55. S4, Ep12: The PDA profile, social justice and being an openly autistic CEO - with Helen Evans

11/13/21 • 50 min

Helen Evans is Chief Executive of the PDA Society. She was diagnosed autistic aged 39 in October 2020, two years after her son, who has a PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) profile. She grew up in South London, and now lives in Oxfordshire.

From 2012 to 2015 Helen was Global Head of Safeguarding at Oxfam, and tried to get the organisation to tackle issues of systemic sexual abuse perpetrated by Oxfam workers. After speaking publicly about the issue and giving evidence to MPs and the Charity Commission, she was awarded Whistleblower of the Year in 2019. Since leaving Oxfam in 2015 she has been CEO of two neurological condition charities, and was appointed CEO of the PDA Society in July 2021.

In our conversation we talk about:

➡ What the PDA profile is

➡ Having a strong sense of social justice

➡ Dealing with invisible sensory struggles, face blindness and meltdowns

➡ Workplace socialising and the work environment, and being openly autistic at work

➡ Maintaining friendships as an autistic adult

➡ Navigating systems as a neurodivergent parent

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences.

I’m Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I’m now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn’t quite fit.

EPISODE LINKS:

PDA Society website: https://www.pdasociety.org.uk/

Helen's LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-evans-0357832/

If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/

Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/

THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS!

A HUGE thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast:

Abigail J Moore, Caroline, Cat Preston, Catrin Green, Corinne Cariad, Elise, Jackie Allen, Jessica, Karawynn Long, Kate Faust, Katharine Richards, Katherine Lynch, Laurie Green, Lea Li, Lilli Simmons, Pete Burke, Tree Hall, Vera Cady and Vicki Temple.

If you’re enjoying the Squarepeg podcast and would like to help me carry on making new episodes, you can become a member of the Squarepeg community on Patreon from just £3 per month: https://www.patreon.com/squarepegpodcast

In our conversation we talk about:

➡ What the PDA profile is

➡ Having a strong sense of social justice

➡ Dealing with invisible sensory struggles, face blindness and meltdowns

➡ Workplace socialising and the work environment, and being openly autistic at work

➡ Maintaining friendships as an autistic adult

➡ Navigating systems as a neurodivergent parent

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

EPISODE LINKS:

PDA Society website: https://www.pdasociety.org.uk/

Helen's LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-evans-0357832/

If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/

Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/

THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS!

A HUGE thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast:

Previous Episode

54. S4, Ep11: Autism, victimisation and trauma, and the journey to healing

Shannon Collins is a social worker and educator from Denver, Colorado in the United States. Now 46, she decided to pursue an autism diagnosis in 2019, after her child was diagnosed.

Shannon describes herself as ‘an autistic, queer survivor of sexual and physical violence’ and has spent over 20 years working to end domestic violence and sexual assault through advocacy, prevention and education.

She now specialises in the formation of trauma-informed victim advocacy programs in higher education institutions, and the development and maintenance of campus-based Coordinated Community Response Teams.

In our conversation we talk about:

➡ Her two decade journey to diagnosis and healing

➡ Seeking accommodations at work

➡ The challenges of processing and verbalising her experiences

➡ The intersection of autism and trauma

This is a difficult topic, but an important one, and I hope you’ll get as much out of this conversation as I did.

Please be aware that although we don’t go into detail about Shannon’s experiences, there is discussion of sexual and physical trauma in this episode, so if you don’t want to hear about this topic you might not want to listen to this one.

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

EPISODE LINKS:

Article about the study on sexual abuse in autistic girls and women: https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/girls-autism-high-risk-sexual-abuse-large-study-says/

Support and services for people in the UK: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/abuse/

Support and services for people in the USA: https://www.rainn.org/

If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/

Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/

THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS!

A HUGE thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast:

Next Episode

56. S5, Ep1: Sara Gibbs: From not fitting in to finding a place in the world as an autistic woman

Sara Gibbs has built a successful career, but also – like so many of us – experienced the challenges of being in the world as an autistic person.

After enduring vicious bullying and social exclusion during her school days, and having some pretty horrendous experiences in the workplace, she decided to become a writer. After taking a comedy writing course she has since written for Dead Ringers, The News Quiz, The Daily Mash, The Now Show, The Mash Report and Have I Got News for You.

She is also the co-founder of satirical women’s magazine Succubus, the founder of The First Laugh Comedy Writing Competition for new writers and the presenter of The Aut-Hour Podcast.

Diagnosed autistic at 30, she published her brilliant – and hugely relatable – memoir of life as an undiagnosed autistic woman, Drama Queen, in 2021. I devoured this book as soon as I got my hands on it, and I was so excited to talk to her for Squarepeg.

We talked about all sorts of things, including

➡ Her childhood, bullying and her experience at a Steiner school

➡ Her difficult relationship with her dad, who she suspects may have been autistic too

➡ Dealing with a toxic workplace environment

➡ Finding her place in the world as a writer

➡ and The challenge autistic people in particular can face when trying to change careers

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

EPISODE LINKS:

Sara’s website: https://saragibbs.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sara_rose_g

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sara_Rose_G

Her book: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Drama-Queen-by-Sara-Gibbs/9781472274366

The Aut-Hour podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/613Ai66JCoNNnVWrE8x8YD

If you'd like to connect or get in touch with Squarepeg, you can find me on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepeg.community/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarepegautism

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squarepegautism/

Or on my website: https://squarepeg.community/

THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS!

A HUGE thank you to my amazing patrons, who support my work on the podcast:

Abi Hunter, Amy Adler, Amy-Beth Mellor, Abigail J Moore, Ben Davies, Caroline, Cat Preston, Catrin Green, Corinne Cariad, Elise, Jackie Allen, Jeff Goldman, Kate Faust, Katharine Richards, Katherine Lynch, Lilli Simmons, Pete Burke, Susan Millington, Tree Hall, Una Walkenhorst, Vera Cady and Vicki Temple.