Gareth Coates
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garethcoates.com
Gareth Coates
@garethcoates.com
Writer. Dad. Autistic. Seriously jaded former volunteer in non-League and schools' football. Views expressed are my own.
It is slightly mad to think that I graduated from the @openuniversity.bsky.social with an MA in Creative Writing on Saturday. I put my qualification to use with a few reflections on the day and the #OUFamily on my website.

www.garethcoates.com/2025/04/01/g...
April 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Great idea, Caroline. As it happens, I wrote to @anneliesemidgleymp.bsky.social about the challenges disabled people face just last week. These figures support everything I said.
March 17, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I got a few hours out of the house, so I took the opportunity to scribble a few words down reflecting on the year we've just had, which I have spent as an unpaid carer, a student and a dad. Feedback, reskeets, etc, always welcome. Happy New Year!

www.garethcoates.com/2024/12/31/t...
December 31, 2024 at 12:24 PM
My hardback is Railway Towns by David Brandon. On the e-reader I’m nearly halfway through Lowborn by Kerry Hudson, thanks to my boy being up half the night.
December 30, 2024 at 7:47 AM
Nine Minds by Daniel Tammet is a quite remarkable book. Possibly my favourite read of the year so far as a fascinating collection of autistic lives.
December 7, 2024 at 10:52 AM
If you're #ActuallyAutistic, you probably have at least one Special Interest that you're REALLY passionate and knowledgable about. Mine was football and I spent 34 years consumed by the sport but last summer I walked away from the game.

This blog discusses why:
www.garethcoates.com/2024/11/27/l...
November 27, 2024 at 11:05 PM
I’m indulging a special interest by enjoying The Lost Subways of North America by Jake Berman. Well written and concise summaries of various missed opportunities, acts of political chicanery and mismanagement, lavishly illustrated with “then and now” maps.
November 25, 2024 at 4:30 PM
A final call for today's blog, in which I discuss coping with the loss of a child, the difference between modern approaches to male grief and those of the past and how I moved forward after experiencing great pain.

www.garethcoates.com/2024/11/20/i...
November 21, 2024 at 4:41 PM
Today was Remembrance Sunday in the UK and tomorrow is #ArmisticeDay, so I'd like to share a special interest with the #ActuallyAutistic community. I've got back into genealogy after a break and discovered that I had a great-uncle who died during World War Two.
www.garethcoates.com/2024/11/10/i...
November 10, 2024 at 10:04 PM