The AutSide Podcast

Today’s episode examines how Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), particularly in its application to speech therapy, systemically harms gestalt language processors (GLPs), a group that includes many autistic individuals and some neurotypicals. It argues that ABA's analytic, behaviorist approach dismantles natural language acquisition pathways for GLPs, who learn language holistically through chunks an...

Today’s episode explores a personal narrative and critical analysis by Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, an autistic Gestalt Language Processor (GLP). Dr. Hoerricks recounts nine years of childhood sexual abuse and the subsequent systemic failures in recognising and validating her autistic communication style when she later sought help. She highlights how traditional safeguarding and therapeutic approaches, r...

Today’s episode explores the challenges faced by Gestalt Language Processors (GLP) in traditional mathematics education, particularly in Algebra II. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that standardised testing and common teaching methods, like Pólya's four steps and “productive struggle,” often fail GLP students because these approaches demand an analytic understanding o...

Today’s episode critiques the current state of mathematics education, particularly for students with special needs. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that research and policy often overlook the actual experiences of students, especially those with disabilities, by focusing on abstract debates over teaching methods and “fidelity cultures” that prioritise curriculum adher...

Today’s bonus episode challenges traditional views of language acquisition, particularly for autistic individuals who are often labeled “non-verbal.” The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks—an autistic gestalt processor, argues that established theories like behaviourism, Chomsky’s universal grammar, and the critical period hypothesis fail to account for diverse forms of communicatio...

Today’s episode critically analyses a 2025 statistical brief from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality concerning the “cost of autism.” The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that this brief, though seemingly neutral data, subtly reintroduces eugenic logics and austerity politics, framing autism primarily as an economic liability rather than a human experience...

Today’s episode critiques a new study claiming autistic infants respond to “parentese,” or baby talk, arguing that such research perpetuates a “deficit frame” by presuming a lack of communication in autistic children from the outset. The author of the source article, Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, asserts that this study, and the broader field, ignores existing autistic communication methods like gestalt l...

Today’s episode argues for narrative sovereignty in defining autism, moving away from deficit scripts perpetuated by figures like Kanner and Baron-Cohen and institutions like the DSM. It emphasises that autistic voices, particularly those of gestalt language processors (GLPs), have been systematically erased or pathologised in research, education, and societal understanding. The author of the sour...

Today’s episode criticises Simon Baron-Cohen’s foundational work on autism, particularly his 1994 “accent study,” arguing it frames neurodivergence as a deficit rather than a natural variation. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, contends that Baron-Cohen’s research, and the Autism Research Centre’s subsequent work, promotes an assimilationist view, demanding autistic individual...

Today’s episode explores the limitations of language, particularly English, in defining complex identities. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that patriarchal and colonial frameworks embedded in language create reductive categories that fail to encompass diverse experiences, especially those of women, trans individuals, and neurodivergent people. Dr. Hoerricks emphasise...

Today’s episode explores Dr. Jaime Hoerricks’ unique approach to writing, which she terms “cartography of absence.” This methodology focuses on identifying and giving voice to the unspoken, overlooked, or missing elements within public discourse, particularly in contrast to viral content that offers superficial reassurance. Dr. Hoerricks describes her process as tracing silences and contradictions...

Today’s episode critically examines the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), particularly the current DSM-5-TR, arguing that its checklist-based approach to diagnosing ways of being like autism and ADHD leads to exclusion and erasure, especially for individuals who present with overlapping traits or don’t fit narrow diagnostic archetypes. The author of the source article, D...

Today’s episode explores how Octavia E. Butler’s dystopian novels, particularly Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, offer a prophetic lens through which to understand contemporary Los Angeles. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, reflects on a former teacher's decision to teach Butler's work as essential American literature, arguing that this choice prepared students...

Today’s episode examines China’s rising prominence in autism research and the potential global consequences of its prevailing deficit-based understanding of autism. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks—an autistic individual, expresses both admiration for Chinese innovation and deep concern over the country’s approach to autism, which often involves institutionalisation and framin...

Today’s episode critiques the pervasive "violence of erasure" faced by autistic and transgender individuals, particularly in the context of scientific studies and public discourse. The author, of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, describes a personal experience of a power outage, forcing her to a library, where she encounter a “good news” headline from Harvard suggesting a link between acet...

Today’s episode offers a teacher's firsthand account of the challenges within the American public education system, particularly in Los Angeles. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, highlights the daily realities of low wages that force long commutes, the pervasive threat of ICE raids in immigrant communities, and the deep-seated segregation in school funding tied to property val...

Today’s episode critiques a UC Davis study that claims parental workplace chemical exposure worsens autism, arguing the study’s methodology is flawed and its conclusions are biased. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, contends that the study misrepresents autism as a condition to be “worsened,” rather than a form of neurodiversity, and that its metrics measure deviation from neu...

Today’s episode critically examines how corporate entities, specifically Epic Systems, and media outlets like ABC News, collaborate to shape the narrative around ‘medical conditions’ such as autism. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that Epic’s vast patient data, collected without explicit consent, is then used for “research” that lacks scientific rigor and independent...

Today’s episode explores how a personal anniversary ritual involving manga led to an unconventional test of GPT-5. Dr Jaime Hoerricks, an AuDHD GLP educator and the author of the source article, shares their fascination with yōkai—the liminal spirits of Japanese folklore—whose ambiguous nature mirrors their own experience of navigating complex identities and blurred categories. She details the sur...

Today’s bonus episode critiques the historical and current methods for identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD), particularly the shift from the IQ-achievement discrepancy model to Response to Intervention (RtI). It highlights how the “wait-to-fail” approach of the discrepancy model delayed support for struggling students, often misclassifying those with poor instruction or environmental c...

Today’s episode explores how US schools ration special education services despite the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It highlights that a medical diagnosis alone does not guarantee an Individualised Education Program (IEP), as schools often use academic performance as a primary factor to determine eligibility, thus creating a "shield" that protects institutional resources rath...

Today’s episode explores Dr. Jaime Hoerricks’ personal journey of reclaiming their identity through the lens of autistic justice and retrocausality. In the source article, Dr. Hoerricks shares her experience of being assigned a new identity through adoption in Los Angeles County in the 1970s, highlighting how the bureaucratic process erased her original birth and ancestry. She uses old photographs...

Today’s episode argues that despite research and personal testimonies clearly demonstrating the effective accommodations for autistic college students, universities consistently refuse to implement them. This refusal stems not from ignorance or a lack of evidence, but from a systemic resistance rooted in capitalist logic, where cost-benefit analyses prioritize efficiency and standardization over h...

Today’s episode presents a holistic and individualised approach to writing specifically for Gestalt Language Processors (GLPs). It challenges traditional analytical writing instruction, arguing that its linear, sequential methods often fail to accommodate the GLP’s natural language acquisition, which begins with whole ideas or “gestalts.” The guide, from Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, proposes a four-stage...

Today’s episode examines a new Executive Order aimed at addressing “crime and disorder” in America, specifically focusing on its potential negative impacts on autistic individuals, particularly those who are unhoused or otherwise marginalised. It argues that the order redefines homelessness and neurological differences as threats, leading to increased surveillance, coerced treatment, and a dismant...