Welcome to The Late Diagnosis Club, a brand new show from the Autistic Culture Podcast Network!

The Late Diagnosis Club is a podcast by and for adults who found they were neurodivergent later-in-life. Hosted by Story Steward Dr. Angela Kingdon, this show features honest conversations with neurodivergent guests navigating the identity shock of late diagnosis or self-identification. Each episode explores neurodivergent traits through a cultural lens, debunks stereotypes, and offers solidarity for those processing family dynamics, unmasking, and reclaiming long-buried SPINs. Whether you’re self-identified or medically diagnosed, this club has been saving you a seat and helps you feel at home in your neurodivergent self.

Autistic Culture is now the Autistic Culture Podcast Network — five shows live, more on the way — all created by and for neurodivergent people.

We’re also launching Autistic Culture Plus on Supercast, where you can listen ad-free, get early access, binge full series, and unlock our exclusive archive of earlier episodes.

Founding Listener Offer:

• Join now for £0.99/month (80% off) and be listed as an Executive Producer on our site and show credits. You’ll keep that price as long as you stay subscribed!
• On 24 Oct, the price moves to £2.50, and on 31 Oct (Halloween) the standard rate begins: £5/month or £50/year.

Included with Autistic Culture Plus:

• Ad-free listening (sensory-friendly)

• Early access to every episode

• Binge-able themed series

• Exclusive archive of ~100 classic episodes

• Executive Producer credit for founding members

Key Dates:

🗓️ Now — Founding offer live (£0.99)

🗓️ 24 Oct — Trailer drops, price rises to £2.50

🗓️ 31 Oct — Virtual Halloween launch + Late Diagnosis Club premiere

🗓️ Jan 2026 — New Autistic Culture series launches (members binge early!)

Current Shows:

• Autistic Culture (OG)
• Autistic Advocacy (OG Fridays)
• Neurodivergent Narrative
• Autistic Culture 101
• Late Diagnosis Club - Interview show launching Halloween

🎉 Join Autistic Culture Plus: autisticculture.supercast.com

🎃 RSVP to the Halloween party: autisticculture.substack.com

📧 Pitch us your show: info@autisticculturepodcast.com

Thanks for supporting independent, neurodivergent-affirming media. We’re saving you a seat. 💜

🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve grown into a network! 🎙️

Autistic Culture is now the Autistic Culture Podcast Network — five shows live, more on the way — all created by and for neurodivergent people.

We’re also launching Autistic Culture Plus on Supercast, where you can listen ad-free, get early access, binge full series, and unlock our exclusive archive of earlier episodes.

Founding Listener Offer:

• Join now for £0.99/month (80% off) and be listed as an Executive Producer on our site and show credits. You’ll keep that price as long as you stay subscribed!
• On 24 Oct, the price moves to £2.50, and on 31 Oct (Halloween) the standard rate begins: £5/month or £50/year.

Included with Autistic Culture Plus:

• Ad-free listening (sensory-friendly)

• Early access to every episode

• Binge-able themed series

• Exclusive archive of ~100 classic episodes

• Executive Producer credit for founding members

Key Dates:

🗓️ Now — Founding offer live (£0.99)

🗓️ 24 Oct — Trailer drops, price rises to £2.50

🗓️ 31 Oct — Virtual Halloween launch + Late Diagnosis Club premiere

🗓️ Jan 2026 — New Autistic Culture series launches (members binge early!)

Current Shows:

• Autistic Culture (OG)
• Autistic Advocacy (OG Fridays)
• Neurodivergent Narrative
• Autistic Culture 101
• Late Diagnosis Club - Interview show launching Halloween

🎉 Join Autistic Culture Plus: autisticculture.supercast.com

🎃 RSVP to the Halloween party: autisticculture.substack.com

📧 Pitch us your show: info@autisticculturepodcast.com

Thanks for supporting independent, neurodivergent-affirming media. We’re saving you a seat. 💜

🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode originally aired: January 21 2025

With the Netflix documentary Martha creating conversations about Martha Stewart being Autistic online, this episode is more relevant than ever. We're on hiatus, but bringing this powerful conversation back into the feed for anyone who is seeing themselves in Martha.

