Autism: Puberty and sexuality
I’m an enthusiastic patron and supporter of autism projects. But I’m also the mother of Giles who was profoundly autistic…
Dame Stephanie Shirley
Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley CH is a philanthropist. She arrived in Britain as a five-year-old on the Kinderstransport in 1939. In 1962, she founded a software company, F. I. Group PLC. Early in her career she found it advantageous to go by the name “Steve” in a male-dominated business world and she employed only women until the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to do so. She retired in 1993 to concentrate on philanthropic work, since then she has given away at least £68 million of the estimated £150 million wealth she built after selling her IT firm. She continues to give to a range of causes including autism research.
Update on Autistica
My interest in autism medical research began with a literary search to see where the science had got to. That…
Autistica’s Discover Network
Research is slow. Research is expensive. And there’s no guarantee that it will produce anything useful. But it’s the only…
Remembering Stephen Hawking
When Stephen Hawking and I first met through our families’ common interest in autism, I respectfully addressed him as Professor…
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Dame Stephanie Shirley discusses her experiences of CDD (Childhood Disintegrative Disorder). When my son Giles was about 2½ years old, it…
Dame Stephanie Shirley: in praise of the RSM
Dame Stephanie Shirley, CH, thinks the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) has been well worth joining. Some years ago, I was…
School Nurses
School nurses are qualified and registered nurses or midwives who have an additional qualification in community public health. They are concerned…
Let’s focus on autism
I am proud of having initiated Britain’s National Autism Project (NAP). This started in late 2014, reported in 2017 and…
The Autistic Mind
Edinburgh University’s Patrick Wild Centre was opened in 2010 by Alfred Wild who had watched his parents care for his…
Keeping young
My first trusteeship was back in 1987 for what is now Age UK. The charity now includes more than 150…
Autism and mental health
Studies show that around 79% of autistic people have mental health issues and rate their anxiety as the number one…
The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries sounds like some relic of a bygone time. But this City of London livery society…