Noncompliant - the podcast

In this episode, I talk with Occupational Therapist Greg Santucci about the problems with ABA from his perspective as a practitioner, as well as new and better approaches in schools and the challenges of the post-pandemic period in education. An interesting and inspiring conversation! Listen to the podcast at the audio link below or on … Continue reading Episode 22. “Co-Regulation is Key”: A...

In this episode, we discuss the basics of stem cells, medical tourism, false claims about stem cells as an autism treatment, bioethical issues within the field of stem cells and methodological issues in autism research—with discussion of Duke University’s Marcus Center for Autism and The Stem Cell Institute of Panama among others. This is such … Continue reading Episode 21. “I worry FDA Expa...

John Summers’ recent expose in The Nation looks at the relationship between private equity companies and the autism service Applied Behaviour Analytics (or ABA) in Massachusetts, where he lives. In this episode, John and I talk about the business of ABA and the problematic industries built around autism. His analysis is incredibly key to understanding … Continue reading Episode 20. The...

I wrote this recently, about radiation treatment for cancer. To listen, click the audio file below.       .  

I had the great pleasure and honour of talking with Shabaaz and Pete from CripChat UK, on their podcast. We discussed autism pseudoscience, the Sia film controversy and much more. Listen to the podcast right here by clicking the audio link below or on Stitcher here or on iTunes here . Transcript: Transcript_CripChatUK_1 . . … Continue reading “The things we don’t talk about&#8221...

. I wrote this after my recent surgery.  Audio here, transcript below. . . Transcript: Transcript_Half a Woman_2020

I had a very informative and thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Marc D. Feldman, an expert on medical child abuse and factitious disorder. We talked about medical child abuse, including “Munchausen-by-proxy” and the abuse of autistic children through autism pseudoscience. We also talked about supports for survivors and what we all can do to stop the … Continue reading Episod...

A poem I wrote about having cancer treatments    

In this podcast, I interviewed Melissa Eaton, one of the first (and most effective) campaigners against autism pseudoscience. We talked about phony autism cures and what we can all do to stop the people selling them. Listen to the podcast right here by clicking the audio link below. Listen to this episode on Stitcher here … Continue reading Episode 15. “Everyone Can Do Something to Stop Auti...

This is a fascinating interview with Alfie Kohn, who has been researching and writing about education, parenting, authority and co-operative learning for years, driving home a simple fact: rewards and punishment are two sides of the same coin –and they’re not helping us to raise the kind of children we say we want to raise. … Continue reading Episode 14. “Punishments and rewards can ge...

In this podcast, Gaby and I discussed racism in the education system, the disability hierarchy, media bias and representations of the self-advocacy movement, eye contact and cultural norms, the power of social media, the situation in Ontario and more! Listen to the podcast at the audio link below. Listen to this episode on Stitcher here … Continue reading Episode 13. “Neurodivergent individu...

In this broad-ranging interview, Dr. Damian Milton & I discuss the theory of the “double empathy problem”; hyperfocus/flow state; autistic parenting; the medical versus social model of disability; the subjectivity of outcome measures; and the diverse ways in which autism itself is framed and defined. Listen to the interview at the audio link below or … Continue reading Episode 12. “We ne...

“”There’s a lot of people out there who are going to try and tell you what your kid needs, but really, autistic people are the ones who actually do know.” I had a fascinating conversation with Shannon Rosa, co-founder and editor of The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism,  about parenting, autism pseudoscience and autistic acceptance. … Continue reading Episode 11...

I recently talked with Sam Himelstein, the president of the Center for Adolescent Studies , about the pitfalls of pop-culture “mindfulness” and the importance of trauma-informed care. We also talked about the problems with behaviourist approaches that focus only on measuring outcomes for compliance rather than quality of life. Listen to the podcast on audio … Continue reading Epi...

I interviewed 23-year-old comedian Michael McCreary about media portrayals, comedy & so much more! Listen to the audio link below or on Stitcher here or on iTunes here. Read the transcript,  below the audio file.   Transcript by Julie Ann Lee: Transcript_McCreary_Noncompliant Bio Michael began stand-up comedy at the age of 13. He has performed … Continue reading Episode 9. “Why don’...

Today’s guest is Oswin Latimer, co-founder of Foundations for Divergent Minds, a framework designed by autistic and neurodivergent people for use by families and professionals. FDM works on the principle that when a child struggles it is because their surroundings need to be adjusted–and assessment should find what is missing from their environment. FDM is … Continue reading Epis...

I spoke with human rights activist Cal Montgomery, a survivor of residential institutions and, after institutionalization. Cal describes how the institutional model is replicated in group home settings, even when they have a veneer of independent living. As he observes: “It’s really not that hard to take a program that looks like it supports self-determination … Continue reading Episode 7. “...