Autistic Leadership: Avoidance Through Masking

Transcript

Autistic Leadership: Avoidance Through Masking

May 11th, 2025

Episode Preview

A lot of Autistics are trying to be safe in a time when we are being disenfranchised by our government.  Autistics are in places where they are hearing conversations about what is causing the “Autism epidemic.”  Maybe Autistics work for a company where their manager is celebrating the dismantling of DEI policies.  Many Autistics are masking more than ever because they don’t feel safe. Matthew Lawrence the #ActuallyAutistic Coach joins me for a remarkable conversation about Autistic Leadership: Avoidance Through Masking on this episode of Today’s Autistic Moment.

Segment 1

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After this first commercial break, Matthew Lawrence will join me to talk about Autistic Leadership: Avoidance Through Masking.

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Commercial Break I

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Segment 2

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 Philip King-Lowe 

Matthew Lawrence, welcome back to Today's Autistic Moment. It is always a pleasure to have you here. So welcome.

Matthew Lawrence

Thanks for having me, Philip.

Philip King-Lowe

You're welcome. I'm glad to have you back. Matthew, I invited you here because, as you know, my focus this year is Navigating the Future of Multidimensional Autistic Leadership, and one of those multidimensions is that Autistics are avoidance through masking. There have been many, many books and posts and blogs and books and everything written about masking and unmasking, and it's a hot topic in light of a lot of things that are going on around us. And so, what I want us to do is talk about how masking is a form of Autistic leadership. And, you know, we want to talk about all of this in light of, like I said, recent events, and to help our Autistic Adults to be leaders in this time, and this just happens to be one of those important subjects. Let us start off by building a foundation for this conversation. What is avoidance through masking for Autistic Adults to be multidimensional leaders here? Let's set that tone, and I'm going to let you begin. Go ahead.

Matthew Lawrence

I think it's important for me to say, like, how I understand masking, right? There's a masking, as you said, is probably the hottest topic in the Autism community. In the Autistic community for the last four years or so. A lot of books are coming out on it, a lot of different takes on it. Not everybody agrees on what masking is, not everybody agrees on what unmasking is. And I'm going to add another one in there, which makes things more complicated. Ultimately, for me, masking is a number of strategies that we do in order to have our needs met in the short term which negate our long term needs. Primarily, we mask in order to stay safe, right? So masking isn't it's not a there's this binary which is out there that masking equals bad and unmasking equals good, and generally that's true in that yes, masking for the in the long term is going to be have a negative impact on our mental and physical health. Yet it does meet our needs in the short term, it does keep us safe right now, and indeed, right? Like we do, we need to stay safe, so let's never forget that there is a safety aspect and staying safe and not being harmed does have value. So, when it comes to avoidance, right, avoidance is ultimately always about taking back autonomy, right? About being independent, it's about staying safe.

Philip King-Lowe 

Let's talk a little more about the positive aspects of masking as well as the negatives. You know, I think, I think the common notion is, again, it's about keeping us safe, but it also comes with consequences to our mental health. So, let's talk a little bit more about that, and how it is a form of leadership. Um, go ahead, Matthew.

Matthew Lawrence

I liken masking to a payday loan. It's going to give you the cash that you need to pay your bills today, but it's going to come with a 5,000% interest rate, and you're going to pay for it down the line. Yeah. That being said, right? Finance has benefits when you need something right now, right? And ultimately, safety is our number one concern. So, regarding leadership, right for us to be able to I mean, for me, masking, it's a complicated thing, right? Like, on the one hand, I don't want to sit here and say, yes, masking is this wonderful thing you do in order to be a leader in the Autistic community, and masking is absolutely necessary. And, I'm not going to sit here and say that if you don't unmask, if you are masked all the time, then you are a bad Autistic person, and you're a bad leader, and you're setting a poor example for everybody. No, I think that's also a very privileged thing to say, right, right? Not everybody has the ability to unmask, and for most people, it might actually be extremely unsafe to be unmasking in all situations, right? I think it's on Autistic leaders to speak honestly about what it is and what your situation is, right? I live my life primarily what I would consider unmasked, but I'm a white passing, male passing person, right, living in Western Europe, where I have the ability to do that with very little physical danger to my person, right? Right? Not everybody has that same opportunity. So, it'd be kind of silly for me to say that that has to be the way for everybody, right. Ultimately, I think the biggest leadership characteristic when we need to show our fellow Autistic people. What we need to show the public at large is that safety is important right now, what I would like is that we do think together. How can I stay safe in a way that will be more sustainable for me, right? Right? How do I model that? Because ultimately, yes, masking is going to come with that 5,000% interest rate, and it's going to wreck us, and then it's into burnout. So how can we step by step, slowly by slowly? Where can we find spaces? Where can we find situations where we can unmask in a sustainable, healthy way for us? And how can we as Autistic leaders’ model for everybody that, you know what? No, maybe those popular books that tell you just to unmask and YOLO, maybe that's not going to be the right thing for you, right and vice versa. Maybe it's also not us for leaders to everybody. No, just keep put it, keeping your head down and get through it and stay safe and never think about changing, because that's also, I don't think, the safest way, right? Ultimately, there's nuance there, and I think we need to speak about masking in the nuanced position with every single person in every population and everybody's specific situation, right? I find that when people start understanding their Autistic and start learning about masking, we always say you've met one Autistic person, you met one Autistic person. Yet somehow everybody thinks that we should mask and unmask in the same way, right? And I think that’s, and I think there's a lot of people who are promoting that idea, and I think that isn't exactly, maybe the best piece of advice out there.

