Eric Michael Garcia on What It Means to Be #ActuallyAutistic
10/06/21 • 40 min
Eric Michael Garcia is an autistic journalist whose new book is We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.
Garcia is the senior Washington correspondent for The Independent, following editorial roles at the Washington Post and The Hill. He’s also been a correspondent for National Journal, MarketWatch, and Roll Call, and has written for The Daily Beast, The New Republic, and Salon.com.
As a child, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is now diagnosed under the broader ASD (autism spectrum disorder). We talked about the history of the autism diagnosis, how it has evolved, how the language around it has changed, and how autistic people are using social media (like the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag on Twitter) to speak out in a media ecosystem that historically marginalized or ignored them.
Related links:
Eric Michael Garcia is an autistic journalist whose new book is We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.
Garcia is the senior Washington correspondent for The Independent, following editorial roles at the Washington Post and The Hill. He’s also been a correspondent for National Journal, MarketWatch, and Roll Call, and has written for The Daily Beast, The New Republic, and Salon.com.
As a child, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is now diagnosed under the broader ASD (autism spectrum disorder). We talked about the history of the autism diagnosis, how it has evolved, how the language around it has changed, and how autistic people are using social media (like the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag on Twitter) to speak out in a media ecosystem that historically marginalized or ignored them.
Related links:
Previous Episode
Leah Sottile on Rethinking Your Mission in Journalism
"Everyone in every part of the world was having a conversation with themselves: Who am I? What am I doing? Why am I doing it? And I definitely was having that question a lot with journalism."
Leah Sottile is a journalist whose work you'll remember from Bundyville, the Longreads podcast that ran for two seasons and explored domestic extremism in the United States. She also hosted the podcast Two Minutes Past Nine, produced with BBC Radio Four, which looked at the legacy of the Oklahoma city bombing 25 years later. And she's written for many publications including the Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, and High Country News.
She talks about how the pandemic forced her to confront some bigger questions about her own mission in journalism, and what stories she wanted to cover going forward.
Related links:
- Leah Sottile on Substack
- Did James Plymell Need to Die? (High Country News)
- Bundyville (Longreads & Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- Two Minutes Past Nine (BBC Radio Four)
- The Ghost Hunter (The Atavist)
- @leah_sottile on Twitter
Next Episode
Dr. Kathleen Smith on Bowen Theory and Understanding Anxiety
Dr. Kathleen Smith is the author of Everything Isn’t Terrible: Conquer Your Insecurities, Interrupt Your Anxiety, and Finally Calm Down.
I first discovered Dr. Smith's work through her must-read newsletter—she's an expert in Bowen Family Systems Theory, which looks at anxiety through the lens of our relationships. We don’t exist in isolation—we're constantly reacting to others around us, in our families and relationships, at work, and on social media.
This was a fun conversation, so thanks again to Dr. Smith. You can learn more about her work at kathleensmith.net.
Special thanks to Ashley Smith for additional production support.
EIL: Everything I've Learned - Eric Michael Garcia on What It Means to Be #ActuallyAutistic
Transcript
Eric Michael Garcia: There's no right or wrong way to be autistic. I think for a long time, I wasn't connected or plugged in to the community, and I often wondered if I was being autistic quote-unquote, “the right way.” I didn't know all these things. And later on what I realized is that there's no right or wrong way to be autistic.
Mark Armstrong: Hi, everybody. This is Everything I've Learned, a podcast about lessons, mistakes, and turning points.
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