{"id":4506,"date":"2025-11-19T08:56:46","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/?p=4506"},"modified":"2025-11-19T08:56:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:56:46","slug":"sharing-the-canopy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/sharing-the-canopy\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing the Canopy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>\u00a0<em>By Thomas Delahunt &amp; Dr Chloe Farahar<\/em><br>\u00a0<em>For The Poetic Nursing Heart<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"New Recording - 18\/11\/2025, 10:37:58\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1138039348?h=8a05b59c4a&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"601\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-2.jpeg 601w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-2-300x215.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen trees grow together, nutrients and water can be optimally divided among them all so that each tree can grow into the best tree it can be.\u201d Peter Wohlleben, <em>The Hidden Life of Trees<\/em> (2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>The Butterfly Farmer<\/em>, I explored safety as something grown, not built nurtured through relationship rather than prescribed. A cocoon is only safe because the world around it allows it to be. It is a space of quiet transformation, a place of suspension and trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lately, I\u2019ve been thinking again about trees and their canopy, how they share the light within their branches. It recalls Peter Wohlleben\u2019s words, and it reminds me of Chloe\u2019s work, alive with connection, awareness, and care. Beneath the soil, roots meet fungi, fungi meet stone, and stone meets water. There is no hierarchy, only a web, each thread alive to the other\u2019s pulse. And perhaps that is the truest form of equality: the unseen brilliance that binds us. The mycelium beneath mirrors the stars above, weaving light and life in opposite directions. Between them, we learn what it means to belong to both earth and sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I sit with that image, I think of Fred again\u2019s line:&nbsp; \u201cI found you, the one who cares.\u201d<br>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2lrOYXtPbO0&amp;list=RD2lrOYXtPbO0&amp;start_radio=1\">Listen here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Isn\u2019t that what we\u2019re really doing, in the classroom, in the forest, in the poems and pauses between words? We are finding the ones who care, those who see us not for productivity but for our pulse. To build a canopy where light is shared freely, where safety grows from reciprocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Safety, however, does not appear by accident. It must be made. It takes intention, humility, and often a quiet struggle. Hatred breeds hatred, as <em>La Haine<\/em> reminds us; if we are to stop that cycle, we must plant something tender, radical, and alive. This work &#8211; this Middle-earth battle for inclusion &#8211; is fought not with swords, but with care, art, and listening. It is a battle of roots, not power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soon, Chloe and I will meet in a space I have held as safe a quiet view offered by Lizzie, a place where reflection, connection, and understanding can unfold fully. It is a space to witness tendencies, to explore pulse and presence, to discover light shared in its most tender form. There, with Steve capturing the moment on video, the canopy we share will take shape not only in thought, but in sight, sound, and feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so, I will ask Chloe: what does the canopy mean to you? How do you find and share light within the academic forest? What sustains your roots when the soil feels thin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I wonder, quietly, what spaces will I find next, beneath the canopy of those who care?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"327\" height=\"470\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image.jpeg 327w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-209x300.jpeg 209w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 327px) 100vw, 327px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Response to Tom, sharing the canopy, Chloe 1\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1138213339?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Response to Tom: Chloe, Sharing the Canopy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom, your canopy metaphor resonates. It reminds me of the difference between two worlds I\u2019ve lived in: the \u201cculture of autism\u201d and Autistic culture. One traumatised and pathologised me. The other helped heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cculture of autism\u201d gave me a vocabulary of deficit. Before diagnosis even, my Autistic behaviours and way of being were assaulted. The pre-diagnosis and then diagnosis labels were etched into my skin with black markers by others.&nbsp; \u201cPersistent impairment in reciprocal social communication\u201d \u2013 a warning label, not a description of my experience. I was communicating. They just weren\u2019t listening in my language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"764\" height=\"447\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-2.png 764w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-2-300x176.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"807\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1.png 807w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1-768x405.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 807px) 100vw, 807px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For years, we can exist in limbo. Too Autistic for neurotypical spaces \u2013 even when we mask. But also, too alienated by the pathology narrative to seek out other Autistic people. Who wants to gather around shared symptoms? Who finds community in a checklist of what\u2019s \u201cwrong\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, we drift. Not just alone, but unseen. Existing in translation, never in our native tongue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then we find Autistic space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spaces where finger flicking means \u201canxiety\u201d without explanation. Where someone could see another\u2019s near-invisible rocking and know \u201cmeltdown imminent\u201d without needing a performance of distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re writing the Autistic dictionary. Where they wrote &#8220;special interests,&#8221; we write &#8220;specialisations&#8221; or \u201cdedicated interests.\u201d Where they diagnosed &#8220;high-functioning,&#8221; we recognise &#8220;unsupported.&#8221; Where they labelled &#8220;severe,&#8221; we see &#8220;distressed Autistic human.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"904\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image.png 904w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-768x430.