Philip King-Lowe 

Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, in this era where we are in, we are experiencing increasing marginalization, namely because of the actions of Kennedy and several groups that are determined to, you know, come out with "an explanation for an Autism epidemic," which is ridiculous. The thing is too is that this is going to force a lot of Autistics to mask for their safety so and in many cases, masking has a self-care piece to it, and so I do sense that this is going to cause a lot more masking, which means we also need to think about making sure we have saved ourselves some safe spaces where we can unmask to recover from burnout. And so please feel free to comment on some of that

Matthew Lawrence

Autistic people are living in dangerous times. I mean, there's no, there's no way for us to hide that fact. Right. Autistic people are living in dangerous times. And it's not only in the United States, right? Everything that happens in the United States affect Autistic people all over the world, because the policies that are made and the zeitgeist of the culture and society spreads throughout the world, America has an influential position in that and in other countries in the world. Being autistic isn't a cake walk either. It never has been. Might be difficult for some people to hear, but the United States is either the most or the second most affirming place in the entire world for Autistic people to live even today. Yeah, which is, which is not a good thing, because obviously we're under a lot of attack and we're in danger. Right. Yeah, and our goal is to stay safe, right? And that's why, you know, I once saw this meme that said that, you know, dystopian novels are what happens to white people, what happens to marginalized people every day. Have you seen that before? No, but go ahead. But that's what's happening, right? Like Autistic people are worried now, and people of color, queer people, trans people, have been in danger for years and been yelling out about the danger that's happening in our country, in the zeitgeist of our country. Right. And Autistic people of color, Autistic, queer people, Autistic, nonwhite people, have been calling out the dangers that are happening now. Everybody else is waking up to that fact. Yeah. So, in many ways, nothing is changing in that now everybody is needing to be extra safe, yeah. And in other ways it's very changing, because now for the first time, many of us have been talking about for years. And you know many of your guests, and you and I have been talking about this attack on Autistic people for years on this program. What's been happening behind the scenes, and only in the view of those who are involved in Autism politics, is now upfront, and it's in the mainstream media, and people are speaking about it, and it's on the minds of thought leaders and in newspapers and magazines, etc. Ultimately, it's on those of us who have been doing this to remind people that, yes, your job is ultimately to stay safe. It is not upon every single Autistic person in the United States in the world to get out on the front line and put themselves in danger. Yeah, that is not fair. That's because you're Autistic. Doesn't mean that you need to become an activist, and if you have the spoons to do it, this is a time that's good to do, because this is the time that it's needed. But also, people shouldn't feel the need when they're sitting in burnout and they're danger and they're scared that they need to get out there, right? Like that. That guilt trip isn't, isn't the way to go. I'm out there. You're out there. We have the spoons, yeah, thank God, right? And you know what? Maybe we don't have them all the time, and maybe we go behind our own limits, and we're not, we're not good models for people in that regard, but we do it as much as we can. But people should be aware if you, if you can, speak up, post, write to your elected officials, speak to people, yeah, go to rallies, organize and if you can't, if that's not going to be safe for you, if that's going to be dysregulating for you, if that's going to put you in a deeper burnout, then you don't, you don't owe it to anybody. Yeah. And if you're doing it just to "unmask" don't. You need to be honest with yourself.

