Esther is a film maker and single parent in her late forties who lives in Bristol with her sons, Joe, 11 and Alex, who is 14 and autistic. She home-schools both of her children. ‘At the beginning of lock down I was really fucking bereft, I thought ‘shit, I cannot do this, I really cannot […]
Read More Esther’s Story: ‘Do you remember, the sky was so clear?’(The frequent misdiagnosis of womxn) Imagine it is 1993. You are 16. You are obsessed with The Face magazine and rave music and you are really good at being an art student, but not much else, it would seem. You have been told all of your life you are crazily clever and you are destined […]
Read More I don’t have depression: I have Attention Deficit DisorderWritten for Bristol Autism Support and published on their website here. Anxiety affects most of us at various points in our lives, but it can become a big issue for autistic individuals, including children and young people. But what exactly is anxiety? How does it manifest and impact on our children’s lives and behaviour? How […]
Read More How to help your autistic child with anxietyThis is a bit overdue, but 2020 has been a bit extra, hasn’t it? I survived though; it would seem that facing possible cancer and definite surgery as a single mum isn’t an unbearable weight after all, but just one that is hard to bear. And the people who love you and care for you […]
Read More The unbearable weight: part 2. I am not a Tuesday Girl.An essay on rage, creativity and healing. The tap, tap, tap of your foot under the table, your eyes flitting, your kind smile, your pauses, your quiet confidence and inability to settle, all feel like coming home when we first meet. Your child is also strong just like mine, your family difficult, your knotty past […]
Read More Conduit‘I will really miss seeing their shoes’ I have been a Senior Lecturer since 199* and worked across a number of specialist Art Schools and Universities. I have been in my current position as Senior Lecturer at ** since 20**, and I have been part of the Department Exec for ***. The recent pandemic has […]
Read More Penny’s story:‘I MAY NOT BE FINE BY THE END OF IT, BUT I WILL AT LEAST BE REAL’ Anna Halsall lives in inner London, with her partner, who is a GP, their 1 year old and her 9 year old from her previous relationship. As lock-down started she was just returning to work from maternity leave. […]
Read More ANNA’S STORY (PART 2):Anna is a life coach for parents and has shared some of her journal entries with 19 Stories. Here is the first of her two entries into the pandemic archive. Anna Halsall lives in inner London, with her partner, who is a GP, their 1 year old and her 9 year old from her previous […]
Read More Anna’s story: An army of mothersBristol photographer Keir provided some images to accompany my very favourite piece of writing I have written yet; all about the Bristol Black Lives Matter Demo earlier this month, which you can read here. One of his photos of Edward Colston’s statue being dumped into the docks has made it into print all over the […]
Read More Keir’s Story: ‘Everyone wants to record a piece of history’Jamie Richardson shared his story with 19 Stories yesterday. A day in lock-down for a psychiatrist grappling with PPE for the first time. You can read it here. Jamie is a fellow blogger, and has dedicated his blog Self-indulgent Twaddle to chronicalling his experience of lock-down. The whole point of 19 Stories is to provide […]
Read More 19 Stories: Jamie’s story
all life less ordinary 