Being with autistic people barry prizant dave finch

EPISODE 56
“Being with” autistic people:
A Conversation about Relationships with Dave and Barry

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Show Notes

It is widely accepted that many autistic children and adults may have difficulties feeling comfortable in social interaction and social relationships given neurotypical expectations. Non-autistic people also may also feel uncomfortable and may have difficulty adjusting their style of communication and social interaction to support successful social engagement. Dave and Barry discuss these issues from a neurotypical and autistic perspective, looking, in part, through the lens of cultural differences in autistic and neurotypical conventions, while acknowledging the great individual variations in across individual people.

Link to Workshop for Neurodiverse Couples, Dave and Kristen Finch.

Featuring

Dave Finch

DAVE FINCH

Dave Finch is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband. As a writer and creative consultant, his work has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, SiriusXM, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Howard Stern Show, and the award-winning Netflix series, Atypical. Based in Denver, Dave’s company, Elevated Studio, produces this podcast and other recognized series.

BARRY PRIZANT

BARRY PRIZANT, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Dr. Barry Prizant is a speech-language pathologist with close to 50 years experience as a researcher and international consultant for autistic individuals and their families. He is a Visiting Scholar at Brown University and Director, Childhood Communication Services. Publications include The SCERTS Model manuals, an educational approach implemented in more than a dozen countries, four books and 130 scholarly chapters and articles. Barry has presented more than 900 seminars and keynote addresses internationally, including two invited presentations at the UN for World Autism Awareness Day. He has received numerous honors for his career contributions.

…and Continue the Discussion

Do you have a book or podcast club? If so, you may use this discussion guide to facilitate a conversation about this episode.

1) Barry discusses the need to be a sensitive observer as well as self-reflective when sharing time with autistic children and adults. Why does he feel that these are basic tenets in assuring successful interactions and relationships for neurotypical partners? How does this approach honor the transactional nature of “being with” other people?

 

2) It has been suggested that some differences in communication and social interaction observed in autistic individuals when compared to neurotypical individuals may be described as cultural differences. That is, such differences are to be respected as following different rules or conventions of communication and engagement. Identify some specific differences you have observed for which it may be helpful to apply a cultural lens. Do you feel that it may be unhelpful to go too far in explaining all differences through variation in cultural conventions? 

 

3) From Dave and Barry’s conversation, and your personal experience as a parent, professional or autistic person, what changes will you make in being with an autistic person, or neurotypical partner, based on issues discussed in this episode?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Music

Matt Savage, courtesy of Savage Records

Matt Savage is an autistic jazz musician, composer, and bandleader. Matt has collaborated with jazz greats like Chick Corea, the Ellington All Stars, Chaka Khan, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Arturo O’Farrill, John Pizzarelli, Joshua Redman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi. Donny McCaslin, and more. He has recorded more than a dozen records and graciously contributes the music for Uniquely Human.

Production and Sound Design

ELEVATEDSTUDIO

Uniquely Human: The Podcast is produced, engineered, and edited by Elevated Studio in Denver, Colorado. Owned and operated by co-host Dave Finch, Elevated Studio produces digital media assets and content strategies for the electronics, entertainment, and lifestyle industries.