High Energy Health Podcast Understanding Autism: Sol Smith and Dawson Church in Conversation
Aug 8, 2025
45:22
Sol Smith spent nearly two decades as a college professor, always feeling and doing things out of step with everyone else, before realizing that he was autistic. He works with individuals, as well as offering educational seminars about neurodiversity. He is the author of The Autistic’s Guide to Self-Discovery.
Here he and Dawson talk about:
- Sol's story
- Masking; feeling like an impostor
- Why sharing puts us into a vulnerable position
- Stats: Around 3-6% of the population is autistic
- Stats: Four boys for every 1 girl
- Why only 20% are diagnosed as children, 80% are not diagnosed till adulthood
- How women mask autism better than men
- Self-assessments
- Camouflaging autistic traits
- How Autism is a type of neurodivergence
- Definition: Neurodivergence is when the brain diverges from typical development
- Tools for those with Autism like exercise, sleep and meditation
- Short term tools: steps like changing your setting, activities, mantras
- Going from motivation to stress