Philip King-Lowe 

I have a little bit of a different take on why a lot of this is happening. And my take is that this is happening because our movement for a greater acceptance of Autistic people actually has been succeeding. And quite frankly, this is happening because the last thing they want to see is for us to succeed further, so they're going to do what they can do to push us backwards. So, what Matthew just said? I agree with that. I also agree that every Autistic person right now needs to find their way to advocate and do your advocacy work in a way that works for you. If you are somebody who writes books, write them. If you are somebody who can write letters to your local newspaper. Do it. If you are somebody who happens to have a good audience among your family, who will hear what you have to say. Now is the time to say it. If you are somebody who can put up a good argument with those who are defending this kind of thing, do it. If you are somebody who you just need to do your own self-care, your own masking, to do the best you can. Then that's what you I suggest that you do. The one thing that I don't want Autistics to feel at this particular time is that we are completely, 100% helpless. There’s nothing we can do. That is one thing I completely disagree with. And I would say, while I understand some people are going to take that, that that point of view, this is not the time to take that point of view. There are things you can do. There are things you can probably do that we might not be thinking of. You know, if you're a musician who writes music and can produce music that can grab people's attention, do it. I mean, this is a great time for those of us, many of us who have great creative minds to really put that creativity forward and really use it to make a difference, because that's how these things happen. This is an opportunity. I see this as an opportunity for our best Autistic advocacy strategies, to come forward and do your thing the best you possibly can. It's going to be worth it. Trust me, you know, and let me just say that. I need to say this out loud because I want our Autistic advocates to hear me. Just because we put forth all this effort doesn't mean we'll necessarily win. However, I'm a believer that if you're going to go down, go down advocating and go down fighting for your rights rather than having done absolutely nothing. I do believe that we can win this. I also believe that it is always possible to do something, however small, and somehow it will make a difference to the greater Autistic community. So that's where I am. All of this is occurring because of how successful we have been. We have had some authors who have written some great books about any number of issues, and this is the pushback with all of that. That's what I think is beginning to happen. So that's why I am having these conversations. And I'd like to tell you that this is simple for me, but no, absolutely not. I am. My brain is really feeling the weight of what is happening with our beloved Autistic community right now. So, I just want to say that out front.

After this next commercial break, Matthew and I will talk about creating environments to change the rules about masking and staying safe. We will also talk about how our interconnection with each other can help us with our self-care to manage the stress we are experiencing.

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Commercial Break II

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Segment 3

Philip King-Lowe

Let's move on to my second point here. We know that Autistic are engaging with masking as a matter of avoidance and how we can create the environments to affect the change we need. And that's actually what we were discussing in the last segment, when we were talking about how our advocacy really can make a difference here. And, you know, masking, because of its negative connotation we have, you know, talked about how to create environments, but it also helps to change the rules about what Autistics are capable of. So, Matthew, can you please add your comments about what we're saying here, when we say creating the environments to affect some change here, especially for all our intersectional communities that are part of what is taking place at this time. Go ahead, Matthew.

Matthew Lawrence 

I love what you said, right? There's no, yes, things are difficult, and things can get better, and we have not lost this fight, and we're just getting started. Right. And absolutely, we have a target on our back, because we have been extremely successful in building not just awareness, but acceptance. Yeah, and I'm always wary when we speak about Autistic anything, because it always is when we say Autistic joy, Autistic relationships, Autistic leadership. It's always a binary, comparing it to as if there's like allistic leadership and allistic joy and allistic relationships, etc., right? I like to get rid of that binary and comparing ourselves to non-autistic people, and that leadership for us has nothing to do with what leadership in the non-autistic world is. Right. This idea that leadership you need to be this loud, boisterous type a, very outward kind of show person as a leader, yeah, or you have to be diligent and quiet but prolific and put out lots of content and have lots of speaking engagements because, like, that's what we have as leaderships. Like, there's somebody there. I want to look at leaders as in a different way. Okay. For me, a leader is someone who knows how to listen, right? A leader, an Autistic leader, is somebody who shows other Autistic people that they are perfect in their own way. It doesn't mean they don't have struggles. Right. I mean that they that they're an Autistic leader inspires others to understand that they are the experts of their own experience, and they are masters of their own destiny, no matter what one's outward traits look like, no matter where one lives, no matter what one situation is, is that we all have the ability to be a leader simply by sharing our experiences, because just our voices can help others inspire. How many of you listening knew very little about yourselves. And then you heard somebody name something on a website or on a YouTube video or on a podcast or on a blog, and you said, oh, my God, that language, that is what I'm going through. Right. That person was a leader for you. They led you to get somewhere, for you to grow yourself. And in that way, all of us have leadership ability. All of us have the ability to help others know themselves simply through ourselves knowing ourselves, a leader doesn't need to host a conference or have a podcast or like the big thing now is that Autistic leaders have to be the biggest social media influencers and content creators. No, your life is worth it. If you don't create content, your life is worth it just by existing. Right. And just us existing in our own authentic way. Us being authentic and real with ourselves, unmasked in that way where we can that is leadership. That is modeling that I find to be the most effective type of leadership by living, by example, of being authentic to yourself, which might mean, by the way, being authentic might mean in a lot of situations that, yeah, you're gonna mask because that's the way you're gonna preserve energy, right? That's the way you're gonna stay safe. That's leadership to me.

