96. S8 E4: Safety, community and representation for Black and minority ethnic / global majority autistic people

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 lives outside of the system of mainstream schooling. Until very recently she was running a self directed learning community for home educated young people in London. She loves crafts like sewing, crochet, and knitting, and her current main special interests are Human Design and kink and BDSM. 

She says that she is still finding her autistic identity and overcoming some internalised ableism, which is often made much worse by struggling to see Black and POC autistic people in spaces of influence. 

In our conversation we talk about:

➡ Finding community as an intersectional autistic person

➡ The issue of safety for unmasked autistic Black and people of colour

➡ The challenges of making self-directed learning communities accessible for neurodivergent children and facilitators

➡ How Human Design has helped her understand herself and other people better

➡ Why the kink and BDSM community can be a safe space for autistic people to explore their sexuality

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, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences.

I’m Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I’m now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn’t quite fit.

 

EPISODE LINKS:

Naomi's Instagram: www.instagram.com/_naomi.clarke_

 

If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/ 

Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/ 

 

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