Autistic Culture Podcast Network

In this episode of Autistic Advocacy, Matt and Angela sit down with Jessica Brothers—a true jack-of-all-trades. She’s a metalhead, a former volunteer firefighter, an ex-ABA practitioner, and, oh yeah… an autistic vampire!

🎧 What You’ll Learn

• Jessica shares her journey as a vampire within one of New Orleans’ elusive houses, along with her unexpected stint as an ABA practitioner—a path that ultimately led her to recognize her own autism.
• The trio sinks their teeth into the nonlinear hierarchy of New Orleans’ vampire houses, uncovering eerie parallels between vampires and autistic individuals (a theme hinted at in our earlier episode, Vampires Are Autistic).
• Jessica dives into how music serves as regulation, why tattoos are inherently autistic, the role of guardian to the ruthless Aurantian arachnid, and so much more in this fang-tastic new episode!

Featured Guest: Jessica Brothers

Jessica Brothers is a neurodivergent creative, metalhead, and proud autistic vampire based in New Orleans. A former volunteer firefighter and one-time ABA practitioner, Jessica’s winding path of self-discovery led her to embrace both her autism and her vampiric identity. She is a member of one of New Orleans’ storied vampire houses, where she has found community and ritual that resonate deeply with the autistic experience. Beyond the shadows, Jessica is passionate about music as a tool for regulation, tattoos as a form of autistic expression, and exploring the intersections of identity, spirituality, and neurodivergence.

Resources:

Wikipedia entry for Argiope aurantia: A species of Spider

Related Episodes:

Vampires Are Autistic

Fairy Tales Are Autistic

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🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

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In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Matt and Angela discuss everyone’s favourite mythical creature—the vampire. Throughout the conversation, they uncover some uncanny parallels between autistic individuals and our fang-tastic fictional friends.

🩸 What You’ll Sink Your Teeth Into in This Episode

• The parallels between autistic individuals and vampires begin with health comorbidities like POTS and haemophilia, before diving into the more supernatural realms.
• The art of shapeshifting mirrors autistic masking—and while vampires boast immortality, autistics share their own secret: we often appear to defy aging, as if time plays by a different rulebook for us.
• From The Addams Family and What We Do in the Shadows to even Sesame Street, Matt and Angela explore why these spooky icons resonate as autistic-coded characters.
• They unpack traits like monotropic focus, infodumping, and misunderstood behaviours often mistaken for manipulation—showing a deeper neurodivergent connection to our favourite eerie figures.
• And yes—they reveal the truly autistic reason why garlic keeps vampires at bay… but you’ll have to listen to get the scoop! 🧄

Resources:

• A Deep dive into Vampires we used for research: Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry about vampires
• Page referenced in the episode: https://www.instagram.com/date_dave_philly

Related Episodes:

Ponies are Autistic

Beauty & the Beast is Autistic

Kink is Autistic

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📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

🎙️ Executive Producers: Amy Burns, Anamaria B Call, Andrew Banner, Anna Goodson, Ashley Apelzin, Audrea Volker, Ben Coulson, Brian Churcek, Cappy Hamper, Carley Biblin, Charlene Deva, Chloe Cross, Clay Duhigg, Clayton Oliver, Danny Dunn, Daria Brown, David Garrido, Emily Burgess, Eric Crane, Erik Stenerud, Fiona Baker, Grace Norman, Helen Shaddock, Jaimie Collins, Jason Killian, Jen Unruh, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Tretter, Kathie Watson-Gray, Kenneth Knowles, Kira Cotter, Kristine Lang, Kyle Raney, Llew P Williams, Laura Alvarado, Laura De Vito, Laura Provonsha, Lily George, Nelly Darmi, Nigel Rogers, Rachel Miller, Tim Scott, Tyler Kunz, Victoria Steed, Yanina Wood.

🎧 Producers: AJ Knight, Bobby Simon, Da Kovac, Eleanor Collins, Emily Griffiths, Hannah Hughes, Jennifer Kemp, Jonas Fløde, Kate F, Katie N Benitez, Kendra Murphy, Lisa Dennys, Logan Wall, Louise Lomas, Melissa Nance, Nicola Owen, Rebecka Johansson, Sam Morris, Sarah Hannah Morris.

