Devotions

1. Volunteering – Walk for Autism Completed previously. ✅ 2. Fitness – Nature Walk Evidence: Getting outside and connecting with nature is something I find genuinely grounding. 3. Hobby – The Digital Parish & Daily Office This week's hobby evidence continues to come in the form of prayer, though using the Northumbria Community Office less. I've been documenting my faith reflections here on the blog as I go, which ties in beautifully with this Digital Parish project.  4. Personal Challenge Previously submitted. ✅ 5. Lifestyle – Sensory & Advocacy This covers a lot of ground, and this week felt particularly full in the best way. On the sensory side, I'm continuing to manage daily regulation using my Squiggle Society and other art supplies, fidgets, and planned sensory snacks. The Finch app has also been a really helpful tool for keeping up with routines — small steps, but they add up. Currently on a 90 day streak.  This week I also started doin...

Eight days. Done. I'll be honest — when I signed up for this, I wasn't sure what the week would look like. As an autistic person with social anxiety, and a house full of beautiful, complex, neurodiverse children, some days were a big ask. But here we are. Today is World Autism Acceptance Day. And I can think of no better day to finish. Acceptance isn't a one-day event. It's a daily choice — to see people as they are, to make room, to listen, to include. I hope these thousands of steps through ordinary streets, quieter days, and harder ones have nudged that forward even slightly. Thank you to everyone who donated, shared, and cheered us on. You are, as the Walk for Autism team said, absolutely amazing. 💙 Donations are still open: 👉 walkforautism.co.uk/fundraiser/DavidHoldsworth We are not missing pieces. We never were. ♾️

Seven days. One to go. Tomorrow — 2nd April — is World Autism Acceptance Day. And here we are, walking right into it. That feels fitting in a way that's hard to put into words. This whole week has been a journey — literally and figuratively. There have been big step days and quieter ones. Days where the motivation came easily and days where simply getting up and going was the whole victory. That's real life. That's autistic life. And I think it's worth naming that, because the world Autism Initiatives is working to build isn't a world where autistic people have to perform wellness or pretend the hard days don't exist. It's a world where every person is accepted — on the difficult days as much as the good ones. Tomorrow we mark Acceptance Day. Not awareness — acceptance. There's a difference. Awareness says "we know you exist." Acceptance says "you belong here." One more day. Let's finish strong. 💙 If you haven't y...

Six days in, and we are officially on the home stretch. ​If Day 5 was about crossing the halfway line, Day 6 is about steady persistence. The initial novelty has faded, replaced by the rhythmic reality of the task. Much like the autistic experience itself, this challenge isn't always about big breakthroughs—it’s about the quiet strength of showing up day after day, moving forward despite the sensory noise or exhaustion. ​With only two days left, the finish line is finally in sight. Every step taken today is a reminder that while the journey can be long, we don't have to walk it alone. ​ The Goal is in Sight: I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me so far. Every penny raised helps Autism Initiatives continue their vital work. ​If you’d like to help me finish strong, you can donate here: 👉 walkforautism.co.uk/fundraiser/DavidHoldsworth ​"We are not missing pieces. We are the whole picture." 💙

Five days in. And that means we're over halfway. There's something that feels significant about that — crossing the midpoint of a challenge. Monday has arrived, the weekend's slower pace is behind us, and the week stretches ahead with a little more structure. For those of us who are autistic, that can actually be a relief. Routine is a friend. After a quieter Sunday, today felt like a return to rhythm. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. That's really all any of us can do, isn't it? Not the whole eight days in one go — just today's steps, today's effort, today's small act of showing up. I've been thinking a lot about why this walk matters — not just the fundraising (though every penny is genuinely needed and appreciated), but what it represents. Walking is ordinary. Everybody does it. And yet, for families like mine, ordinary life carries an extraordinary weight. The sensory load. The waiting lists. The appointments. The a...

Mencap Bronze Gateway Sunday check-in  — a quick 5-minute review of this week's evidence across all five areas. Here's what was captured for Week 5! 1 · Volunteering Walk for Autism 🦶 Evidence required:   2 · Fitness Nature Walk 🌿 Evidence required:   3 · Hobby The Digital Parish & Daily Office 🙏 Activity:  Daily prayer using the Northumbria Community Office, with reflections documented here on the blog. Today's morning meditation from Northumbria Community:  "Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." (Frederick Buechner) This practice combines spiritual routine with creative writing — a meaningful double contribution to the Gateway. 4 · Personal Challenge Submitted ✅ + Bonus...