Unlearning Autism

Welcome back to Unlearning Autism. Season Two is here.
In Season One, so much of my focus was on understanding ourselves. This season, my curiosity is widening: what happens when we take what we're learning about ourselves and actually let it change something?
There’ll be conversations about both the Autistic and AuDHD experience, burnout, overwhelm and the barriers we face — but those won't be the only stories we tell. I want to make room for joy, possibility, creativity and curiosity too, and for people who are building lives around who they actually are.
There are brilliant guests coming, including Pete Wharmby and Julie M Green, conversations with people at different ages and stages of life, and plenty more My Autistic Musings.
Maybe Season Two can be about a little less explaining ourselves, and a little more living.
Welcome back. I'm really glad you're here.

Unlearning Autism is back for Season Two.
New conversations with brilliant guests, more of My Autistic Musings, and lots more curiosity about what it means to know ourselves — and to do life a little differently because of what we know.
We’ll be talking Autism, AuDHD, identity, relationships, capacity, self-trust — and all the complicated, interesting bits in between.
Season Two launches Wednesday, September 9th.
Follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.

In the final episode of season one of Unlearning Autism, Christine reflects on the journey of creating a neurodiversity-affirming podcast that centred the lived experience of late-identified Autistic people in their own words.
Across 18 episodes, conversations explored identity after knowing, masking, burnout, motherhood, nervous systems, belonging, creativity, relationships, sensory overwhelm, and what changes when we finally begin to understand ourselves differently. Christine revisits some of the powerful moments shared by guests including Abigail Ward, Laura Crowley, Nicola O'Dwyer, Andrea Anderson, Laura Guckian, Katie Kerley, Eliza Fricker and Dr. Emma Offord.
This episode is also a heartfelt thank you — to producer Abigail Ward, to Doerte Meyer for the beautiful podcast music, and to the thousands of listeners who supported, shared, and connected with these conversations throughout the season.
Christine also shares a glimpse into season two, which will continue exploring identity, relationships, unmasking, hormones, nervous system sustainability, belonging, and what it means to build a life that truly fits after knowing.
Thank you for being part of season one.

In this episode of Unlearning Autism, Christine reflects on the profound role of Autistic community and why connection with other Autistic people can feel so deeply regulating, validating, and life-changing.
She explores the difference between being understood and being understood without explanation — the relief of hearing someone speak aloud an experience you thought was uniquely yours. Christine reflects on masking, misattunement, exhaustion, and the lifelong experience many Autistic people have of feeling “too much” or “not enough” in predominantly allistic spaces.
This episode also explores:
✨ Why Autistic spaces can feel energising rather than draining
✨ The nervous system impact of constantly translating yourself
✨ The difference between connection and misattunement
✨ The vulnerability of stepping into community after years of adapting
✨ What happens when your way of being becomes the norm rather than the exception
At its heart, this is an episode about belonging, recognition, and the quiet freedom of no longer having to explain yourself.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Emma Offord — clinical psychologist, founder of Divergent Life, and host of This Voice Is Mine.
Emma’s work centres on late-identified Autistic and ADHD adults, and on what happens when we begin to understand ourselves outside of the medical model.
We talk about the power of lived experience — how stories, not textbooks, often become the pathway to recognition.
Emma shares her concept of positive disintegration — the process of things falling away so something more truthful can emerge — and how unlearning can be both unsettling and deeply liberating.
We explore what it means to understand your neurobiology as a human right, not a privilege — and how that understanding can shift shame, reshape identity, and change how we relate to ourselves and each other.
This is a conversation about:
– coming home to yourself
– questioning the systems we’ve been shaped by
– and building lives that actually fit
You can find Emma’s work here:
Divergent Life — https://www.divergentlife.co.uk/
Podcast: This Voice Is Mine — https://open.spotify.com/show/7ioZvshGC5UnLaz3AYaZIT?si=064e96a6812c4cfb&nd=1&dlsi=ed9819a12ad340c6
As always, this episode centres lived experience — the kind that so many of us were never given language for.
🎧 Listen now on Unlearning Autism