Discover what’s possible when we relate through emotions.

A globally recognized thought leader, author, speaker, and social-cognitive therapist, Michelle Garcia Winner is the Founder and CEO of Social Thinking, a company devoted to helping individuals gain stronger social awareness and social functioning skills through the Social Thinking Methodology.

Across her 30-year career, Michelle has created numerous evidence-based strategies, treatment frameworks, and curricula to help interventionists develop social competencies in those they support.

In today’s conversation, we discuss:

• Grouping students based on social needs rather than diagnostic labels
• How to increase social competence through 4 main steps: attend, interpret, problem-solve, and respond
• Complex social concepts, like nuanced perspective taking
• What a typical session at Michelle’s clinic might look like
• Why small talk is embedded in most social situations
• Autistic empathy
• Navigating the dating world
• Maintaining friendships
• Tips for autistic people going into a job interview

To learn more about Michelle and her work, please visit our show notes at socialthinking.com. This episode with Michelle Garcia Winner was originally released on March 2, 2023.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

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What are commonly requested accommodations in the workplace? How can employers successfully hire and train neurodiverse staff?

Maxwell Huffman and Jen Goubeaud of Aspiritech, Aspiritech, a quality-assurance company with over 90% of autistic employees, share their insights on these topics.

Maxwell is Autistic himself and oversees operations across Aspiritech’s program lines, including software quality assurance, accessibility, and data services. And Jen, who has ADHD, is the program manager for the company’s accessibility program line.

Welcome to Autism Tips & Tools, where we highlight the best practical guidance from previous episodes of Autism Knows No Borders. Whether you’re a self-advocate, a family member, or a service provider, there’s something here for you!

The following clip is from our conversation with Maxwell Huffman and Jen Goubeaud, originally released on February 15, 2024.

Would you like to hear Jen and Maxwell talk about accessibility in digital spaces and how to create opportunities for neurodivergent employees to thrive? Click the link below for the full conversation and be sure to subscribe to hear more from people connected to autism inspiring change and building community.

How to Increase Neurodiversity in the Workplace | Part 1 with Maxwell Huffman and Jen Goubeaud

Let’s work together to transform how the world relates to autism.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey

Discover what’s possible when different brains come together.

Dr. Temple Grandin is well known for both her pioneer work as an autism advocate and her lifelong dedication to animal welfare. Through groundbreaking research aimed at understanding her own autistic mind, Dr. Grandin propelled the awareness of autism during a time when very little was known of it. She is an incredible source of hope for children with autism, their parents, and anyone with a dream.

Dr. Grandin became an internationally recognized leader in animal handling innovations after developing a corral that improved the quality of life of cattle by reducing stress. She has consulted with the USDA and major corporations such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Whole Foods, and Chipotle. Today, half of the cattle in North America are handled in facilities she designed.

Dr. Grandin is also a prominent author, having written several books on autism and animal behavior. She has been featured on various media outlets and programs, including NPR, BBC, Larry King Live, 2020, Sixty Minutes, and TED, to name a few. In 2010, HBO produced an Emmy Award-winning movie about her life, and later that year, she was highlighted in TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2016, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. These days, Dr. Grandin continues to write and teaches Animal Science at Colorado State University.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The spectrum of autism needs
• The evolution of diagnostic criteria
• Dr. Grandin’s opinion on the removal of Asperger's syndrome from the DSM-5 and the classification of autism under a single umbrella
• The neurodiversity movement
• ABA therapy
• Teaching autism awareness in schools
• Mental health challenges faced by autistic individuals
• Tips for autistic self-advocates, encouraging targeted advocacy and constructive action to make a difference in their communities

For more information about Dr. Grandin and her work, please visit:

https://www.templegrandin.com/

https://www.grandin.com/

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This conversation with Dr. Temple Grandin was originally released on December 10, 2020.

Dr. Grandin’s most recent book Autism and Education: The Way I See It: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know was published in April 2023.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey

What are special challenges that older autistic adults face?

Ryan Litchfield, an Autism and Disability Self-Advocate, job developer, and grant and administrator writer, shares his ideas on this topic.

Welcome to Autism Tips & Tools, where we highlight the best practical guidance from previous episodes of Autism Knows No Borders. Whether you’re a self-advocate, a family member, or a service provider, there’s something here for you!

The following clip is from our conversation with Ryan Litchfield, originally released on May 13, 2021.

