

Autism Stories
Autism Personal Coach/Doug Blecher
Autistic people are the true experts of the autistic experience. Autism Stories will help you to live your best autistic life by interviewing autistic people and others in the autism community who share their experiences, stories, and advice with you.
Learn how coaching can help you then book a free call with Autism Personal Coach https://autismpersonalcoach.com
Learn how coaching can help you then book a free call with Autism Personal Coach https://autismpersonalcoach.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 17, 2025 • 31min
Autism Stories: Oluwaseye Ogunfidodo
""The services [Autistic Black Coders] are going to be providing is that it's going to be a business service that is providing people in the black community that are going to be [...] getting into tech and learning the software engineering side to become a full stack developer eventually", says Oluwaseye Ogunfidodo. Oluwaseye joins this episode to discuss founding Autistic Black Coders. To learn more about Oluwaseye visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/mr-oluwaseye-ogunfidodo-91b6a61a9/If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Mar 10, 2025 • 20min
Autism Stories: Stephanie
"One of the rules is that you don't discuss certain topics in public. And those topics include things like sex and body parts. So it can be hard to overcome that taboo and realize that a sexual or reproductive health appointment is exactly the appropriate place to discuss these topics", says Stephanie. Stephanie joins this episode of Autism Stories to discuss supporting patients with their sexual and reproductive health needs as a registered nurse. If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Mar 3, 2025 • 28min
Autism Stories: Bernard and Burnett Grant
"In the film [Sensory Overload], it's based on the premise that 20% of the population has significantly higher sensory processing than everyone else, it's a large proportion of people", says Burnett Grant. Bernard and Burnett return to Autism Stories to discuss their involvement in the documentary Sensory Overload coming to Hulu this week. To learn more about Sensory Overload visit https://www.vox.com/ad/396458/sensory-overload-new-documentary-trailerIf you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Feb 24, 2025 • 23min
Autism Stories: Jay Manuel
"We're still paying [airline] customers, [...] I feel like wheelchair users or people that use mobility aids should still be treated like human beings and seen as valuable as just any other person that is using a service", says Jay Manuel. Jay joins this episode to discuss traveling with mobility aids and his tv show that will be coming to the tv channel TLC. To learn more about Jay visit https://www.instagram.com/miniproducer/ .If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Feb 17, 2025 • 45min
Autism Stories: Marion Hersh
"A place where we spend a lot of time is in front of our laptops, computers and phones, and in many cases those spaces aren't very calming because the colors and other things on websites can be very overwhelming. So [the] calmspaces.org website looks to address this", says Marion Hersh. Marion joins this episode to discuss the creation of the calm spaces website and important research for autistic people. To learn more about the Calm Spaces vist https://calmspaces.org and Marions visiion study at https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/glasgow-research/designing-recommender-systems-for-blind-partially-sighted-and-a . If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Feb 10, 2025 • 28min
Autism Stories: Grant Harris
"Many leaders are fearful of coming out, so to speak, with being neurodistinct. That's unfortunate. There is a popular statistic that 20, 25% of Fortune 500 CEOs identify as neurodivergent or specifically dyslexic, but they only talk about that in private circles", says Grant Harris. Grant joins this episode to discuss his work as a certified diversity executive and the way in which he works that best suits his brain. To learn more about Grant visithttps://linktr.ee/GTH_Consulting.If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Feb 3, 2025 • 12min
Autism Stories: Padma Jyothi and Navneet Kulkarni
"Autism is my divinity, so I am grateful to my mind for being different. I am grateful to my parents for being my support system. Gratitude is my attitude. Always be grateful for this life because this life was lived once", says Navneet Kulkarni. Navneet and Padma Jyothi join this episode to discuss Indian non-speaking autistics and the power of gratitude. To learn more and purchase Talking Fingers books visit https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Fingers-Vol-2-Non-Speaking-Autistics/dp/8196629591
If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for customized coaching by autistics for autistics then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Jan 27, 2025 • 19min
Autism Stories: Kaz Windness
""I was the drawing kid, I was the art kid always. And it was part of my regulation is just to draw, and I would get in trouble all the time in school for drawing when actually I could think and hear and understand and learn better if I was actually drawing" says Kaz Windness. Kaz joins this episode to discuss heir children's book that includes multiple autistic characters. To learn more about Kaz and their books please visit https://kazwindness.blog/2023/01/14/bitsy-bat-school-star-media-kit-lesson-plans-activity-sheet/If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for extraordinary support support to live self-sufficient and purpose-driven lives through customized coaching then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Jan 20, 2025 • 44min
Dr. Shannan Palma
""Basically, preventing dysregulation is the biggest lever that we can push to improve the medical and behavioral health. So anything we can do to [...] give [people] a little bit more capacity, a little bit more room to act, take any kind of that cognitive or sensory load off can be really helpful", says Dr. Shannan Palma. Shannan returns to Autism Stories to discuss an app that her organization created to help neurodivergent folks make better decisions in their lives. To learn more about and download the Decide app visit https://itiassistivetechnologies.com/decide/ If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for extraordinary support support to live self-sufficient and purpose-driven lives through customized coaching then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.

Jan 13, 2025 • 30min
Autism Stories: Percy De La Luna
"What is your responsibility to your community? [...] One thing I often say is you have the right to ask for help and the duty to assist when possible. I think that really creates what this whole program is for", says Percy De La Luna. Percy joins this episode to discuss a volunteer program he created for adolescents and teens as well as the intersection of being indigenous and autistic. To learn more about Percy visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/percy-de-la-luna-49a400246/
If you could subscribe on your favorite listening platform we would really appreciate that. If you are looking for extraordinary support support to live self-sufficient and purpose-driven lives through customized coaching then visit https://www.autismpersonalcoach.com. If you would be interested in being interviewed on Autism Stories or would like to be a sponsor send an email to doug.blecher@autismpersonalcoach.com.


