The Importance of Being Overwhelmed

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The early baby stage was so hard for me I was so overwhelmed and Yeah, the crying and screaming is hard. The constant touch that a baby required was really difficult. People were calling me mum Like complete strangers can suddenly call you mum which I found weird like what sorry where did that social will come from. And Whenever I said like I feel really depressed. I feel really overwhelmed. The solution was always Join a mum and baby group and it's like no for an autistic person. That's my worst nightmare. It runs in the opposite direction for me. But also just needed someone to understand how you could utterly love this person and be utterly committed to their care but also your neurological makeup is

Author Katherine May recounts the moment she – at age 37 – discovered she is autistic and recognized herself for the first time.

Living as an autistic person in a world that often misunderstands her, Katherine shares:

How the prevailing understandings of autism erase the lived experiences of autistic women and girls;
The way autism looks and feels for adult women; and
How she navigates social interactions and sensory overload.

Katherine also reveals what she hears most often from people who think they might be autistic, which has Glennon asking: “Katherine, am I one of those people?”

For more information about how autism may show up in the lives of adult women, listen to the end of this podcast, and visit Katherine May’s Autism Resource Page at https://katherine-may.co.uk/autism-resource-page.

Don’t miss our We Can Do Hard Things conversation with Hannah Gadsby, who was also diagnosed with autism in adulthood: Episode 82 Hannah Gadsby: How to Communicate Better.

About Katherine:

Katherine May is the New York Times–bestselling author of Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age and Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, which has been translated into twenty-five languages around the world. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times and The Times of London. She lives by the sea in Whitstable, England.

IG: @katherinemay

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices