Eric Garcia Autistic Journalist

EPISODE 129
An Autistic Journalist in Washington:
A Discussion with Eric Garcia

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Show Notes

Eric Garcia is one of the very few autistic and neurodivergent journalists on the national scene, based in Washington, DC and covering congress and the Trump administration. Barry, Dave and Eric discuss his role as an autistic journalist, and his coverage of  Washington, DC politics, and current stories that impact the autistic and neurodivergent community.

Get the book: We Are Not Broken, by Eric Garcia.

Featuring

Eric Garcia

Eric Garcia

Eric Garcia is the senior Washington correspondent at The Independent and a columnist for MSNBC. He is the author of the book We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation” (2021). He has written for The Washington Post, National Journal, The New Republic, The Daily Beast, The American Prospect and elsewhere. He lives in Washington, DC.

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…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) Does Eric view his approach to journalism as different from neurotypical journalists? If so, how? Do you feel he feels a special obligation to focus on issues affecting the disability community?

 

2) Barry and Dave discuss three issues in recent news that are especially relevant as they impact autistic and other neurodivergent people and their families. Discuss each one of these issues, your opinions about them, and how they may affect you or people you know:

a) efforts to close the Department of Education,

b) Potential cuts to Medicaid and other programs that provide support for people with disabilities.

c) Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s efforts in his anti-vax rhetoric that may have the impact of “re-pathologizing autism” (i.e., “Autism destroys the lives of millions of children and shatters their families”.

 

3) What are Eric’s feelings about Elon Musk, and how his being neurodivergent may impact perceptions of autism and autistic people?  What do you think?

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.