Tag: Anne Borden King

“A Catalyst for Activism”: Talking with Finn Gardiner from the Autistic People of Color Fund

~ a4aontario

 I had a fascinating conversation with Finn Gardiner, Director of Policy & Advocacy for the Autistic People of Color Fund about the incredible work of the Fund’s mutual aid project that positively impacts so many individuals’ lives. We also discussed institutional ableism, racism and “nice white lady syndrome”, as well as the troubling problems with racism in autistic self-advocacy organizations and how the Fund’s advocacy work is challenging this and making radical change in the neurodiversity movement.

Listen to the podcast by playing the audio file below, or on streaming sites like Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.

Read the transcript below the audio file


Transcript coming soon!

Bio
Finn Gardiner is Director of Policy & Advocacy for the Autistic People of Colour Fund. He is a Boston-based queer, Black, and disabled writer, designer, community organizer, speaker, editor, researcher, advocate, activist, and artist. Finn has a Master of Public Policy degree from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Tufts University. He’s spoken at the White House’s 2016 LGBTQ Disability Day, the United Nations’ World Autism Day event in 2019, and other venues. Before joining the Fund, he worked as a communications specialist for the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, and before that, he was a policy fellow at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Link
Autistic People of Color Fund

 

What happened to social psychiatry? A conversation with Professor Matthew Smith

~ a4aontario

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In this episode, I spoke with health historian Matthew Smith from the University of Strathclyde. We discussed his new book, The First Resort: The History of Social Psychiatry in the United States, as well as neurodiversity, the promise of Universal Basic Income and more.

 

Listen to the podcast on the audio link below or on streaming sites like Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.

Read the transcript below the audio link.

 

Transcript by Julie-Ann Lee: Transcript_NoncompliantPodcast_Matthew Smith_2023

Bio
Matthew Smith is a professor at the University of Strathclyde and the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH) in Scotland. He is the author of The First Resort: The History of Social Psychiatry in the United States (Columbia UP, 2023). He has also authored many articles and several other books and monographs including: Hyperactive, The Controversial History of ADHD; Another Person’s Poison, A History of Food Allergy; An Alternative History of Hyperactivity; and Pathologies and Politics, Dietary Innovation and Disease from the Nineteenth Century (co-edited by David Gentilcore).

The shifting landscape of autism services: Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s Julie Roberts

~ a4aontario

A woman with long blond hair, smiling, against a white backdrop Today I spoke with Julie Roberts, founder of Therapist Neurodiversity Collective (TNDC). We talked about the ABA industry’s troubling attempts to dominate autism services and funding, as well as the culture shift needed to increase support for neurodiversity-affirming autism supports and services.

Listen to the podcast on the audio link below. Also available on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.

Read the transcript below the audio link.

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Transcript by Julie-Ann Lee: Transcript_NoncompliantPodcast_JulieRoberts

Bio
Julie Roberts, a formally late-identified Autistic woman, is a Speech-Language Pathologist, neurodiversity educator and activist who founded Therapist Neurodiversity Collective in 2018 and Public School Neurodiversity Collective in 2022. Her professional experiences include private practice ownership for 7 years, and being a multi-state Clinical Director, and National Field Director of Corporate Compliance for one of the largest post-acute rehab companies in the U.S. She currently works in her favorite setting: the U.S. public school system. Julie’s articles and educational resources have reached over three-quarters of a million people.

Talking with professor Alan Levinovitz about pseudoscience and the myth of “natural”

~ a4aontario

Today I spoke with Professor Alan Levinovitz, author of Natural: How Faith in Nature’s Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science. We talked about the myth of the natural, pseudoscience, neurodiversity and post-pandemic life.

Listen to the podcast on the audio link below. Also available on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.

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Bio
Alan Levinovitz is associate professor of religious studies at James Madison University. He specializes in classical Chinese thought, as well as the intersection between religion and science. His most recent book, Natural, explores how the mistake of worshipping nature can lead to pseudoscience and injustice. We’re going to talk about the book today, in the context of neurodiversity, and also about the ideas of “natural immunity” and “natural medicine” that arose in response to the pandemic.  

Link
Natural: How Faith in Nature’s Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science.

The power of international neurodivergent collaborations: AutCollab’s Jorn Bettin

~ a4aontario ~ 1 Comment
Jorn Bettin

I had a fascinating conversation with AutCollab co-founder Jorn Bettin about new approaches to autism; namely, thinking outside the box of the pathologizing approach of the DSM and moving towards a collaborative, de-colonizing, grassroots approach to autistic liberation—one that also helps to heal our broken world. (Just some light, chatty conversation amongst autists!)

Listen to the podcast on the audio link below. Also available on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.

Read the transcript below audio link.


