Rerun: Mindfulness That Actually Works for Autistics

Tanya, thank you for taking the time to be here.

Yeah, thanks, thanks for, um, having me here.

I'm so excited to talk to you.

So am I. It's my pleasure to have you here.

You've created a community of neurokin with a very special purpose, and I'd like to talk about that.

But before we do, let's get some background.

When did you learn you're autistic, and what led to your diagnosis?

Oh, wow, yeah.

I mean, I wish I knew when I was younger [laughs] but, uh-

Mm-hmm

...

I found out when I was, uh, 39, turning 40.

So late identified, like probably you as well as many of your listeners.

And what led me to sort of exploring the possibility of that was just seeing people in my, my family, extended family, getting di- various diagnoses, ADHD, autism, and then it started, I started wondering about myself and kind of hearing the description of the different traits, and then sort of doing...

I don't know if, I mean, postmortem's not the right word, 'cause I'm still alive [laughs]

[laughs]

And everything.

But kinda looking at my past experiences, my childhood, and I think that's where, you know, before I learned how to mask, and seeing some of the social challenges I had, sensory differences, overwhelm, just different ways of processing, and I actually [laughs] I think this is probably the most autistic thing I could do.

I came to the appointment, the psych appointment, with a categorized list of my childhood and development, my sensory needs, you know, repetitive body movements, special interests, and I think they should have just rubber-stamped it right there, autistic.

[laughs]

Sure.

So.

[laughs]

Yeah.

Not to say everyone that's autistic categorizes lists, but for me, I felt like it was one trait.