The Autistic VOICE Project – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Autistic VOICE Project

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/6d. Total Eps: 53

VOICE stands for Validating Our Identity, Culture, and Experience. This is a show led by Autistic professionals who talk about Autistic experiences and how to live happier and healthier Autistic lives. We'll be joined by Autistic people from different walks of life in search of finding ways to live more authentically Autistic! Want to reach us? Please email podcast@autisticvoiceproject.com

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Data updated on 04/07/2026

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https://www.aclu.org
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Score global : 42%

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Episode 44: Perimenopause, Medical Gaslighting, and Figuring It Out Without a Map

Season 1 · Episode 44

Friday, May 1, 2026 • Duration 32:30

This episode gets into perimenopause through an autistic lens—what it actually feels like, why it hits differently in autistic bodies, and how little real guidance exists. Matt, Erin, and Eleda talk through the biology, the lived experience, and the frustration of trying to make sense of something that affects so many people but still isn’t well understood—especially when you add autism into the mix.

We cover:

How sensory differences can amplify menopause symptoms (hot flashes, sweat, fatigue, migraines) into something much more intense
The overlap between hormones, histamines, and autoimmune conditions—and why everything can spike at once
The lack of research, missed diagnoses, and why so many autistic people are left figuring this out on their own
Real, often overlooked symptoms (phantom smells, joint pain, anxiety surges) and what it’s like not knowing what’s happening to your body
What it takes to advocate for care, find informed providers, and experiment with supports like HRT

There’s no clean roadmap here. Just real talk, shared experience, and a starting point for conversations we should’ve been having a long time ago.

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Episode 43: Special Interests, Safe Spaces, and Saying No to Shame

Season 1 · Episode 43

Tuesday, April 28, 2026 • Duration 48:58

Matt, Erin, and Eleda get into special interests, collections, and what it means to have a space where Autistic joy isn’t hidden—it’s the whole point. This one’s about building community through the things we love, and why that matters more than most people realize.

We cover:

Turning a business into a place where people come to connect—not just buy things
Why collections matter (and what happens to them when we’re gone)
The shame people are taught to feel about joy—and why we reject that
Autistic joy, special interests, and being “too much” for other people
Finding your people—whether that’s a shop, a hobby group, or this podcast

Also: unicorn collections, tiny horse economies, estate herds, and the real work of building (and protecting) a personal museum of the things you love.

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Episode 42: Horses, Hyperfocus, and the Accidental Autistic Gathering Place

Season 1 · Episode 42

Friday, April 17, 2026 • Duration 34:32

Matt and Erin are joined by Eleda Towle, an Autistic store owner whose lifelong focus on model horses turned into a business—and a gathering place for other Autistic people. This one moves the way Autistic conversations often do: tangents, deep dives, and a lot of “wait, that connects to this.”

It’s about discovery, community, and what happens when people finally find their thing—and their people.

We cover:

Eleda’s late autism discovery at 52—and the moment everything started to make sense
Building a business around monotropic focus (yes, plastic horses) and accidentally creating Autistic community space
Why Autistic conversations “maze” instead of staying linear—and why that’s not a problem to fix
The deep (and very real) Autistic roots of toy culture—from model horses to My Little Pony lore
Intrinsic motivation, PDA, and why “just try harder” doesn’t work for Autistic people
Self-directed learning, reward systems, and a nonprofit using play to support neurodivergent kids

Side note: yes, we go from horses → Ninja Turtles → Brainspotting → electric towers → taxes → government frustration… and it all makes sense if you’re following the thread. That’s the point.

This is what it sounds like when autistic people talk to each other. A little chaotic. Very real. And honestly, kind of the best way to understand how our brains actually work.

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Episode 41: Crystals, Experiments, and Figuring Out Who You Are (Without Losing Yourself)

Season 1 · Episode 41

Friday, April 10, 2026 • Duration 40:29

Matt, Erin, and Jamie Roberts are here this week—and we get into identity development for autistic teens, the pressure to turn yourself into something “useful,” and what it actually looks like to figure out who you are when the world keeps handing you scripts that don’t fit. It’s real, a little chaotic, and very recognizable.

