The contemporary world can be a thorny and unwelcoming place for autistic people, especially those who are multiply marginalized. We spoke with T.C. Waisman, Monique Botha, and Wenn Lawson—three deeply compassionate autistic experts—about their experiences with, and insights for, navigating this planet and our societies while autistic.
Our three interviewees are also presenting next week at Autism-Europe’s 14th International Congress, which takes place from the 11th until the 13th of September, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland. The congress will gather experts, advocates, and individuals from across Europe (and the world) to foster understanding, acceptance, and inclusivity for autistic people.
Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA): This is a distressing time to be a disabled person, as marginalized groups are increasingly being targeted and left behind globally. What are your primary concerns for your community?
TC Waisman: As a BIPOC, queer, non-binary, Autistic person, I am deeply concerned about how our human rights are being tested in courts, educational institutions, and in healthcare especially in North America. We had an arguably short period of acceptance with disability, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives before our civil and human rights were challenged by those who felt their privilege was being threatened. The fight for human rights has always fallen on the shoulders of those who are already burdened by persecution, but in the case of us Autistics, especially intersectional Auties, this is even more distressing given the compounding challenges we face in the world.
I worry about my communities. I worry about our mental health. I worry about our ability to persevere. What I do know is that we marginalized communities have always persisted and we Autistics have always been driven by justice, so I carry this as a beacon of hope for our collective future.
Monique Botha: Definitely, the rise of fascism, fashionable eugenics, and austerity politics. Autistic people and the wider disabled community are so entirely vulnerable to the political systems and whims of populist governments, and they seem to be appealing to the far right. This means our communities are so vulnerable to losing their rights and benefits in poorly thought out or even malicious legislation. In the UK, where I am, I predict a sharp rise in homelessness, poverty, starvation, and autistic people being subjected to invasive monitoring, or staying in abusive relationships because of financial interdependence. I am so scared for my communities and how little what we do matters when the government is so hostile to providing good lives for people.
Wenn Lawson: My primary concerns for my community, both within my country of Australia and around the world, are that as Autistic individuals the “Rights” we had come to accept as “usual, almost taken for granted” are now under threat. As a Trans, Autistic older person, with a physical disability, I thought I had seen the last of the eara where I felt “less than” and had to “crawl my way” to recognition and access. Now I worry mostly for my fellow humans living in similar circumstances as myself but who don’t currently experience the same level of support I have (family and friends).
Even here in my home country our National Disability Scheme (too often misused/abused) is not looking like it’s a safe bet for those who need it. It feels like the clock has been turned back and the “wins” over the past few decades are now being dumped in favour of “survival of the fittest.” I worry we will be seen as a “blot” on society without recourse to prove what we know to be true. That as Autistic and neurodivergent individuals we have so much to give back to the societies!
TPGA: What are some ways you practice self-care and self-compassion, including prioritizing and making good on those practices?
TC Waisman: From a practical perspective, I practice self-care by turning off the news periodically, and stepping back from the world. I made the realization that in my fight for justice, I was hurting my own mental health, so I had to let go of the obsessive need to know what is happening in the world at every minute. I am learning that there are things that I can do to forward the cause of justice in my small way but there are things that are outside of my sphere of influence, and I have to let it go.
I am taking on less projects and doing less research now, which is giving my mind more space to heal. At 56-years-old, I’ve also learned that when I let go, someone else steps in—whether it’s in research, leadership roles, or on important campaigns. My life is now more focused on building capacity in younger folks, especially Autistics, and it makes me so happy to see how brilliant young folks are at innovating, problem-solving, and pushing the boundaries of the status quo in every way.
Monique Botha: It’s complicated because I don’t do enough of it. I try to practice self-care through self compassion, by building up sustainable networks with supportive people, and by leaning on my community, but I am perpetually in cycles of burnout and booming; constantly dropping balls and being harsh with myself because of it. I need to get better at being boundaried, being selective, and trying to process the everyday successes or trauma of doing what I do. But the thing that truly makes this sustainable for me is connections to other neurodivergent people working towards similar interlinking goals and embodying similar values.
Wenn Lawson: Some ways I practice self-care and self-compassion, which include prioritising and making time for these in my life, have come to the forefront of my experience in ways quite different to when I was a younger person. Although I’m a senior person, a pensioner aged 73.5yrs, I live a very full life; often working without wages but in ways that are so rewarding.
However, I am learning how to say “no” to some requests and to pass these onto others, rather than feeling “I have to do this.” I have felt the weight of needing to explain autism by way of “being monotropic” as there hasn’t been research or writings about this until quite recently. Now, the mantle is being taken up by others and I feel like I can trust the work will continue, even without me!
I build time into my day to watch a show I enjoy without feeling guilty for doing so. One of the best things I learnt from my dear friend Dinah, was the “Oh well.” If I mess up, miss a ZOOM meeting, forget an appointment, or can’t fit something into my day, I can say “Oh well,” rather than “I should…” This is self-forgiveness, self-acceptance, and self-compassion, which cultivates mental fitness and contributes to a physical sense of well-being too.
TPGA: Do you have any words of experience or compassion to guide people in your communities who are feeling overwhelmed, targeted, and/or downhearted about the state of the world for disabled people?
TC Waisman : Love yourself enough to let go whenever possible. Those of us who are older know that things tend to ebb and flow in cycles, so as my Jewish mother-in-law would say…this too will pass. You’ve got this one precious beautiful life you’re living in this breathtakingly complex time, and you have the right to be happy. Tune out from the world if you are able and tune into your own needs periodically. Stim, dance, dress in your funky outfit, and do what gives you joy. Be good to yourself in small and big ways, and let go of the things that are outside of your sphere of influence. You are magnificent. You are enough. You are needed.
Monique Botha: Don’t give in to the hopelessness of it all. That’s what they want. Progress is inevitable even when it feels out of reach, or like it is slipping away. We are working here, we are building a critical mass, and even if this is what it looks like now, we can’t give up on what it could be. Imagined futures are the life-blood of progress. We can’t give up on the ideas of the future.
We can build good lives for ourselves, we can act in resistance, and work towards something better for everyone.
Be proud. Build as a collective. Connect. Don’t let the neurotypical majority rewrite your story for you, learn to take up the space you deserve even if it’s uncomfortable at first, and don’t forget to make space for rest, recouping, and lightheartedness in these times.
Wenn Lawson: I always feel encouraged and hearted when I think of the words “There are things that are outside of your control, they are not yours to fix. You can transfer your energy into those things you do have control over, and your energy into those things will make a difference.”
This is not letting go of responsibility, it’s about knowing the difference between what and what isn’t ours to do. Inner ableism and Imposter Syndrome are great at wagging the finger at us, but these come from “false guilt.” We can be our own worst enemy…ditch the “should” word and replace it with a welcome of self and a refusal to compare yourself to others.
Life’s a journey we map it out as we go along. If we take a wrong turn along the way, we can turn back. We learn from our mistakes, they do not define us. Know that you are not alone, even when we feel like we are. It’s so important to find your mob, the place where you belong. Find it, plant your feet on firm ground and don’t take on the toxic words of others who seek to rob you. Remember yourself and say it often, “I am enough, I am precious.”
Dr. TC Waisman is an Indigenous Oceania, South Asian/Asian non-binary person who was late-diagnosed as Autistic at 48-years-old in 2017. Since her diagnosis, TC co-founded the Autistic Researchers Committee at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR); became a founding editorial board member of the Autism in Adulthood journal, and sits on the advisory council for Sensodyne’s Sensory Sensitivity Initiative. Currently, she works with government agencies, healthcare authorities, universities, large organizations, and one of the largest Unions in the Americas. Recently, Dr. Waisman led a team to create a full-scale framework for accessibility for Unity Technologies, the leading platform to create and grow games and interactive experiences. Based in Vancouver Canada, TC speaks and guest lectures at the crossroads of autism, neurodivergence, intersectionality, Universal Design, and accessibility in education and in the workplace.
More from TC:
Dr Monique Botha is an autistic and ADHD community psychologist and Associate Professor, based at the Centre for Neurodiversity and Development at Durham University, United Kingdom. Monique’s research challenges how society and researchers think about neurodivergence. Their work explores stigma, dehumanization, and minority stress, while also showing how neurodivergent identity, community, and belonging can be powerful sources of collective resilience. Their work spans qualitative, quantitative, dyadic, and creative research, where the core shared principles regardless of method are to rehumanize neurodivergent people. At the heart of their scholarship is a commitment to dismantling ableism in science and building research that reflects the lives of neurodivergent people. Monique co-founded the Striving to Transform Autism Research Together, Scotland (STARTS) with Dr Eilidh Cage and Dr Catherine Crompton, a collaborative research network which brings together researchers and co-researchers with an aim towards transforming the research landscape in Scotland. They also co-founded the Community Against Prejudice Towards Autistic People (CAPTAP) which brings together 200 scholars and autistic people with a specific focus of tackling systemic inequalities which autistic people face.
Monique is currently finishing a multi-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and previously held an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. Their work has been influential, particularly for reframing research away from deficit models and towards participatory and ethical approaches. Beyond research, Monique is an active mentor and advocate, supporting early-career researchers and co-creating networks to elevate neurodivergent voices in higher education.
Wenn Lawson (PhD): Dr. Wenn (an Autistic Trans Man) is passionate about autism, mental health, Family, and building autism understanding across the generations, professions and the world. He is a well-known autistic researcher, author, speaker and poet. Wenn, an Adjunct Associate Professor with Curtin University, WA, and Curtin University’s Autism Research Group is a proponent for co-production, “it must be nothing about us without us.”
Wenn is a key theorist of the Monotropism theory of Autism, he resides on a number of boards, including the editorial board for Autism in Adulthood and the Autism Research Institute (ARI) (US). Wenn recently joined The Silver Pride Network, (LEAP) Victoria and he is author/contributor to more than 40 books on various aspects/connections to autism.
In 2013 Wenn was recognised for his work in Autism and Advocacy across Australia; In 2021 awarded the Lesley Hall prize for Lifetime Achievement as a leader in disability; In 2023 Wenn, along with the team, was awarded the EdX 2023 award for excellence in online teaching (Autism and mental health MOOC); the translation of autism research into practice ‘Autism CRC 2023 award’ and the Lawrence P. Kaplan US Autism award.
More from Wenn:
