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Tom Adams

@sonofswiss

Head of user research at Department for Education. Will try and moan less about the trains on here than I did on twitter.

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27.10.2023
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Latest posts by Tom Adams @sonofswiss

That’s sort of sad, although I also like the mental image I now have of a sea of kids in footie kids, with B in the middle just wearing his normal clothes.

05.03.2026 14:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

My favourite WBD costume ever is still the kid I saw in full Man United kit with a copy of the Match annual under his arm.

05.03.2026 12:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I try not to give parenting advice, because in the end we’re all muddling along best we can in an impossible situation, but as another World Book Day comes around I think perhaps the one piece of crucial advice I’d give to any new parent is: buy a glue gun.

05.03.2026 08:49 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
10 year old dressed in green top and green hat with a cardboard dagger and shield

10 year old dressed in green top and green hat with a cardboard dagger and shield

@jamiesmart.bsky.social the 10yo has gone for Flopz from Hero Slam for WBD this year (from Phoenix issue 700, very specifically). Also, on the walk to school he’s come up with some ideas to make the HS game β€œeven more amazing” so if you’d like to use them, we can open negotiations.

05.03.2026 08:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

If there’s one critical weakness I have, it’s the 1990s classic Mac typeface Chicago, set in outline and shadow.

06.01.2026 12:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It was the only Mac in our school - the one actual computing room was full of Acorn Archimedes which, looking back, might have been even cooler. When I was in sixth form, they replaced them all with Windows PCs, which even in 1996 felt sad and soulless :-(

06.01.2026 11:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of a text style selection menu from an early version of Mac OS, showing the different text options in the relevant style (β€œBold” styled in bold text, β€œItalic” in italic, etc)

Screenshot of a text style selection menu from an early version of Mac OS, showing the different text options in the relevant style (β€œBold” styled in bold text, β€œItalic” in italic, etc)

Reading Nikita Prokopov’s excellent blog (via @gruber.foo) about terrible menu icons in MacOS 26, and getting a massive proustian rush from this old screenshot. 1994, huddled over a tiny Mac in the Design & Technology room that smelled of sawdust and glue, overusing SHADOW in my GCSE coursework.

06.01.2026 11:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

EIGHT YEARS

26.10.2025 20:32 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It didn’t make the snail happy.

22.10.2025 18:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Big fan of getting milk from a milkman (no plastic, satisfyingly retro/nostalgic). But not a fan of grabbing a bottle from the fridge to find I’ve actually just grabbed a big snail that had crawled up the side of it 😱

22.10.2025 11:32 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Am at the very first UK Gov research operations conference today, which is very exciting. A room full of public sector people doing innovative things on shoestring budgets to help us do better research with government service users more quickly and efficiently. Inspiring πŸ™Œ

21.10.2025 10:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Quick Check Needed

I am recruiting a Senior Accessibility Specialist to be part of the Government Digital Service accessibility and digital inclusion team. Applications open until Sunday 26th October. www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...

#a11y #Accessibility #AccessibilityRegulations

07.10.2025 11:35 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

Well you didn’t need to tell me that, Kate.

08.10.2025 21:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
a monster is burning in a dark room with flames coming out of it 's mouth Alt: a monster burning in a dark room with flames coming out of its mouth

Yes and this happened? Probably fine.

08.10.2025 13:48 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Also, what a great weekend. Did you watch it with the kids, or secretly on your own? (no shade/maximum respect if so)

08.10.2025 09:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m less distressed about this because at least he was meant to be 30 years younger between 1955 and 1985.
(I watched BTTF2 a few weeks ago, and I think there’s a whole PhD thesis to be written about how the school teacher already looks past retirement age in 1955, but not a day older in 1985)

08.10.2025 09:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Photo of an indoor wall. There is a light switch in the middle with a picture hook above it.

Photo of an indoor wall. There is a light switch in the middle with a picture hook above it.

Moved a picture to a different room, and remembered it was hiding a MYSTERY LIGHT SWITCH. As far as I can tell it controls no light or anything else electrical in/outside the house, so assume instead that it controls some kind of terrifying portal to hell? Will cover it up again with a new picture.

08.10.2025 09:04 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Love this. What’s it been replaced with, digitally? It’s not Facebook marketplace or anything like that. Maybe Craigslist or something in the US, but not over here. I’ve genuinely no idea - is this a completely lost piece of wonderfully barmy culture?

08.10.2025 08:54 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

(Just checked and THANK GOD I still have eleven years before I’m as old as Connery was in that gif. Harrison Ford - not such good news 😭)

06.10.2025 16:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
indiana jones and the last crusade movie poster with two men ALT: indiana jones and the last crusade movie poster with two men

Can’t find the proper Donovan ageing/β€œhe chose poorly” gif, but this sums up my feelings reasonably well.

06.10.2025 16:40 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Just read something that said Michael Palin’s Around The World In 80 Days was the start of his β€œlatter-day career” and yep I’ve just checked & Palin was younger than me when he did 80 Days - which is an unnecessary reminder for a Monday of both my general decay & my minimal overall life achievements

06.10.2025 16:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, really appreciate you checking! (and this is my second nice interaction with kids’ authors in the last 24 hours, after Nadia Shireen was LOVELY with my son, signing the new Grimwood at our local bookshop/attacking him with a Sharon The Party Crow puppet. You guys are all brilliant.)

20.09.2025 22:33 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Came here to ask the same question @jamiesmart.bsky.social! (Although mine is dancing lesson, not cub camp)

20.09.2025 08:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

My loft is a bit chilly, otherwise… 🫒

18.09.2025 14:15 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

(Am now gutted I can’t remember the rest of the mixtape. It’s probably up in the loft, although even if I spent half of Saturday looking for it [not completely out of the question] I of course don’t have a tape player to play it on)

18.09.2025 11:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Been listening to Ash recently, from the 90s, who I had sort of forgotten existed. Remembered a) how great Ash were, b) a mixtape I made in 1998 or so that started with Jesus Says - which is a banger of an opener. Don’t want to big myself up too much, but I was an absolute premier league mixtaper.

18.09.2025 11:50 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Re 1: in addition to the medical definition (which is important to understand for diagnosis) I’d like expert summaries of non-formal but commonly accepted features. Eg RSD & emotional dysregulation aren’t in the definition, but discovering they’re a thing in ADHD was the biggest β€˜oh!’ moment for me.

17.08.2025 03:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Whereas e.g. Fast Minds, by Craig Surman, Tim Bilkey, Karen Weintraub is a lot less personal and more academic. I’m aiming to go back to it, because the first few chapters were full of really useful concepts - but it wasn’t what I needed right then.

17.08.2025 03:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Two books I really got a lot from in the first year or so after my diagnosis: Jess McCabe’s How To ADHD and Alex Partridge’s Now It All Makes Sense. The personal stories were what I wanted to hear at that time, and both really helped me relate and process my own life and experiences.

17.08.2025 03:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Maybe a community-curated book reading list with some narrative on what the book is (and therefore if it’s what I’m looking for right now). There are so many books out there, but finding the right ones to read/listen to for the stage of journey I’m on has been really hard.

17.08.2025 03:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0