Autistic Culture Presents...

Welcome to another edition of This Week in Autistic Culture, our magazine podcast that brings together the stories, conversations and ideas shaping Autistic culture each week.With Simon away on a much-needed holiday, Angela is joined by ACPN’s Head of Finance — and her husband — Paul Kingdon. Together, they dive into journalist and broadcaster Scott Bryan’s story of discovering he was Autistic at 34, after experiencing sensory overwhelm while working at Eurovision. His lifelong love of the competition had already helped shape his career, bringing together late diagnosis, fandom and the power of special interests.That leads into a wider conversation about what happens when a special interest becomes your job. Angela and Paul reflect on their own experiences of turning passions into professions, and ask whether something can still provide the same comfort, joy and regulation once deadlines, expectations and sensory demands become attached to it.As always, we’ll also take you through everything coming up across the Autistic Culture Podcast Network this week, including Bridget Jones’s Diary on Still Growing Up Film Club, cultural mismatch on Autistic Standpoint Theory, sensitivity and belonging on The Neuro Complex Creative, the return of Clinical Misfits, another Neurodivergent Experience and a Friday rewind exploring Autistic productivity.Plus, we head to the Community Notice Board for new books, research, resources and events from across the wider Autistic community, including a free programme for recently identified Autistic adults, new research into Minecraft and sensory regulation, and opportunities for Autistic young people.📌 Community NoticeboardThe Community Noticeboard is your space to share what’s happening across autistic culture. Whether you’re launching a book, hosting an event, releasing a podcast, starting a creative project, celebrating a milestone, or have something you’d like the community to know about, we’d love to hear from you.Send your announcements, links and updates to autisticculturepodcast@gmail.com, and we’ll feature as many as we can in a future edition of This Week in Autistic Culture.This Week’s Topics:Eurovision helped TV critic Scott Bryan discover he was Autistic at 34.Helen Edgar of Autistic Realms and Thriving Autistic has announced this week that The Discovery Programme for recently identified Autistic adults.Books and Research:The Complete College Skills Guide for Neurodivergent Students  Understanding the Science of Learning for Academic Success By Florencia ArdonTailoring DBT for Autistic Clients by  Amara Brook and Rachel Leah Kraus Events:GROVE - Online Community for Autistic Young People is kicking off their autumn round of Being Me programs on October 5th.Jess Telling’s production of her play Chamelon - Friday, 25th September 2026 (7pm - 8pm)📻 Listen to Autistic Culture Radio🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

What if balance is not a fixed point we finally reach, but a living relationship with what is happening?In this episode of Mindful Mondays, Ashley explores the space between holding on and letting go, certainty and possibility, roots and wings. Beginning with the image of a surfer responding to the movement of a wave, she asks what changes when we stop searching for the permanently correct position and begin listening for what this moment actually requires.Today’s Bite-Sized Buddhism wanders next door into Taoism through the ancient story of the Chinese farmer and his enduring response to apparent fortune and misfortune: “Maybe.” Alongside Alan Watts’s backwards law, the story invites us to leave a little room around the meanings we assign while life is still unfolding.With essential Neurodivergent Nuance, Ashley considers why routine, predictability and clear answers may be genuine forms of nervous-system support - and why flexibility should never become another demand to override ourselves.Drawing upon David Eagleman’s image of roots and wings, Ido Portal’s “wild and wise,” emerging neuroscience around creativity, Carl Jung’s transcendent function and Mark Nepo’s reflections on fragility and resilience, the episode explores the human capacities that appear to oppose one another but may actually need each other.Even Cookie Monster makes an appearance as an unlikely Taoist philosopher.The episode closes with a guided practice, Roots and Wings. Through the natural movement of the breath, you will be invited to honour the truth already present within you while making room for another truth to exist beside it.Not everything must be resolved today. Sometimes we need only enough grounding to remain - and enough freedom to move.Practise with Ashley on Insight Timer:https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuyExplore From Mask to Map and more:https://www.integrativeiom.co.ukOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

