Autism Stories

"For me, sensory play is like a form of meditation. It is often loud inside my head but when I experience sensory joy I am just me and I feel in tune with the universe, like I am exactly where I need to be and it is such a relief", says Bobbie Charlie. Bobbie joins this episode to discuss sensory joy, the feelings wheel, and life as a musician. To learn more about Bobbie visit https://ww...

"One of the biggest things that I've learned is just how deep my mask goes, and that's basically just how I functioned my whole life and didn't really realize it. Aside from that, I learned that a lot of the coping skills that go along with masking, a lot of the coping skills I used to make it, just aren't really enough anymore", says Bee McDonald. Bee joins this episode...

"Our brain is 85% visual right and 15% verbal. The spiritual ability clairvoyance is seeing, so we have already that ability to see because of our visual. My clairvoyance is through the roof because of my autism", says Chinhee Park. Chinhee joins this episode to discuss being a psychic medium and how her autism impacts her mediumship. To learn more about Chinhee visit https://www.tiktok.com/@chinh...

"One thing that I really have a lot of is echolalia. A lot of the things that come out of me verbally is repeated sounds, repeated songs, repeated phrases. In a lot of ways that can be really helpful for improv or even for writing sketch", says Bridie Schellenberg. Bridie joins this episode to discuss performing improv, how comedy can improve the relationships with your kids, and hygiene...

"The main issue that we ran into, the hurdle that kept us from understanding that we had the sleep disorder that we do, is our autistic literalism. We were taking the way that people talk about being overworked and tired in this capitalist hustle culture, the way that people are like, oh, I'm exhausted, I'm falling asleep all the time. We took that very literally", says The Pillo...

"The best part of my marathon running is just accomplishing something really hard. I love overcoming barriers and pushing myself to new heights. I love running because it is when my brain seems to give into the needs of my body", says Aaron Jepson. Aaron joins this episode to discuss ow marathon running impacts his autism, the fiction and nonfiction books he has written, and taking a cha...

"I didn't really find community until after I learned to spell my communication and I was able to connect with other kids like me. It seems like since I learned how to spell my communication, the community and the opportunity to connect with others continues to grow and grow", says Grace Falleur. Grace joins this episode to discuss the spellers method and about the Participation of N...

"I love that I'm so lucky to have people to depend on, and I can be dependable for others. [...] I am convinced that interdependence is a natural way of being", says Danny Whitty. Danny joins this episode to discuss his new podcast All Our Brave Hearts. To learn more about Danny and All Our Brave Hearts visit https://www.instagram.com/dannywithwords/ . If you could subscribe on your...

"Ehlers-Danlos, you don't really have like issues with the stomach. It's all joints." No, there's so much more to it than bendy joints and dislocations. It's everywhere, and I think that;s one of the most important things they could know", says Mandi Weirdmore. Mandi joins this episode to discuss Ehlers-Danlos awareness month. We also discuss doctors can do to help t...

"Everyone who's following us has a much clearer understanding of Autism. We're doing a lot more early intervention. We know more, right? [...] So that story was important for me to document, I felt, that the legacy for us of those late diagnosed folks that missed out on a lot of opportunities or had a lot of struggles that weren't necessary for us to have", says Becca Lory He...

" I opened up a nail school back in last year of February, the 9th of February. We opened up a nail school to help people with autism, so they can also do nails as well", says Aaliyah Thompson. Aaliyah joins this episode to discuss her nail bar and opening up a cosmetology school for autistic people. To learn more Aaliyah visit https://www.instagram.com/aaliyahbeautybar__nail_school/?igs...

"As a very first step, talk to somebody. I know it's hard; it's like a stigmatized topic. Find someone you can really trust and who can sympathize with you. Not saying something like what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Because I think what doesn't kill you causes you burnout", says Paula Liub. Paula joins this episode to discuss how she helps neurodivergent women to treat or prevent burnout...

"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...