Matt and Angela welcome special guest Melanie Deziel to explore the legendary Martha Stewart through an autistic cultural lens. From rigid routines to obsessive attention to detail, we examine the traits that set her apart—and the complex conversation around speculating on public figures’ neurodivergence.

🎧 What You’ll Learn

• Martha Stewart’s autistic-coded traits – Precision, pattern recognition, direct communication, and unwavering standards.
• Media bias & misogyny – How Martha was vilified for traits celebrated in men, and how the media shapes perceptions of powerful autistic-coded women.
• The ethics of public speculation – Why discussing possible autism in public figures can be both culturally important and ethically challenging.
• Passion as power – How Martha’s drive to share knowledge mirrors autistic info-dumping, and how her post-prison transformation revealed a more authentic self.
• Neurodivergence in the spotlight – Parallels between Martha Stewart, Taylor Swift, and other public figures whose traits clash with allistic norms.

Featured Guest: Melanie Deziel

Melanie Deziel is a keynote speaker and award-winning branded content creator who helps individuals, teams, and organizations unlock and organize their creative potential. She is the Co-Founder of The Creator Kitchen mastermind for creatives and the author of The Content Fuel Framework: How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas and Prove It: Exactly How Modern Marketers Earn Trust.

Resources:

• 📺 Netflix Documentary – Martha Stewart 🔗 Watch here
• Melanie Deziel – Mini Masterclasses | Advocacy Work

Related Episodes:

Trivia is Autistic

Taylor Swift is Autistic

Lessons in Chemistry is Autistic

🌟 Connect With Us

📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode originally aired: February 14, 2023

With the Netflix hit Wednesday returning for Season 2 and currently #1, this episode is more relevant than ever. We're on hiatus, but bringing this powerful conversation back into the feed for anyone snapping to the beat of Wednesday Addams.

Matt and Angela weigh in on Netflix’s smash hit Wednesday and the heated discussion around whether the titular character is authentically autistic-coded or just another case of “autistic face.” From flat affect and touch aversion to social outsider status, we dig into what’s real, what’s trope, and why representation matters.

🎧 What You’ll Learn

• Autistic traits in Wednesday Addams – Flat affect, sensory boundaries, focused interests, and rejection of social norms.
• Authenticity vs. performance – Why casting non-autistic actors in autistic-coded roles leads to caricature, and how Wednesday mirrors portrayals like Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory.
• The “fixing” narrative – How the show frames Wednesday’s arc around becoming more socially acceptable, softening her edges for mass appeal.
• Pretty privilege & palatability – How conventional attractiveness and familiar story arcs make autistic-coded characters more acceptable to allistic audiences.
• Media responsibility – Why we need autistic actors in autistic roles and better representation that isn’t filtered through an allistic lens.

Resources:

HERE WE WOE – “I’m neurodivergent and here’s my issue with Netflix’s Wednesday” 🔗 Read here

15 Ways Wednesday Addams is Cool and Autistic 🔗 Read here

Wednesday’s neurodivergent coding is both good and bad 🔗 Read here

Why neurodivergent characters like Wednesday Addams are so important 🔗 Read here

Related Episodes:

Episode 11: Sherlock is Autistic

Episode 30: Doctor Who is Autistic

Episode 41: Tim Burton is Autistic

🌟 Connect With Us

📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode originally aired: April 9 2024

With the announcement of TS12, Taylor Swifts new album 'The Life of a Showgirl', this episode is more relevant than ever. We're on hiatus, but bringing this powerful conversation back into the feed for any Autistic Swiftie listeners.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Autistic-coded traits in Taylor Swift – From encyclopaedic cat knowledge to embedding riddles, puzzles, and Easter eggs into her music.
• Outsider perspective in her lyrics – How her songs describe masking, outsider feelings, and belonging in ways deeply resonant with autistic experience.
• Justice sensitivity – Exploring the intersection of fairness, expectation sensitivity, and creative expression.
• Family tree and neurodivergence – Why Swift’s relatives may offer hints of autism’s genetic component.
• The role of privilege – How capitalism, public image, and access shape her career and influence.
• Cultural anthems – Why “Shake It Off” feels like a rallying cry for many autistic individuals.

