Originally posted April 2nd 2021 (World Autism Awareness Day 2021)
https://x.com/HJ_Ellis/status/1377985287645769733
Day Five of talking about #AutisticJoy for #AutismAwarenessWeek and its now #WorldAutismAwarenessDay!
Today is going to be all about the joy that my tribe and my allies bring me - from being with them to celebrating their achievements, today is about joy from others! 
Starting with one of the most amazing autistic lady I have ever had the honour to call a friend, the wonderful 
@CarlyJonesMBE
!!
A truly awe-inspiring woman who takes on huge challenges with a big smile and an infectious cackle of a laugh that never fails to cheer me up! 
My favourite memory with 
@CarlyJonesMBE
is undoubtedly at Professionals Conference last year when she was a tad uncomfortable before her talk so I stepped in to help as best I could (my role as staff is to help speakers with anything they need!) 
Any time I get to spend with 
@CarlyJonesMBE
is treasured - even if its waiting together post-conference on an Edinburgh pavement for a taxi to take the pj-clad superstar to her flight home! Its been a real joy to get to work together over the years and long may it continue Another wonderful regular conference friend who's presence brings me #AutisticJoy is
@GillLoomesQuinn
a great friend and ally who is a brilliant source of support. We have a kinship over things we advocate for and the future we want to see for autistic people I've had some great times with
@GillLoomesQuinn
in between interviews we've been doing or at conferences discussing all sorts of topics. An incredible person with such passion for justice, accountability and ethics, I'm lucky to be able to say we are friends I'm suddenly realising how few photos I have with people from recent years 
Must get better at posing for some group shots when we're all back in the same locations!
5:42 PM · Apr 2, 2021
Ooooh I found one of
@GillLoomesQuinn
and I along with some awesome allies, @SarahJaneCritch
, @CarrieGrant1
, @BobbVenessa
and @SedgewickF
Because its not just friendships with other autistic people that bring me #AutisticJoy, being around passionate allies and inspiring women does too! In fact I think it was 
@SarahJaneCritch
who introduced me to the term "Autistic Joy" when she was my boss! @SarahJaneCritch
was a great boss who made a tough new job have some really wonderful moments, I learnt so much from working with her and am really grateful for the friendship we have that outlasted our working association!But if we're talking about an ally I learnt so much from it would be remiss of me at this point to not mention my mum, my constant champion and support who has always been there for me, knowing when to push me and when to tell me to stop
My mum has always wanted to learn as much as she could about autism to figure out how best to support me and the other (undiagnosed) autistic members of our family. She was the one to advise I take a planned nap on Christmas Day and book leave after my appraisal for recovery.
Another fabulous ally I could not do without is
@SedgewickF
! Quite possibly the closest I will ever get to having a soul mate, she is one of my best friends as well as being a huge champion of autistic people and a genuine ally in the world of meaningful research and coproductionFrom trips to the rugby, effectively bring on holiday together in Nice for a conference, six million messages, and writing a book together its been a brilliant few years do far - how has its not even been 5 years yet?!?!
But
@SedgewickF
is more than just a personal friend, I get a huge amount of #AutisticJoy from her work - useful research being done with autistic people with tangible benefits for autistic people, and especially her regular paper threads making research more accessible to me! 
Having put up various photos from conferences it would be wrong to not now mention my wonderful colleagues
@_WoollyThinker
, @lorrainemac137
and @Noushyno0
who make conferences so fun and enjoyable! I get so much #AutisticJoy from being at conferences and miss them so much! 
I'm so lucky to have a job where I can indulge my passions and get the warm glow of #AutisticJoy from something I'm being paid to do (even if its not always in my job description!) The tough days are tough as hell but the good ones make it all so worth it
And speaking of work related things, I love that I get to work with the marvellous
@JoTheSpinner
on the APPG Autism advisory group! The fact that one of the biggest APPGs has an advisory group chaired and vice-chaired by two autistic people is brilliant!Through the APPGA advisory group I've also had the chance to work with the amazing
@BobbVenessa
, who is a brilliant ally and champion of autistic people and does a fantastic job chairing the @LambethNas
branch and running @A2ndVoice
! A lot of #AutisticJoy comes from being on Twitter and seeing so many amazing autistic voices - so thank you to those who make my days better!
@ItsEmilyKaty
@LauraFMcConnell
@Sarahmarieob
@Saraheboon @milton_damian
@karamina
@Girl_by_the_Aga
@marinamaral2
@spacedoutsmiles
I always worry about missing people off when doing tagged tweets, so basically if you're autistic and I follow you then consider yourself included in bringing me #AutisticJoy and happy feelings via Twitter!
