25 years ago…
Two young people meet on a Greek island in June 2000, spend only 16 hours together and, somehow, they just ‘know’…
25 years later…
Those two young people have been married for 17 years, have 3 kids and are working together side-by-side, day-by-day to improve life outcomes for autistic people.
In 25 years so many memories have been made.
There’s been as many downs as ups (maybe a few more downs!). But between the ups and downs there’s always been love, safety and trust between those two young people who are now approaching 50 👀
Who knows what the next 25 years will bring…
This month Michelle and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary.
We were one of the holiday romances that worked, which isn’t bad going, especially considering we are also one of the long-distance relationships that worked too! As for the first five years of being together we lived 300 miles apart and only saw each other when we could save up the train fare!
We spent our 25th anniversary weekend in sunny Scarbrough (on the North East coast of England) and when we sitting and chatting over the weekend we thought it would be nice to share a little bit of our ‘how we met’ story with you.
We’re not overly active on social media either personally or professionally, we’re definitely not ‘influencers’, and we don’t really share much about our family life or our children online. So we know not all of the people who read our emails know who the people behind ‘The Autistic Advocate’ are.
I am the thinker, the consultant, the writer, the researcher, the collaborator, and the one who likes to hold people to account. Michelle does all the real work in the ‘back office’ (our living room!) she does all of the marketing, the website, admin and finance. Honestly, if it weren’t for Michelle, none of what I do would exist where anyone can actually make use of it, and more deeply personally, if it weren’t for Michelle, I wouldn’t be alive to do any of this.
Working together and running our business around home-educating is always a juggle, but it’s a juggle we get to do together. And it’s a good job we get on so well, as we spend so much time together!
Don’t get me wrong; 25 years together has taken work and effort. It hasn’t always been plain sailing, but as I said above, we’ve always had love, safety and trust.
So, we thought that it would be a good reason to share my work on autistic relationships; An Autistic Guide to Healthy Relationships
Thank you for being here, as part our world and as part of the wider collective story of the Autistic community worldwide.
It will probably be a while before we remember to share anything personal again, so don’t worry that you’re going to start getting cheesy photos of me in your inbox each week, you’re not!!!
To be honest, I don’t, in any of my writing or training, really talk about myself.
None of what I do is about me. I learned very quickly, that while my story is important, it is but one, out of millions that collectively add up to something far more powerful. Far better then, to step outside of myself and learn about narratives that affect us all uniquely. So, to share a personal email like this has taken some fierce nudging from Michelle!
What I do is about a collective us.
A group of us, diagnosed, self-identifying and those who don’t even know; collective and connected intersectional experiences across the facets of identity: disability, race, ethnicity, age, gender, sex, and more – a vast array of people who deserve better than we got, than we are getting.
It’s about recognising that we are invested in a civil rights movement for Autistic people, that Autistic experience is a valid and deeply misunderstood reality.
Whether you are Autistic or not, thank you for being with us. Here’s to still being in each other’s world for the next 25 years!
I hope you all find love, safety and trust.
Kieran (and Michelle too) xxx
If you’ve found this article useful you can support my work by donating any amount from $3 (about the same as a coffee – mine’s a caramel latte please!).
I know not everyone wants, or needs, one of my training courses, but I often find people will read one of my free articles and want to say ‘thank you’. And this is a really easy way to do that. It also supports me to keep being able to create new, free content and keep my older, free content up-to-date. It also allow me to keep my website ad-free. My Autism FAQs page is a good place to start if you’re new to my work and want to explore more.
Thanks for you support – it means the absolute world. Kieran x
Keep in touch with Kieran Rose, The Autistic Advocate
Training and ebooks from Kieran
I have a full range of autism training and ebooks on my website; starting from just a few dollars and all priced to be affordable.
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