In our final episode of Season 3 Catherine talks (unscripted!) to Andrea Anderson about 'Rediscovered Realities' because the reality is that accepting you are autistic is just the very beginning. Catherine & Andrea talk about: Getting caught up in the 'should's' Painful lessons when it comes to living in the shadows of burnout. Somatic Self-Compassion. Doing it our way. And the importance of safety and belonging. Follow Andrea on⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ S4 is coming in January 2025...

Mark was born in Clapham, London during the early 70’s and is the youngest of six children to Jamaican parents, later escaping the capital for Preston where he studied philosophy and politics at University. Here he went on to create a Guardian award winning student newspaper called the Students Onion. He was awarded a Scott Trust bursary (from the Guardian) to study post graduate journalism in 2001 and whilst on placement in 2002 he wrote several articles for them as Mark Mace and was...

Sue is 69 and was diagnosed autistic less than a year ago at the age of 68. Ironically, her working life was spent with autistic children and young adults; coincidence? Probably not.  Born in 1955, an only child to parents who had been wounded and traumatised by their experiences in WW2. Sue was loved, but she was not the child they imagined or hoped for, with her anger, meltdowns and over-sensitivities, her school anxieties and loneliness, but autism wasn’t even a thing then.   In...

Dr. Dionna Williams is an Autistic and first-generation academic and martial artist. Dionna received their MSc and PhD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. Dionna has received many prestigious academic fellowships and awards for her research accomplishments and commitment to diversifying academic medicine. She is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Emory University where their...

In this special bonus episode Catherine's daughter Kristina, who is 7 and autistic takes over as host to interview her autistic idol, The Geek Girl AKA Holly Smale on all things autism and everything geek girl. About Holly Holly's debut children's novel, GEEK GIRL, became the No.1 Young Adult title in the UK and won the Waterstones YA Book Prize, selling 3.4 million books in 30 languages. She is the co-creator, writer and exec producer of the GEEK GIRL TV show, which launched on Netflix...

Christine. A. Jenkins joins Catherine in this episode to talk about her autistic self-discovery in 2008 and life since her eventual diagnosis in 2009. Christine has been an Autistic advocate for many years, most recently around issues related to late-in-life diagnosis, gender bias, and autistic ageing. She contributed a chapter to the anthology Spectrum Women:  Walking to the Beat of Autism (2018), and has presented solo and on panels in Canada and the UK. Christine has been a peer...

Sophie Cartledge joins Catherine in this episode to talk about her autism discovery via an ADHD diagnosis in perimenopause at the age of 44.  After researching why so many women were being diagnosed ADHD in perimenopause, for her work and simultaneously really starting to struggle with a number of things in her own life, she put two and two together and sought a diagnosis. Looking back now, she can see how the years of not knowing, have taken their toll both mentally and physically,...

This is a memorial episode, to honor the life and legacy of Mary’s 90 year old (very) late discovered autistic mum who sadly passed away in April 2023. Mary wanted to record an episode about how the 'mystery' that was the spikeyness of her profile gave Mary the motivation to turn detective on why they were both so misunderstood and misrepresented.  Mary was eventually formally diagnosed autistic (age 51 in 2017). Already in the most humongous burnout and unable to continue working, Mary...

In this S3 Bonus Episode S1 guest Laura Kerbey joins Catherine to talk about her new book ‘The Teens Guide to PDA’  - which published 21st June 2024 with JKP and is illustrated by Sunday Times Best Selling author Eliza Fricker. Buy the Book ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠3 ways you can support the podcast and the work we do... Become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, champion or partner and join our growing community. Buy us a...

Dr Rebecca (Becci) Jackson is also known as The Quirky Brain Coach. Becci is an autistic and ADHD positive psychology coach who works with ADHD/autistic adults on zest, self-regulation and executive functions. Having been misdiagnosed with an anxiety disorder and depression, Becci discovered her neurodivergence towards the start of the pandemic. Once she got the user manual to her brain, she turned her interest and training in coaching into specifically focusing on coaching for people...

Catherine speaks to Lauren Fernandez a trainer, speaker, advocate, content developer and Founder & Director of Mask Off CIC and a fellow trainer on the NHS National Autism Trainer Programme. Through her work with ‘Mask Off’ she educates minds, challenges attitudes and promotes equality through the 'Invisible' Black autistic Female's perspective. Lauren was diagnosed autistic at aged 26. She is also a mum and will be speaking at The Autism Show in London this month sharing her insights...

Catherine speaks to Faye Twinn about her late autistic discovery. Faye discovered she was autistic in her late 30’s and this discovery changed her entire outlook on life itself. She spent her teens in Devon and it was there within her secondary school that she was identified as ‘dyslexic’. Struggling to fit in, she quickly self identified as arty and found that within the creative subjects she could strive. She went on to study Fine Art at Falmouth University. Later retaking her English...