Philip King-Lowe 

I like, I like the parallels that you drew, and that leadership can be just how you happen to live. You know, one thing that my guests and I have said multiple times this season is Autistic leadership is nonhierarchical. We are not looking towards someone who is on top of everything else and everybody else is somewhere on the bottom. And you heard Carol Jean Whittington talk about how “Autistic leadership is collaborative in nature.” And I think if I'm going to caveat off what Matthew has been saying here is that the place that you put yourself right now, that is your place of leadership. You know, our leadership does not have to look like what the wider culture says leadership is, which is a position, a title, money, of course, and you know how much, how much capital you happen to draw for having done so. You know, over the history of social justice movements, you know, we have had leaders who have literally given their lives for their causes, and yet they to be the people who brought about the greatest changes that we now benefit from. And the Autistic community has our leaders, who are writing, who are singing, who are doing whatever they're doing, to organize these things, you know, just organizing a social group where Autistics can come and share their thoughts and their concerns. There's still a leadership role in that, you know, you know, and that's, that's just where that is. As far as our multidimensional and our intersectional communities are concerned, those being our LGBTQ people, people of color, Autistics, who are immigrants who are finding it necessary to mask so they don't get deported right now. I mean, I mean, all of that is, is what it is. One of the things about Autistic leadership that I'm going to interject here is that it must be all inclusive of all of our Autistic communities, which is going to mean that some of us are going to have to get over ourselves a little bit and let some other people in and more or less teach us a little bit more about who they are. That's part of this whole part of what we're doing here. Because Matthew and I are about to go into my third point is that what we are now talking about is about how we are interdependent. You know, let's talk about how Autistics are leaders through our lives in our unique context, and this is where we talk about some ways that we can support Autistics to be proactive and responsive leaders in this time. This is you know about not giving into inertia right now through fight or flight mode but turning that into action that makes us leaders in social change. You know, let's talk about that with regarding avoidance through masking and, you know, give to our Autistic community some hope that we can achieve something as we move forward in this. Go ahead Matthew.

