Embarrassing moments? Yep. We’ve going there today. We’ve all got a tale to tell and here’s one of mine …

In an effort to make friends when we first arrived in the UK, my husband and I would often invite people to tea over the weekend. There’s nothing like a good carrot cake and I loved having an excuse to eat some!

But it was only when my children started to visit friends of their own that the penny finally dropped. “Tea” has different meanings. English people use “tea” in the way that I would use “dinner”.

I don’t know how many people came to my home expecting a meal, only to be given a piece of cake, but there were quite a few. It was 5 years before my first child was even born so I had plenty of opportunity to offend!

That mini cultural difference is an example of the confusion that often happens in neurotypical / neurodivergent communication exchanges.

Autism is sometimes...