OT Contributor Podcast: Heard Tell “Changing the Autism Conversation in Culture & Politics with Eric Garcia”

From Ordinary Times own Andrew Donaldson, the latest Heard Tell podcast features a conversation with journalist and author Eric Garcia on Autism and his book “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation”.

The social media age has given an opportunity for folks who otherwise might not have a voice to join the wider world. But with that increased awareness comes increased debate over how to cover a community as diverse as the Autism spectrum, how to effectively help them, and which voices need to be heard. Our friend Eric Garcia used his own frustration at the media’s coverage of Autism, and his own experience both as a journalist and as someone who is Autistic, to write a book discussing the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting and giving voice to folks on the spectrum. We ask him how something like Autism becomes a political and cultural issue in the first place, talk about the amazing people he covers in the book that put human stories to the terminology, how terminology often hurts more than helps understanding Autism, and what does giving voice and awareness to Autistic people mean policy-wise going forward. His book is titled “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation” and we are thrilled to talk about it and the issues it covers with him on this episode of Heard Tell.