Is it ever okay to smack a child?
High-profile figures like Sir Michael Caine and Alan Shearer are calling for England to ban smacking, calling it “damaging and harmful.”
Wales and Scotland have already outlawed corporal punishment.
As a parent or carer of a child with additional needs, what do you think? How do you approach discipline and keeping boundaries when your child’s communication, sensory needs, or regulation is in the mix?
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Did you watch The Truth About Autism on Triggernometry on YouTube? What did you think?
It featured an interview with Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, who is a British clinical psychologist, neuroscientist, and Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He directs the Autism Research Centre (ARC) at Cambridge and is a Fellow of Trinity College. His work has deeply influenced studies on autism, neurodiversity, and cognitive development.
Baron-Cohen has advanced multiple major theories over his career:
⭕️ Mindblindness theory (1985) - the idea that autism involves difficulties in attributing mental states to others;
⭕️ Prenatal sex steroid theory (1997) - proposing that prenatal biology (testosterone etc.) contributes to autistic traits;
⭕️ Empathising–Systemising theory (2003) - a framework for understanding typical sex differences and autism in terms of empathic vs systemising cognitive styles.
He has also made important contributions in many areas including autism screening and prevalence, genetic research, neuroimaging, co-occurring conditions, intervention, and synaesthesia.
In recent years, Baron-Cohen has been at the centre of controversy over a major research project called Spectrum 10K. Launched in 2021, the study aimed to collect DNA and health-data from 10,000 autistic individuals and their families to explore genetic and environmental factors affecting autism.
Critics (autistic self-advocates, families, charities) raised concerns about privacy, ethics, potential misuse of genetic data (including fears of eugenic applications), and lack of meaningful consultation with the autism community.
In response, the study was paused weeks after its launch.
Ultimately, in 2025, the project was cancelled, with the research team citing that comparable genetic and health data had since become available from other sources.
Baron-Cohen’s contributions have been formally recognised: he was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to people with autism, and in 2023 he was awarded the Medical Research Council’s Millennium Medal.
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