Tara was diagnosed autistic last year, after a conversation with her husband prompted some research into autism. She is 49 and lives in the northern United States, where she works as an visual artist and online education coordinator. Her childhood was unusual, and she now believes that her parents were probably both undiagnosed neurodivergent, and that this impacted on their behaviour and her own upbringing.

In our conversation we talk about:

➡ Her childhood, and why she believes her parents were neurodivergent

➡ Having a difficult relationship with food

➡ Autism and a lack of spacial awareness

➡ The interplay between physical health, diet and autistic traits

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:

If you relate to Tara’s experiences with food and would like to connect with her to share your experiences, you can email her using this address: neurodivergent1971@gmail.com

Vegan Luke: https://www.tiktok.com/@veganluke 

And the name for lack of spatial awareness? I couldn’t find a specific term for this, but it is common to both autistic people and those with dyspraxia.

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/ 

THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS!

A huge thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast:

Corinne Cariad

Katharine Richards

Lilli Simmons

Sarah Hardy

If you’re enjoying the Squarepeg podcast and would like to help me carry on making new episodes, you can become a member of the Squarepeg community on Patreon from £3 per month: https://www.patreon.com/squarepegpodcast