S3E6: Speaking Up As An Autistic Person, Is It Even A Choice?

S3E6: Speaking Up As An Autistic Person, Is It Even A Choice?

From Autistic Licence by autisticlicence

January 10, 2026 · 50 min · Season 3 · Episode 6

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and nuances of being an autistic person in relation to body image, empathy, and social justice.

Content warning: weight and body related issues, death and mortality, brief mention of suicidal ideation This episode begins with an exploration of the impact on Siana of seeing Ariana Grande's weight loss in the Wicked For Good movie, and on Leo of hearing this in the context of his own past experiences of judgment in relation to his weight. We openly discuss and disentangle many strands within our dialogue, recognising distinctions and differences which relate specifically to being autistic and therapists. We explore motivation and empathy overload. We also notice the evolution of some of our intervention actions over time, while still recognising that at a basic level we still experience the same instincts and drives in relation to social justice, human dignity and communicating care to others. We touch on whether true altruism exists, especially when we have so many of our own experiences of others looking the other way when we've needed support. We believe we are representing many within our community in acknowledging this. Claude AI tells us that this conversation reveals why autistic therapists might be a particularly valuable species (we'll take that!) and why that same…

People in this episode

Guests: Siana, Leo

Topics covered

  • autism
  • body image
  • mental health
  • social justice
  • empathy
  • therapists

Keywords

  • autistic
  • weight loss
  • mental health
  • social justice
  • empathy overload
  • altruism
  • therapists

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