Matthew Lawrence

So, it's really important to always remember that avoidance is coming from not being safe. Always, always comes to being safe. Now, safety takes on lots of different things. There's physical safety, there's emotional safety, there's physiological safety, health, and in many ways, we can have a lot of places in our life where we're not safe and that we're not going to be able to get those needs met. The amazing thing I find about our nervous systems is that we don't actually need to change everything. A lot of people think like, oh, okay, I'm in burnout. I have not having my needs met. I need to fix every trigger in my life, remove all triggers, and then I'll get out. That's an impossible task. You're never gonna be able to remove all your triggers. You're never gonna be able to get all your needs met, and you might not even be able to deal with your biggest triggers. You might have some of your biggest needs that aren't met, right, right? So, let's not think about the biggest ones. Where can we make small changes? Right. Where can we what small things can I change? Maybe I can change the acoustic setup of, and I can add some padding, so I don't hear my neighbor as much. Maybe I can go out for an extra walk. Maybe get that extra ice cream every week. Maybe I can spend some time reading about my favorite thing every once in a while. Maybe I can stop that extra shift at work. Maybe I can take an extra hour out of my week to go to the dog park. And you'll notice that when you remove small triggers, or you even add in some positive grounding things that give you spoons, that can open up a lot of room for you to be able to manage the harder stuff. I am scared everyday Philip of going outside of my home. I live in a place that is extremely ableist and has been running a eugenics program and research program and registry on Autistic people for years already, right? Here in France, we look at what's happening in America and say, Oh, okay. Well, you know, we've been talking about this for years, and nobody's been paying attention. Every day that I leave my home, I know that something bad might happen. I've been physically assaulted four times since the beginning of 2025 outside. Outside for daring to be outside as a visibly because, in addition to being Autistic, I'm also visibly disabled, assaulted for my disability, and I get scared, and it's hard for me, and I can't change that. I can't change the society in which I live, but I am able to deal with it in a profoundly more expansive way today than I was five years ago, because I've been able to add other things that give me spoons. I've been able to take out small things, like, I don't go to the supermarket shopping when it's busy. I don't go at certain hours. I sleep in a little bit extra. I work a little bit less, and yeah, that means I have to earn less money, and a lot of you will hear, oh, I can't work less rest is not a luxury, it's a necessity. And yeah, maybe that means that you're not gonna be able to do some of the things, and maybe it's gonna make things financially a bit tighter. Yeah, I know me too, and you have more capacity to handle that stress when you're having other things that you're adding into it, and having more time where you can feel safe. And I know that sounds like magic and it sounds like nonsense. I started wearing a few years ago earplugs in my house, even though I wasn't outside. Life changer. Yeah, life change. Yeah, small things like this, and maybe for you, it's not earplugs. They need something else, right? I don't want to, I don't want to say earplugs, because maybe everybody's gonna go buy earplugs and like, that's probably not, you know, don't just do whatever I say, right? Whatever it is for you, maybe it's drinking extra water. Maybe it's having an extra coffee. Maybe it's doing jumping jacks. Maybe it's dancing, I don't know, but you don't have to change everything in order to be able to manage things going on more and if you're only going to focus on the bad, self-fulfilling prophecy. And I understand why, because a lot of us, we don't have the energy to deal with our needs, right. Start with one, one little thing and see where that goes.

Philip King-Lowe 

Right, yeah, and you know, like I say, use this time to really indulge in your special interests, whatever those interests are. Use this time, I know what Matthew says about being afraid to go out right now, I really do everything I can not to go out unless I'm at a place where it physically can't be helped. I really have to, because actually, if I stay in, I'm going to drive myself crazy. But you know, do those things that work best for you. I also believe that these are good times to put your best Autistic Self forward. I don't just mean by masking or unmasking. What I mean is, whatever it is that you excel at that comes from the gift of being Autistic. Do indulge in that and do make it worth everything. It will indeed do wonders for you.

After this final commercial break, Matthew will talk about how he can help you find some community through the collective that he works with to offer Autistic peer groups, support and discussion groups, job and one on one support.  Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board will follow.

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Commercial Break III

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Future Shows

On May 25th, David Gray-Hammond joins us for the episode Physical Autistic Leadership.  There is an unspoken bias full of misinformation that Autistics do not know our own bodies. There are many facets of being Autistic that are physical. Many Autistics have physical disabilities. The physical side of Autism has to do with interoception, proprioception, and other facets of sensory processing.  David Gray-Hammond has been advocating for how Autistics experience pain and other illnesses and will give us some in-depth information to advocate for our physical and medical needs.

LGBTQIA+ Pride Month will be observed on Today’s Autistic Moment.  On June 8th, Jillian Nelson the Policy Director at The Autism Society of Minnesota will be my guest for the episode Queer Autistic Leadership.  Jillian and I will bring you an insightful conversation about Queer Autistic leadership in a time when Queer and Autistic people are being marginalized so aggressively in 2025.  We will talk about how Autistic and our allies for Queer and Autistic people can advocate for and with our communities.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment.

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Philip King-Lowe 

Matthew, before we wrap this up, would you please share with our audience about some of the things that you are doing as the Actually Autistic Coach. Some opportunities you might offer to many in our Autistic community that they might take advantage of at this particular time.

Matthew Lawrence

Yeah, this is a time, folks, where we need Autistic community more than ever. Right. Absolutely. Seek out communities in the wild, where you live in person, if possible, seek out virtual ones, and not just Reddit and social media, but ones where you can actually speak with your voice or your AAC, or even chat while looking at people, even if your camera's off, but ones where it is live, and I get that's not going to be for everybody, and that there are a lot of spaces out there, or they become quite complicated, and people are speaking over each other. Find one that works for you but find community where you can speak with actual people, not anonymous things behind a screen, because connecting, right, co regulating with other Autistic people, IRL and IRL, again, can be online. It doesn't have to be in person. Right. And not just through an app on your phone, is huge. You don't necessarily need to organize. If you can organize, that's great. But speak, be in space with other Autistic people. It will change your life. And I don't say that to be to sound hyperbolic, it will change your life. We need community more than ever. I know that you want to go under a hole. I know that you have been hurt in other places that this doesn't work for you, that you want to just be by yourself, I urge you not to do that.

