What happens to Autistic women and non-binary people in menopause? At a time when more and more people are receiving a diagnosis of Autism in midlife, we are only just beginning to discover what’s going on.
In this episode, we hear a range of Autistic people talking about their experiences of their perimenopause and postmenopause life, what helped them, and what made things worse. Dr Rachel Mosely, who is Autistic herself and the principal academic in the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University, offers us an overview of the situation along with her excellent research papers on menopause and autism. I am hugely grateful to all those who gave their time to share their experiences with us.
You will hear from:
Lucy Pierce: author, artist and publisher
Margaret Pelling: 74, a retired civil servant, author, wife, mother and grandmother who has a PhD in astrophysics.
A contributor who prefers to remain anonymous
Dr Rachel Moseley: principal academic in the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University. She is autistic and her research centres around issues facing autistic adults, particularly mental health, suicidality, self-harm and ageing.
With gratitude also to Rosie Barnes for her generous help with this project.
Resources
Dr Rachel Moseley’s research
Dr Rachel Moseley’s resources and support
AsperDames support group
Autism information
Lucy Pierce’s excellent article and book list
Ravelled Up by Jess Glenny
Trauma Geek, excellent resources on Neurodiversity, trauma and neurology
Self-directed female/non-binary autism questionnaire
Rosie Barne’s ‘No, You’re Not’ photography project at the Wellcome Insitute
Stay up to date with my goings-on:
Instagram @kate_codrington
Second Spring: the self-care guide to menopause is published by HarperCollins and available from your favourite bookshop
You will find the podcast on Spotify, iTunes and all major platforms, just search for ‘Life – An Inside Job’.
If you enjoyed the episode yourself, then it would be fab if you shared it with a friend or with your community on social media.
Listen to more episodes
Music
Trust Me (instrumental) by RYYZN
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream
Music promoted by Audio Library
Artwork
Kate’s portrait by Lori Fitzdoodles