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The Autistic Culture Podcast is back with season 3! Hooray! Matt and Angela return to the airwaves with a preview episode. We give you updates on what they’ve been up to over the summer hiatus and share some exciting announcements about what to expect in season 3!

Here's a taste of what's in store:

* Double the Content: We’re doubling down on episodes! We will still be doing our Tuesday episodes about Autistic Culture, but now, you can also join us for Advocacy Fridays, packed with strategies, interviews, and insights to support and empower the autistic community.

* Collaborations and Membership Content: Hear about new collaborations with guests like Becca Lory Hector. Plus, we’ll share the perks of our paid membership, including access to live Q&As and exclusive trainings.

* Live Events: Mark your calendars for our Halloween Costume Party (October 31), and Town Hall Q&As where you can ask us anything (dates: 12/17, 2/28, 5/26).

* New Merch Store Launch: We’ve partnered with DFTBA to bring you exclusive designs like “My Thoughts Are Numerous and Intense.” Learn about our collaboration and how your purchases directly support autistic voices.

* Opportunities for Guests, Sponsors, & Volunteers: Want to get involved with TACP? We’re looking for sponsors and volunteers to join our team and help amplify neurodivergent voices.

Join us in Autistica as we gear up for an incredible season full of advocacy, community building, and some surprises along the way!

“That’s why we’re the PR people for autism. Because we have to live in a world that mistreats us and condemns us for being who we are.” —Matt Lowry LPP

What would you love to see in season 3 of TACP? Share your ideas in the comments or on social media using #AutisticCultureCatch for a chance to have your suggestion featured!

Resources:

Details to join our Live Virtual Halloween Party: Click HerePropose your Idea to Be our Guest on a Future Episode: Click Here

Want to Volunteer with The Autistic Culture Podcast? Click Here

Ready for a paradigm shift that empowers Autistics? Help spread the news!

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Learn more about Angela at AngelaKingdon.com

Our Autism-affirming merch shop

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This episode was previously only available to paid subscribers, but by popular request we are making it available this week to everyone. Matt Lowry, LPP shares one of his most formative books on Gestalt Therapy.Want more book club episodes like this? Consider getting a power boost as a paid supporter of our show.

In this episode you will hear:

* The Perls’ groundbreaking ideas such as believing that your clients are reasonable humans and meeting people where they are!

* Approaching each client as a unique and worthy human who may need an individualized approach in order to heal.

* What your dreams really mean.

* The benefits of approaching each therapy session like an experiment.

“Gestalt is essentially the working with a whole.”

“Every session started by her asking me things like, ‘how are you’ or ‘how do you feel?’ And that pretty much took up the whole session with me trying to figure out how to answer that question. Then, I would end up crying about the fact that question was hard and I didn't know the answer to it…But nobody mentioned things like alexithymia, which might have been helpful to know.”

“That's actually like the biggest thing…Trying to translate the mysterious signals of one's meat body into understandable things.”

What have your experiences in therapy been like? What modalities have you found helpful or harmful?

Buy the book: Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy

Episode 47: Autistic Centered Therapy - AuCT

Episode 36: Bad Autism Diagnosis

Book Club #06: True Biz

Ready for a paradigm shift that empowers Autistics? Help spread the news!

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Learn more about Matt at Matt Lowry, LPP

Join Matt’s Autistic Connections Facebook Group

Learn more about Angela at AngelaKingdon.com and Difference Press

Angela’s social media: Twitter and TikTok

Get your swag on in our merch shop!

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Angela was interviewed as a guest on “Meet My Autistic Brain,” and we enjoyed the conversation so much, we wanted to drop it into our own feed to share with all of you!

* Why Angela wrote her latest book, The Equalizing Quill

* How AI can support Autistics with writing everything from books to emails.

* How Autistics can harness their special interests to make a living doing what they love.

* The bottom-up processing magic of Autistic brains!

“So I was like, I am now going to learn the neurotypical ways and I will master them. But yeah, it's like trying to learn how to be Irish if you're Italian. It's just not a learnable skill in any sort of healthy way.”

“As an author, there is no better superpower you can have than the ability to gather that data.”

“And you can simply change the world by celebrating autistic culture when you see it.”

