Meet My Autistic Brain

There’s a reason routine appeals so strongly to some autistic minds while feeling like the enemy for others.  Learn the surprisingly powerful rituals many neurodivergent people rely on, the everyday tasks that are worth putting on autopilot, and the parts of life better left wide open. And you might want to know why a routine you choose feels entirely different from one imposed on you. Whether routines are a lifeline, a struggle, or a bit of both, this episode offers fresh ways to think about them.

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Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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When she started her medical practice, Dr. Mel Houser quickly realized there was a lack of healthcare that addressed the needs of neurodivergent people. She set out to challenge traditional norms to make care accessible. Along with her success came something she never expected—a new way of growing a community built around more than just medicine.

From chronic illness to employment support and beyond, that kind of healthcare exists and in this episode you’ll learn about the resources that will guide you toward getting it.

Dr. Houser, author of A Failure of Imagination: How the Healthcare System Fails Neurodivergent People—And What We're Doing Instead, tells how you can be empowered to recognize how your body feels and trust your intuition about your health. She provides the tools for you and for your healthcare provider to understand each other’s language. She explains how involving her community of patients defines how she practices neuroinclusive medicine. 

In a world of growing isolation, Dr Houser reveals the serious health implications of loneliness and offers a solution.

It’s time for a change and this is where you can make a difference in your own life. Find out how in this conversation with Dr. Melissa Houser.

Website: All Brains Belong 

Book: A Failure of Imagination: How the Healthcare System Fails Neurodivergent People—And What We're Doing Instead 

Resources: All Brains Belong Digital Resource Library 

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Menopause touches almost everyone eventually, whether you're the one going through it, supporting someone who is, or know it's coming someday. Most of us walk into it with almost no real information. This episode is here to change that especially if you're autistic or love someone who is.

This conversation, with information drawn from a recent study and the book Dr. Rachel Moseley wrote with her co-author Dr. Julie Gamble-Turner, Autistic Menopause: A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and Those Supporting Them gives you the information that’s important to know for this significant time of our lives, including:

• why menopause can hit autistic people harder; 
• the double impact on memory and executive function;
• why masking often becomes impossible to sustain;
• what it does to communication while managing eye contact, tone, and content all at once.

Rachel talks about something rarely discussed—the genuine upsides many autistic women report once they're through it.

This is an enlightening conversation with researcher and psychologist Dr. Rachel Moseley. Check the link below to learn how you can participate in a study about menopause and its treatment.

About the guest: Rachel Moseley, PhD, Principal Academic in Psychology at Bournemouth University (PhD in cognitive neuroscience) co-author of Autistic Menopause: A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and Those Supporting Them.

Rachel’s website: Science on the Spectrum 

Contact Rachel 

Get the book here: Autistic Menopause: A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and Those Supporting Them  

*You’re invited to participate in a new study on menopause symptoms, treatment and neurodiversity. Use this link to get started.  This is an online survey about menopause and menopause treatment. The researchers are particularly interested in how experiences of menopause treatment might differ between neurotypical and neurodivergent people and need to hear from people of all neurotypes.

Thank you for listening!

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Occupational therapy can empower autistics in our every day lives. Carolyn Gillen, an autistic occupational therapist working with neurodivergent women, breaks down how occupational therapy for autistic adults can help with: 

• recognizing hunger, thirst, and nervous system signals your body may not flag clearly; 
• navigating sensory processing that can swing between overwhelming and numb; 
• advocating for yourself in a doctor's office when your pain doesn't match your expression;
• making small, practical shifts you can actually use;
• breaking burnout into function, not willpower;
• how OT treats these as functional, fixable friction points in daily life, not personality flaws to correct.

She tells how to recognize a safe, supportive therapeutic space. She explains why coaching, burnout, and meditation might be worth a second look from an OT perspective. 

Find Carolyn at her website 

Contact page 

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Email: [email protected]
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You did everything you were supposed to do — showed up, did the homework, tried the techniques. And it left you feeling worse…or definitely not better. This episode gets into why standard talk therapy often misses autistic people and what a version built for our brains actually looks like.

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Email: [email protected]
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We autistics have a type of wealth, or capital, as a result of adapting, coping and growing as individuals with neurodivergent challenges. Essy Knopf, a therapist and author, has developed the Neurodivergent Cultural Wealth Framework, a valuable way to look at our neurodivergence. In this episode he explains what makes up the framework and how it enriches our lives with:

• Self-Knowledge Capital
• Adaptation Capital
• Pattern Recognition Capital
• Community Capital
• Resistance Capital
• Embodied Capital
• Passion Capital
• Identity Capital
• Meaning-Making Capital

This framework goes beyond deficit views of autistics and neurodivergents and explains how we have developed forms of knowledge, adaptation, perspective, and wisdom that are often overlooked when attention is focused solely on those deficits. This framework gives us a whole new way of looking at our lives.

Website: https://www.essyknopf.com

Check out Essy's YouTube channel 

Essy on Instagram

New book: Unscramble Your Brain: A Neurodivergent Guide to Getting Things Done, Your Way  

Other books by Essy Knopf available at https://www.essyknopf.com and book retailers: 

Book: Unmasking: What We Lose by Pretending and How to Get It Back 

Neurodivergent Game Plan

Neurodivergent Game Plan: The Workbook

The Neuroaffirming Therapy Handbook

Unmasking

Nepo

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Email: [email protected]
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Season 12 is here with new episodes! Listen for a preview of what’s to come. 

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Email: [email protected]
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Self-help fails autistics but why? This episode reveals the not-so-obvious reason it can do more harm than good and provides some tips for what you can do instead. Hear it again.

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

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Email: [email protected]
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This is a replay of an episode from 2024 where I talk to Jackie Schuld, author of What is Autism? Jackie shares her insights and knowledge about autism, how it affects her and what it was like learning she’s autistic. Listen and meet the autistic brain of author, artist and therapist, Jackie Schuld. The information is just as relevant as it was before and is a great refresher!

Get the book! https://www.jackieschuld.com/books
Find Jackie on Medium:  https://medium.com/@jackieschuld
Website: https://www.jackieschuld.com
Resource page: https://www.jackieschuld.com/artactivities

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

Instagram
Ko-fi, PayPal, Patreon
Linktree
Email: [email protected]
Website

The regions of the brain that play a role in resilience are the areas of the brain most affected by autism. Is it possible for an autistic person to be resilient? The answer may surprise you.

Resilience assessment tool: https://www.everydayhealth.com/wellness/resilience/get-your-resilience-score/

Support the show

Ranked #1 in FeedSpot's 40 Best Adult Autism Podcasts 

RATED IN THE TOP 0.5% GLOBALLY with more than 1.3 million downloads!

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help me continue making new episodes, you can support the show on Patreon, PayPal or KoFi. You can also give a gift to someone who can benefit from learning more about autism. 

If you are an autistic person who has written a book about autism or if you have a guest suggestion email me at [email protected].

Instagram
Ko-fi, PayPal, Patreon
Linktree
Email: [email protected]
Website