We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation – with Eric Garcia

Why has public discourse about autism been dominated by non-autistic voices? And, what’s been happening recently to change this?

My guest Eric Garcia breaks this down in today’s episode! Eric is a journalist based in Washington DC and the senior Washington correspondent for The Independent. He is also the author of the book, “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation” which was published in 2021.

During this episode, you will hear Eric talk about:

• Why non-autistic voices have traditionally dominated the public conversation about autism
• How government policies have shaped and evolved the public’s perceptions about autism
• Including a wide variety of autistic people’s experiences in his book – including non-speaking autistic people – as well as his own experiences as an autistic Latino man
• How writing this book helped him confront some of his own biases – and what he learned about becoming a better ally and learning from criticism
• Where the public can find accurate information about autism and the autistic community
• How social media has helped autistic people share their experiences, amplify their voices and effect change (for example, by calling out harmful autistic stereotypes about autism in a recent movie by a certain singer)

Buy Eric’s book, “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation”

Read Eric’s National Journal article (the precursor to “We’re Not Broken”)

Check out Eric’s recommendations for other helpful autism resources:
The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism
Sincerely, Your Autistic Child
#ActuallyAutistic on Twitter – hashtag used by autistic content creators (a good place to listen to autistic people, and especially helpful if you’re newly-diagnosed autistic)
#AskingAutistics on Twitter – use this hashtag to post questions you want to ask autistic people

Watch the video of this interview on YouTube!

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Click here for the episode transcript.

*Disclaimer: The views, guidance, opinions, and thoughts expressed in Beyond 6 Seconds episodes are solely mine and/or those of my guests, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer or other organizations.*