An Update since Autistic Pride 2021
In 2021, Autistic Empire founder Sarah McCulloch spoke at Autistic Pride Online on the journey of developing autistic identity.
In that talk, she analysed the unfolding controversy about the film Music, released by Sia that year. A short extract:
“[w]e have substantial numbers of autistic people who deny that they are autistic but have an affinity for autistic people, so they get involved in the autistic community and autistic advocacy from the perspective of supporting autistic people, when really, they’re just promoting internalised neurotypical ideas about who we are and what we do, which is damaging to them as well as us.
…
So that was the majority narrative of the film. But what I would like to suggest is what if we shifted our perspective and saw Sia as an autistic person who felt some kind of kinship with the identified autistic people in her life, and made a film about being autistic, that reflected all of the contradictory, medicalised, and pathological framing and language that professionals use about us and *autistic people often use about themselves*, and then had a meltdown when publicly criticised for it? How would we have treated her differently then?”
Sia recently went on a podcast to says she has known she was autistic since 2021, so good to know that Sarah wasn’t the only autistic person to have noticed.
Welcome to your tribe, Sia.
You can watch the full 23 minute talk on the Autistic Empire YouTube Channel here:
Speaking at Kings College London
Many thanks to Kings College London for the invitation to speak at the recent Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures Teaching Day on supporting autistic students.
Our director Sarah McCulloch shared a panel with Senior Lecturer Catherine Smale and autistic writer and academic Jodie Hare.
Good to see autistics talking about autism as always!
Невроразнообразие (Neurodiversity) (Bulgarian and English)
One of our Bulgarian citizens would like to draw your attention to their new Neurodiversity Forum, Невроразнообразие (Neurodiversity)!
Neurodiversity is an informational media channel on neurodiversity, facilitated by neurodiverse people. It is based in trauma-informed practice and positive models of empowerment. The channel has organized workshops, meet-ups, and an online mutual-aid channel, which aim to spread awareness about the neurodiverse community in Bulgaria and to lessen stigma against the community.
Please note the Page posts in Bulgarian and the Group posts in Bulgarian and English. Event talks are translated into both Bulgarian and English on request.
Give them a like!
Grand Sensory Survey Article Published in American Journal of Occupational Therapy
For the last three years, we have been working with the University of Colorado and the STAR SPD Institute to build on the findings of our Grand Sensory Survey. We are very pleased to announce that the first (we hope!) journal article on this topic, summarising our findings, has been published by the American Journal of Occupational Therapy in their Autism Acceptance month special issue.
We would like to express our deepest thanks to the academics and researchers who contributed (and wrote most of it).
To see the AJOT issue table of contents in full (paid subscription to actually read it) here.
Citizens can access the article in full on the Citizens’ Dashboard.
If you would like to cite the article, please use:
Spielmann, V., Burke, H. K., McCulloch, S., Mason, A., & Lane, S. J. (2023). Linking sensory integration and processing with mental health in autism: A retrospective review of survey data. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77, 7702185080. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2023.050127
We are still working on the follow-up survey (GSS 2.0) but are nearly finished and will hopefully announce something this year.
Sensory Health and Autism Summit, 14th June 2023
Founder Sarah McCulloch will be speaking at the Sensory Health and Autism Summit on the 14th June, organised by StarSPD.
Tickets are now $159 through to June 16th and recordings will continue to be available as Continuing Professional Development packages on the StarSPD website.
Our talk will be building on our Grand Sensory Survey research (published in 2019 on AutisticEmpire.com, written up and published in April 2023 in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy) and will raise new areas of sensory differences of autistic people that are underresearched and rarely considered in clinical practice.
Grand Sensory Survey 2.0 is in its final design and will be out soon!
Audible Autism – Episode 32 – Autism and the Police
Hello Listeners, this episode of Audible Autism will involve a discussion on a more serious topic than previous episodes and that issue being how to deal with or interact with the Police
This episode guest Chris Hilliard discusses the lack of training the police tend to have, some of the ways in which they judge who they might suspect on being offenders using systems that the general public might not be aware of but also Chris also goes into detail with his own incident with the police during the 2010 Student protests which had to be taken to trial.
This episode was one of a few that was meant to come out last season before that was abruptly ended but considering the current conversation regarding policing and the role of Police which as a Podcast based in the UK also involves the death of Chris Kaba we feel that the things discussed within this episode are still relevant and ontop of that will be addressing the issue from a British perspective.
We hope all of you who tune in find this episode informative, thank you
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Audible Autism – Episode 31 – Performing Arts with Annabell and Fay
On the latest episode of Audible Autism, Odai and Luke interview performers(stand up and poetry respectively) artists and all around good people Annabell and Fay.
Within this episode you get to hear a conversation that touches on not just being Autistic in their respective fields but also the perception on the number of performers with disabilities out there, the contradictions within the scene, inspirations and….spreadsheets.
As always we hope you enjoy this episode and find it informative
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Audible Autism – Episode 30 Autism and Social Media with Ian Lane
After much delay, blood, sweat and a dying laptop we now have the first episode of the new season of Audible Autism all set and ready to go. Our first episode is an interview with polymath Ian Lane about the highs and lows of navigating social media as an Autistic person.
Topics covered include :
- Whether the internet has gotten bigger or smaller over time
- Friendships, how they’re made and how they can be broken
- and how “discourse” manages to change and yet stay the same
We think you’ll find this a very enlightening and entertaining episode
If you would like to be on an episode of Audible Autism, please fill out our form here, and we’d love to chat with you.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Peer Clinic – Opening 2022
Many of the citizens of the Autistic Empire receive requests for their time with people who want to speak to an autistic adult. They may be a parent, professional, or newly identified autistic person who just want to consult an autistic person to gain their perspective.
In recent years, these requests have increased significantly in number. While this is a very positive thing as awareness of autistic lives and advocacy increases, this is putting a heavy demand on our citizens to give their time and labour for free.
We are therefore offering a paid peer clinic for anyone who would like to speak to an autistic adult on any topic. You can read the biographies, availability and fees of our current peers below. We come from a range of backgrounds, experiences and professions. You may request a specific peer you would like to speak to, or email us with what you want to talk about and we will match you with someone appropriate.
Learn more about our clinic and our peers here.