Autism Stories

"Too often, society confuses speech with intelligence, but speech is only one form of communication. I and many others have valuable contributions, even when we do not use our speech",says Dr. Emile Gouws. Dr. Gouws joins this episode to discuss being a non-speaking child and  turning lived experience into advocacy. To learn more about Dr. Gouws visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-emile-gouws-610449116/ .

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"In trying to recover from autistic burnout myself, I created this five-phase framework that uses an intersectional lens because as I was saying earlier, autism shows up for me quite differently than a lot of other people because we're different human beings with different lived experiences", says Dr. Sam Rae. Dr. Sam joins this episode to discuss her creation of the Autistic Burnout Recovery Framework. To learn more...

"Any clinician who is diagnosing needs to understand the value of the diagnosis. So despite the fact that, yes, we can give you a diagnosis with lots of stigma placed upon you, [...] there's a value to that because it will reduce a lot of the other issues and a lot of the other chronic problems like the anxiety, the burnout", says Kelly Bron Johnson. Kelly returns to Autism Stories to discuss being on a lived experien...

"The main thing I would say people definitely need when it comes to dealing with autistic swimmers is just patience. Like there's going to be some days where the kids are going to have like a really good day [...] are going to be days where like, you know, like they're having like a rough day", says Jake Batista. Jake joins this episode to discuss  teaching neurodivergent swimmers at the Goldfish Swim School.  To ...

"Art therapy really is about working with materials to be able to come to know something about yourself that emerges through that engagement and may or may not be communicated verbally at all", says Freya Pinney. Freya joins this episode to discuss art therapy and connecting with other neurodivegent people.  To learn more about Freya and her services visit linkedin.com/in/freya-pinney-49ab81155 .

Thank you to TR Sun for t...

"Cannabis was a very confusing aspect of my life for a really long time because in high school I was trying it, but my family was very against it. There were actually aspects of it that seemed to be helping me a lot, but it wasn't clear to me how to use it", says PJ Letourneau. PJ joins this episode to discuss Pervasive Demand for Autonomy, the benefits of cannabis, and the processing of our emotions as autistic peopl...

"What grief really is, isn't a getting over the loss, but an adjusting to a life that encapsulates the loss. And I think that that's a lot of what sometimes happens when we come to terms with our autism and the things that we did or didn't get a chance to do", says Brandy Schillace. Brandy joins this episode to discuss her book about the world’s first center for homosexual and transgender rights. To learn more...

"Many people] don't care as much about, okay, these are the statistics of what percentage of people get deported actually commited any crimes. It's very, very low. [...] They care about their neighbor who is Mexican, who they like, who has a family who got deported. [...] They only care about the personal connection. Which is why I feel like books like The Broposal hopefully can start a conversation", says Sonora ...

"Anytime you have a default, anyone whose brain learns things, processes, communicates differently is going to feel othered. The idea with universal design is not having any defaults, and to have a menu to all people", says Dr. Mel Houser. Mel joins this episode to discuss universal design in healthcare, her non profit All Brains Belong VT, and what she wished medical school and medical training had taught her. To learn m...

"I was going down the rabbit hole of adult play and the benefits of that could bring to a corporate environment when it comes to things like communication, creativity, innovation and ingenuity. I came across this concept of Lego Serious Play that started in the mid 90s [...]", says Rolondo Talbott. Rolando joins this episode to discuss the benefits of play for adults and  his book of poetry about his corporate career. Lea...

"The veils are perceptual filters and autistic people have fewer filters. And so they're receiving a lot of information. [...] Bright lights, the way things sound, the way textures feel. And we say, their filters are lowered that way. But also the filters are lower for the invisible world", says Wendy Roff. Wendy joins us to discuss her new book about  her new book about the connection of science and mysticism. To lea...

"I want to feel connected to you, but if you're talking at me or if I'm bored with the conversation, then we have to adjust and your feelings being hurt isn't really my responsibility anymore. [...]. My responsibility is to myself and I'd love to be connected, but we really have to find somewhere to connect", says Lee Hopkins. Lee joins this episode to discuss meaningful relationships for autistic people. ...

"I'm hoping that what is happening with AI can go down a path that ultimately allows more people to tell their stories more effectively and with less limitations and with less gatekeeping than ever before", says Anthony Leckie. Anthony joins this episode to discuss being the editor for Autism Stories and ethical uses of AI. To learn more about Anthony visit https://www.anthonyleckie.com .

Thank you to TR Sun for t...

"Autistic women, especially those of us who are late identified, have spent our entire lives performing outside of our comfort zones just to survive, just to pass, to feel safe. [...] And that caused us chronic burnout, sensory overload, and a disconnection from our authentic selves. So telling us to get out of our comfort zone, it's like pouring water on someone who's already drowning", says Carole Jean Whittingt...

"[My book's] about the generational trauma that can come from masking for generations and the complexity of neurodivergence and the complexity of how it can manifest, how it can present, how we can all have this thing in common, but all treat it in really different ways", says Meg Eden Kuyatt. Meg joins us to discuss generational trauma, writing poetry, and her new book The Girl in the Walls. To learn more about Meg a...

"I would go so far as to say that there is a distinct form of people pleasing that autistic people engage in[...]. [...] It's like, this is my personality because it's my mask.  I've created this person that whose worth is entirely dependent on how other people perceive me and how useful and how little needs I have, how much I can provide for other people, because [I feel] so strange and unacceptable", says Josselyn Crane. Josselyn...

"A huge part of my early discovery and then building a life that's more resilient to burnout has been understanding my sensory profile, getting to know what actually works for my sensory system, what soothes it, what comforts it, what triggers it", says Dr. Megan Neff. Dr. Neff joins this episode to discuss her Autistic Burnout Workbook. To learn more about Dr. Neff and her workbook visit https://neurodivergentinsight...

"But for me, at least, music has always emphasized my emotions with an internal soundtrack, if that makes any sense, it's as much a part of my brain and internal dialogue as anything else, really", says Mitch Boucher. Mitch joins this episode to discuss rejection sensitive dysphoria and his love of baroque music.  To learn more about Mitch and his music visit https://www.youtube.com/@MitchBoucherComposer .

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"That's kind of where I stepped in with, yes, if I want to help people to improve their quality of life, I need to understand what quality of life looks like for autistic people", says Becca Lory Hector. Becca makes her return to Autism Stories to discuss the research from her and her team  regarding quality of life for autistic people.  To learn more about Becca and her research visit https://beccalory.com/publicatio...