Barb Cook
Reducing Workplace Stress: Working Together on Self-Care by Barb Cook, M.Aut., Dip.HSc.
How often do we hear ourselves saying “I just need to finish this job and then I can take a break”, or “If I can get this project finished, I can then take a couple of days off”? When we tell ourselves this over and over again, without taking action to ‘look after ourselves’, the …
Read moreReducing Workplace Stress: Working Together on Self-Care by Barb Cook, M.Aut., Dip.HSc.
Autism, Neurodiversity and Employment: Working Together for Positive Futures by Barb Cook, M.Aut.
Autistic people are confronted with an array of barriers in many situations throughout their life. These situations centralise around what general society expects of all people, a one size fits all model, without the distinct consideration of disability, difference and inclusion. With the added individual challenges of effective communication skills, lack of self-advocacy and self-determination …
Workplace Social Skills: Challenging the Narrative for Autistic People by Barb Cook, M.Aut.
Workplace social skills. These words strike fear into the soul of any autistic person. I know this, because I am one of those people. I’ve had a tumultuous employment past, prior to my official diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (autism), ADHD and dyslexia in 2009. I never truly understood the “workplace social skills”, even though I …
Read moreWorkplace Social Skills: Challenging the Narrative for Autistic People by Barb Cook, M.Aut.
It’s Never too Early to Start: Planning Employment Futures with Autistic and Neurodivergent People by Barb Cook, M.Aut.
Opinion piece. The employment world can be a difficult one to navigate for most people, let alone for autistic and neurodivergent people. The employment journey starts way before getting a job. Society is led to believe that from a young age we need to get a good education, strive for a well-paid job, earn money …
It’s not all about IT… Breaking the stigma in employment choices for autistic & neurodivergent people by Barb Cook
Information and technology (IT) has boomed over the past 30 years and become an integral part of the modern developed world. Employment opportunities in IT exploded alongside this growth and created pathways for autistic people in finding job security in an industry that has been stigmatized as the place where the ‘geeks’ gravitate. Software giants …
Autistic Women in the Workplace by Barb Cook
Typically, autism is viewed as a male condition with stereotypical preconceptions that all autistics must, for instance, be mathematical savants and their career paths are in IT. Wrong. In this article I want to highlight some of the inaccurate perceptions of autistic people, in particularly women, look at the many benefits of employing autistic women …
8 best books about autism – Lydia Wilkins, The Independent Newspaper
Full article and reviews originally published here by the Independent Newspaper: 8 Best Book About Autism Spectrum Women Walking to the Beat of Autism – Number 1, INDY/BEST BUY Except, from the review: The original research surrounding Asperger’s syndrome and autism was largely based around men, leading to the initial diagnostic criteria. Asperger’s syndrome is …
Read more8 best books about autism – Lydia Wilkins, The Independent Newspaper
Why I Write…
I am addicted to paper and pens. There… I have said it! The very first book I held within my tiny hands mesmerised my soul. I was completely in awe at the pictures of Ancient Egyptians that were laid before me. I was three at the time, and my brother so fondly remembers that I …
Embracing My Neurodivergent Mind by Barb Cook
Most people know me through my advocacy work around the autism spectrum, but very few people know about what truly moulds me. I have been very out and proud about being on the autism spectrum for nearly 10 years, but recently felt I have been denying a part of me that also deserves the same …