PGP / SPD My story:

The Briefcase: Every person working on a script should have a lockable briefcase! 🎬🕵🏻‍♀️ Not only does it make you feel like you're some kind of secret agent (which I'm absolutely embracing 😂), but it's also an amazing way to keep your work organised and take it wherever you go. Now I just need a few power suits to complete the look! 😆 Joking aside, this has been perfect for the movie script breakdown I'm currently working on. Everything has its place, and because it expands, there's plenty of room to add more documents as the project grows. As an autistic person, staying organised really helps me. Having everything together means I can easily pick up where I left off without feeling overwhelmed, which makes such a difference when working on larger creative projects. A huge thank you to my Dad for thinking of me and giving me this brilliant briefcase. 🥹❤️ I'm genuinely so grateful. It's going to take a little while to finish the script breakdown, but I...

Foodvisor: One month. One stone. 🎉💚 I'm so proud of myself! Living with AuDHD, EDhS, POTS and chronic pain means consistency can be incredibly difficult. Executive dysfunction, pain, fatigue and fluctuating energy levels can all make healthy habits much harder to maintain. That's why losing 1 stone in a month feels like such a huge achievement for me. 🥹👑 I've been using the Foodvisor app to help me track my food, stay accountable and make more mindful choices. It's really helped me build healthier routines without feeling overwhelmed. This isn't about perfection—it's about improving my health one step at a time and celebrating progress, however big or small. If you're on your own health journey, keep going. Every positive choice counts. 💚✨ Sarah Wingfield ❤️  Actor • Author • Advocate  KawaiiDollDecora.uk #WeightLossJourney #Foodvisor #HealthJourney #AuDHD #Autism #ADHD #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #hEDS #POTS #DisabilityAwareness #Neurodivergent #SelfC...

Autistic Meltdown Awareness: When I get overwhelmed and everything becomes too much, it can feel like I'm suffocating. What many people don't realise is that the way others respond can either help the situation calm down or unintentionally make it worse. If I'm given ten minutes, some breathing space, and the chance to regulate, I'll usually be okay. But if I'm bombarded with questions, demands, criticism, or pressure, my distress can escalate rapidly. This is why awareness matters. A meltdown is not a tantrum, manipulation, attention-seeking, or defiance. It's a neurological response to overwhelm when the brain has exceeded its capacity to cope with everything it is processing. Often, the most helpful thing someone can do is remain calm, reduce demands, lower noise and stimulation, and allow space without abandoning the person. Support doesn't always mean fixing the problem immediately. Sometimes it means helping someone feel safe enough for their nervous s...

 🌸 Autism & ADHD Support – Stockton-on-Tees If you or someone you care about is autistic, has ADHD, or is exploring neurodivergence, there are local organisations in Stockton-on-Tees and the Tees Valley that can offer advice, support, activities, and advocacy. 💙 Daisy Chain Project – 01642 531248 A well-known charity supporting autistic and neurodivergent people and their families. They offer family support, training, youth activities, and community programmes. 💙 Autism Matters – 01642 601262 Provides advice, guidance, and support services for autistic individuals and families across the North East. 💙 Stockton Parent Carer Forum – 07935 447375 A parent-led organisation helping families of children and young people with SEND. They provide information, peer support, and work with local authorities to improve services. 💙 SNAPS Tees Valley – 01642 530292 Offers support, short breaks, and activities for children and young people with additional needs and their families. 💙 TEWV...

 Autistic people are labelled “abusive” far too easily — especially in medical settings. Being in pain, crying, shutting down, or struggling to communicate is not abuse. Autistic distress is not aggression. I’ve had medical records filled with claims that I was “abusive” while I was literally immobilised in hospital — unable to move, in severe pain, and being shouted at. I couldn’t have hurt a fly. Yet I’m the one who left with bruises as a disabled patient. Those labels don’t just disappear. They follow you. They affect how future professionals treat you, whether you’re believed, and whether you get help at all. This is what happens when systems mistake disability and trauma responses for “bad behaviour”. It’s harmful, it’s lazy, and it puts disabled people at risk. Distress is not abuse. Crying is not violence. Autism is not a character flaw. Sarah Wingfield  Independent Disability Advocate  #chronicillnesswarrior #autismawareness #disabilityinclusion #strongertogether ...

  Mini facts about Autism 🩵 • Autism is neurological, not behavioural. • Autism is a spectrum, not a straight line. • No two autistic people are the same. • Autism is lifelong — not something you grow out of. • Many autistic people have strong sensory differences. • Stimming helps with regulation, not misbehaviour. • Autism is not caused by bad parenting. • Some autistic people are non-speaking and still fully intelligent. • Communication can look different — and still be valid. • Routine often brings comfort and safety. • Meltdowns are overload, not tantrums. • Autism exists in every culture and country. • Girls and minorities are often underdiagnosed. • Autism can include intense focus and deep interests. • Eye contact is not a measure of respect. • Autism can co-occur with ADHD, anxiety, or epilepsy. • Support needs can change day to day. • Autistic joy matters just as much as autistic struggle. • Acceptance improves quality of life more than “fixing”. • Autistic people deserve...

You Can’t Dunning-Kruger Away Disability: Today I experienced something that highlights a much wider problem within discussions about disability and neurodivergence. A man entered an ADHD group, openly flaunting his Psychology PhD, and used that perceived authority to make sweeping, harmful claims about people with ADHD — framing the condition as an excuse to avoid accountability. When those claims were challenged with evidence, lived experience, and respectful factual correction, he didn’t engage. Instead, he mocked, dismissed, and ultimately blocked me. I did not hide behind a nickname. I spoke openly, calmly, and transparently as a woman and as a disabled advocate. That visibility made me a target — not because I was wrong, but because I refused to be silent or defer to ego over evidence. This isn’t about “winning” an argument. It’s about what happens when people prioritise authority, credential flexing, and belittlement over meaningful discussion — and how that behaviour actively h...

Outside of the box: I exist outside of the box — acknowledge the hate, acknowledge the love, but never wear the weight of other people’s opinions. Be yourself. Put off those who aren’t in alignment, so you’re free to be around people who see you. You are loved. You are worthy of love — exactly as you are. ❤️ Sarah Wingfield Author 🌹  #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismsupport #disabilityinclusion #strongertogether #disability #disabilityawareness #disabilitysupport #disabilityrights Alt text: A three-panel comic by @wizardsofautism. Panel 1: A pink, happy, blob-like character inside a box with the label “Autistics.” Panel 2: The blob starts to step out of the box, smiling, with the text “I should start being open about my needs.” Panel 3: The blob is halfway out but recoils in distress as words like “Dramatic!”, “Spoiled!”, “Rude!”, “Weird!”, and “Annoying!” are thrown at it. The final image shows the blob back in the box smiling again, with the caption “NEVER AGAIN.”

 💔 After spending a full year supporting this event, I promoted it, interacted with their posts, planned extensively, invested money, and made sure I had a safe space (a tent) to manage my autism. I even left them their only positive review — which I’ve now deleted. I was hopeful. But in the end, none of it mattered. My disability ID, walking stick, visible lanyard… completely ignored. Accessibility was denied. I was mistreated, triggered into a POTS episode, and offered only blame instead of care. And I’m now waiting for a refund. If you're disabled, excitement about events comes with risk. We put in triple the effort just to be included — and too often, we’re met with ignorance, exclusion, or outright harm. I hope no one else ever has to endure what I did. Lessons can be blessings, I suppose — but right now, the only lesson I see is this: some people will choose bullying over empathy every time… and they’ll do it proudly. Sarah Wingfield ❤️ Independent Disability Advocate | Acce...