We cover:
• Why identity gets tangled up with productivity, money, and “what are you going to do with that?”—and how to separate who you are from what you earn
• The role of interests (yes, even YouTube, gaming, makeup, or “too much time online”) as actual data—not distractions—and how adults can either shut that down or build from it
• Using “experiments” instead of pressure—trying things, gathering information, adjusting, and trying again without making it a pass/fail identity crisis
• The difference between “this is hard because it’s new” and “this is hard because it doesn’t fit me”—and why that distinction matters
• Representation, visibility, and why seeing someone like you (purple hair, special interests, all of it) can shift what feels possible
• Jamie’s book Neurodiversity for Teen Girls and the six “gem” archetypes—how different autistic teens navigate identity, masking, relationships, and self-advocacy

Also: Lord of the Rings name drops, musical theater brain tangents, Lego reward systems for finishing a book (yes, really), and a solid reminder that “sucking at something” is part of learning—not a sign to quit.

Side note:
This one stays with the same core message we keep coming back to—there’s no clean, linear way to figure out who you are. It’s messy. It’s iterative. It’s a lot of “try this, nope, not that.” And yeah, that’s frustrating.

But it’s also how identity actually forms.

This is the way.

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Episode 40: Teen Girls, Missed Diagnoses, and the Cost of Just Calling It Anxiety

Season 1 · Episode 40

Friday, April 3, 2026 • Duration 41:00

Matt, Erin, and guest Jamie Roberts sit down to talk about autistic teen girls—the ones who get missed, mislabeled, and pushed through systems that don’t fit. This is about what’s actually happening underneath the behaviors adults dismiss.

Highlights:

Why teen girls are overlooked in diagnosis—especially when they’re labeled with anxiety, depression, or “typical teen behavior” instead of being understood as neurodivergent
Harm reduction as a real, non-shaming approach to self-harm—what it is, why it works, and how teens use pain to regulate overwhelming or absent emotions
The pressure to conform during adolescence—and how masking, school systems, and social expectations create impossible standards for autistic teens

We also get into sensory needs, emotional regulation, and why “just deal with it” isn’t a skill—it’s a setup. Plus: tangents on capitalism, school systems, and the quiet ways autonomy gets denied to teens (especially girls).

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Episode 39: Chaos, Data Gaps, and Why “Just Wing It” Is Not a Real Strategy

Season 1 · Episode 39

Friday, March 27, 2026 • Duration 44:14

This week, we’re talking about chaos—the real kind. The kind that shows up in your body, your routines, your relationships, and your nervous system. Matt and Erin break down what it actually means to be a bottom-up processor in a world that expects you to “just wing it,” and why autistic people aren’t overreacting to unpredictability—we’re responding to a lack of usable data.

Highlights:

Bottom-up vs. top-down processing—and why autistic brains need more data, not fewer expectations
How chaos shows up in real life (inventory week, disrupted routines, missed plans) and why it hits so hard
The cost of constant calculation—burnout, illness, exhaustion, and why it’s not a personal failure
Flow state, interruptions, and transitions—why being “pulled out” can feel like something breaking
Predictability, consistency, and safety—from daily routines to why sameness (yes, even food) matters

Also: Batman as a chaos-fighting autistic icon, why “winging it” is not a neutral skill, and what it means to build systems that actually support autistic lives. This is a grounded, honest look at why chaos isn’t just inconvenient—it’s a full-body experience.

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Episode 38: Gatekeeping, Theory of Mind, and Why Awareness Keeps Missing the Point

Season 1 · Episode 38

Monday, March 23, 2026 • Duration 51:43

Matt and Erin take this one straight on: why autism “awareness” looks the way it does—and who built it that way.

This is about power, bad science, and what happens when non-autistic voices control the narrative.

Highlights from this episode:
• Why outdated theories (like “lack of theory of mind”) still shape diagnosis, services, and public understanding—and why they don’t actually hold up in real autistic lives
• How research built on young, white, cis boys created a distorted definition of autism that leaves most people out
• The difference between self-identification and medical diagnosis—and why one is about knowing yourself, while the other is about access and gatekeeping
• How capitalism shows up in autism: “functioning levels,” ABA, productivity, and who gets labeled valuable (yeah… we go there)
• What gets missed when clinicians only trust what they can observe—and ignore lived experience entirely
• Real examples of how autistic joy (like deep interests and repetition) gets mislabeled as a problem instead of understood as regulation and meaning
• Why listening to autistic people isn’t optional—it’s the only way this starts to make sense

There’s also some real talk about burnout in the field, misdiagnosis, and the quiet harm of “bad reports” written inside broken systems.

And yeah—this one gets a little chaotic (on purpose). Because the system is chaotic. And trying to force simple answers onto complex autistic lives? That’s part of the problem.

