Unlearning Autism

In this episode of Unlearning Autism, I'm joined by the wonderful Amy Wrigley for a joyful, funny and refreshingly honest conversation about the Autistic experience.

Amy shares her journey from childhood masking, confusion and shame to finding freedom, connection and genuine joy following her late identification.

We talk about the hidden experience of shutdowns, the search for answers, unlearning social rules, finding your people and embracing the things that bring you happiness — whether that's birdwatching, reading about your favourite subjects or listening to the same song on repeat!

We also explore the power of acceptance, the importance of feeling safe to be yourself and how even the smallest acts of self-advocacy can create ripples of change.

A gorgeous reminder that being Autistic isn't only about the challenges. There's so much joy to be found in doing life your own way.

This episode is supported by Otavo. Get 10% off with code UNLEARNING10.

What if feeling deeply isn’t only about the difficult stuff?

In this musing, Christine reflects on the parts of her Autistic ADHD experience that can get lost in conversations about struggle — the huge appreciation, deep connection, curiosity, creativity, intensity and absolute joy when something lights her up.

This isn’t about denying struggle or choosing positivity. It’s about making room for the whole story — including loving lots of your Autistic self.

And about what can happen when we spend less time explaining our difference, and more time living in a way that actually fits.

Because different does not mean — and was never, ever meant to mean — less.

In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah, a late-identified Autistic woman who was diagnosed at 32.

Sarah shares the burnout and overwhelming anxiety that eventually led her towards understanding herself as Autistic.
We talk about growing up feeling different, masking, bullying, and being the quiet, academic child whose struggles were easily missed.

We explore anxiety through an Autistic lens — including health anxiety, sensory sensitivity and what it can be like to experience your own body so intensely.

Sarah also shares her experiences of employment, disclosure and just how inaccessible the traditional job interview can be.

And the difference it has made to finally work somewhere that recognises what she can do rather than asking her to prove herself in ways that don't work for her.

It's a conversation about being missed, being misunderstood, and gradually replacing “what's wrong with me?” with a much kinder understanding of yourself.

Sarah now works in neurodivergent employment and is also a qualified dog trainer with a particular interest in animals and Autistic wellbeing.
This episode is supported by Otavo.
Get 10% off with code UNLEARNING10.

I miss the old me.

I miss her capacity. Her spontaneity. The whirlwind. The version of me who could say yes without first calculating the cost.

But I also understand her differently now — the adrenaline, the overriding, the overwhelm, and the crashes that I didn’t yet have language for.

In this Autistic Musing, I’m sitting with one of the contradictions of late identification: grieving parts of who I used to be while also loving the slower, quieter, more truthful life I have now.

Maybe I don’t want the old me back. But I do miss her. And perhaps both can be true.

What changes when we stop asking Autistic people to fit more comfortably into the world as it is — and start getting curious about what they actually need?

In this episode, I’m joined by Autistic and ADHD author and speaker Pete Wharmby for a wide-ranging conversation about Autistic life, relationships, children who find school difficult or impossible to attend, and what happens when we begin to understand and accommodate our own needs.

We talk about Pete’s first book, Untypical, and his new book, Different Minds: How We Can Help Our Autistic School Children Thrive, as well as the changes that could make the world safer and easier for Autistic people.

And perhaps one of the simplest is also one of the biggest: attitude. What if, instead of being offended or threatened by difference, we could simply become more neutral towards it?

Today’s episode is sponsored by Otavo.
Unlearning Autism listeners can get 10% off using the code UNLEARNING10.

Unlearning Autism is hosted by Christine Doyle.

Welcome back to Unlearning Autism. Season Two is here.

In Season One, so much of my focus was on understanding ourselves. This season, my curiosity is widening: what happens when we take what we're learning about ourselves and actually let it change something?

There’ll be conversations about both the Autistic and AuDHD experience, burnout, overwhelm and the barriers we face — but those won't be the only stories we tell. I want to make room for joy, possibility, creativity and curiosity too, and for people who are building lives around who they actually are.

There are brilliant guests coming, including Pete Wharmby and Julie M Green, conversations with people at different ages and stages of life, and plenty more My Autistic Musings.

Maybe Season Two can be about a little less explaining ourselves, and a little more living.

Welcome back. I'm really glad you're here.

Unlearning Autism is back for Season Two.

New conversations with brilliant guests, more of My Autistic Musings, and lots more curiosity about what it means to know ourselves — and to do life a little differently because of what we know.

We’ll be talking Autism, AuDHD, identity, relationships, capacity, self-trust — and all the complicated, interesting bits in between.

Season Two launches Wednesday, September 9th.

Follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.

In the final episode of season one of Unlearning Autism, Christine reflects on the journey of creating a neurodiversity-affirming podcast that centred the lived experience of late-identified Autistic people in their own words.

Across 18 episodes, conversations explored identity after knowing, masking, burnout, motherhood, nervous systems, belonging, creativity, relationships, sensory overwhelm, and what changes when we finally begin to understand ourselves differently. Christine revisits some of the powerful moments shared by guests including Abigail Ward, Laura Crowley, Nicola O'Dwyer, Andrea Anderson, Laura Guckian, Katie Kerley, Eliza Fricker and Dr. Emma Offord.

This episode is also a heartfelt thank you — to producer Abigail Ward, to Doerte Meyer for the beautiful podcast music, and to the thousands of listeners who supported, shared, and connected with these conversations throughout the season.

Christine also shares a glimpse into season two, which will continue exploring identity, relationships, unmasking, hormones, nervous system sustainability, belonging, and what it means to build a life that truly fits after knowing.

Thank you for being part of season one.

In this episode of Unlearning Autism, Christine reflects on the profound role of Autistic community and why connection with other Autistic people can feel so deeply regulating, validating, and life-changing.

She explores the difference between being understood and being understood without explanation — the relief of hearing someone speak aloud an experience you thought was uniquely yours. Christine reflects on masking, misattunement, exhaustion, and the lifelong experience many Autistic people have of feeling “too much” or “not enough” in predominantly allistic spaces.

This episode also explores:
✨ Why Autistic spaces can feel energising rather than draining
✨ The nervous system impact of constantly translating yourself
✨ The difference between connection and misattunement
✨ The vulnerability of stepping into community after years of adapting
✨ What happens when your way of being becomes the norm rather than the exception

At its heart, this is an episode about belonging, recognition, and the quiet freedom of no longer having to explain yourself.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Emma Offord — clinical psychologist, founder of Divergent Life, and host of This Voice Is Mine.

Emma’s work centres on late-identified Autistic and ADHD adults, and on what happens when we begin to understand ourselves outside of the medical model.

We talk about the power of lived experience — how stories, not textbooks, often become the pathway to recognition.

Emma shares her concept of positive disintegration — the process of things falling away so something more truthful can emerge — and how unlearning can be both unsettling and deeply liberating.

We explore what it means to understand your neurobiology as a human right, not a privilege — and how that understanding can shift shame, reshape identity, and change how we relate to ourselves and each other.

This is a conversation about:
– coming home to yourself
– questioning the systems we’ve been shaped by
– and building lives that actually fit

You can find Emma’s work here:
Divergent Life — https://www.divergentlife.co.uk/
Podcast: This Voice Is Mine — https://open.spotify.com/show/7ioZvshGC5UnLaz3AYaZIT?si=064e96a6812c4cfb&nd=1&dlsi=ed9819a12ad340c6

As always, this episode centres lived experience — the kind that so many of us were never given language for.

🎧 Listen now on Unlearning Autism