Embrace ASD Podcast #04 – Christine Condo

In our fourth episode, we talk with Christine Condo, who runs the blog This Great Ape, and writes for NeuroClastic. She is a late-diagnosed autistic woman living with chronic pain, and writes her blog as a way to process her experiences.

Follow Christine:

• Websites: ThisGreatApe.com
• Twitter: @ThisGreatApe

Topics of discussion:

0:24 Christine’s diagnosis
1:45 Matt’s diagnosis
2:45 Christine’s early career
4:21 Autistic characteristics and school
5:34 Christine and school
6:31 Work experiences and limitation
7:45 Difficulties in school
9:17 Christine can’t remember faces
10:07 Spiky skills profile
12:33 Alexithymia & visual skills
13:36 Autism obscured
15:47 Pathologizing conditions
16:34 Labels
17:19 High & low-functioning autism
18:57 Savant myth & stereotypes
20:42 Masking
22:03 Autistic burnout
24:03 Socially ostracized
25:55 Great Ape blog excerpt
27:44 Empathy
28:40 Alexithymia & empathy
29:35 Depression, anxiety, PTSD
30:14 Trusting people
32:46 Support from neurodiverse friends
33:09 Trust & manipulation
36:02 Honesty & masking
36:54 Introversion & extraversion
38:16 Neurodiversity movement
39:18 Women on the spectrum
42:30 American Disabilities Act
44:30 Autism & employment
47:10 Double empathy problem
49:44 Parents of autistic children
51:03 Autistics need social connection
52:10 Autistic extravert
53:15 Masking
53:37 Autism paradox
54:38 Accommodations
55:38 High & low-functioning dichotomy
56:58 Sensory sensitivity
58:34 Definitions of intelligence
1:00:06 Labels
1:01:02 Autism experts
1:03:57 Disability model: deficits
1:04:54 Communication and empathy
1:09:29 Direct communication on the job
1:11:38 Dispel stereotypes about autism
1:12:32 Great Ape Blog’s name origins
1:14:47 The autism experience
1:16:51 Where to find Christine
1:18:36 Christine’s Washington Post article