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Episode 37: Shop Titans, Small Talk Scripts, and the Autistic Art of Socializing

Season 1 · Episode 37

Friday, March 13, 2026 • Duration 41:02

Small talk is weird. Especially when you’re autistic.

This week, Matt, Erin, and returning guest Dr. Kade Sharp dig into why neurotypical small talk revolves around scripts like weather and sports, while autistic conversations often jump straight into deeper topics, shared interests, and joyful info-dumps.

Highlights from this episode:

Why small talk works as “social lubrication” for neurotypicals — and why it often feels pointless or exhausting for autistic people
How parallel play and shared activities (like gaming) can be a more natural way for autistic folks to connect
The surprising lesson from a game where small talk is literally just a button you push
The difference between helpful structure and overwhelming social guesswork
Why autistic conversations often center curiosity, depth, and special interests instead of scripts

Also in this episode: IKEA instructions as a metaphor for autistic life without clear signposts, guild dynamics in online games, and why an enthusiastic info-dump might actually be the most honest form of connection.

Real talk. Autistic joy. And a reminder that connection doesn’t have to look like weather updates and sports scores.

This is the way.

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Episode 36: Driver’s Licenses, Gatekeeping, and Why Bullies Love Bureaucracy

Season 1 · Episode 36

Saturday, March 7, 2026 • Duration 51:59

This week’s episode happened fast. Matt and Erin pulled in returning guest Dr. Kade Sharp to talk through a situation unfolding in real time—and why it matters far beyond one state.

We talk about the sudden policy in Kansas invalidating driver’s licenses for many trans people, what that actually means in everyday life, and why community support and mutual aid matter right now.

Highlights from the episode:

What the Kansas policy means in practice—how invalidating IDs can affect driving, voting, pharmacy access, and safety for trans people
The overlap between autistic and trans communities, and how systems often gatekeep gender-affirming care through letters, bureaucracy, and barriers
Practical ways to help: mutual aid, organizations like Rainbow Sanctuary and the Resilience Postcard Project, and how allies can show up even without money

Side note:
This episode moves between serious policy discussion and very real Autistic tangents—because that’s how conversations actually work. We talk about activism, community care, workplace small talk scripts, reality TV social games, and why sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is simple: show up, support people, and make sure nobody is facing this stuff alone.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Autistic Connections: Available on Facebook and Discord, Autistic Connections is a community space where listeners can connect and continue conversations.

Rainbow Sanctuary (Emporia, Kansas): Queer-led multi-faith sanctuary supporting LGBTQ+ people and organizing practical support for trans residents affected by recent policies.

Resilience Postcard Project: Community effort sending supportive postcards and messages to trans people and trans youth who may be isolated or unsafe.

Episode 35: PDA, Breadsticks, and the Persistent Drive for Autonomy

Season 1 · Episode 35

Friday, February 27, 2026 • Duration 41:12

Matt and Erin flip the script this week — Erin takes the lead, and Matt talks about living as a PDAer. It’s direct. It’s personal. And yes, there are breadsticks.

We’re talking about what PDA actually is (and isn’t), why “pathological demand avoidance” misses the point, and what changes when we reframe it as a persistent drive for autonomy.

Highlights from this episode:

Why “pathological” says more about the system than the person — and why autonomy isn’t a disorder
What PDA feels like on the inside: the spike, the interruption, the hierarchy aversion, and the need for safety
Low-demand parenting in real life — negotiating poop schedules, air fryer independence, and yes-and dinner planning
The difference between situational demand avoidance and the constant push-pull many PDAers live with
Why trust changes everything — and how offering real choices (not fake ones) builds flexibility
Boundaries still matter. No hitting. No harm. But how we approach limits makes all the difference
Respect over compliance. Personhood over productivity. Humans over resources

We also cover: Gmail login meltdowns, silent phones, corgis in human suits, community mental health productivity bonuses, black roses, Johnny Cash train sets, and why sometimes the fastest way to connection is an Olive Garden breadstick.

Side note: If you’ve ever wondered, “Isn’t a low-demand approach just enabling?” — we talk about that. Directly. Safety isn’t indulgence. It’s oxygen. And when PDAers feel safe and respected, they can do hard things. Not because they were forced. Because they chose to.

We are not defiant. We are not mean. We are wired for autonomy and safety. And when trust is real, flexibility grows.

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The Autistic VOICE Project – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Autistic VOICE Project – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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