“And I'm so grateful the leaders of the Deaf President Now movement and Gallaudet University who have taught me so much about being autistic from the ways they celebrate deaf pride.”

Have you used AI in your work or your hobbies? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!

Resources:

Listen and follow the podcast: Meet My Autistic Brain

Buy The Equalizing Quill

Other episodes to check out if you liked this one:

Episode 61: Wikipedia is Autistic

Book Club #06: True Biz

Belly Dancing is Autistic (Episode 71)

Ready for a paradigm shift that empowers Autistics? Help spread the news!

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Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Learn more about Angela at AngelaKingdon.com

Our Autism-affirming merch shop

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October 1, 2024

Hello Autistica!

Angela here with some exciting news. A few months back we featured Becca Lory Hector on the show talking about her book, Always Bring Your Sunglasses, and you all loved this episode. One of our listeners wrote and said “I’m listening to Sunglasses are Autistic on repeat to calm me down before my AuDHD assessment.” When I got that message I reached out to Becca and said, our listeners need more than this episode so I licensed 10 copies of her course Self-Defined Living to give as a thank you gift to our Autistica Guardians.

What are Autistica Guardians, you ask?

For Season Three, Matt and I are launching a new paid tier which we are calling Autistica Guardians. Guardians will act as informal board members for the podcast. Your name (if you so choose) will be listed on our website as a Guardian. You can use your new title on your LinkedIn page or resume and revel in the pure Autistic Joy of answering the question. “Wait, so what is an Autistica Guardian?”As a Guardian, you will have the opportunity to write for our newsletter and share your personal journey with the citizens of Autistica. Our team will check in with you about the plans we have for the podcast and our community in general and you will get extra access to ask Matt and I questions on our live calls. And perhaps, best of all, you will get a copy of Becca Lory Hector’s Self-Defined Living course for Autistic people, absolutely free, as long as you are one of the first 10 to sign up as a Guardian of Autistica. Guardian membership is $240 for the year, which we know is a lot, but we think it’s worth it. You will get Becca’s class which retails for $399 — that alone is well worth the price of participation. But, we’ll do you one better…You know that moment in Guardians of the Galaxy where Peter Quill declares the team as the official Guardians after they defeat Ronan? Well, think of us Autistics as the Xandarians, with Matt as Peter and me as Gamora. If you become a Guardian of Autistica, Matt and I will recreate that epic moment where we unite and officially welcome you as Guardians of Autistica, protectors of our joy and celebration in a live ceremony and we will broadcast it in the “Things we love about being Autistic” segment of one of our episodes. Just like in the movie, this is our way of standing together for something bigger—true freedom and acceptance for all Autistic people.Please don’t stop reading if $240 is out of your budget because I’ve cooked up another gift from Becca at absolutely no cost. Becca is going to make her book, Always Bring Your Sunglasses, free to all our listeners.

“I'm Becca Lory Hector, and I wrote Always Bring Your Sunglasses to change the game for parents and Autistic kids. As someone who's lived it, I know the inside story - the challenges, the joys, and the misunderstood nuances of autism. Even as a parent who wants to do their best for their kid, it's hard to navigate when you don't understand what's happening in your kid's head. That's why I wanted to share my experience.”

This isn't just another book—it's your guide to truly understanding and empowering your autistic child, using Becca’s honest insights. And here's the best part: she’s giving away the digital copy for FREE, but only for a limited time!

Since her late-in-life diagnosis of Autism at the age of 36, Becca has discovered the profound impact that understanding and empathy can have on the lives of those touched by autism.

In her programs and workshops, Becca Lory Hector, from Truly Inclusive Leadership, includes everything that she has learned from her challenges as a kid growing up in New York City, to receiving her diagnosis at 36 years old, and teaches other Autistics how to navigate their own diagnosis or self-identification journey.

You'll learn:

* How special interests (SPINs) like animals, cats, space, and true crime can be crucial for an Autistic child's quality of life.

* The impact of hyperlexia on a child's relationship with books and learning, and the challenges of a "spikey profile."

* How “safe foods” and dietary routines provide stability and comfort to our hyper-connected brains.

* Tips on being an effective advocate and champion for your autistic child (or yourself!) during times of overload. 