QC joins Hannah Brockway for an enthusiastic deep dive into the world of Pokémon, exploring the global franchise that has remained a lifelong special interest.Together they discuss collecting, fan communities, childhood creativity, themed transport, and some of the more surprising corners of the Pokémon world. Along the way, QC reflects on how Pokémon shaped her friendships, encouraged her imagination, and continues to provide opportunities for connection, curiosity and joy.Find QC online:📸 Instagram: @theclodsquad🌐 Website: https://www.bunnifesto.dev/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/house_elf_hannah/https://www.instagram.com/hannah_unmasked/eBook: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Hannah_Brockway_A_Cautionary_Tale?id=VeAHEQAAQBAJ&pli=1Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Cautionary-Tale-Hannah-Brockway/dp/0648399915Blogs:https://reframingautism.org.au/masking-for-survival-my-life-as-a-sleeper-agent/https://reframingautism.org.au/autism-and-eating-disorders-a-dangerous-duo/https://lifestoriesdiary.com/2024/07/01/autism-and-anorexia-the-difference-a-diagnosis-makes/https://lifestoriesdiary.com/2024/08/12/how-do-i-differentiate-between-autistic-rigidity-and-anorexia-nervosa/https://www.edneuroaus.com/post/hannah-part-1https://www.edneuroaus.com/post/hannah-part-2Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.🎧 Info Dump is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP take listeners on a virtual culture trip into the intersections of autism, sex, gender, and sexuality. This episode spotlights the life and work of Alfred Kinsey, the ground-breaking scientist who transformed how society understands human sexuality.🎧 What You’ll Learn:Why Alfred Kinsey’s autistic traits—like bottom-up processing, obsessive data gathering, monotropic focus, and a drive to uncover hidden truths—fueled his pioneering research.Kinsey’s famous 18,000 interviews that became the foundation of modern sexology, and the revolutionary Kinsey Scale showing sexuality as a spectrum.How Kinsey’s work directly challenged conservative Victorian attitudes about sex, sparking backlash that contributed to his declining health—a reflection of how autistic advocates are often punished for disrupting the status quo.Connections between Kinsey’s findings and today’s research, showing that autistic people are more likely to reject binary notions of gender and sexuality.His commitment to justice and advocacy, including volunteering in prisons, as an expression of autistic values of fairness and honesty.Reflections on Kinsey’s early death, which Angela and Matt frame as symbolic of autistic burnout and heartbreak—an urgent reminder of why autistic life expectancy remains so low.A celebration of autistic strengths like intense focus, honesty, and data-driven thinking, and a critique of how flawed diagnostic criteria and allistic systems erase or stigmatize autistic and LGBTQ+ identities.Resources:Alfred Kinsey: Asperger disorderMatt’s Reframing of DSM Autism CriteriaChristiane Rudolph’s research on Autistics and sexual orientation in StockholmRelated episodes:Apple is AutisticThe Trouble with TempleGreta 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