Transcript: Noncompliant_podcast_transcript_Jorn_Bettin

Bio
Jorn Bettin is an Autistic anthropologist by birth and a knowledge archaeologist by autodidactic training. He has a background in mathematics, and enjoys working closely with domain experts in transdisciplinary contexts. His current work focuses on the co-design of new community-oriented and patient centric models of care. Jorn has co-authored several books on creative collaboration and model driven product line engineering. He is a trustee of the Autistic Collaboration Trust – a global mutual support hub for neurodivergent individuals and ventures. He is also part of the Design Justice Network, regularly working with those who are most adversely affected by design decisions — about healthcare service delivery, new technologies, and the planning of communities.

Links
Autcollab website

Design Justice website

Book: The Beauty of Collaboration at Human Scale by Jorn Bettin

Evolutionary design

Autcollab projects

Neurodiventures

Understanding Human Collective Behaviour

Is there an Autism Industrial Complex? Interview with Professor Alicia Broderick

~ a4aontario ~ 2 Comments

front cover of a book. Dark blue cover with words "THE AUTISM INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: HOW BRANDING, MARKETING & CAPITAL INVESTMENT TURNED AUTISM INTO BIG BUSINESS  My guest this episode is Alicia Broderick, author of the new book The Autism Industrial Complex:  How Branding, Marketing, and Capital Investment Turned Autism Into Big Business. Her book traces the cultural, political, and economic history of autism. We talk about the history of autism services, how industry greed often gets in the way of useful approaches that can help families and some advice for families of newly diagnosed kids on how to find the best approaches and sift through all the hype.

Listen to the podcast by pressing Play on the audio file below. Also available on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.
Read the transcript at the link below the audio file
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Transcript by Julie-Ann Lee: Podcast_Transcript_0722_Broderick_Borden

Bio
Alicia Broderick is a Professor of Education at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Links mentioned in the podcast

The Autism Industrial Complex:  How Branding, Marketing, and Capital Investment Turned Autism Into Big Business, by Alicia Broderick

Screams, Slaps and Love (Lovaas interviewed in Life Magazine).

Affirming resources for families

Start Here: A Guide for Parents of Autistic Kids, by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (book & e-book)

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (website)

Uniquely Human, by Barry Prizant (book)

Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman (book

Algorithms and Outrage: Talking social media with Charles Arthur, author of Social Warming

~ a4aontario

In this episode, I interview Charles Arthur, the author of Social Warming: the dangerous and polarising effects of social media. We discuss the history of social media and current problems with social media, particularly disinformation on a global scale, as well as what we can do to combat this crisis.

Listen to the podcast via the audio file below, or on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes here.

Read the transcript in the link below the audio file.
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Transcript by Julie-Ann Lee: Transcript_CharlesArthur_NCPodcast

Bio
Charles Arthur is a journalist who worked on daily national papers in the UK for twenty years, and has written three non-fiction books since 2011, including the one we’ll discuss, Social Warming. He met Bill Gates when Microsoft was small, Steve Jobs when Apple was smaller, and Larry Page (of Google) when Google was already pretty big. He’s visited the offices of Facebook and Twitter, but their CEOs remained elusive. He’s been freelance since 2014 and lives in southeast England.

My published work/interviews, 2020

~ a4aontario

If you’re interested in what I’ve been writing outside of this podcast, check out the links below! Also selected interviews.

Articles

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. March, 2020. The power of autistic mentorship.

New York Times, April 2020: Trump Suggested ‘Injecting’ Disinfectant to Cure Coronavirus? We’re Not Surprised

Autistics for Autistics, April 2020 (co-authored with Raya Shields): We are heroes: A plain-language guide about Covid

New York Times, July 2020: I have cancer: Now my Facebook feed is full of “alternative care” ads

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, July 2020: Autistic with Cancer: Six Tips for Navigating the Medical System

Healthy Debate, September 2020: It took moms to hack the Covid quacks

Healthy Debate, October 2020: I’ve got cancer. Will I get the health care I need during a pandemic

Healthy Debate, November 2020: Autism case highlights urgent need to reform Ontario’s regulatory colleges

Autistics for Autistics, December 2020: 2020 has not been a good year for ABA: A research review

Interviewed on podcasts

Body of Evidence (o/p October 2019, w/Melissa Eaton & Amanda Seigler): Campaign Against Phony Autism Cures

The Avalanche, April, 2020: Autism, Disability and Access in the Times of Covid

The Big Story, August 2020: What it’s like to get cancer care during a pandemic

Documenting my cancer treatments on my podcast

July, 2020: Heaven and Earth
November, 2020: Half a woman
December, 2020: Time to breathe

“The things we don’t talk about”: A Cross-Interview with CripChat UK!

~ a4aontario


I had the great pleasure and honour of talking with Shabaaz and Pete from CripChat UK, on their podcast. We discussed autism pseudoscience, the Sia film controversy and much more.

Listen to the podcast right here by clicking the audio link below or on Stitcher here or on iTunes here .

Transcript: Transcript_CripChatUK_1
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Listen to CripChat UK on Podbean here. Great guests and discussions every week!