Philip King-Lowe 

Once again, talk about some of your discussion groups and some of your classes that, especially since you do classes about masking and that sort of thing, talk about some of that and help our audience understand how they can get involved with those things.

Matthew Lawrence

Sure, so I'm part of a collective of Autistic peer support coaches and teachers. You can check out our website at autisticcoaches.com and we have Autistic coaches who are trained in peer support, who are hosting free support groups, discussion groups, educational seminars on masking and self-care and job searching and one on one support. And there's something there for everybody. If you're an Autistic queer person, for trans folks, for women, for people of color, every group we've got something from somebody. Come check it out, autisticcoaches.com and come meet some other Autistic people, right, right? Like there's so many opportunities out there. Come on out and come meet us.

Philip King-Lowe 

I think that's brilliant. We really do need each other in this time, so, by all means, I think that's great. Matthew, thank you so much for being here today and for having this great discussion with us. It's always a pleasure to talk with you. And I do encourage all of the people in my audience that if you are in need of resources and to find other Autistics to share with that you please look up the resources that Matthew just named. Thank you for being here Matthew.

Matthew Lawrence

Thank you, Philip, great to be here. I'm looking forward to coming back again soon

Philip King-Lowe

Absolutely.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board

All these events and many others with their links not mentioned here are available on

todaysautisticmoment.com/bulletinboard.

You are invited to the Adult Coffee Club for Autistic Adults in Minnesota. They are held on the second Tuesday of every month (weather permitting) at Dogwood Coffee located at 2700 University Ave W. Suite 100 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Zip Code for your GPS is 55114. The Adult Coffee Clubs will begin at 4pm to 6pm on May 13th. June 10th. July 8th. August 12th.

Understanding Autism virtual classes are offered by The Autism Society of Minnesota. The next classes will be on May 12th, 12-1pm. June 9th, 6-7pm. July 14th, 10-11am. August 11th, 12-1pm. Classes are free of charge, but you must register to attend.

On June 6th, beginning at 9am to 12pm Mason Esposito will present a workshop at The Autism Society of Minnesota entitled: Neurodivergent Intimacy: Tools for More Fulfilling Communication, Relationship Dynamics, and Sex Lives for Neurodivergent People and Their Partners. Registration is required to attend this workshop.

The 25th Annual Steps for Autism in Minnesota will be on Sunday, May 18th from 9am-12pm at the ROC at the St. Louis Park Rec Center. The address is 3700 Monterey Drive in St. Louis Park, MN. The zip code for your GPS is 55416.  The event includes a resource fair, a stage show, costumed characters, interactive activities, face painting, and more.  Families, Autistic Adults, and community members are all welcome! This year’s Steps for Autism is a self-led walk through the park by the venue.

Go to ausm.org to get more information about these and other social and recreational programs, educational events, counseling services and support groups at The Autism Society of Minnesota.

MNeurodivergent is a social club rooted in a vision of bringing Neurodivergent Minnesotans together to build meaningful connections.  Its core principle is to foster an environment where all are treated with dignity and respect regardless of ability or preferences. Go to their website mneurodivergent.org for more information, become a member, volunteer and attend their events.

Lisa Morgan and Brenna Maddox invite you to join them for a virtual event called Suicide Prevention for Autistic People: Risk Assessment and Crisis Support.  This event will start on Wednesday, May 12th from 12-3pm CDT. Click on the hyperlink on the transcript Suicide Prevention for Autistic People to be taken to the event on Eventbrite for all the information you will need. 

Today’s Autistic Moment is here because of the generosity of supporters and sponsors.  Please go to todaysautisticmoment.com and select “Support Today’s Autistic Moment” to donate. 

If you have questions about Today’s Autistic Moment, please send an email to todaysautisticmoment@gmail.com.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment: A Podcast for Autistic Adults by An Autistic Adult.

May you have an Autistically Amazing day.

♫ Closing Background Music with credits ♫

All of the guests meet with me on Zoom to record the interviews. The interview transcripts are provided by Otter. The podcast is prepared and edited on WavePad Masters Edition by NCH Software.  The podcast is published by Spotify for Podcasters.  The Music that you hear is licensed to Today’s Autistic Moment by premiumbeat.com.