Autism Stories

"I see a lot of creators of color in the autism and neurodiversity community making statements that they feel they aren't being seen, that what is being seen is kind of the same faces over and over again. So I wanted to take the opportunity of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month to actually promote other accounts that people aren't seeing", says Dr. Alondra Rogers. Dr. Rogers j...

"As far as the software, the AI, the automation, It's really one of those things that you don't know what you're missing out on until you get in on it and see how much time, money, and tasks it eliminates", says Todd Homer. Todd joins this episode to discuss autistic entrepreneurship and how automation can positively impact that journey. To learn more about Todd visit https:/...

"Carl Jung wrote that the most important conversations of his life were anonymous. Most of what he learned was learning from the patients. And if Carl Jung was able to write that, and if he was able to recognize that, I think an average psychiatrist must be able to do that", says Dr. Liliya Wheatcraft. Dr. Wheatcraft joins this  this episode to discuss being a psychiatrist, evidence-base...

" I really hate when somebody messages you and they're like, "We need to talk." Because  immediately I'm like, "Oh my god! What did I do? Did I screw up? What's going on?" And I can't focus on anything else until we talk because I think I screwed up. She always gives me an agenda of any meeting we're gonna have, anything that's going on beforehand,...

"When it comes to what I do as part of the autistic community, it's mainly just sharing my lived experiences, either to, you know, to share my perspective on things or to like raise awareness or to just start those conversations with other people", says Niraj Shah. Niraj joins this episode to discuss his role in the autistic community, recognizing our privilege, and building authenti...

"Almost every new parent I speak to will go, "The doctor said they need 40 hours of this therapy, this therapy, this therapy, this therapy etc." And I'm like that's kind of what they've been told could benefit, but we know that 40 hours of any therapy in a week is just excessive and too much", says Destiny Huff. Destiny joins this episode to discuss being an educati...

"I realized because it's the pattern recognition really that's why I can play most instruments. Once you understand [music] theory and you understand what it's supposed to sound like, it's really just making your body physically cooperate with you", says TR Sun. TR Sun joins us to discuss their new album The Sun Seeker and how consciously stimming has made an impact on th...

"It is important to point out that each one of us has a vocation in our particular state in life, whether clergy, religious, or layperson, whether single, married, or consecrated. Moreover, autistic people have the vocation of being authentically autistic members of the Body. Whatever we do, whatever talents we have, and however we are called to share them for the glory of God, we do through...

"I realized just how systemic ableism was in our special ed system. And it was really disheartening, really seeing just how drastically different my students were treated, how I was treated, how how I didn't get the same curriculum to provide them as their non-disabled peers. And so, I said, I'm going to leave. [...] And I was looking for advocacy", says Ryan Haenze. Ryan joins t...

"I pivoted from trauma therapy into supporting a lot of neurodiverse folks and families. What I found was it's a really seamless transition because of principles that I already leaned on heavily as a trauma therapist. Choice is a big deal. The number one thing that leads to trauma imprint on anybody is a loss of agency", says Sam Marion. Sam joins this episode to discuss providing tr...

" I'd had this burning desire, or I just knew it was my destiny to do something at the intersection of dance and disability, and I saw a gap. More than anything, I saw a gap. I was like, wow, I didn't know that one in four Americans had a disability, and that's 61 million Americans", says Marisa Hamamoto. Marisa joins this episode to discuss her dance company that employs dis...

"I want to eliminate the shame and stigma of autism. That's really the goal here is to help people understand what it is. Neurotypical people- they don't understand it. And a lot of autistic people don't really acknowledge or understand what we can do to have better lives", says Scott Steindorff. Scott joins this episode to discuss directing and producing the feature-length d...

"At Autistic Minds, at the directory, we help families, individuals, to find autistic groups and events and articles related to autism. So we've recently come close to 35,000. So we're the biggest in the UK, the second in the world. So that's our aim, to be the biggest in the world", says Andrew Moore. Andrew joins this episode to discuss overseeing a directory of  resources...

"It would be an essential part of any decent person-centered care to find out what co-occuring conditions are there. Any good midwife would know those. But I think the rates of how much more likely autistic people are to experience those issues, I think having a care plan without taking those things into consideration would be quite risky, at best", says Haley Morgan. Haley joins this ep...

"  The hiring process is so, so old today and it's not always inclusive. So please do take care of the hiring processes. That's the first thing that a business should do. And accommodations, there are so many different kinds of accommodations, but I don't see that happening everywhere, at least in my personal experience. And so to just evaluate, assess and like innovate with your aaccommodations w...

"I do think everyone needs a financial plan and I would say those that have precarious income or inconsistent income need a plan even more so. This has been one of the huge challenges in the industry. The way I say it is, the people that need advice the most are the ones that can't really afford to traditionally get it. One of the things I'm doing to give back as well, in addition to...

"Their nervous system's been dysregulated for such a long time, everything gets thrown off, including the circadian rhythm. So, it makes sense that someone might need to be eating at times they didn't before, and that includes overnight, in order to keep their blood sugar at a decent level so that way they can sleep", says Laura Hellfeld. Laura joins this episode to discuss sleep...

"I'll be honest, I've had a really great journey so far.  ASD Band has its ups and downs. And on top of that, being autistic has a unique dimension to our creative process. For example, we're bouncing ideas for our original songs left and right with, you know, effective communication and we want to overcome the stigma of autism", says Rawan Tuffaha. Rawan joins this episode t...

"So I was in the corporate world at this time about a year ago, working about 13 to 16 hours a day and just really not enjoying something that I thought I would. I got into research. I thought I would love it. I still do, luckily. But I was just so burnt out. And I was looking for something that could really bring me back to what it felt like I was. And so I stumbled across birds again. [...]...

"To me, the key is the manager, honestly. When you think about somebody's experience with a company, their direct supervisor provides about 80% of that experience with the company. So, if the company's fantastic, but you have a manager who isn't understanding, helpful, or inclusive, then it doesn't matter what the values are of that company. Because the person who is directly...

"Gender-affirming care saves lives. It allows people to align with their gender identity if they are born opposite of that. Providing that care prevents people from going on to have higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicidality, and successful suicide acts. We are saving lives when we treat people the way they are asking to be treated, and when we believe people", says Dr. Julius John...

"Being an attorney, a good attorney at least, is consistent with a lot of autistic traits that I have. Like being straight-forward about things, being clear cut and logical about things, and I'm also excellent when it comes to building arguments". Dr. Kofi joins this episode to discuss being an attorney and what black autistics want you to know. To learn more about Dr. Kofi visit If...

"I think one of the biggest things is understanding what stress is and how it works, and understanding what that is important to understand how to let it go. Stress works on a spectrum, too. It's a defense mechanism. It's telling you to pay attention. Sometimes it's a whisper and sometimes it's screaming at you to fight for your life or run like hell, kind of like a dimmer swi...

"I have always felt and still feel that everything designed in the world, built environments, systems, bureaucracies, schools, institutions, everything…the first thing you have to plan for is joy. To make it functional, even", says Heather Myers. Heather joins this episode to discuss modern utopias,  translating autistic experiences and demystifying them for neurotypical audiences, and h...

"Do second guess your tendency to take people's words at face value. I know for me, I will sometimes have an instinct that somebody is lying to me. But if I ask them about it, and they just tell me that they're not lying, I'll just believe them! Because I tell the truth, and so, my automatic assumption is that other people are telling the truth", says Layla Messner. Layla joi...