19/08/2026
Dont struggle alone you can speak to people with lived experience.
# # # **ARFIDandME | A Voice That Deserves to Be Heard**
There is something about Macy's ARFID advocacy that we think deserves to be recognised.
Macy is non-speaking.
Yet read her words and there is no shortage of communication.
Her writing is thoughtful, articulate and considered. She asks difficult questions, reflects on her own experiences and, importantly, looks beyond herself to consider what other people living with ARFID may need.
That challenges an assumption that is still too easily made: that being non-speaking somehow means having less to say.
It doesn't.
**Not speaking is not the same as not communicating.**
Communication can take many forms. Writing, technology, gestures, signs, pictures and other forms of alternative and augmentative communication can all provide people with ways to express thoughts, feelings, choices and ideas.
Macy has chosen writing as one of the ways she communicates, and she is using it to advocate not only for herself but for others affected by ARFID.
That advocacy has now developed into something bigger.
Rather than simply raising awareness of ARFID, Macy wants to understand where the gaps are, listen to a wider range of experiences and work towards practical change.
That is why TCC is working alongside her.
Her story may have started this campaign, but it doesn't define where the campaign can go.
**The aim now is to create space for many more voices to be heard.**
People living with ARFID.
Parents and carers.
Professionals.
People with different experiences, different needs and different ways of communicating.
Because if we want to create better support, we first need to make sure we are listening to the people who experience the system.
And sometimes, the most important thing we can do is challenge our own assumptions about what a voice looks like.
**Macy has something important to say. We think people should listen.**