Join Dr. Regan for this first episode of the new series "Talking About Autism." This episode focuses on talking about autism when you are on a journey toward diagnosis and after you have received a diagnosis.  New Course for Clinicians - Interventions in Autism: Helping Clients Stay Centered, Connect with Others, and Engage in Life New Course for Clinicians: ASD Differential Diagnoses and Associated Characteristics Dr. Regan's Resources Book: Understanding Autism in Adults and Aging Adults, 2nd ed Audiobook Book: Understanding Autistic Behaviors Autism in the Adult website Resources for Clinicians Read the transcript:  1 00:00:03,540 --> 00:00:07,840 Hello and welcome to this episode of Autism in the Adult. 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:09,020 I am your host, 3 00:00:09,020 --> 00:00:10,510 Dr Theresa Regan. 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:12,600 I'm a neuropsychologist. 5 00:00:12,620 --> 00:00:15,060 I am a certified autism specialist, 6 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:23,750 the director of an autism diagnostic clinic for adults in central Illinois, and the mother of a teen and the spectrum. 7 00:00:24,550 --> 00:00:27,630 I am starting a new series of episodes today. 8 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:33,040 I think this may end up being a 3-4 part series. 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:34,330 We'll see how it goes. 10 00:00:34,340 --> 00:00:40,060 Um and basically the series is going to be called "Talking About Autism." 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:50,490 And this was a listener request... from multiple listeners that have emailed about "How do I talk about this to other people, 12 00:00:50,490 --> 00:00:52,570 whether that's my own diagnosis, 13 00:00:52,570 --> 00:00:56,720 whether that's talking to people that I think may be on the spectrum, 14 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:07,320 but they haven't been thinking in that direction... and how do I navigate all the emotion that sometimes comes with these kinds of discussions?" 15 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:12,460 So we're going to take some time to sort through some of those topics. 16 00:01:13,340 --> 00:01:22,680 I believe that this topic is really important, and that's why I have set aside to do a series of episodes about the topic. 17 00:01:22,690 --> 00:01:31,780 I also feel like this is probably one of the most challenging episodes that I've put my mind to here. 18 00:01:31,790 --> 00:01:59,210 And that is because in some ways it's a lot easier to present some research and a list of facts and definitions of terms than to talk about these concepts and experiences and to wrap words around things that are perhaps more personal or experiential is a little more challenging, but worth it I think... 19 00:01:59,210 --> 00:02:00,260 but challenging. 20 00:02:00,270 --> 00:02:05,960 And one of the challenges is probably to make some organization of it. 22 00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:11,650 ... So there's some cohesion in what we're talking about in each episode. 23 00:02:12,140 --> 00:02:13,810 So in this first episode, 24 00:02:13,810 --> 00:02:22,700 I'm going to cover the topic of talking about your own autism diagnosis to other people, 25 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:25,060 and I'm going to cover two things. 26 00:02:25,060 --> 00:02:37,560 One is if you're an individual who's thinking about starting a journey toward evaluation, and you're talking to people about your desire to do this, 27 00:02:37,940 --> 00:02:38,340 um, 28 00:02:38,340 --> 00:02:45,270 some of what we review will have to do with this kind of process ... this starting of that journey. 29 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:46,590 And also, 30 00:02:46,590 --> 00:02:50,800 then we'll finish by talking about once you have a diagnosis, 31 00:02:50,810 --> 00:02:51,930 um, 32 00:02:51,940 --> 00:02:54,270 who do you talk to about it? 33 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,960 How do you bring it up? 34 00:02:56,340 --> 00:02:56,890 Um, 35 00:02:56,900 --> 00:03:00,750 how does that go after you have a diagnosis? 36 00:03:01,140 -->