I met her on the ward as part of a routine review. The handover was straightforward: young autistic woman, admitted following an overdose, discharged from mental health services way too early, parents felt she wasn't ready, now she's stuck as a "social admission" while we figure out longer-term accommodation. The MDT consensus was clear. She wasn't engaging. Withdrawn. Difficult to assess. There was even talk of selective mutism. The plan was to keep her in hospital until a s

Look, this is a stat that genuinely keeps me up at night. According to the latest NHS LeDeR findings and reports from 2025, people with learning disabilities in the UK are dying nearly 20 years earlier than everyone else on average . What's even more grim is that a massive chunk of these deaths are completely avoidable , far higher than what we see in the general population.​ At Dr MJ's Harmony Haven, this isn't just some depressing number. It's literally the reason this pl

Introduction: The Stories Behind Better Care Families who support autistic young people and those with learning disabilities often have profound experiences moving through our healthcare system. What becomes clear is that children's services excel in many areas, but the transition to adult care reveals significant gaps. Rather than offering abstract analysis, this blog series will share real family experiences, anonymised and told with sensitivity, that illuminate what works,