After 20 months and 65 episodes, the Different Minds podcast series is coming to an end today, (the 31st December, 2021). The host of the show, John Offord said “It’s been an incredible journey and I’ve been honoured to have interviewed such inspirational guests on the series, such as Chris Packham, Steve Silberman and Temple Grandin to name but a few. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my listeners, who without, none of this would have been possible and my sponsor, Aspire Autism...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Bake Off star, Lizzie Acker on her life changing diagnosis and that extraordinary cake that celebrates neurodiversity. Lizzie has Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD and Concentration disorder.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/support

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Jeff Gawthorpe about ADHD. "The human cost of undiagnosed ADHD is incalculable - the broken families, suicides, careers lost, unhappy lives and unmet potentials. This alone should be sufficient for society and our government to start treating ADHD with the priority it deserves". For more details on Jeff's story, please see: https://www.adhdaction.org/ADHD-Stories/Jeffs-Story --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Oliver Vikse, Project Development Champion for ANDYSMANCLUB who talks about his own mental health journey and how he has used his experiences to help others. Andy's Man Club is a mental health charity, described as "a talking group, a place for men to come together in a safe environment to talk about issues and problems they have faced or are currently facing". It was formed by Luke Ambler and his mother-in-law Elaine after his brother-in-law took his own...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to content creator for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, Purple Ella, to talk about life with autism and ADHD. For more details about Purple Ella, please see: https://www.purpleella.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/support

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Deborah Wortman and Mark Berry about neurotypical and neurodivergent relationships. Deborah is a qualified psychotherapist and co-director of Aspire Autism Consultancy and Mark works in IT. Deborah describes herself as not autistic and Mark as neurodivergent who was diagnosed at the age of 43. This podcast is sponsored by Aspire Autism Consultancy. For further details, see www.aspireautismconsultancy.co.uk.  --- Send in a voice message:...

When Suzanne Alderson’s 14 year old daughter became suicidal in 2015, following a period of sustained bullying, Suzanne found herself in a desperate place, facing an uncertain future with little support and even less understanding. While her daughter was immediately wrapped in professional care, Suzanne found that there was no support available to help her or her husband make sense of the situation and give their child the best kind of care.  One night on suicide watch, she decided if she...

Broadcaster John Offord chats to Jubël, a Swedish duo originating from Halmstad, Sweden about music and mental health as they do their part to destigmatise mental health issues by opening up about their own struggles. Jubël are made up of Sebastian Atas and Victor Sjöström of Tunisian-Italian descent. They are signed to Warner Music and are perhaps best known for their stunning new single, “Weekend Vibe.” The exotic pop-leaning track is only a small glimpse of what’s to come from the eclectic...

Broadcaster John Offord chats to Adam Frost, presenter on the BBC's Gardeners' World on Dyslexia & celebrating difference. Adam believes there’s inspiration all around us – in nature, architecture, art, people and food – we just have to take the time to stop and look around. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/support

Broadcaster John Offord speaks to film director, Ric Burns about his latest film, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life. London-born Oliver Sacks was a man of extremes. In his youth, he was a self-destructive, bodybuilding biker struggling with drug addiction and his own sexuality. In his maturity, he became a groundbreaking neurologist and the author of best-sellers such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. Ric Burns' documentary is a tender, joyous and life affirming portrait of a...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Susanne Antonetta, author of A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World; and Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir to name but a few. Antonetta is one of America’s leading memoirists, advocates for the value of neurodiversity, and translator of the work of the sciences into new ways of understanding human life. A wide-ranging author, she writes about her experiences as a bipolar woman and psychiatric survivor, her early drug dependency, as well as the...

Broadcaster John Offord chats to O'Hooley & Tidow, an English folk music duo from Yorkshire about life as a neurodivergent couple and parenting. Singer songwriter, Heidi Tidow and her wife, singer-songwriter and pianist, Belinda O’Hoole were nominated for Best Duo at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their 2016 album Shadows was given a five-star review in The Guardian, and four of their other five albums, including their 2017 release WinterFolk Volume 1, have received four-star reviews...

