S3E3: The Luck Illusion - Nothing Just Happens Revisited
From Autistic Licence by autisticlicence
December 11, 2025 · 41 min · Season 3 · Episode 3
About this episode
The episode discusses the double empathy problem and the challenges faced by autistic individuals in workplace and personal relationships.
In this episode we speak about "landing on our feet". In particular, we relate this to the double empathy problem whereby the processes "behind the scenes" are often missed entirely in our interactions with non-autistic people. We share examples of our experiences in the workplace and significant relationships, noting that in some aspects our ways of being can seem to collude with the apparent opacity of the bigger picture. As Siana says, "We prioritise getting shit done rather than going on about how difficult it is!" In this context we are not referring to the often variable amounts of things we get done or the speed or efficiency of this - that's a whole other issue! Instead we are pointing out that we tend to focus what energy we have on tasks rather than ensuring others understand how hard it is. Although we name feeling uncomfortable with it, we also experiment with taking our capabilities and resourcefulness more seriously by not underplaying our contributions. This is new and the reason we haven't edited it out is an experiment in daring to let it hit the air and stay there! Which feels like a courageous act of resistance when you've spent a lifetime playing yourself…
People in this episode
Host: Siana
Topics covered
- double empathy problem
- workplace experiences
- relationships
- neurodiversity
- self-advocacy
- resourcefulness
Keywords
- autism
- double empathy
- workplace
- relationships
- self-advocacy
- resourcefulness
- neurodiversity
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Luck Factor
More episodes of Autistic Licence
- S3E6: Speaking Up As An Autistic Person, Is It Even A Choice? · January 10, 2026 · 50 min
- S3E5: Christmas Presence · December 23, 2025 · 27 min
- S3E4: What Success Means To Us · December 17, 2025 · 59 min
- S3E2: From The Vault - Nothing Just Happens · December 8, 2025 · 40 min
- S3E1: A Matter Of Time · November 13, 2025 · 55 min
- S2E30: Staying Out For The Summer - a 1995 throwback chat · September 22, 2025 · 1h 14m
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