In this week’s Reddit Stories episode, Jordan and Simon do things a little differently, turning to some of Reddit’s funniest and most wholesome pet stories after Jordan shares the sad news that his beloved Sheepadoodle, Milo, has passed away.First, a woman who deliberately got a cat because she doesn’t like dogs discovers that her new companion apparently missed the memo and behaves exactly like one. From constant licking to greeting people at the door, Jordan and Simon talk about the weird personalities our pets develop, sensory sensitivities around animals, misophonia and why neurodivergent relationships with pets can be so powerful.Then, a husband asks whether he was wrong to veto his wife’s choice of name for their new Golden Retriever: "Bitch". What follows is a spectacular detour through inappropriate pet names, questionable baby names, the strange nicknames we give our animals and whether telling someone they can name a dog “anything they want” really means anything.Next, a woman accidentally trains her dog Molly to respond almost exclusively to the nickname "Poopypants". Jordan and Simon discuss the ridiculous language we develop around our pets, echolalia, quotes that become permanent parts of our vocabulary and the mildly embarrassing consequences when a private nickname has to be shouted in public.Finally, a cat owner reveals the strange bedtime ritual her boyfriend has developed with his cat Magoo: letting him lick the inside of his mouth. Jordan and Simon attempt to understand why anyone would willingly participate in this arrangement, before the conversation descends into cats stealing food, questionable animal hygiene, Robin Hood impressions and general chaos.*The stories discussed in this episode are public Reddit posts. Titles may be shortened for readability, and all opinions expressed are those of the original posters.• I got a cat because I don’t like dogs and my cat acts like a dog• AITA for not letting my wife name our dog something stupid?• TIFU calling my dog by a not very mature pet name• TIFU by giving my dog unintentionally the best damn day of his life• TIFU by accidentally teaching my boyfriend’s cat that love means shoving her foot in your mouth• TIFU by petting a dog during a meetingOur Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy & https://insighttimer.com/AshleyDupuy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Two California girls, one meditation university in the middle of an Iowa cornfield, and a friendship that can only be described as cosmic.In this episode of The Neurocomplex Creative, Vicki Peterson reconnects with her first-ever roommate, visual artist Summer Love, whom she met at Maharishi International University when they were just seventeen.Together, they revisit coming of age in an unconventional world of golden domes, mandatory meditation, yogic flying and rules that shaped their everyday lives. They reflect on finding friendship and belonging within that environment, being seen for who they were rather than who they were connected to, and developing a bond built on understanding, shared experience and a lot of laughter.Summer also reflects on her life as a visual artist, staying true to her own creative lens and finding beauty in the world around her. It’s a conversation about self-definition, creativity and the rare friendships that allow us to be completely ourselves — even when they begin in the strangest of places.📝 Go deeper on Substack:https://ahatonahatonahat.substack.com/☕ Support the show:https://buymeacoffee.com/vickipetersonProduced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

In the first episode of Autistic Standpoint Theory, Isha Snow is joined by Dani Stephens to explore what changes when neurodivergent people begin to understand themselves — and are finally given the support they need to succeed.Dani shares their journey through ADHD and autism identification, navigating university as a neurodivergent student, and the difference that access to accommodations has made to their education. Together, they discuss burnout, disability support, inaccessible systems and what happens when struggles previously understood as personal failings are viewed through a neurodivergent lens.They also explore the importance of finding community. Inspired by Isha's own peer support work, Dani created a neurodivergent social group at Washington State University that became a registered student club.From discovering a new understanding of yourself to building spaces where others can belong, this conversation asks what becomes possible when neurodivergent people are supported rather than expected to become someone else.Autistic Standpoint Theory is part of the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.🎧 Autistic Standpoint Theory is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

What can surviving a zombie apocalypse teach us about surviving everyday life?In this episode of The Still Growing Up Film Club, Cece Fanning takes an unconventional coming-of-age trip into Zombieland, following Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita and Little Rock through a world where staying alive requires rules, resilience, courage — and occasionally a desperate search for a Twinkie.Using Columbus's famous survival rules as a starting point, Cece explores our need for structure and predictability, the comfort of self-imposed rules, and what happens when keeping ourselves safe begins to get in the way of actually living. Through a neurodivergent lens, she reflects on anxiety, hypervigilance, vulnerability, finding safe people and the complicated process of learning when to trust ourselves enough to take a risk.But survival is only part of the story. Zombieland is also about finding your people, knowing what keeps you going, doing things even when you're scared, enjoying the little things and making room for fun when life feels overwhelming.Because sometimes the rules that keep us safe are exactly what we need. And sometimes growing means knowing when it's okay to break them.Follow Cece:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenotoriouscece📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenotoriouscece✍️ Blog: https://cecewhatimean.com/🛍️ Store: https://stillgrowinguppodcast.dashery.com/Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.🎧 The Still Growing Up Film Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast