Squarepeg: Relaxing into the Truth of who we are as Late-diagnosed Autistic Adults

Host: Amy Richards
Listen here: https://squarepeg.community/91-s7-ep11-relaxing-into-the-truth-of-who-we-are-as-late-diagnosed-autistic-adults/

Topics in this episode: Alexithymia, autism at work, burnout, employment, family, friendships, masking, meltdowns, self employment, self harm, special interests, stimming

Angela Lauria is a CEO and author from Washington DC, USA. Now 49, she was diagnosed autistic 10 years ago, and initially underwent a form of the controversial ABA therapy in an effort to ‘fix’ the things about her that she had always felt were wrong. One burnout, some autism-positive therapy and ten years of processing later, she was able to fully accept and embrace her own autistic identity, and wider autistic culture. 

Realising she didn’t fit into traditional workplaces, Angela started her own publishing company, providing consulting, editing, design, and book launch marketing for authors who have a message and want to make an impact. 

She has also recently started a podcast called The Autistic Culture Podcast.

In our conversation, we talk about:

➡ How she went from trying to fix herself with ABA and CBT therapies to celebrating her autism

➡ Burnout, meltdowns, stimming and friendship difficulties

➡ How misinterpreting situations and others’ expectations, and finding it hard to read the room at school and in the workplace has impacted her

CONTENT WARNING: Angela and I talk about self harm during this episode, so if you don’t want to hear about this topic, you might want to give this one a miss.

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences.

I’m Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I’m now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn’t quite fit.

EPISODE LINKS:

Company website: https://www.differencepress.com/ 

The podcast: https://autisticculture.substack.com/