autistic burnout, the physical and mental exhaustion that comes with it and how sometimes something as simple as making tea can be a struggle.
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Before you assume, let me tell you about the morning I stood in my kitchen and could not remember how to make tea.

Not because...

I recently went to an open mic night at a church where I’d planned to read the poem I’d written that afternoon. I shared it with my mum when I arrived, and she convinced me to perform a non-controversial song I wrote instead.

Here’s the thing: there were a lot of men in the room, and many of them were older than I am (plenty younger too), and my mum was concerned I might hurt their feelings. My instinct was to point out that if anyone was offended by my words, then they were exactly the people...