For a LIMITED TIME, get your free copy of Always Bring Your Sunglasses: And Other Stories from a Life of Sensory and Social Invalidation at www.AlwaysBringYourSunglasses.com

Ode to the McNugget: “The perfection of McDonald's chicken nuggets is something to be marveled at a savory symphony of taste and texture accompanied by instant comfort and joy. Each golden crispy nugget is a bite of bliss. A delightful treasure, perfectly seasoned and cooked to tender, juicy excellence that pairs perfectly with the salty, savory goodness of their fries. The fries with their ideal crunch on the outside and soft, fluffy insides are the perfect companion to the magic of nuggets. Dipping them both into a favorite sauce creates a harmony of flavors to delight your senses. For me, McDonald's chicken nuggets aren't just a meal, but a joyful escape that consistently brings meaningful pleasure and comfort to my life. And no matter how many times I go, eating nuggets and fries remains a cherished ritual that brings me guaranteed satisfaction with every bite. Whether it's a reward after a doctor's appointment or a quick treat to lift my spirits, McDonald's chicken nuggets remind me that simple pleasures can bring the greatest joy.”

* Check out Becca’s course: Self-Defined Living - A path to a quality autistic life

* Becca’s website, Facebook, and Instagram

* Please consider becoming a Guardian of Autistica!

Autistic Culture is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a subscriber.

*This episode is a BONUS fan favorite episode, so it doesn’t have a coordinating merch design. If you want to learn how to play the game, check out our Fan Favorite Game Rules

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Learn more about Angela at AngelaKingdon.com

Our Autism-affirming merch shop

TACP’s Autism-affirming TeePublic merch shop

Ready for a paradigm shift that empowers Autistics? Help spread the news!

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In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP dive into the world of Magic: The Gathering (MTG) with guest Fred — exploring how Autistic culture thrives in fan communities that organize, analyse, and obsess (joyfully!) over intricate systems.

🎧 What You’ll Learn:

• How MTG appeals to Autistic brains through cataloguing, pattern recognition, and monotropic focus.
• Why fan communities often become experts at bottom-up organization of information and meaning-making.
• How alternative art, cultural mythologies, and deep world-building fuel Autistic special interests.
• The crossover between gaming culture, data analysis, and Autistic joy in collecting and categorizing.
• Fred’s insights on MTG databases, semantic art tagging, and how complex systems like healthcare taxonomies parallel MTG organization.
• Why special interests like MTG don’t just entertain Autistics—they help us thrive, connect, and build identity.

🎙️ Guest Bio: Fred Trotter

Fred is a lifelong Magic: The Gathering superfan, database enthusiast, and systems thinker whose passion for organization and analysis runs deep. By day, Fred works in [insert professional role/field if you’d like me to fill in from details you have], where he specializes in building and navigating complex taxonomies like those used in healthcare. By night, you’ll find him immersed in the MTG community—teaching classes on MTG databases, exploring card art through semantic tagging projects, and analyzing everything from creature power/toughness patterns to the “evil color pie.”

Fred brings a uniquely Autistic perspective to the game, celebrating the joy of collecting, categorizing, and connecting over shared interests.

Related Episodes:

Pokémon is Autistic

Sex is Autistic (Alfred Kinsey episode)

Dungeons and Dragons is Autistic

🌟 Connect With Us

📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

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This episode originally aired on May 9, 2023, under the title “Questlove is Autistic.”

“He has won An Academy Award, a Grammy Award—oh, six Grammy Awards—a BAFTA. Yeah, dude has had a career. The man needs some more shelf space for awards.”

“OK, so we've got a stim—which is spinning things—and we've got a special interest—which is Soul Train. That leads to Black music history (and) music history in general. Put those two together and what do you have? A career as a DJ! Fantastic.”

“For each of the 200,000 records that he has, name any song and he can tell you the beats per minute of that song.” “Wow. Oh, that is super Autistic.”

“He's a filmmaker, he's a musician, he's a collector, he's a historian, he's now a publisher, he's had 11 albums with The Roots, he's produced about 36 to 40 albums including Common, Erykah Badu, Solange, he's got a podcast: Questlove Supreme, he's got this huge career as a DJ…He co-founded a whole bunch of websites like OkayPlayer, OkayAfrica. He's got, I think, six books now. One of them is on Soul Train, which is his special interest…(and) he has directed several documentaries, including a really key one called The Summer of Soul.”

