23 h. ago How the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice – podcast

John Harris on how music helped him connect with his autistic son JamesWhen James was a child, he loved playing songs over and over. I Am the Walrus, by the Beatles. Autobahn, by Kraftwerk.“He hears emotion in music. I know that for a fact,” James’s father the Guardian journalist John Harris tells Helen Pidd. Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago Outrage grows over Maryland man's mistaken deportation to El Salvador prison

In the 22 days since Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to a notoriously violent prison in El Salvador, his young autistic son has sought comfort in the scent of his missing father’s clothes

Events

3 d. ago Help! Why are none of the new Beatles cast from Liverpool? | Peter Bradshaw

So Sam Mendes has cast his Beatles tetralogy, but none are from Merseyside. Don’t worry, I’ve just invented the Beatles Cinematic Universe Sam Mendes has announced the cast for his colossal four-film Beatles extravaganza: Harris Dickinson as John, Paul Mescal as Paul, Barry Keoghan as Ringo and Joseph Quinn as George – and to tumultuous acclaim he brought his Fab Four on stage at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, a now well-established affair in the film world, incidentally, satirised in a forthcoming episode of Seth Rogen’s TV comedy The Studio.I’m sorry to say, however, that Sam has almost entirely ignored the casting suggestions that I made in February last year. For what this is worth, I went with Leo Woodall as Paul, Finn Wolfhard as George, Harry Melling as Ringo and Barry Keoghan as John (though Barry got Ringo in the end). But I like to think that Sam Mendes and his producer Pippa Harris were thinking on more or less the same lines as me. Interestingly, there are no American...

Politics

5 d. ago Maybe I’m Amazed by John Harris review – with a little help from John, Paul, George and Ringo

The Guardian journalist’s tender account of how music became a bridge between him and his autistic son, James, is full of wit and wisdomHalfway through Maybe I’m Amazed, there’s a photograph of John Harris’s son, James, with one of his heroes. James is a young-looking 10 in knee-length shorts decorated with stars. Ian Hunter of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople stands beside him, a hand gently around his shoulder. “Sixty-nine years separate them,” Harris writes. “Here is proof of how songs and their creators find fans in the most unlikely of places.”Maybe I’m Amazed is the story of a growing child’s love of music, but it’s more than that: it’s also about how songs provided a whole world for James, and his family, after his autism diagnosis. It marks a departure for Harris, whose previous journalism, aside from his political work for the Guardian, has involved editing magazines and writing columns, reviews and other books about music. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Maybe I’m Amazed by John Harris review – a father and his autistic son bond through music

An honest and intensely moving book about the struggle of parenthood and the power of connectionOne of my favourite books growing up was my dad’s copy of The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. I spent hours flicking through images of an eyeless, trombone-mouthed golden man swallowing naked bodies, and a full-page, black-and-white comic strip by legendary psychedelic artist Rick Griffin. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t yet listened to most of the songs – the surreal visual riffs felt like dispatches from an undiscovered country. Later, the Beatles became my favourite band. I chain-listened to the albums, read endless books, watched the movies and recited Beatles’ lore to anyone within earshot. “Oh dear,” said my mum one morning, as I reeled off an account of how a 40-piece orchestra improvised the rising crescendo in A Day in the Life, “you’ve become a Beatles bore.”Maybe I’m Amazed opens with John Harris’s 15-year-old son, James, ecstatically absorbed in a...

Politics

1 week ago I'm fighting the council to find a school for my severely autistic son... sending him to mainstream would be like torture

Sinead Woods, 36, of the village of Great Wakering, Essex, told MailOnline: 'Every day, every minute that I have off, I'm researching and fighting and trying to get him to a school.'

Sport

2 w. ago Debunked myths that vaccines cause autism are increasing stigma

As parents resist vaccines over vague potential harms, advocates call it a case of ‘morals more than science’The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning to devote research dollars to the debunked myth that vaccines cause autism – legitimizing stigma not only around vaccines, but around autism itself.Matthew Shallenberger, father to an 11-year-old autistic son in Tennessee, says this myth is harmful because “it treats autism as some dreadful disease to avoid at all costs.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘He nails it on the first take’: how the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice

After John Harris’s son was diagnosed, conversation always seemed focused on the things he would struggle with. But a shared passion for playing music grew into something James could do – brilliantlyI start playing songs to my son James from the moment he is born. If I’m given the job of rocking him back to sleep, I usually put on reggae: Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves and Dawn Penn’s You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No) tend to do the trick. If my partner Ginny or I sing along to whatever is on the CD player, it brings him a gurgling kind of delight. In this, he is – obviously – no different from any other child. But not long after his first birthday, I get a sharp sense that music might speak to him in a particularly vivid, mood-altering way.I play James the title track of Clear Spot by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band only once. Its mixture of discordant guitar, growling vocals and knock-kneed drumming, I suspect, might strike him as curious and funny, like a big, monster-centr...

Politics

2 w. ago Actor Michael Sheen on paying off £1m of his neighbours’ debts; Marina Hyde on ‘grotesque’ JD Vance; and ‘how the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice’ – podcast

Marina Hyde on 1,000 grotesque memes of JD Vance – they’re all more likable than the real thing. The actor Michael Sheen grew up poor, got rich, then lost everything backing the 2019 Homeless World Cup. Now he’s giving away more of his money to help 900 total strangers. When John Harris first started noticing that his baby had some unusual quirks, he wasn’t too worried. Then came an autism diagnosis – and a fear of the future. Could a shared passion for music give James a way to shine? Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago South Lanarkshire College teams up with Go Radio to find Scotland's next podcast star

The competition is called ‘Podstars: Your Voice, Your Podcast, Your Spotlight!’

Politics

3 w. ago Mum hits out as autistic son's vital care package set to be scrapped

Julie Mitchell’s son Sol, 17, has a range of additional needs including hyperactive impulsive ADHD and autism.

Events

3 w. ago José Andrés pleads with Trump to release Michigan man seized by ICE while dropping off autistic son

Administration has removed over 50,000 migrants since January

Politics