Autistic Culture Presents

Late Diagnosis Club: How Claire Stopped Believing ABA Was the Answer

Ep. 20

•

Friday, February 27, 2026

In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Claire Samuels, a proud Autistic speech-language pathologist whose journey to self-recognition unfolded inside the very system she would later question.

Claire began her career as a Registered Behaviour Technician (RBT) in the ABA industry, believing what she was told: that ABA was the gold standard for Autistic children. She loved the kids she worked with and believed she was making a positive impact. But as she read autistic voices, learned about interoception, and began recognising her own sensory and regulatory differences, cracks in the framework began to show.

Together, Angela and Claire explore ABA, nuance, Autistic self-recognition, masking, sensory processing, burnout, and what it means to move from compliance-based therapy to connection-based communication.

This episode is about shifting lenses, from behaviour to nervous systems, from control to connection, and from moral judgment to regulation.

🪑 Attendees

Chair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocate

Guest: Claire Samuels — Autistic speech-language pathologist

You: The Listener!

🗒️ Meeting Agenda

Opening remarks from the Chair
Member introduction: Theatre kid, masking, and early sensory differences
Discussion: Entering ABA and believing the gold standard
Interoception, meltdown empathy, and late self-recognition
Leaving ABA and shifting from behaviour to environment
Becoming an SLP: AAC, connection, and child-led therapy
Key learnings
Club announcements

🧾 Minutes from the Meeting

1️⃣ Opening Remarks

Angela introduces Claire as a clinician whose story offers a rare inside perspective on ABA. Someone who entered the field with good intentions and left with a deeper understanding of Autistic nervous systems and lived experience.

2️⃣ Member Introduction: Claire’s Story

Claire describes herself as a “chameleon” in school, a theatre kid who learned to play the role of “normal” while privately embracing her oddities. She studied psychology to understand how people “people,” navigated burnout in college, and found improv as a regulatory outlet.

After serving in the Peace Corps in The Gambia, she returned to the USA, unsure of her path, but drawn to working with neurodivergent children. A friend introduced her to ABA, promising meaningful work, strong income potential, and the opportunity to work in the “gold standard” of Autism treatment.

3️⃣ Discussion Highlights

ABA immersion: 40-hour weeks for toddlers and gold-standard messaging
RBT reality: Minimal training, low pay, no autism coursework required
Demand maintenance: Repeating instructions during meltdowns until compliance
Interoception moment: Supervisor unfamiliar with the concept
Masking realisation: Social media and autistic adult narratives
Pendulum swing: From “gold standard” to “ABA is abuse” to nuance
SLP path: Language, connection, AAC, and feature matching
Child-led therapy: Slower but healthier device relationships
Self-accommodation: Headphones, fidgets, and nervous system resets
Autistic joy: Sesame Street, stimming, and public authenticity

4️⃣ Key Learnings

Behaviour is not the whole story
Good people can work inside broken systems
Language and connection are cyclical
Autistic regulation is not a moral failure
Self-accommodation changes relationships
Labels serve us — not the other way around

📌 Notice Board

📣 Club Announcements

🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.

💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.

📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions

💜 There is a small charge — but no one is turned away for lack of funds.

🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com

🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

🎙️ 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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59:58| Friday, February 20, 2026|Ep. 19
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16. Late Diagnosis Club: How Abbey Realised She Was Autistic After Decades of Masking
50:49| Friday, January 30, 2026|Ep. 16
In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Abbey Thompson — a librarian, classically trained vocalist, prize-winning baker, gamer, social justice bard, and self-described random fact machine.Abbey is a fat, queer, neurodivergent woman living in Los Angeles with two orange cats and a deep commitment to creativity without perfection.Diagnosed with ADHD in her 40s and later recognising she was also Autistic, Abbey describes how finally naming her neurodivergence didn’t just bring understanding — it brought permission. Permission to be loud, to be big, to be joyful, to be mediocre, and to exist without apology.Together, Angela and Abbey explore late identification, fatness and bullying, perfectionism, burnout, AuDHD, creativity as regulation, and the radical act of letting go of shame. This episode is an invitation to stop fixing yourself — and start living.🪑 AttendeesChair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocateGuest: Abbey Thompson — AuDHD librarian, vocalist, baker, and creator of the Mediocre Arts and Crafts ClubYou: The Listener!🗒️ Meeting AgendaOpening remarks from the ChairMember introduction: Masking, bullying, and being “too much”Discussion: Late diagnosis, burnout, friendship, fatness, queerness, and shameSensory processing, burnout, animals, justice sensitivity, and belongingKey learningsClub announcements🧾 Minutes from the Meeting1️⃣ Opening RemarksAngela introduces Abbey as someone whose life defies neat categories — librarian, opera singer, baker, gamer, and cat enthusiast — all in one person. From the outset, this conversation sets aside productivity and leans into permission: to be multifaceted, messy, and fully yourself.2️⃣ Member Introduction: Abbey’s StoryAbbey describes growing up as a high-achieving, compliant student who internalised bullying and othering — largely attributing friendship difficulties to being fat in a culture that relentlessly punished difference.Early signs of neurodivergence, including hyperfocus, rigidity, gullibility, sensory sensitivity, and being “too loud,” were reframed for decades as personal flaws. Only later did Abbey come to understand these traits through an Autistic and ADHD lens — one that offered compassion instead of criticism.3️⃣ Discussion HighlightsLate diagnosis: ADHD and autism identified in Abbey’s 40sBurnout: Years of overachievement, graduate school, and unrecognised exhaustionMasking: Being capable on the outside while struggling internallyFatness & bullying: How body stigma obscured neurodivergenceCreativity as regulation: Singing, baking, crafting, and making for joyMediocre Arts and Crafts Club: Creating without perfection or monetisationShame: Letting go of self-policing and internalised judgmentCommunity: Belonging as protection and healing4️⃣ Key LearningsCompetence can hide profound struggleShame is not a motivator — it’s a barrierCreativity doesn’t need to be perfect to be meaningfulLate diagnosis can offer forgiveness, not just answersCommunity helps return shame to where it belongsYou don’t need permission to exist — but it helps when you finally give it to yourself📌 Notice BoardAbbey’s InstagramMediocre Arts & Crafts Club📣 Club Announcements🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions💜 There is a small charge — but no one is turned away for lack of funds.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

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