In our fifth and final episode of season 1 of our podcast, Matt Medina talks with Riah Person, an autism advocate that focuses on topics including sensory processing, stimming, and the black autistic experience. She also runs the website riahsweirdjourney.com, where she shares her life experiences and knowledge she has gained along the way. One of her presentations explores play, stimming, and sensory processing in relation to autistics and divergent human experiences.

• Website: riahsweirdjourney.com
• Twitter: @lilririah

0:00:18 Intro 0:01:23 Blackness and autism 0:02:47 Racism 0:04:28 Cycle of racism 0:05:26 George Floyd 0:07:01 Peaceful protest 0:08:04 Non-violent methods 0:09:33 Jon Stewart 0:10:48 Kenneth Clarke 0:11:50 No action 0:13:24 Blackness & diagnosis 0:15:11 School difficulties 0:16:17 Masking 0:17:09 ADHD 0:17:58 Military brat 0:18:49 Living in Guam 0:19:49 Not my fault 0:21:06 1st grade fight 0:24:01 School issues 0:26:27 Misread 0:28:43 YMCA abuse 0:31:20 Being a parent 0:32:55 Threatening appearance 0:34:54 Enter advocacy 0:38:19 Here together 0:41:47 Space for being 0:45:00 Stim-dancing 0:46:41 Mind–body connection 0:47:42 Ballroom dance 0:51:07 Western-ayurvedic 0:52:39 What is dance 0:56:15 Special interests 0:59:11 Neurodivergent friends 1:03:20 Diagnostic support 1:04:43 Stims 1:07:54 Squeaking teeth 1:10:27 Jamaica thanksgiving 1:13:40 Riah’s contact information

In our fourth episode, we talk with Christine Condo, who runs the blog This Great Ape, and writes for NeuroClastic. She is a late-diagnosed autistic woman living with chronic pain, and writes her blog as a way to process her experiences.

• Websites: ThisGreatApe.com
• Twitter: @ThisGreatApe

0:24 Christine’s diagnosis 1:45 Matt’s diagnosis 2:45 Christine’s early career 4:21 Autistic characteristics and school 5:34 Christine and school 6:31 Work experiences and limitation 7:45 Difficulties in school 9:17 Christine can’t remember faces 10:07 Spiky skills profile 12:33 Alexithymia & visual skills 13:36 Autism obscured 15:47 Pathologizing conditions 16:34 Labels 17:19 High & low-functioning autism 18:57 Savant myth & stereotypes 20:42 Masking 22:03 Autistic burnout 24:03 Socially ostracized 25:55 Great Ape blog excerpt 27:44 Empathy 28:40 Alexithymia & empathy 29:35 Depression, anxiety, PTSD 30:14 Trusting people 32:46 Support from neurodiverse friends 33:09 Trust & manipulation 36:02 Honesty & masking 36:54 Introversion & extraversion 38:16 Neurodiversity movement 39:18 Women on the spectrum 42:30 American Disabilities Act 44:30 Autism & employment 47:10 Double empathy problem 49:44 Parents of autistic children 51:03 Autistics need social connection 52:10 Autistic extravert 53:15 Masking 53:37 Autism paradox 54:38 Accommodations 55:38 High & low-functioning dichotomy 56:58 Sensory sensitivity 58:34 Definitions of intelligence 1:00:06 Labels 1:01:02 Autism experts 1:03:57 Disability model: deficits 1:04:54 Communication and empathy 1:09:29 Direct communication on the job 1:11:38 Dispel stereotypes about autism 1:12:32 Great Ape Blog’s name origins 1:14:47 The autism experience 1:16:51 Where to find Christine 1:18:36 Christine’s Washington Post article

In our third episode, we talk with Aaron Orsini, co-founder of the Autistic Psychedelic Community, collaborator with neuroscientists, and author of the book Autism on Acid, about how LSD helped him understand, navigate, alter, and appreciate his autistic perceptions.

• Websites: AutisticPsychedelic.com & AutismOnAcid.com
• Twitter: @AutisticPsyched & @AutismOnAcid
• Aaron’s book: Autism on Acid

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• MAPS website: MAPS.org
• Heffter website: Heffter.org

01:16 Aaron’s diagnosis 04:20 Aaron coming out as autistic 05:15 Wrestling with the pood, the bad, and the ugly of autism 06:35 The stages of grief and autism diagnosis 09:20 Dealing with depression and other blocks in personal development 10:36 Neurological contact lens 15:00 Autism, psychedelics, and neural rewiring 17:50 Alexithymia and autism 21:00 Autistic Roomba 23:25 Martin’s tree experience 26:26 Hypersensitivity and trauma 31:35 Synesthesia 33:40 Psychedelics aiding a person with overwhelming synesthesia 35:00 Comparing and contrasting conscious experiences in NTs and autistics 36:47 Serotonin is (seemingly) ubiquitous: the model neurotransmitter 39:10 Parallels between infant brains and adult brains on psychedelics 40:10 Aaron’s role as a bridge between autism and psychedelic neuroscience 42:40 Other autistics’ positive experiences with psychedelics 43:44 Meditation and then mushrooms help Matt with his alexithymia 45:10 Martin embraces empathy on MDMA 45:40 Aaron’s first LSD trip 49:00 Dissolving the mask: LSD improves Aaron’s social intuition 50:55 Attempting to explain the ineffable, such as falling in love for the first time 52:48 Aaron takes control of his meta-programming 54:10 Aaron’s struggle to manifest his goals 55:55 PSA on doing and acquiring psychedelic substances 57:15 Collabs & more collabs: Aaron’s goals for autism and psychedelic research 59:45 Psychedelics’ medicinal uses 1:00:00 Lessons learned 1:04:00 LSD saves Aaron’s life 1:05:00 Taking interest in others 1:07:20 Research on psychedelics as disorder treatment 1:08:45 Psychedelics easing defense mechanisms and facilitating trauma resolution 1:09:56 Aaron embraces his autism post-LSD trip 1:11:30 Founding Embrace ASD 1:11:57 Love yourself 1:12:30 Knowing an experience vs. knowing about an experience 1:13:32 Insights don’t come for free 1:16:00 Aaron makes binaural beats 1:16:30 Set and setting 1:17:55 Alicia Danforth’s study on MDMA to alleviate social anxiety in autistic subjects((Reduction in social anxiety after MDMA-assisted psychotherapy with autistic adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study (Danforth et al., 2018))) 1:18:55 Aaron’s vision for psychedelic-assisted therapy for autistic people 1:21:10 Aaron finds his calling in life 1:22:40 Weekly autistic meetup group 1:23:00 Tempering expectations 1:23:30 Growing support and Aaron’s identity as a community-grower 1:24:18 Aaron’s social media/wrapping up