About this episode

Mark Ingrassia interviews Julie M. Green about her memoir on autism and acceptance.

🎙️ Special Ed Rising: No Parent Left Behind In this episode, Mark sits down with Julie M. Green , author of Motherness, a memoir exploring generational autism, parenthood, and radical acceptance. A 2024 finalist for the CBC Nonfiction Prize, Julie’s writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, HuffPost, Parents, Chatelaine, CBC, and Today’s Parent, among others. Julie shares her journey as the mother of an autistic son and her own later-in-life autism diagnosis. She reflects on navigating the early 2010s autism landscape, when resources were limited and the pressure on parents to “correct” their children was intense. Together, Mark and Julie explore how the rhetoric around autism has shifted from awareness to acceptance — and why that shift is critical. They discuss the challenges families face within educational systems that often prioritize conformity over inclusion. Julie emphasizes that behavioral struggles are often signs of unmet needs, not defiance, and that meaningful support should focus on improving quality of life rather than enforcing normalization. The conversation also explores masking and its impact on mental health, the complexity of identity…

People in this episode

Host: Mark Ingrassia

Guest: Julie M. Green

Topics covered

• autism
• parenthood
• acceptance
• education
• mental health
• identity
• inclusion

Keywords

• autism
• parenting
• acceptance
• education
• mental health
• inclusion
• Motherness
• Julie M. Green
• self-compassion
• identity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, HuffPost, Parents, Chatelaine, CBC, Today’s Parent

Products: Autistic Barbie

Books & works: Motherness

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