143 [Bonus] Beyond diagnosis: Self‑trust, masking, and the continuing autism journey

About this episode

In this episode, Amy Richards catches up with Vera, who shares her evolving perspective on her autism journey and discusses various aspects of self-trust and resilience.

I first met today's guest, Vera, nearly five years ago, when we recorded a podcast episode early in 2021. A lot has changed for Vera since then, so we decided it was time for a catch up. Now 46, when we last spoke Vera had very recently been formally identified as autistic. Over the years since, her initial excitement - that she describes as sounding 'practically giddy' after listening back to that first episode - has evolved into a different perspective. Vera is originally from the Czech Republic, and now lives in Bristol in the UK. She has a background in mathematics, computer science and life coaching, and she currently works in corporate research. She describes herself as an extrovert whose special interest is people watching. In this conversation we explore all sorts of aspects of our autistic experience and our thoughts about all sorts of things, including why Vera needed a break from autism spaces for a while, masking, perimenopause, self trust, bravery and resilience. Squarepeg is a podcast in which I talk to other late identified autistic women and nonbinary people about their lives, their autism journeys, and what they've learned along the way. I'm Amy Richards, and I…

People in this episode

Host: Amy Richards

Guest: Vera

Topics covered

• autism
• self-trust
• masking
• perimenopause
• resilience
• personal journey

Keywords

• autism
• self-trust
• masking
• perimenopause
• resilience
• personal growth
• autistic experience

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Czech Republic, Bristol

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