Autism Interview #200: Jaime A. Heidel on Late Diagnosis and Autism Inclusivity

Interviews

Jaime A. Heidel is a late-diagnosed autistic woman who writes, advocates, and translates communication between the neurotypes so that autistic and non-autistic people better understand each other and communicate more effectively. You can find her on her Instagram page asking questions, sparking lively discussions, and gathering detailed information about the autistic experience to increase understanding and decrease the lifelong inter-neurotype miscommunication that leads to complex PTSD. This week she shared her experience growing up undiagnosed and how society can make strides to improve autism inclusivity.

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Autism Interview #194: Melanie Magowan on Autism Acceptance and Inclusion

Interviews

Melanie Magowan is a personal trainer and British Ex Pat currently living in New Zealand. She’s also a triathlete and former Autism Specialist teacher. She has documented in her blog her life experiences as an emigrant, late diagnosed Autistic person, and amputee. Melanie has also documented her journey in vlogs through a total knee replacement and a below the knee amputation on her YouTube Channel Ryding Footloose!. This week she discussed her experience as an Autism Specialist teacher and autism acceptance and inclusion in her communities.

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Autism Interview #188: Bart Shoaf on Late Diagnosis, Therapy, and Advocacy

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Bart is a husband, father, grandfather from North Carolina. He has worked both in ministry, and in Continuous Improvement, both in food manufacturing and now in the printing industry.  He blogs at ManualTransmissionAutism.com.

Bart struggled for years with anxiety, social skills, and sleep disorders and was not diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder until his mid 50s. This diagnosis, although painful and confusing at first, has given him a lot of understanding about why he acts and reacts certain ways. He is now on the journey to find “autism life hacks” and hopes to share these with others along the way.

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Autism Interview #187: Jessica Jahns on Late Diagnosis, Disclosure, and the Workplace

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Jessica Jahns is a late-diagnosed Senior Data Analyst from Oregon with an interest in autism advocacy and allyship. She blogs at Autisticoronapoliticalifragilisticexpialidocious and is a self-described deep-thinker, draw-er of connections, observer and lover of humanity, supporter of all the proverbial “little guys,” and trauma-informed survivor. This week she shared her experience as a late-diagnosed adult coming to terms with her diagnosis and advocating in the workplace.

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Autism Interview #179: Andi Barclay on Late Diagnosis and Autism Prejudice

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Andi Barclay was diagnosed as autistic as an adult at the age of 24 during her first year at graduate school. Within months of that diagnosis, Barclay published a few articles on NeuroClastic on her reaction to that recent diagnosis. Barclay thought it was important to immortalize those raw and honest feelings when they were fresh because she knew she would quickly forget how that felt. Barclay didn’t see her feelings represented in the autism blogs she was reading, and wanted to change that. This week she shared her experience grappling with a new diagnosis, prejudice about autism, and fitting into the Autistic community. Below is a transcript of our interview that has been edited for clarity.

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Autism Interview #171 Part 2: Emma Reardon on Sensory Trauma and Validation

Interviews

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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Autism Interview #171 Part 1: Emma Reardon on Sensory Challenges and Sensory Trauma

1 CommentInterviews

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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Autism Interview #169 Part 2: Aria Sky on Clear Expectations and Positive Autism Parenting

Interviews

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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