Autistic Joy on Aucademy: 23.04.2022
Channel: Aucademy
Date: 2022-04-24

Recorded and originally aired: 23rd of April 2022 19:00 London BST; 11:00 PST:
Autistic Joy on Aucademy

We created this video for free, but we would welcome a very small donation so that we may pay the speakers for their time and work. Please consider donating to our Patreon https://bit.ly/33Urana or donating via Facebook stars 

In this session, a number of Autistic people discuss Autistic joy: what is it? What does it feel like? Why it is important to focus on Autistic joy, especially in April.

Guest speaker details (more to follow): 
Nathan Spoon (He/him) is an Autistic poet with learning disabilities whose poems and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Crazyhorse, Gulf Coast, Poetry, Poetry Daily, and the anthologies How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope and Sonnets from the American: An Anthology of Poems and Essays. He is the author of a debut collection Doomsday Bunker and the chapbook Fail Better! Feel Great!! and editor of Queerly. 
IG: @bloomymoss, Twitter: @npspoon 
https://nathanspoon.com/ 
Two poems: https://theboilerjournal.com/tag/nathan-spoon/ Two poems: https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/two-poems-by-nathan-spoon/ Three poems: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/nathan-spoon
This from Jennifer White-Johnson: https://thinkingautismguide.com/2019/10/autistic-joy-as-act-of-resistance.html

Callum Brazzo (He/him) - Autistic performance poet, currently working on a direct autistic-led response to Autism Speaks' 100 Day Kit. Also working on a book called Ripples, a film and a theatre show called Compass, appearing in TEDx talks - http://www.callumbrazzo.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq9vcfOMKHM
PROJECTS Autistic led clothing brand - Aut-couture.teemill.com Instagram - @we.are.autcouture PERSONAL Twitter and Instagram - @CallumBrazzo
Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker The Neurodiversity Reader - Lead editor; Damian Milton Autistic And Living The Dream Autistic Coffee Shop with Tigger Pritchard

Ben Usher-Barrass (he/him) is 22, and discovered he was Autistic when he was diagnosed late in 2017, when he was age 17 (a month before he turned 18). Ben's dedicated interests are gaming and the Marvel cinematic universe. Ben discovered he was Autistic because a school counsellor thought he might be and asked CAMHS to do an assessment. Ben would say his challenges are difference in communication, not being able to express himself fully and then the sensitivity from RSD [rejection sensitivity dysphoria] that follows when he does try to express himself and be himself. But Ben's strengths are having hyper-empathy and being able to understand people on a unique level, as well as his sensitivities being strengths with the right people as it shows that he cares. https://www.facebook.com/Autisticality / instagram: AutisticalityAu

Victoria Busuttil (they/them) is an Aucademy modmin who discovered they were Autistic when they were 44 and ADHD at 48. Their dedicated interest is textile art and was a finalist in an Emerging Artist award. Fan of squishmallows. Instagram: msb_journey

Clove Ellis (hey/him) lives and works in Detroit, Michigan. They are currently a Graduate student at Wayne State University pursuing a Masters of Arts Administration. They are also working full time making radically expressive wearable art through their small arts business, Peachfuzzums. Clove is an artist, curator, and advocate for queerness and neurodivergent diagnoses through the arts. They are multiply queer, specifically transgender and nonbinary.

Clove's studio work addresses themes of connection, expression, play, healing, and curiosity. They focus on creating pieces that are inviting, interactive, and create surprise. They hope that their administrative work will center around advocacy for the queer and neurodivergent communities through arts opportunities.

Jaesic Feathers (they/he) - Queer, disabled Autistic advocate, neurodivergent life coach, blogger, & community organizer. facebook.com/thequeercult  queercult.org/coaching

Aucademy hosts for this session: 
Dr Annette Foster (she/they) - Autistic academic (Autistic cultural studies; creative participatory practice), educator, & self-advocate 

David Gray-Hammond (he/him) - Autistic writer, educator & presenter at Aucademy, & Autistic addiction & mental health advocate facebook.com/emergentdivergence/  
emergentdivergence.com

Ben Usher-Barrass (he/him) - Autistic advocate, Aucademy host, and administrative manager https://www.facebook.com/Autisticality / instagram: AutisticalityAu [NOTE Jaesic voices Ben's words this session, Ben is onscreen using a potato filter]

**Please note we are not clinicians or diagnosticians**