Catherine speaks to Anita Patel about her late autistic discovery. Anita received a late diagnosis of Autism and ADHD in 2023, after recovering from breast cancer and also burnout, through many years of masking. Anita’s life has totally changed since her late discovery and she is keen to raise awareness about the role intersectionality can also play, when seeking answers and accessing support. Being a South Asian woman and having a family who do not ‘fit the mould’, she knows first-hand...

Catherine speaks to Sofia Akbar about her late autistic discovery. Sofia is a late diagnosed AuDHD single mum and secondary maths teacher. Her self discovery journey started from the trials of her oldest son's autism diagnosis, impacted by the trauma of (TW) domestic abuse and racial discrimination. She was recognised for her Support for Inclusive Learning by Scottish Asian Minority Ethnic Educators in 2022 and also won Small Business Award from Scottish Asian and Business Awards 2023...

Catherine speaks to Vanessa D’Souza AKA The Autistic Chef about her late autistic discovery. Vanessa is a MasterChef UK 2023 Semi-Finalist and National Autistic Society Celebrity Ambassador who runs a neuroaffirming instagram page where she shares sensory friendly feeding tips and recipes in order to make cooking accessible to everyone. 3 ways you can support the podcast and the work we do... Become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, champion or partner and join our...

It's World Autism Acceptance Week, so we thought we'd bring you an extra special episode to celebrate someone who, through his advocacy work, books and his very presence, has made a significant difference to our Late Discovered Community - we're not sure that Pete really knows the difference he has made to helping others feel seen, heard and understood through his work, and his words as a best selling author and speaker. Pete was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 34 in 2017, and in this...

We're back for another season, and whilst Catherine is still climbing the breast cancer mountain, the top of that mountain is in sight, and this season will run until her treatment finishes in November 2024 with bi-weekly episodes for you to indulge in from now until then. First up in Season 3 is Dr Emma Svanberg - an award winning Clinical Psychologist, author of Parenting For Humans (Vermilion, 2 March 2023) founder of The Psychology Co-operative and co-founder of Make Birth Better CIC....

In this episode we are joined by Helen Hillman - a late discovered autistic woman, who made her autistic discovery whilst in therapy, and received her official diagnosis last year at the age of 28 after a long history of poor mental health.  Helen has suffered with anxiety all her life, which she thought was explained by a diagnosis of dyspraxia when she was 18. She had her first breakdown, and was diagnosed with generalised anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder at age...

In this episode we are joined by Kate Boot - a late discovered AuDHD Speech and Language Therapist, Sensory Integration Practitioner and Relationships and Sex Education Practitioner. Since qualifying, it’s fair to say that Kate has found herself on an authentic and original journey which has seen her lean into what she now understands, post discovery to be her autistic and ADHD strengths and identity. Kate talks openly and vulnerably in this episode about her own experiences, and of how she...

In this episode we are joined by Marsha Martin - a Behavioural Therapist and the Founder and CEO of Black SEN Mamas - a UK based national support group and informational hub, which aids Black mothers of special educational needs and disabled (SEND) children, in sourcing adequate mental health support for themselves and resources and provision, for their children, with currently over 1,000 mums strong and growing fast. Marsha talks about how initially autism was a thing of shame for her, to...

In this episode we are joined by Lucy Baena - a Mother, Writer & Birthkeeper. Throughout her life Lucy has been given an array of diagnosis the first at age 7 when she was diagnosed as Dyslexic. At 15 she discovered she was Epileptic and a month after her 38th birthday she received her Autistic diagnosis. Lucy has struggled with a variety of complex health (& many mis) diagnosis over her life and learning that she is Autistic has had a profound impact on her understanding of her...

In this episode we are joined by Jane Green MBE - an educationalist, former Assistant Headteacher, and former lead for autism education in all phases of education.  Jane is disabled, neurodivergent and an autistic parent carer for her eldest neurodivergent autistic adult non-binary child.  Jane is the Founder and Chair of SEDSConnective a multi-award, neurodivergent and symptomatic hypermobility user led and voluntary charity transforming neurodivergent health and wellbeing in a community...

In this episode we are joined Holly Smale - the internationally bestselling, award-winning author of the Geek Girl series, which has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide and is currently being adapted by Netflix. The Cassandra Complex, her adult debut, was the Reese's Book Club pick for June this year. She was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 39, and a lot of things suddenly made sense. Holly is a passionate advocate for neurodiversity and speaks and writes about it regularly.   Follow...

We're back! In this episode we are joined by Heidi Mavir - a public speaker, autistic advocate, author, podcaster and SEN parent. We explore so much in this episode from Heidi's late autism discovery in her mid 40's, menopause, grief, loss, self-identification, being an autistic parent of an autistic child, what it was like growing up without the knowledge of knowing that you are autistic and ADHD, and of course becoming a Sunday Times best selling author with her book 'Your Child is not...