Alan Conrad is an autistic father and author with over 40 years working in the personal injury business. Conrad is the author of several books, including The Shyness Guide, which explores shyness, introversion, autism, and social anxiety. This week Conrad shared his experiences with shyness and advocacy for shy people.
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Lucy McCombe is an advocate from Australia with experience navigating multiple diagnoses as she searches for something that feels right. McCombe blogs at A Mythical Creature on a variety of topics related to autism advocacy and autism acceptance. This week she shared her experience pursuing an autism diagnosis, autistic burnout, and self-advocacy.
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Medusa (Lucy Alexandra Hall)is an 18-year-old from Scotland diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, depression, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Medusa blogs at The Medusa Diaries on a variety of topics, including the fears and struggles of being newly-diagnosed and her journey coming to terms with her diagnoses. This week she shared her experience as a recent high school graduate, just beginning work and education transitions.
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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.
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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Megan is a mother, Aspie, and a lover of people, music, books, and writing. Megan’s blog is a creative outlet that shares her experiences with Asperger’s Syndrome, among other stories in the hopes of uplifting and starting meaningful conversation for those who seek it. This week she discussed a variety of topics including her diagnosis story, inclusion, disclosure, and supports for new mothers.
Ronan Boren is a fifteen-year-old autistic songwriter from Texas. Boren works with his music tutor Bill Paige (also an author/musician/songwriter) to compose original music he shares with the world.
Ronan writes all the lyrics for Josephmooon, whose debut album, “So Far So Good” features 12 songs about shifting moods (“Out of Tune,” “Up All Night,” “Check For”), menacing strangers (“Captolea,” “Busybodies”) and teenage fantasies (“Reusable Money,” “High In The Sky”).
His album can be purchased on JosephMooon.com as well as Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, Apple Music, and iTunes. A link to the full press release is available below. This week Boren gave us a glimpse into his music collaboration with Paige and teenage life.
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Tejas Rao Sankar is a nonspeaking autistic who spells to communicate. Tejas is a passionate traveler who loves to dance and spend time with his friends. He blogs with Neuroclastic to contribute to our emerging understanding of autistics, by autistics. Tejas loves to read with The BookWallis – A social media book group. He also loves creating memes for social media with I-ASC’s Spellers & Allies, a network which works to bring advocacy to spellers’ causes. He has been a panelist presenter at conferences such as Innovations in Education. Tejas has been recognized by Congressman Max Rose and other legislators for the advocacy work he does.
Tejas, with his autistic friends, is a co-founder of CrimsonRise, a neurodiverse community. You can find him on social media – Facebook and Instagram. This week Tejas shared how his life has changed since he learned how to spell to communicate. He also shared his love of traveling and engaging with other autistic people.
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Laura Z. Weldon, ND, MS is a naturopathic physician who loves exploring how people think, feel, sense, and connect. Weldon earned a doctorate in naturopathic medicine, a master’s degree in integrative mental health, an undergraduate degree in english literature and post-bacc pre-med degree. Her interdisciplinary research currently focuses on the pathophysiology and treatment of autistic burnout, and her work advocates for a neurodiversity paradigm shift across both medicine and society. She provides trauma-informed naturopathic consulting and coaching services, using herbs, nutrition, movement, health counseling, and craniosacral therapy to establish and embody a radical concept of wellness that includes autistic and disabled populations. This week she shared her research on autistic burnout and how she advocates for a neurodiversity paradigm shift in medicine.
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Flo Neville is an autistic PhD candidate at the University of the West of England, exploring autistic peoples’ needs for the time and space to just be themselves. Her Masters dissertation Autistics, Autodidacts and Autonomy was the inspiration for Autism HWB, a health and wellbeing website by and for autistic people. She lives with her husband, teenage daughters, dog and cat in a village in the South West of England. This week she discussed the autistic health resource portal she manages and her research on how late-diagnosed autistic women manage their own health and wellbeing.
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