Introducing — Autistic AF with Grace Tame
5/31/20262 min
"I was bullied for being quirky… I would have these very intense special interests."
Join Australian of the Year Grace Tame for a special four-part take over of Ladies, We Need to Talk as she meets leading experts in autism research and connects with other neurodivergent women to get a better understanding of what life is like as an autistic person, beyond the stereotypes.
Autism comes wrapped in a lot of stigma and misunderstandings. Grace knows this firsthand. She struggled socially as a kid before finally getting a diagnosis in her late teens. Grace's experience isn't unique, with girls far more likely to get a late diagnosis than boys. So, what's going on? Why did science leave girls behind for so long, and at what cost?
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGrace Tame· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hi, Grace Tame here. I'm taking over Ladies We Need To Talk for a series on women and autism. And if you hadn't already figured it out, I'm autistic and I'm also a woman. For decades, autism was thought of as a boy thing, and girls like me were ignored and misdiagnosed.
Speaker 1· Soundbite0:20
I really didn't think that anyone was gonna be able to help me, and then I started seeing doctors and they were like, "No, I, I understand you. I think this is anxiety," or, "I've got it, it's pure O OCD." And then it was like, "No, it's not that. It's quiet BPD."
Grace Tame· Host0:38
For lots of us, it meant waiting years for a diagnosis.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:42
I knew I was autistic, no doubt about it. It's not that other people are struggling just as hard but covering it up. No, it's actually harder for me than it is for a lot of other people.
Grace Tame· Host0:54
[upbeat music] In this series, we look at the latest science and rethink what autism looks like in women and in gender-diverse people.
Speaker 3· Soundbite1:03
The better the camouflaging, the harder it is to spot the autism, and I describe it as the female autism invisibility cloak. It's not deceitful. It's trying to hide the fact that they are different.
Grace Tame· Host1:14
We ditch the stereotypes.
Speaker 4· Soundbite1:17
Hang on a minute. I like interacting with people. Generally, I feel better after I do it. But what is it that makes it so difficult? And I realize, oh, that's, that's autism.
Grace Tame· Host1:26
[upbeat music] We give the middle finger to outdated judgments.