TPP 330: Recognizing Less Obvious Autism with Donna Henderson & Sarah Wayland
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
54 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 6 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What inspired Donna Henderson and Sarah Wayland to write *Is This Autism*?
I've seen many, many reports rule out autism without giving any explanation whatsoever. They describe an autistic kid all throughout the report and at the end say, Yeah, but it's not autism because she made good eye contact or because he has a sense of humor, which are not rule outs.
Welcome to Tilt Parenting, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. I'm your host, Debbie Rieber. With an increase in the number of people receiving an autism diagnosis in recent years, both among children and adults, and especially among girls and women, as well as a lot of uncertainty among parents trying to tease out of their child. child is autistic, or if another neurodifference like giftedness or ADHD or anxiety explains why a child is struggling, I am so grateful that Drs Donna Henderson and Sarah Wayland have written their new book, Is This Autism? Is this autism is truly a game-changing labor of love in which Donna and Sarah clarify many ways that autism can present, particularly in people who camouflage to hide their autistic traits.
And what I love about this book so much is that it walks us through the diagnostic criteria of but in a way that helps readers have a much deeper understanding of how those criteria can and should be interpreted. Donna and Sarah are on a mission to help parents and clinicians ensure that we don't have another lost generation of autistic adults whose diagnoses were missed. We cover a lot of ground in this extra long episode, including why so many people, including women and girls, and people in marginalized groups, are being misdiagnosed or simply missed. And why it's so important that we look beyond the stereotypes of autism. and gain a rich, nuanced understanding of the autistic experience. A quick background on my guests before we dive in.
Dr. Donna Henderson has been a clinical psychologist for over 30 years and is part of the Sticksroot group in Maryland. She provides neuropsych evaluations and consultations for children, adolescents, and adults who would like to understand themselves better. Donna is a sought-after lecturer and provides neurodiversity affirmative training and consultation for other healthcare professionals. And Dr. Sarah Wayland is the founder of Guiding Exceptional Parents and the co-founder of The Behavior Revolution. As a special needs care navigator, certified RDI consultant, and parenting coach, she provides neurodiversity affirmative support, education, and community for parents of neurodivergent children and young adults with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, and other brain-based differences.
Before I get to the conversation, if what I'm doing here at Tilt Parenting and the guests I bring onto the show are providing support and encouragement and hope for your family, and you are ready to dive deeper with me and up-level your parenting progress, I invite you to check out my membership community, The Differently Wired Club. Think virtual office hours, coaching calls, expert guests, monthly themes, connection with other parents like you, and much more. I used to only open the doors three times a year, but now there's an enrollment window open at the end of every month. Visit tiltparenting.com slash club for all the details. All right, and now here is my conversation with Donna and Sarah.
Hey, Donna and Sarah, welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks for having
us. We're excited to be here.
I'm excited to talk about your incredibly comprehensive, timely, so very important book. But before we get into that, you're both new to the show. So I would love if you could just take a few minutes and tell us a little bit more about your work in the world and your personal why. And maybe as part of that, how you came together to collaborate.
We have a good story about how we came together. I'll start. This is Donna. I've been a clinical psychologist for over 30 years. And like a lot of clinicians, I received almost no training in autism at all.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Donna Henderson and Sarah Wayland to write *Is This Autism*?
0:00–7:40
2
Why do many clinicians feel unequipped to diagnose autism, especially in camouflaging individuals?
7:40–15:12
3
How do bias, stereotypes, and lack of training lead to autistic people—particularly women and BIPOC—being missed?
15:12–21:21
4
What are the limitations of current diagnostic tools like the ADOS for autistic people who camouflage?
21:21–29:11
5
How does the *double‑empathy problem* explain communication breakdowns between autistic and non‑autistic people?
29:11–35:27
6
What strategies do the authors suggest for clinicians to make autism assessments more data‑driven and less subjective?
35:27–41:48
7
How can parents and clinicians use the book’s chapter‑by‑chapter breakdown of DSM criteria to better understand autistic presentation?
41:48–48:11
8
What resources and next steps do Donna and Sarah recommend for families seeking a clearer autism diagnosis?
48:11–54:25
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
TPP 266a: A Conversation with Poet and Advocate LeDerick Horne
TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids