TPP 463: Author and Advocate Julie Green on Generational Autism and Radical Acceptance
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
34 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 16 hours ago
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is Julie Green’s story of discovering her own autism and how did it begin?
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I'm Debbie Reber, and this is Full Tilt Parenting. It's a podcast all about raising and supporting and loving neurodivergent kids. And today I'm talking with Julie Green. She's the author of the new book, Motherness, a memoir of generational autism, parenthood, and radical acceptance. So Julie, who was late diagnosed herself and is raising an autistic child, shares openly through her platform, The Autistic Mom, that's her substack. And she's been featured widely in media from the Washington Post and Parents to BBC Radio and CTV. So in this conversation, Julie is going to take us inside her journey of self-discovery and diagnosis. And we talk about the emotional complexities of coming to understand our own neurodivergence while also parenting neurodivergent kids.
We're going to explore the healing power of writing, the importance of storytelling and compassion, and the challenges many families like ours face along the way. This is one of those books that was a true pleasure to read. She writes so beautifully about the nuances of identity and parenting and neurodivergence and everything in between. This conversation is a deeply honest look at what it means to parent and to live with radical acceptance. So here's my conversation with Julie Green about her new memoir, Motherness. Hey, Julie, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I think this is going to be a great conversation. Because what you write about in your book, it's something I know many listeners have experienced or may experience in the future.
And that is discovering their own neurodivergence, and specifically autism through the course of parenting there. autistic kiddo. And you wrote about this in your new memoir. It's called Motherness, a memoir of generational autism, parenthood and radical acceptance, which you kindly asked me to read in advance. And I was happy to do so. I really enjoyed it. I blurbed it. I was actually going to start this by sharing the blurb just so listeners can know where I'm coming at this from. In Motherness, Julie Green offers a beautifully written, deeply attuned account of raising an autistic child with while simultaneously making sense of her own late discovered autistic identity. Raw, honest, and thought-provoking, Julie's story will resonate with any neurodivergent parent who recognizes parts of themselves in their child and wants to embrace these common threads to foster deeper connection and acceptance.
So I loved your book. Probably you can tell from that.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, and I loved yours, which is why we approached you in the first place, because... It's nice when you can tell certain people are kind of on the same wavelength. And earlier on, you were already taking the narrative in that direction, which was good for parents because we've had an awful lot of the other direction, which we won't get into. But I was like, yes, she gets it. So thank you so much for doing that.
Yeah. Oh, my gosh. When we find our people, we know them, right?
We know. Yeah, exactly.
Well, I would love if you could share some of your experiences. I mean, this is really what your book is about, but your experiences that led you to consider that you might be autistic, if we could start there.
It was such a long, I think I mentioned overall, it was about 10 years because back in the day, even when my son was diagnosed at three, it was such a learning curve. I mean, the internet was there, but it was not the thing that it is today. So the information, you really had to go digging for it. And it wasn't very affirming. So there was just such a learning curve for that. And the whole narrative there was boys lining up trains, hand flapping.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Julie Green’s story of discovering her own autism and how did it begin?
0:00–4:19
2
How did Julie’s son’s early diagnosis spark her search for a personal autism diagnosis?
4:19–9:07
3
Why was getting a formal autism assessment such a relief for Julie?
9:07–13:53
4
How did writing become Julie’s primary tool for processing her neurodivergence?
13:53–17:25
5
What structure does the memoir *Motherness* use to weave together her child’s and her own experiences?
17:25–21:15
6
How does Julie describe her sensory stims and the hidden self‑injury she only recognized after diagnosis?
21:15–25:45
7
Why does Julie emphasize radical acceptance, self‑compassion, and protecting her child’s privacy?
25:45–31:33
8
What advice does Julie give to other neurodivergent parents and adults considering a late diagnosis?
31:33–34:56
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