Morning! This is an exclusive extract from my new book Maybe I'm Amazed, about my autistic son James & how music became our shared language. Wait for the Velvet Underground bit at the end www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

johnharris1969.bsky.social • 8 days ago

Morning! This is an exclusive extract from my new book Maybe I'm Amazed, about my autistic son James & how music became our shared language. Wait for the Velvet Underground bit at the end https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/mar/15/how-the-beatles-helped-my-autistic-son-find-his-voice?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Comments

tmancini.bsky.social•8 days ago

What you've written in this extract should wake up educators and professionals to the power of seeing (or hearing) a child's strengths over our obsession with focusing on limitations and deficits. Can't wait to share Maybe I'm Amazed... with ed psych colleagues, friends and professionals I work with

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!

pabloredux.bsky.social•7 days ago

It's difficult - how should we run society, what do we want people to do within it? Excelling for one person might be reading beyond their years, for another behind their years. Don't we want everyone to do as well as they can, for society as a whole, not some lame race for "top" (paying) jobs?

historyannics.bsky.social•8 days ago

Writing about your amazing son in the way that you do, love and pride shine out. What you have written will resonate with so many, for lots of different reasons. Thank you.😊

flemn8r.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thankyou - pulled right in.

kesalisbury.bsky.social•8 days ago

Lovely extract, John. Poignant.

olli1001.bsky.social•8 days ago

beautiful read John, thanks for that.

urbaneprofessor.bsky.social•8 days ago

It was lovely. Thank you so much for sharing with us 😊 It brought happy tears to my eyes, and I had my own Proustian moment:
https://bsky.app/profile/urbaneprofessor.bsky.social/post/3lkfzst3lcs2d

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you. Really appreciated

podmalm.bsky.social•8 days ago

Ping @benrosamond1.bsky.social

yorkshirepaddy.bsky.social•8 days ago

Listened on the weekend pod. Heart rending and uplifting in equal measure.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!

chiena.bsky.social•8 days ago

What an excellent picture to get out of the piece too!

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

It's true

jemanderton.bsky.social•5 days ago

Abbey Road????

In now have token board envy!

drjomaher.bsky.social•8 days ago

Great piece John, looking forward to reading the book.

I got BB Talking with the Taxman about poetry out of Bristol central library on CD for 20p I think aged 15? Still love his music, what a hero!

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!

timroach.bsky.social•8 days ago

Incredible piece, John.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!

dcminx.bsky.social•5 days ago

📌

stubailie.bsky.social•7 days ago

That's an uplifting story, John. I'm looking forward to the book.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thanks Stuart!

manicbeatle.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thankyou. I look forward to this, as a parent of a young and amazing Autistic adult whose absolute special interest is The Beatles (mine too!)

nosregis.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you John.

oybat.bsky.social•8 days ago

Made me weep. Beautiful, beautiful writing. James and his parents rock. Thank you (from another autism family father).

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you! That means a lot

bobbierescue.bsky.social•8 days ago

It's a lovely article.

cjterry.bsky.social•8 days ago

As someone who was diagnosed autistic as an adult, you're a great Dad. ❤️

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Wow. Thank you!!!!

bagpusspostgate.bsky.social•8 days ago

Beautiful writing. Thanks for doing this, John.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!

theactualjim.bsky.social•8 days ago

Lovely and full of love, looking forward to reading the book

disturbedsleep.bsky.social•8 days ago

Excellent piece, John. I was touched. My wife's brother is now approaching 60 and severely autistic. Matthew was obsessed with music cassettes and had a constant supply of mixtapes of which I recall world music, 70's soul and reggae featured heavily, including Police & Thieves.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you! And really interesting to hear

nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social•7 days ago

My maternal uncle and I used to geek out together over old films. He cd tell you the story of pretty much every film he'd since since he was a child in 1930s. He never had a formal diagnosis, but looking back, he was quite patently autistic. I wasn't diagnosed till I was 50.

phooey.bsky.social•8 days ago

Absolutely wonderful piece John. Beautifully written. I have two autistic nephews, and this really resonates (eldest and I have a similar connection over the Butthole Surfers and other awful noise we both like 😆). Also reminded me I need to replace my VU 69 album I lost …

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!

jampedlar.bsky.social•8 days ago

I'm completely in bits after reading that. What a lovely piece ❤️

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!!

nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social•7 days ago

Excellent, thank you for sharing this!

tomioladipo.bsky.social•8 days ago

As an SEN dad, this resonates strongly. Thank you for writing this.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thanks so much

louderlouder.bsky.social•8 days ago

This is amazing. My autistic 4yo leads us in family band practice but he’s some distance off that level of concentration and focus (for now, I hope).

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Music is great, eh? Thank you

freereed59.net•8 days ago

Music is the way. But this is also great writing and great dad. It is so hard being a parent!

louderlouder.bsky.social•8 days ago

Funnily enough one of the tunes I play along with him is Waiting For The Man! Though he’s very much the drummer, no need to explain away the lyrics yet.

rnrbook-club.bsky.social•8 days ago

John is our guest at a very special book event in Walthamstow on 24 March - we hope you can join us https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maybe-im-amazed-an-evening-with-john-harris-tickets-1255396467629

bugwonk.bsky.social•7 days ago

As a recovering Velvets & Clash obsessive, Hay & Frome fanboy, dad to a neurodivergent 16yo musicophile & having been through the whole dehumanising ASD diagnosis thing (🤮) this resonates on SO many levels. For Joe, since he was about 5 yrs old, this has been THE song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z680nUcxlLc

johnharris1969.bsky.social•7 days ago

Amazing. Thanks so much for posting. I know there are loads more of us than the cliched idea of ASD pointing to maths, computing etc allows. The volume needs to go up

bugwonk.bsky.social•7 days ago

This is Joe at a glampsite in Hay-on-Wye last summer. My cousin, an in-demand bohemian luthier and (naturally) resting actor who lives in Frome (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurence-parnell-b8970827/?originalSubdomain=uk) calls him a lumber drummer 🤩

Comment image

benstanley.eu•8 days ago

And with a love like that, you know you should be glad. What a beautiful way to start my weekend. Thank you John, thank you James.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you! Really appreciated

samblackledge.bsky.social•7 days ago

Hi John, I found this article incredibly moving. Looking forward to the book.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thanks Sam! Really appreciated

mikethefish.bsky.social•8 days ago

I nearly cried at "I want to do that again!" All the best to you and your family.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thank you!

peteralanross.bsky.social•7 days ago

That piece about James is really wonderful, thank you. If I was one of The Beatles – admittedly a big if – I'd consider it one of the best things anyone had ever written about my music.

shesellsseashells.bsky.social•8 days ago

Extremely moving piece and articulates perfectly that bitter struggle with local bureaucracy to get help for your child.

terrynaylor.bsky.social•8 days ago

Beautiful.

theasocial.bsky.social•8 days ago

Great piece, everyone I have shared it with has been moved by it. 🙏🏼

johnharris1969.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thank you!

toomuchsinging.bsky.social•7 days ago

This is wonderful. When my son was diagnosed with autism aged 8, I remember coming home and crying. Not because he was autistic, but because it was referred to as a 'disorder'. My son was, and still is, completely perfect just the way he is.

toomuchsinging.bsky.social•7 days ago

My sister, incidentally, is autistic and also a piano teacher. I now know exactly what book I'll be buying her for her birthday in a couple of months. She will love it.

badspelling.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thanks for this article John. Really beautiful. I am sat here balling to be honest. As the father of an autistic son, I recognise so, so much of this.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Really appreciated. Thank you

fromthemorning.bsky.social•8 days ago

Lovely piece thank you. Wonder if James knows happy cycling by boards of Canada as one of those repetitive/immersing songs. https://open.spotify.com/track/55IsBrXUfZUmY7KSm2BjUp?si=pyDCYoGtR6GeBN0uvVbD1w

tobyseddon.bsky.social•8 days ago

Beautiful piece. Look forward to reading the book.

ecwestcott.bsky.social•8 days ago

What a lovely piece - all the hopes and fears and triumphs. Thank you.

north-andsouth.bsky.social•8 days ago

Loved this John. Just beautiful. And you both rock the gear!

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

We try. Thank you!

m-holms-coats.bsky.social•8 days ago

gosh. very kind, very generous of both of you + moving. thank you.

prum.bsky.social•8 days ago

John, I found this such a moving and ultimately uplifting piece. Going to have to read the book. Music is such a marvel.

johnharris1969.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thank you!