Would you like to hear Ryan’s experience receiving ABA therapy and how professionals can provide better support for their clients? Click the link below for the full conversation and be sure to subscribe to hear more from people connected to autism inspiring change and building community.

Receiving ABA and the Need for Research in Older Adults, with Ryan Litchfield

Let’s work together to transform how the world relates to autism.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey

Discover what’s possible when different brains come together.

Dr. Temple Grandin is well known for both her pioneer work as an autism advocate and her lifelong dedication to animal welfare. Through groundbreaking research aimed at understanding her own autistic mind, Dr. Grandin propelled the awareness of autism during a time when very little was known of it. She is an incredible source of hope for children with autism, their parents, and anyone with a dream.

Dr. Grandin became an internationally recognized leader in animal handling innovations after developing a corral that improved the quality of life of cattle by reducing stress. She has consulted with the USDA and major corporations such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Whole Foods, and Chipotle. Today, half of the cattle in North America are handled in facilities she designed.

Dr. Grandin is also a prominent author, having written several books on autism and animal behavior. She has been featured on various media outlets and programs, including NPR, BBC, Larry King Live, 2020, Sixty Minutes, and TED, to name a few. In 2010, HBO produced an Emmy Award-winning movie about her life, and later that year, she was highlighted in TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2016, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. These days, Dr. Grandin continues to write and teaches Animal Science at Colorado State University.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How Dr. Grandin’s ability to think in pictures helped her to empathize with animals in the early days of her career
• Why she thinks the world needs different brains to work together
• The future of cattle
• The dangers of genetic modification — in animals and humans
• How to increase employment for autistic adults
• How to promote curiosity among children
• How to stay balanced during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The classification of autism under a single umbrella
• The neurodiversity movement
• ABA therapy
• Teaching autism awareness in schools
• Tips for autistic self-advocates

For more information about Dr. Grandin and her work, please visit:

https://www.templegrandin.com/

https://www.grandin.com/

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This conversation with Dr. Temple Grandin was originally released on December 10, 2020.

Dr. Grandin’s most recent book Autism and Education: The Way I See It: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know was published in April 2023.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey

What is the #ActuallyAutistic Movement? How can labels change our perspectives about people?

Rachel Barcellona, an Autistic Self-Advocate, model, author, and pageant winner, shares her ideas on these topics, as well as the puzzle piece symbol, person-first or identity-first language, and autism representation in the media.

Welcome to Autism Tips &Tools, where we highlight the best practical guidance from previous episodes of Autism Knows No Borders. Whether you’re a self-advocate, a family member, or a service provider, there’s something here for you!

The following clip is from our conversation with Rachel Barcellona, originally released on May 28, 2020.

Would you like to hear Rachel talking about how pageantry helped her express herself and build confidence? Click the link below for the full conversation and be sure to subscribe to hear more from people connected to autism inspiring change and building community.

The Ability Beyond Disabilities, with Rachel Barcellona | TBT

Let’s work together to transform how the world relates to autism.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey

Discover what’s possible when you acknowledge your mistakes.

Brian Middleton is an Autistic Self-Advocate, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and the creator of the Bearded Behaviorist, an initiative dedicated to the dissemination of behavior science and the inclusion of trauma-informed care standards in applied behavior analysis and other human services.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Receiving an autism diagnosis as an adult
• Why Brian thinks autism can be seen as both a disorder and a neurotype
• The disagreement between the neurodiversity movement and the field of ABA
• Why stimming and self regulation are important
• The need for trauma-informed care in behavior analysis
• Striving for a more compassionate approach to supporting autistic individuals

This episode is part two of our conversation with Brian Middleton, which was originally released on October 22, 2020.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey

What is ableism? How can someone who means well actually end up harming people with disabilities?

Haley Moss, an autistic attorney, author, and artist, shares her ideas on these topics.

Welcome to Autism Tips & Tools, where we highlight the best practical guidance from previous episodes of Autism Knows No Borders. Whether you’re a self-advocate, a family member, or a service provider, there’s something here for you!

The following clip is from our conversation with Haley Moss, originally released on July 16, 2020.

Would you like to hear Haley talking about what a sensory overload feels like for her and how her autistic strengths have advanced her career? Click the link below for the full conversation and be sure to subscribe to hear more from people connected to autism inspiring change and building community.

Accessibility at the Forefront, with Haley Moss | TBT

Let’s work together to transform how the world relates to autism.

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We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too.

Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast

Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project

We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey