Lydia Wilkins - The Autism-Friendly Cookbook

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The
Autism
Friendly
Cookbook

LYDIA WILKINS

Illustrated by Emily of @21andsensory

First published in Great Britain in 2023 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

An Hachette Company

Copyright Lydia Wilkins 2023

Illustrations Copyright Emily of @21andsensory 2023

Front cover image source: Shutterstock.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress

ISBN 978 1 83997 082 5

eISBN 978 1 83997 083 2

Jessica Kingsley Publishers policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

www.jkp.com

In memory of Sir Harold Harry Matthew Evans (19282020), an individual who never stopped trying to shine a little light. Without him, this book would have never happened. Wherever you are, Harry, I hope upstairs is all you wanted it to be, with the lost journalists you spent your life speaking up for. May the Thalidomiders quest for justice, led by Mikey Argy, Guy Tweedy and Nick Dobrik, be one day prosperous. It is still not too late to do the morally right thing, for those remaining of the worldwide thalidomide survivors, even though we are now but six decades on.

And last of all to Pete Taylor. For the first time in my life I had been fully understood and actually embraced for what others had called and still call my weirdness. He saw me as a journalist first when others saw and still only see the label. If there is something you can do for anyone, acceptance even in a classroom setting is a wonderful thing to do. The power of a simple gesture like that should never be underestimated.

In the days after Harold Evans died, I received reciprocal messages from all around the world. I am indebted in particular to Dr Martin Johnson, who kindly emailed me to say keep writing, because that would be your tribute. It is his wisdom and patience that I am grateful for after all this time, even if I have and still do put that to the test.

Cindy Quillinan also deserves my thanks for her legendary patience, too; it is my wish that we may one day cross paths again. Izzy Evans also belongs here, for being so kind on reading an initial draft, as well as director Jacqui Morris, one of my partners in crime, who acts as the guiding voice of reason. Jacquis guidance has been invaluable since the day we met. Her documentary, Attacking the Devil: Harold Evans and the Last Nazi War Crime , is a testament to what the power of words and good honest reporting can achieve. It should be watched by everyone, everywhere.

William Bill Kuhn and Violet Fenn helped in the assisting of getting the show on the road, such as when it came to advice about contracts, how to not worry about word counts, and just how to keep going when slogging it out. It was an unexpected kindness; I hope to pay that back in due course, too.

Lalaine Jones is my oldest friend, someone to rely on for laughter, as well as enforcing perspective keeping, often through sarcastic nicknames such as Madam De Journalism or Mrs Jesus (thats a long story). Humiliating DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) assessments were made better with jokes like the patch, a response to the idiocy of an assessor asking if I take pills for my condition. Yep. Sometimes you just have to laugh or you will cry. As well as this, the wonderful women who made up my NCTJ class somewhat shocked me when writing this as they asked to read the draft, expressing how excited they were to the point of asking a lot of questions about it. They are the people that make me want to be better and braver; I cherish them. The same goes for Eloise Barry, a brilliant journalist who would read through drafts sending back copious notes while swapping WhatsApp voice notes with me about our various stories into the early hours while I worked.

Pete Taylor taught me media law, as well as adding in an occasional (read: unorthodox) grounding in ethics. It was one of the only times an educator got it. He never asked me about being autistic, much to his credit only balking at the occasional (madcap) challenge. Ann Bannister, a teacher I hadnt seen for over a decade, also found me while writing this. Shes the teacher that taught me to love language and history. We need more teachers like this, across the board.

Salena Godden is a poet and the author of Mrs Death Misses Death , a wonderful celebration of life. That book had a huge influence on me; a conversation with her while writing this significantly changed my outlook and my world view. There is a power in optimism, in looking for those tiny glimmers of hope. The same goes for Deeivya and Chameli Meir, two very talented individuals who took me under their wing around the same time. I am grateful to them all.

Julia and Alex at Assert also deserve their place here. For the first time in my life, I was given some of the support I needed. Likewise, every autistic person who came forward to offer their recipes, insights and wishes for accessible requirements ought to have a place here. I thought I was the only one who struggled with cooking; I hope this book begins to bridge the gap of such common experiences. You can find all of their names at the back of this book.

To the DWP, for giving me the idea for this book in the first place, after their humiliating assessments forced me to go to a tribunal. I am not sick because of my disability. No pills are available to cure autism; that is just downright offensive. Knowing or having an autistic relative gives you no right to determine what I may or may not be capable of, either, because we are not all the same. Autism is not a mental illness, nor is it a form of suffering you can just penalize just because. The blocks placed as hurdles by society, enabled by organizations such as yours, are discriminatory, unethical and an injustice to us all. The act of ignorance is not an excuse to be callous or cruel.

And last of all, to my family. Words can never truly express how thankful I am, not ever, not really. Very simply, thank you.

This book is written by a journalist, who is also on the autistic spectrum and has written about and researched the autistic spectrum previously. All efforts have been made to make this book as accessible as possible; read-throughs of the recipes have also been offered to all the contributors to this book. The author and all those associated with the production of this book bear no responsibility for any decisions made as a result of reading it. Similarly, one autistic person does not speak for everyone. While language of a collective nature has been used, this is to retain continuity; the premise of this book is to avoid gatekeeping of resources, therefore allowing anyone who reads this to pick the parts most relevant to them.