In this bonus episode I share more about my own autism journey, and talk about my career-ending burnout and creating authentically autistic lives we don't want to escape from.   Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes. I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent,...

Rose Matthews is an Autism Researcher, peer reviewer, consultant, presenter, trainer, and writer from Durham in the UK.  Now 64, they first realised they might be autistic at 58 - and finally ‘found the answer to a lifetime of confusion’. Their long journey to diagnosis included an extremely varied career, leaving their marriage, living apart from their children, and being arrested and detained in a police cell following a ‘catastrophic’ meltdown. In recent years they have gone from a job...

Dani Rodwell is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, therapist, and Co-founder of NeuroSpark Health. She lives in New Jersey, USA.  She has worked in the field of autism and neurodevelopmental conditions for over 7 years - including working with neurodivergent youth, a brief period in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), then internships at The Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health, in mental health programming for neurodivergent adults and a support group for parents of...

Nigel Rising is the Founder and CEO of Autistic Women Emerging, a charity that aims to change the lives of undiagnosed and newly diagnosed autistic women. The charity was born out of her own personal struggle with depression and suicidal ideation, and it is her hope to help prevent autistic women taking their lives because they believe they are bad people, or a burden to others.  Nigel says: “My post-diagnosis journey has become a mission to understand and address why it took so long to...

Anissa Ljanta is a writer, a neurodivergent specialist coach, educator and equity and inclusion advocate living in the remote hills of a wild surf beach in West Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. She grew up in Samoa and South Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand, where she was deemed a gifted child but was unable to deliver results. Her inability to live the expected 9-5 life led her to step out of life as most people know it, spending 18 years going from one adventure to another in various...

Marisa Hamamoto is a leading voice in disability inclusion, professional dancer and founder of Infinite Flow, an award-winning dance company and nonprofit that employs disabled and nondisabled dancers with a mission to create a more inclusive world, one dance at a time.   Marisa is a stroke survivor, and a proud fourth-generation Japanese American. She was diagnosed autistic in 2022, which she describes as bringing a mixture of ‘Relief and confusion’ - being a seasoned leader and ally in the...

Dr Mel Houser is a family physician in Montpelier, Vermont in the United States, with a clinical focus on providing medical care for neurodivergent patients across the lifespan. Now 40, she was diagnosed autistic two years ago, following a burnout - and at the same time was diagnosed as ADHD, dyspraxic, dyslexic, and dyscalculic. She is also the parent of an autistic 6 year old. Dr Houser is the Founder and Executive Director of All Brains Belong, a nonprofit organisation in Montpelier that...

Dana Michel is a live performance artist and choreographer in Montreal, Canada, where she creates experiences based on a mixture of improvisation, choreography, hip-hop, cinematography, techno, poetry and social commentary. Now 47, she self identified as autistic in 2020. She also has a diagnosis of ADHD. Before graduating in Contemporary Dance in her late twenties, Dana was a marketing executive, competitive runner and football player.  During her career as a performance artist she has...

Vic Weiner is a youth justice attorney and lifelong social justice activist in the USA.  They were brought up by a college professor mother in an unconventional home without a TV, and as a child they always felt like an outsider. However, as they grew up and continued to struggle socially, they realised it wasn’t just their unusual upbringing - there was something else going on. They were diagnosed autistic at 34. Vic attended Warren Wilson College, a unique university where the students...

Gemma Gray is a strategic marketing consultant from Edinburgh in Scotland. She left her long-term role following a burnout two years ago and became self-employed. She is a parent to an autistic daughter, and was diagnosed herself in March this year, aged 46. Still in the early days of her diagnosis, she says she is unravelling being a people-pleasing professional masker with chronic low self esteem and imposter syndrome. Eight years ago, before her own diagnosis, Gemma set up a Facebook...

Naomi Ghafoor is a mental health activist who has spent over a decade battling the mental healthcare system and dealing with misdiagnoses, negligence and systemic abuse, which recently led to her suing her NHS mental health trust earlier this year.  Now 26, she works as a Lived Experience Leadership Officer for a mental health charity in London, UK and is passionate about sharing her experiences and using her voice to uplift and empower others. She was diagnosed autistic at 24. In our...

Dr Alexandra Johnston is an academic and social anthropologist from Melbourne, Australia. Now 49, she was diagnosed in March 2023. She lives with her wife, Cherie, who she describes as the first person she ever truly unmasked with.   She has several degrees, including a Masters and PhD in Psychology, and her special interests include writing, writing and… writing! So much so, that she self-diagnosed by conducting a literature review of autism, and writing a 45,000 word report on her...