Broadcaster John Offord chats to Geek Girl author, Holly Smale who was recently diagnosed with autism – at 39. Holly Smale, the writer of the bestselling Geek Girl series, has sold more than three million books but she’s never felt like she fits in. She gives talks on stage to thousands, but has never had a serious relationship and now she thinks she knows why.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast:...

Broadcaster John Offord chats to Alicja Nocon, a late-diagnosed autistic woman who recently retrained as an independent Neurodiversity and wellbeing trainer, consultant and coach. In this episode, Alicja talks about growing up in Poland and reflects on her self-discovery journey. Alicja is currently completing a Master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology at University of East London, where her research interest focuses on the role of character strengths and humour...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to autistic YouTuber, Dan Jones about life on the spectrum. Dan has Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, OCD and Dyslexia. Dan (known as The Aspie World by his followers) creates and shares content for his 100,000 plus YouTube subscribers and his videos cover a range of tips and tricks for living with an autism diagnosis. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/support

This is the final call! Please can you vote for 'The Different Minds Podcast Series' in the Listeners’ Choice Award, supported by BBCSounds. I've had such incredible guests, including Chris Packham, Steve Silberman & Dr Temple Grandin to name but a few!  It only takes 30 seconds and here is the link: https://britishpodcastawards.com/vote Thank you so much for your support! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast:...

To celebrate Pride Month in the UK, Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Nick Ransom, a gay autistic man who works for the BBC. Nick has worked on a number of interesting programmes, including A Question of Sport and Bitesize Daily. Nick chats about life on the spectrum, autism and mental health, and the importance of representing the LGBTQ+ experience both on and off-screen. For more details, please see www.nickransom.co.uk --- Send in a voice message:...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to American Behaviour Analyst, Inclusion Specialist, and Autism Advocate, Joy F. Johnson for a candid conversation on intersectionality and specifically on the experience of Black individuals on the autism spectrum. Joy also talked about life in Germany and how that differs from the USA, her relationship with her neurotypical husband, Neurodiversity and medical models of disability. Please see https://joyfjohnson.com/ --- Send in a voice message:...

Broadcaster John Offord has an exclusive behind the scenes interview with the director of THE REASON I JUMP, Jerry Rothwell and producer, Jerry Dear – about their ground breaking film on autism. Based on the bestselling book by Naoki Higashida, THE REASON I JUMP is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world. The film blends Higashida’s revelatory descriptions of his autism, written when he was just 13,...

Broadcaster John Offord chats to Helen Dent, a clinical and forensic Psychologist, Attachment style expert and author of “Why Don't I Feel Good Enough?: Using Attachment Theory to Find a Solution” to talk about attachment theory and explains it’s not our fault how we feel – understanding where the emotions come from – come from our relationships with our first ever care giver. The theme of this podcast episode is the profound effect that early attachment styles (i.e. how you were brought up)...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats Dr Damian Milton, an Autistic academic and father. He proposes a different interpretation for the disconnection between Autistic and non-autistic people, which he calls the ‘double empathy problem’. Please see: https://damianmiltonsociol.wixsite.com/dmilton-autism for more details. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/differentminds/support

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Dr Dinah Murray, an independent researcher with a background in linguistics, anthropology and philosophy and her son Fergus Murray, a science teacher, writer and 'autist' about Monotropism, a cognitive strategy posited to be the central underlying feature of autism. A monotropic mind is one that focuses its attention on a small number of interests at any time, tending to miss things outside of this attention tunnel. The theory of Monotropism was developed by...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to Adam Harris who is an Irish Autistic activist, speaker, member of Autism-Europe’s Council of Administration and the founder and CEO of Autism acceptance group AsIAm. He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome aged five and founded AsIAm based on his experiences living with Autism. Adam speaks about the importance of self-advocacy and being part of the associative movement to advance the rights of autistic people. This special podcast has been produced in...

Broadcaster, John Offord chats to American scientist, activist, author and speaker, Temple Grandin who is well known to many for her trailblazing work as a spokesperson for people with autism and her lifelong work with animal behaviour. Temple was named in the 2010 Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in the "Heroes" category. Grandin has written six previous books on autism and was also the subject of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning semi-biographical...