🌟 Connect With Us

📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101, Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 10 of Autistic Culture: Passionate Superfanning with producer and fellow podcaster Simon Scott. Whether it’s Doctor Who, My Chemical Romance, Star Trek, or Renaissance fairs—superfanning isn’t a phase. It’s a core cultural trait of autistic identity.

We break down how special interests (SPINs), emotional intensity, and parasocial bonding create a uniquely autistic form of connection with fictional universes and fan communities.

🎧 What You’ll Learn

• Why superfanning is a form of emotional regulation, community-building, and cultural expression in autistic lives
• The role of SPINs in forming deep, long-term relationships with fictional characters and stories
• How fan spaces, cosplay, scripting, and world-building support autistic identity, routine, and joy
• The difference between leaning in to fandom as an autistic form of self-care vs. masking it to appear neurotypical
• How conventions and fandom aesthetics offer accessible social connection where autistic people can thrive

💡 Key Concepts from This Episode

• SPINs are not fleeting hobbies—they’re lifelines.
• Superfanning includes collecting, scripting, deep lore analysis, and wearing fandom as identity.
• Fictional friends offer emotional fluency, comfort, and companionship.
• Autistic fans often mask their enthusiasm due to stigma—this episode invites you to unmask with pride.

🎤 Featured Guest

• Simon Scott – The Neurodivergent Experience Podcast

🎙️ Related Episodes:

• Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy tales as emotional mirrors for autistic readers
• Star Trek: Logic, lore, and moral storytelling for the autistic brain
• My Little Pony: Friendship, emotional growth, and gender exploration
• Doctor Who: Regeneration, scripting, and narrative flexibility
• Christmas: Ritual and sensory joy as autistic cultural tradition
• The Orville: Speculative ethics and social fluency in fandom
• My Chemical Romance: Identity and emotional depth through music
• Cults: When shared purpose turns toxic—superfanning vs. coercion

🌟 Connect With Us

📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101, Dr. Angela Kingdon is joined by Clare Kumar, productivity speaker and host of the Happy Space Podcast, to explore Pillar 9: Justice-Seeking in autistic culture.

Clare, a late-diagnosed autistic woman and workplace inclusion advocate, shares how her values-driven mindset and sensitivity to fairness shaped her work, her diagnosis journey, and her unmasking process. If you’ve ever been told you’re "too intense," "too rigid," or "black-and-white," this episode offers a radical reframing of those traits as powerful autistic strengths.

🎧 What You’ll Learn

• How moral clarity, justice sensitivity, and literal honesty are central to autistic identity
• Why autistic people often challenge unjust systems, even when it’s uncomfortable or costly
• The role of black-and-white thinking in identifying harm — not as immaturity, but as clarity
• How meltdowns can be valid emotional responses to systemic injustice, not just overstimulation
• Strategies for embracing truth, consistency, and fairness in personal and professional spaces

For so many of us, justice-seeking has been used against us. We were called “too much” or “overreactive.” But in autistic culture, these traits are not flaws — they’re cultural strengths. What happens when we stop apologizing for caring so deeply?

👤 Featured Guest: Clare Kumar

• 🎧 Happy Space Podcast – Episode 45 – Clare shares her late-diagnosis journey and explores justice sensitivity with guest Melanie Deziel
• 👕 InclusiviTees Apparel – Neurodivergent-affirming, ethically made designs that promote conversation and inclusion
• 🌐 ClareKumar.com – Learn more about Clare’s work in productivity, sensory-friendly design, and neuroinclusion
• 🧠 Stanford Neurodiversity Summit – Angela & Clare’s presentation on late-diagnosed autistic women

🎙️ Related Episodes:

Greta Thunberg (Ep 15)

John McEnroe (Ep 42)

Lena Dunham (Ep 113)

🌟 Connect With Us

📱 Follow us on Instagram

🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop

🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.