“He has become a one-man Blacksonian museum.” “That is magnificent. That is that is the ultimate dream of becoming a living museum.”

Are you a living museum? What fabulous collection(s) do you have? Share it in the comments!

Fan Favorite Game, design #13 (get yours here)

Play the game! Fan Favorites Game rules

Freddie Mercury is Autistic (Episode 73)

Episode 64: Taylor Swift is Autistic

Episode 05: Washington, D.C. is Autistic

Ready for a paradigm shift that empowers Autistics? Help spread the news!

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Learn more about Angela at AngelaKingdon.com

Our Autism-affirming merch shop

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This episode originally aired on May 16, 2023, under the title “Doctor Who is Autistic.”

“‘But I hope that in 15 years time, in 1988, you will publish another special to celebrate 25 years of wandering in time with The Doctor, (signed) Peter Capaldi, age 15.’” “Oh, my God!”

“In 1974, at the age of three, David John McDonald tells his parents that he wants to be an actor so that he can be Doctor Who…He later became a member of the Actors Union. Unfortunately, there was already a David McDonald in there. So, because he was a fan of the Pet Shop Boys, he took Neil Tennant's name and became David Tennant.”

“One of the common things for the autistic people—we don't do hierarchy. If you're an Autistic kid, you treat the teachers, you treat the principal, you treat a president the same as you treat anybody else, because we're very egalitarian in that regard.”

“Matt Smith, a very fascinating guy, very naturally somewhat clumsy, tended to break a lot of props, ruin a lot of costumes—very much considered the ADHD Doctor.”

“What Peter Capaldi and the Doctor Who franchise in general bring is, I think, an Autistic culture definition of kindness, which is a deep, abiding, justice-fueled kindness—not about friendliness or cheeriness.”

“We do love a little arcane trivia. I think that's part of what makes the Doctor Who world partly part of our autistic culture is there is more arcane trivia than you can shake a stick at.”

“When they made this particular hero, they didn't give him a gun, they gave him a screwdriver to fix things. They didn't give him a tank or a warship or a X-Wing Fighter, they gave him a phone box from which you can call for help. And they didn't give him a superpower, or pointy ears, or Heat Ray, they gave him an extra heart. They gave him two hearts and that is an extraordinary thing. There will never come a time when we don't need a hero like the Doctor.”

Who’s your favorite Doctor and why? Share it in the comments!

Fan Favorite Game, design #12 (get yours here)

Play the game! Fan Favorites Game rules

* https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/tbadag/is_it_ethical_that_the_10th_doctor_took_away/

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ0fmUr5cfU

Ready for a paradigm shift that empowers Autistics? Help spread the news!

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Our Autism-affirming merch shop

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This interview episode with Autistic writer/actress/comedian, Ashely Storrie, originally aired on May 7, 2024, under the title “Dinosaur is Autistic.”

“I'm Ashley Storrie. I'm in Glasgow currently in my bedroom surrounded by pictures of space and my Lego.”

“Everything that Nina feels and thinks autistically, are things I've felt and feel autistically. I didn't want to take any things out of other people's autism experience to put into Nina that I didn't have full understanding of.”

“Having somebody else neurodiverse in my life has always been a really good thing.”

“I tried to pretend I wasn't autistic, and it wasn't fun.”

“I worked as a various catering and factory work, and I would have a different personality for every job. And that was how I got through the day was by pretending to be a completely different person because that was easier than being me.”

“I didn't want autism to be the thing that held her back, or the thing that was her foil, or the thing she had to overcome. That's just a thing that exists in this world, and she's never having to, like, “overcome” autism. She's overcoming people and maybe their relationship to autism, and she's overcoming other people's things, but never autism itself.”

“You're going to love it. Your brain's going to just stim on that all day. I’ve got to do a little audio stimming. That's how I roll.”

Do you relate to Nina? What’s your favorite part about Ashely’s show, Dinosaur?

Fan Favorite Game, design #11 (get your curator of museums design here or the mobility aids are cool design here)

Play the game! Fan Favorites Game rules

Episode 43: Only Murders in the Building is Autistic

Episode 57: Community is Autistic

Episode 58: The Good Place is Autistic

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