Episode 416: The Shape of Feeling—Alexithymia and Attunement
Today’s episode provides a profound first-person reflection, authored by Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, on the experience of alexithymia and emotional dysregulation from an autistic GLP perspective. Dr. Hoerricks challenges the traditional diagnostic imagination, arguing that alexithymia is not the absence of feeling but rather an undivided, holistic experience of emotion (described as a “chord” or “symphony”) that resists fragmentation into simple linguistic labels. She reclaims what is often labeled as dysregulation as the body’s fidelity to sensory truth and a refusal to betray the coherence of feeling by forcing it into inadequate language, likening this pressure to a form of linguistic colonialism. She integrates several scientific citations to frame this discussion, ultimately advocating for a language of wholeness that honors silence, art, and rhythm over mandated verbal articulation of emotional states.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/the-shape-of-feeling-alexithymiaLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to The AutSide at autside.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 415: Gestalt, Alexithymia, and the Language of Wholeness
Today’s episode challenges conventional, deficit-focused views of alexithymia, which is often characterised as the absence of words for feelings, by reframing it as a fidelity to wholeness. The author of the source article, Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, argues that for individuals, particularly those on the autism spectrum, who engage in gestalt language processing (GLP), emotion is experienced as a continuous, indivisible chord or landscape rather than discrete, analysable notes. Dr. Hoerricks critiques the “violence of translation” imposed by clinical frameworks that demand emotional experiences be segmented and named, suggesting this process destroys the original, resonant meaning. Ultimately, she proposes that alexithymia is not a lack of feeling but an “abundance” and “refusal to fragment” the integral connection between the attuned body and the surrounding world.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/the-whole-before-the-word-glp-andLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to The AutSide at autside.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 414: Collapse of Behavioural Empire—Arizona and ABA's Enduring Contradictions
Today’s episode critiques the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) industry, particularly in autism treatment, framing its current struggles as an inevitable collapse of a “control economy.” The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that ABA transformed into a profit-driven market focused on billable hours and compliance metrics, exemplified by the layoffs at Arizona Autism and the reclassification of workers as contractors, which is described as the “Uberisation of autism.” A key fault line highlighted is the use of ABA-Verbal Behaviour (ABA-VB) to bill for communication services without proper Speech-Language Pathologist credentials, a practice now under intense scrutiny by auditors, leading to funding cuts and corporate retrenchment. Ultimately, she suggests that this systemic failure is epistemic and moral, not just financial, clearing the way for relational, meaning-based forms of care that operate outside the market-driven “empire of metrics.”Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/when-compliance-becomes-unsustainableLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a aid subscriber. Get full access to The AutSide at autside.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 413: When Machines Become Mirrors—Autistic Imagination and Gatekeeping
Today’s episode critiques how dominant culture polices marginalised creation, specifically focusing on the intersection of queerness, autism, and disability. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, uses the example of designing a dress with the AI tool Sora to discuss the backlash against non-traditional methods of creation, arguing that the criticism is rooted in fear of unfettered access and autonomy for those designated as “Other.” Dr. Hoerricks contrasts the analytic, compliance-driven structure of traditional design software with the gestalt, asynchronous temporality of the autistic mind, suggesting that AI tools like Sora can offer a more conversational and accessible creative process. Ultimately, she argues that gatekeeping and the deficit model of disability are mechanisms of control, insisting that the value of imagination is not determined by its adherence to established, sequential norms.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/when-machines-become-mirrors-on-autisticLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to The AutSide at autside.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 412: The Curriculum of Touch—Autism, Attunement, and Sensory Literacy
Today’s episode provides excerpts from an essay by Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, titled “The Curriculum of Touch,” which serves as a lyrical introduction to the author’s “Afterglow” project, intended as a sensual archive of queer, trans, and autistic memory. Dr. Hoerricks critiques established clinical and academic views of autism, particularly the focus on “deficit” and “lack of empathy,” by arguing that autistic perception is instead a form of “sensory literacy” and precise attunement. Drawing heavily on experiences in the San Francisco Tenderloin during the late 1980s, she frames the marginalised queer community as a “pedagogy of proximity,” where non-verbal communication and touch became a necessary, highly precise language of survival and intimacy. She seeks to provide a “counter-canon” to pathologising research, using erotic writing as a form of “counter-education” to restore and preserve the true history of connection among neurodivergent and queer individuals.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/the-curriculum-of-touch-autism-attunementLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to The AutSide at autside.substack.com/subscribe
AutSide: A podcast from an autistic trans woman that explores critical issues at the intersection of autism, neurodiversity, gender, and social justice. Dive deep into the realities of living as an autistic adult, critiques of education systems, and the power of storytelling to reshape public narratives. With a unique blend of snark, sharp analysis, and personal experience, each episode challenges societal norms, from the failures of standardized testing to the complexities of identity and revolution. Join the conversation on AutSide, where lived experience and critical theory meet for change. autside.substack.com
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