A conversation with an autistic person (with Megan Neff)

What does autism feel like from the inside? Do autistic people lack empathy? What is context insensitivity? What are some ways special interests can manifest in autistic people? What are some less common ways stimming can manifest? What are the main components of autism? Can you be diagnosed with autism if you meet all the diagnostic criteria but didn't have any symptoms in childhood? Is autism only a problem in relation to neurotypical people? Is there a link between IQ and autism? What does the DSM fail to capture about autism? Is there some underlying commonality among all the seemingly disparate symptoms of autism? How have the label and diagnosis changed as the field of psychology has grown and improved? Thinking about autism as a spectrum is better than thinking about it as a binary, but is there an even better way to think about it? How does gender intersect with autism? How does ADHD intersect with autism? How valid is self-diagnosis? How can you better interact with autistic people in your life? What should you do if you think you might have autism?

Dr. Megan Anna Neff is a clinical psychologist, author, and founder of Neurodivergent Insights. She is the author of Self-Care for Autistic People and The Autistic Burnout Workbook. Dr. Neff contributes regularly to Psychology Today and has been featured in outlets like CNN, PBS, ABC, and The Los Angeles Times. After discovering her own neurodivergence at age 37, she became passionate about raising awareness of non-stereotypical presentations of autism and ADHD. Through Neurodivergent Insights, she creates educational and wellness resources for the neurodivergent community, while also co-hosting the Divergent Conversations podcast. Learn more about her at her website, neurodivergentinsights.org, or email her at [email protected].

Further reading

• "How Do I Know if I’m Autistic in Adulthood?" by Megan Neff
• Divergent Conversations (podcast)
  • Episode 48: “What is Autism?” (Part 1): Understanding Autistic Communication
• Embrace Autism
• Is This Autism?

Staff

• Spencer Greenberg — Host / Director
• Josh Castle — Producer
• Ryan Kessler — Audio Engineer
• Uri Bram — Factotum
• WeAmplify — Transcriptionists
• Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant

Music

• Broke for Free
• Josh Woodward
• Lee Rosevere
• Quiet Music for Tiny Robots
• wowamusic
• zapsplat.com

Affiliates

• Clearer Thinking
• GuidedTrack
• Mind Ease
• Positly
• UpLift