Episode 84: The Power of #OwnVoices in Autism Advocacy

In this episode we’re talking with two of the editors of Sincerely, Your Autistic Child, a book about what autistic people wish their parents knew. Emily Paige Ballou and Morénike Giwa Onaiwu join Emily Kircher-Morris to talk about autism, neurodiversity, and ways to better understand your autistic child’s unique view of the world.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Emily Paige Ballou is a Senior Editor, Online Content Moderator, and is on the Publications Committee at the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network. She is a self-described old Millennial from the midwest who graduated from the University of Georgia and now lives in NYC, where she primarily works as an AEA stage manager of new plays and new musicals. She was diagnosed with autism in her late 20s.

She has had writing published at the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, Barking Sycamores, and NeuroQueer, among others.

Morénike Giwa Onaiwu is an American educator, author, and autism and HIV advocate. She is an editor of All the Weight of Our Dreams, an anthology of art and writing entirely by autistic people of color published by the Autism Women's Network in June 2017.

Giwa Onaiwu received a BA in International Relations from United States International University in San Diego, California, and a Masters in Special Education from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.