Dr Megan Anna Neff is a neurodivergent Clinical Psychologist from Portland, Oregon, in the USA. She has a small private practice specialising in neurodivergent-affirming therapy and is the founder of Neurodivergent Insights, where she creates education and wellness resources for neurodivergent adults. She is also co-host of the Divergent Conversations podcast.  Dr Neff is dedicated to educating the mental health field on non-stereotypical presentations of autism and ADHD. Now 39, she was...

Livia Sara is an eating disorder survivor, mental health coach, autism advocate and author from the Netherlands. Diagnosed autistic at 20, she now helps other neurodivergent people recover from disordered eating through learning to embrace their unique traits.  She takes a holistic approach to health and healing, supporting each individual on their own journey to recovery and living life to their fullest potential.  She shares autism and eating disorder related content on her popular...

Gem Kennedy is a Coach and podcaster from Essex in the UK. They are non-binary and queer, and self identified as autistic and ADHD last year, at 35.  They are a Transformational Coach, facilitator and advocate, supporting neurodivergent and queer folk, present a podcast called Queers & Co., and are also co-parent to two home educated autistic children.  They are passionate about body liberation, queering things, spirituality, children's rights and playing the ukulele! We covered a lot...

Kirstie Pickles is an equine vet, academic, mum and mental health advocate from Derbyshire in the UK. Now 49, she was diagnosed autistic at 47, following her daughter’s diagnosis. She is passionate about sharing her story and raising the awareness of neurodiversity to allow for better self-advocacy and reduce the stigma associated with autism, and is currently researching autism within her profession, and is involved in an autism awareness training programme for medical professionals as an...

Maisie Soetantyo is the founder of a nonprofit with a mission to improve employment prospects for autistic jobseekers and aspiring business owners. Now an openly autistic advocate and inclusivity trainer, she has been working with neurodivergent people since her undergraduate studies in 1991, but it would be many years before some of her clients started suggesting that she might be autistic, too. A former Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) practitioner, she moved away from ABA after...

Laura Richmond is a writer and researcher from Southampton in the UK. Now 35, she was diagnosed autistic last year. She had an extremely difficult road to diagnosis. Social and emotional struggles in childhood led to her being in and out of the psychiatric system for 15 years, misdiagnosed and spending time in various psychiatric hospitals.  The turning point came when her son was born: after a traumatic birth she developed PTSD and spent time in a psychiatric mother and baby unit. Her...

Rosie Smith is the owner of a non-profit radical bookshop in Canton in Cardiff, just a couple of miles from where I live.  Now 32, she grew up just outside Cardiff with her mum and sister. Leaving school at 16 due to anxiety, eating disorders and mental health issues, she found her people in music, joining bands and doing various different jobs until she decided to open the bookshop in 2019, after quitting her 27th job. Rosie’s wonderful shop, Shelf Life, works with independent publishers...

Kay Louise Aldred is a writer, facilitator, teacher, mentor, and resource creator from North Yorkshire in the UK. Now 49, she was diagnosed autistic quite recently, last November. A former teacher, just like me she suffered burnout, left her career and became self employed before discovering her autism. Now she and her husband are co-authoring a book, Embodied Education: Creating Safe Space for Learning, Facilitating and Sharing, which will be available late autumn 2023. She has worked with...

Rosie Weldon is a Senior Financial Analyst and author whose memoir, ‘My Autistic Fight Song’, tells the story of how she fought to get her accountancy degree and find her place in the world of work, despite her struggles with mental and physical health and the challenges that come with being autistic. Now 31, she was diagnosed aged 25. Since graduating from Chester University - where she received some incredibly supportive accommodations - she became an account, finding her first job with...

Martine van Bijlert is a writer and researcher from the Netherlands. Now 52, she grew up in Iran and worked in places like Kabul, Grozny and Tehran as an aid worker, diplomat and researcher. She now divides her time between her own creative projects and her work for the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based think tank she founded with friends.  She is self-identified autistic and ADHD, and says she feels like she has always been surrounded by neurodivergent people, as a child, during...

Naomi Clarke is a freelance writer, community mentor, fundraiser and Human Design reader.  She self diagnosed as autistic around two years ago, but due to inequality in the medical system has so far not been able to get a formal diagnosis.  She describes herself as an autistic, queer, mixed race person with two children (one of her sons was diagnosed autistic 5 years ago). She wears a lot of hats in her life; she writes for work and for personal interest, and is passionate about building...

Ebonie Allard is an award-winning International Master Coach, an author, and an artist. Now in her early 40s, she was mostly raised in the UK, but before she was seven years old she had lived in a house truck, on a commune, in France, New Zealand, Ireland, and England. She now lives in Spain. She says that she has never had a 'proper job' - she’s been self-employed, a freelancer, a business owner and an entrepreneur all her life. Ebonie was diagnosed autistic fairly recently, but has always...