The Autistic VOICE Project

Episode 48: Leaky Foundations, Low Spoons, and Building Something That Lasts

Matt and Erin are wrapping up Season 1 of The Autistic VOICE Project this week — and after 48 episodes, they’re talking honestly about burnout, sustainability, community,

Episode 47: Friend-Shaped People, Autism Sparkle, and the Spreadsheet Method of Making Friends

Matt, Erin, and friend of the show Hunter Hammersen are here this week talking about something a whole lot of Autistic people want and struggle with at the same time: fri

Episode 46: Autistic Grief, Co-Regulation, and the People Who Keep Us Human

Matt and Erin are back for another mailbag episode — and this one gets deeply personal. From losing an “anchor person” to navigating autistic grief, relationships, PDA pa

Episode 45: Nintendo Fidgets, Neutrality, and the Nervous System We Forgot About

Matt, Erin, and guest Nyck Walsh are here this week — and this episode turns into a really good conversation about somatic therapy, autistic processing, nervous systems,

Episode 44: Perimenopause, Medical Gaslighting, and Figuring It Out Without a Map

This episode gets into perimenopause through an autistic lens—what it actually feels like, why it hits differently in autistic bodies, and how little real guidance exists

Episode 43: Special Interests, Safe Spaces, and Saying No to Shame

Matt, Erin, and Eleda get into special interests, collections, and what it means to have a space where Autistic joy isn’t hidden—it’s the whole point. This one’s about bu

Episode 42: Horses, Hyperfocus, and the Accidental Autistic Gathering Place

Matt and Erin are joined by Eleda Towle, an Autistic store owner whose lifelong focus on model horses turned into a business—and a gathering place for other Autistic peop

Episode 41: Crystals, Experiments, and Figuring Out Who You Are (Without Losing Yourself)

Matt, Erin, and Jamie Roberts are here this week—and we get into identity development for autistic teens, the pressure to turn yourself into something “useful,” and what

Episode 40: Teen Girls, Missed Diagnoses, and the Cost of Just Calling It Anxiety

Matt, Erin, and guest Jamie Roberts sit down to talk about autistic teen girls—the ones who get missed, mislabeled, and pushed through systems that don’t fit. This is abo

Episode 39: Chaos, Data Gaps, and Why “Just Wing It” Is Not a Real Strategy

This week, we’re talking about chaos—the real kind. The kind that shows up in your body, your routines, your relationships, and your nervous system. Matt and Erin break d

Episode 38: Gatekeeping, Theory of Mind, and Why Awareness Keeps Missing the Point

Matt and Erin take this one straight on: why autism “awareness” looks the way it does—and who built it that way. This is about power, bad science, and what happens when

Episode 37: Shop Titans, Small Talk Scripts, and the Autistic Art of Socializing

Small talk is weird. Especially when you’re autistic. This week, Matt, Erin, and returning guest Dr. Kade Sharp dig into why neurotypical small talk revolves around scri

Episode 36: Driver’s Licenses, Gatekeeping, and Why Bullies Love Bureaucracy

This week’s episode happened fast. Matt and Erin pulled in returning guest Dr. Kade Sharp to talk through a situation unfolding in real time—and why it matters far beyond

Episode 35: PDA, Breadsticks, and the Persistent Drive for Autonomy

Matt and Erin flip the script this week — Erin takes the lead, and Matt talks about living as a PDAer. It’s direct. It’s personal. And yes, there are breadsticks. We’re

Episode 34: Safety, Spark, and the Autistic Refusal to Shrink

Matt, Erin, and returning guest Kate McNulty are back — and this one moves from burnout to shame to safety, with stops at birds, clocks, and emotional support cheese. We

Episode 33: Rain Man, Cornflakes, and the Regulation Nobody Talks About

Matt and Erin are joined this week by Kate McNulty, LCSW — therapist, teacher, late-identified Autistic human, and one of our own. We start with “special interests”… and

Episode 32: Discipline, Dysregulation, and Why Punishment Doesn’t Work

This week is a mailbag episode, and Erin and Matt take on two common questions from allistic listeners that come up constantly in real life. Both questions sound simple.

Episode 31: Shutdown, Overdrive, and Other Ways Autistic Bodies Say “Enough”

This week, Matt and Erin slow things down and talk plainly about stress — what it actually does to autistic bodies, and why it hits so hard. From shutdowns and migraines

Episode 30: Threat, Trauma, and Why “Just Don’t Look” Isn’t an Option for Us

This week’s episode is heavy. Matt and Erin slow things down to talk plainly about safety, community, and what it means to stay human when systems built on control and cr

Episode 29: Belonging, Burnout, and Why Kids Need Somewhere Safe to Land

Matt and Erin are back with returning guest Maisie Soetantyo for a deeper, wider conversation about what happens after diagnosis—inside families, across cultures, and ove