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t semantics. It\u2019s survival. Language shapes reality. And when they call us \u201cpeople with autism\u201d \u2013 that careful separation \u2013 they\u2019re telling us they\u2019d like us better without autism than with. But I am Autistic. Capital A. Like a people. Like a culture. Like something worth capitalising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Healing from the \u201cculture of autism\u201d doesn\u2019t mean becoming less Autistic. That was their goal, never ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It means recognising that the pathology was never in us \u2013 it was in the narrative wrapped around us and used against us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I\u2019m thriving, I\u2019m still Autistic. When I\u2019m struggling, it\u2019s not my neurology that\u2019s failed \u2013 it\u2019s the environment that\u2019s failed to accommodate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And what <a href=\"https:\/\/aucademy.co.uk\/2023\/03\/30\/dr-chloe-farahar-for-the-bbc-newsnight-piece-tensions-build-between-autism-researchers-and-the-autistic-community\/\">worries non-Autistic researchers and diagnosticians most<\/a>? Our gathering. Our refusal to see ourselves through their lens anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beneath that canopy, those marker labels that seeped into me \u2013 \u201ccold,\u201d \u201cstandoffish,\u201d \u201cunapproachable\u201d \u2013 begin to lose their bite. Among fellow Autistic people, those words are shared, understood, and reframed. What was once isolation becomes connection. The canopy is where we scrub away the Sharpie tattoos of stigma, together, even if the residue remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"260\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1.jpeg 260w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-1-200x300.jpeg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Every Autistic person who moves from shame to pride weakens their narrative. Every connection we make breaks isolation tactics. Every space we create proves their \u201ctreatments\u201d unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"389\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3.jpeg 389w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re not asking for acceptance anymore. We\u2019re building our own space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in these spaces \u2013 these canopies \u2013 we don\u2019t just survive. We thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, the canopy means to me: healing and refuge. It is the place where Autistic identity replaces pathology, where community replaces isolation, and where culture replaces stigma. It is the space where we learn not how to be indistinguishable from others, but how to be unapologetically Autistic, together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"471\" height=\"471\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3.png 471w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-3-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 471px) 100vw, 471px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not the absence of struggle. It\u2019s understanding its source. It\u2019s not fixing what\u2019s \u201cbroken.\u201d It\u2019s recognising we never were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And under this canopy \u2013 whether in a classroom, a forest, or an internet forum \u2013 we find each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"812\" height=\"451\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-4.png 812w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-4-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/11\/image-4-768x427.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 812px) 100vw, 812px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where Chloe has written on Autistic identity, culture, community, and space for Autistic well-being and other related topics:<br><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>References (Chloe)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C. (2021, June 25). <em>A rose by any other name would smell\u2026of stigma (or, the psychologically important difference between being a \u201cperson with autism\u201d or an Autistic person)<\/em>. Retrieved from Unit for Stigma Research, University College London: https:\/\/blogs.ucl.ac.uk\/stigma-research\/2021\/06\/25\/a-rose-by-any-other-name-would-smellof-stigma-or-the-psychologically-important-difference-between-being-a-person-with-autism-or-an-autistic-person-by-dr-chloe-farahar\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C. (2021, May 13). <em>How can we enable neurodivergent academics to thrive?<\/em> Retrieved from London School of Economics and Political Science: https:\/\/blogs.lse.ac.uk\/highereducation\/2021\/05\/13\/how-can-we-enable-neurodivergent-academics-to-thrive\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C. (2022). Chapter Nineteen \u2013 Autistic identity, culture, community, and space for wellbeing. In D. Milton, &amp; S. Ryan (Eds.), <em>The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies<\/em> (1st ed.). Routledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C. (In Print 2025). The Farahar and Foster Three-Dimensional Autistic Space: Dismantling the \u2018autism spectrum\u2019 and centring observer bias in the missing, dismissing, and misdiagnosis of Autistic people. In R. S. Herbert (Ed.), <em>Beyond Autistic stereotypes: New perspectives on identities, gender, and experience.<\/em> Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C., &amp; Bishopp-Ford, L. (2020). Stigmaphrenia\u00a9: Reducing mental health stigma with a script about neurodiversity. In D. Milton (Ed.), <em>The neurodiversity reader: Exploring concepts, lived experience and implications for practice.<\/em> UK: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.<ins>. T. (2019). <em>Contact sans contact: Investigating a novel experiential intergroup contact approach to reducing mental health stigma.<\/em> [Doctoral thesis, University of Kent]. Kent Academic Repository. Retrieved from https:\/\/kar.kent.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/81290<\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C., &amp; Bishopp-Ford, L. (2020). Stigmaphrenia\u00a9: Reducing mental health stigma with a script about neurodiversity. In D. Milton (Ed.), <em>The neurodiversity reader: Exploring concepts, lived experience and implications for practice.<\/em> UK: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farahar, C., &amp; Foster, A. (2021). #AutisticsInAcademia. In N. Brown (Ed.), <em>Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education<\/em> (pp. 197-215). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>References (Tom)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carello, J. &amp; Butler, L.D., 2015. <em>Practicing Trauma-Informed Care: A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners<\/em>. [Publisher if known].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Herman, J.L., 1992. <em>Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence \u2013 From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror<\/em>. New York: Basic Books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La Haine, 1995. <em>La Haine<\/em> [Film]. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. France: Canal+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wohlleben, P., 2016. <em>The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate<\/em>. London: William Collins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fred again.., 2021. <em>Kyle (I Found You)<\/em> [Song]. On <em>Actual Life 2<\/em> (February 2 \u2013 October 15 2021). London: Again.. Ltd. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2lrOYXtPbO0&amp;list=RD2lrOYXtPbO0&amp;start_radio=1\">Link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By Thomas Delahunt &amp; Dr Chloe Farahar\u00a0For The Poetic Nursing Heart \u201cWhen trees grow together, nutrients and water can be optimally divided among them all so that each tree can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2494,"featured_media":4478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Tom Delahunt","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/481\/2025\/09\/PNH-Blog-Image-680x768-1-1.png","postExcerpt":"\u00a0By Thomas Delahunt &amp; Dr Chloe Farahar\u00a0For The Poetic Nursing Heart \u201cWhen trees grow together, nutrients and water can be optimally divided among them all so that each tree can [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4546,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4506\/revisions\/4546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/partnersinlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}