Noor is an Autistic Muslim woman of color and a proud mother to her Autistic daughter. She has two university degrees, one diploma, and many, many favorite books. She is passionate about the role of spirituality in healing and the power of writing our own healing narratives. Noor is a regular contributor to the NeuroDivergent…
Yenn Purkis is an autistic and non-binary author, advocate, public speaker and community leader. They also have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. They are the author of nine published books on elements of autism and blog regularly. Yenn is a public speaker of almost 20 years’ experience and has presented at a range of events including for TEDx Canberra in 2013. Yenn facilitates an autism support group which has been running since 2011. Yenn has a number of media engagements both in Australia and overseas. They have a strong social media presence and have been sharing a daily meme since 2014. They have a number of awards for their work including the 2016 ACT Volunteer of the Year and 2019 ACT Chief Minister’s Inclusion Award. This week Yenn discussed their recently-published book The Awesome Autistic Go-To Guide: A Practical Handbook for Autistic Teens and Tweens.
…Emma Reardon is a wildlife enthusiast and social care professional from the United Kingdom. She is a Director of Autism Well-Being, a not-for-profit organization providing a variety of support and wellbeing services, training and consultancy. In Part One of this series, Emma shared her long road to diagnosis as well as some specific sensory challenges personal to her daily experience. In Part Two of this series, she discussed the significance of sensory trauma, and using language to convey this impact. In Part Three of this series, she discussed the importance of integrating Autistic expertise into sensory research and the powerful role Autistic voice plays in improving the lives of future generations.
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Emma Reardon is a wildlife enthusiast and social care professional from the United Kingdom. She is a Director of Autism Well-Being, a not-for-profit organization providing a variety of support and wellbeing services, training and consultancy. Last week, Emma shared her long road to diagnosis as well as some specific sensory challenges personal to her daily experience. In Part Two of this series, she discusses her position paper on Sensory Trauma and the significance of validating sensory challenges.
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Emma Reardon is a wildlife enthusiast and social care professional from the United Kingdom. She is a Director of Autism Well-Being, a not-for-profit organization providing a variety of support and wellbeing services, training and consultancy. Emma is currently undertaking PhD research into perceptions of autism. Her work has been published in the BILD Good Autism Practice Journal, and her writing about autism is shared internationally through blogs and social media. When she’s not writing, she can be found outdoors – usually stopping to marvel at whatever has excited her senses in the natural world. In the first part of this special three-week series, Emma shared her winding path to diagnosis as well as some specific sensory challenges personal to her daily experience.
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Rhi is a late-diagnosed writer, playwright, public speaker, and mother of five from Wales. She started her own theater company, Autact Theatre CIC, and her award-winning play, The Duck, has been performed at theaters across the UK. She also delivers training workshops and talks on a range of topics surrounding autism, such as autism in women, health and wellbeing, supporting Autistic people in the workplace, creativity, and the value of a diagnosis. This week Rhi shared her experiences advocating for herself during childbirth, managing life in the middle of the pandemic, and her current advocacy interests.
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Aria Sky is a late-diagnosed Autistic mother of four. She blogs at Mamautistic on a variety of her personal experiences as an Autistic adult. In Part 1 of her two-part interview, Aria shared her diagnosis story and discussed common barriers to diagnoses and ways to make access to a diagnosis more equitable. In Part 2 of her interview, she emphasized the importance of setting clear expectations, especially during public outings. Aria also added essential strategies for raising children with a positive Autistic identity.
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Aria Sky is a late-diagnosed Autistic mother of four. She blogs at Mamautistic on a variety of her personal experiences as an Autistic adult. In Part One of her two-part interview, Aria shares her path to diagnosis and how that process differed from the diagnosis of her children. She also discussed common barriers to diagnoses and ways to make access to a diagnosis more equitable.
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Tas Kronby are Autistic members of the disability community with developmental, mental health, and physical disabilities. They use them/them and plural pronouns and we/ours in writing (Really, they are not typos). They advocate for equal access and awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity. They aim to use their voice to break the stigma surrounding any and all invisible disability diagnosis. For more information on what they do, come visit them at www.tasthoughts.com. This week Tas discussed allyship and equal access to higher education.
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Holly Bishop is from southwestern Ohio and has a Bachelor’s of Art in European History, as well as a Master’s of Science in Political Science, from Southern New Hampshire University. Bishop was formally diagnosed with ASD I in July 2020, at the age of 37. This week she shared her path to diagnosis, self-advocacy, and navigating personal and public life.
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