A conversation with Dominique Chabot, Autism Canada Family Services Manager and parent to two autistic children, and Bruce Petherick, Autistic Advocate around how to better navigate the holiday season, including tips for attending and hosting gatherings, shopping, Santa visits, ugly sweaters, gift ideas and more.

The music from today's podcast was composed and performed by Bruce Petherick, autistic advocate and neurodivergent musician. To hear more, visit Bruce's website at www.brucepetherick.com

Recording from Au-Some Conference 2022

Megan Pilatzke was formally identified as autistic on May 19, 2021 at 31 years old. Since then, she has become a passionate advocate and public speaker for autism education and acceptance. She focuses her advocacy efforts on quality of life and supports for autistic adults. She also advocates for employment inclusion for all neurodiverse individuals. To date, Megan has been featured in a CBC article and on CBC’s The Current radio show where she discussed her personal experience with late identification and autism assessments. She is a proud member of the Autism Alliance of Canada and is working with their disability policy working group. The group is working toward initiatives to support inclusive employment for autistics within Canada. Megan will also be co-authoring a peer-reviewed study focusing on autistic work experiences. In her spare time, Megan enjoys cross stitching, bird-watching and spending time with her family and three cats.

The music from today's podcast was composed and performed by Bruce Petherick, autistic advocate and neurodivergent musician. To hear more, visit Bruce's website at www.brucepetherick.com

As presented at Au-Some Conference 2022, Kara discusses what led her to seek diagnosis and how she navigated the process.

Kara Dymond (PhD) is a late diagnosed autistic and ADHD advocate. Growing up, Kara began thinking about differentiation and the potential in every student while working on homework with her younger brother, Danny, who is autistic. She realized the extent of her own neurodivergencies as an adult, often from relating to her students and other neurodivergent adults. Today, Kara is a student-centred educator who teaches autistic children in the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the author of The Autism Lens, and an instructor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Kara also co-hosts a podcast called Autistic Tidbits & Tangents, with Maja Toudal, an autistic psychologist from Denmark.

The music from today's podcast was composed and performed by Bruce Petherick, autistic advocate and neurodivergent musician. To hear more, visit Bruce's website at www.brucepetherick.com