Autistic Queer Leadership

Transcript

Autistic Queer Leadership

June 8th, 2025

Episode Preview

Jillian Nelson is the Policy Director at the Autism Society of Minnesota. Jillian is a lesbian, queer, and Autistic person.  Jillian and I will discuss how Autistic Queer people, and the disability rights community are guiding our way through a year of aggressive marginalization. Welcome to LGBTQIA+ and Autistic Pride Month on Today’s Autistic Moment.

Segment 1

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On July 20th, there will be the one-and-a-half-hour episode Special Edition: What We Have to Say.  Five Autistic individuals will describe their reactions to the announcement by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. regarding a study into what causes the “Autism epidemic.” The guests will explain how they felt when they heard the news of an “Autism registry” and “data base” and what concerned them most.  The guest speakers will also describe their ideas of how Autistic Advocates and our allies can promote a better cultural understanding of Autistic people.  A.J. Locashio will join me for the last half hour to explain Autistic Advocates United: An Autistic and Allies Grassroots Movement is how we plan to act with what is happening.  Look for this special edition on July 20th.

After this first commercial break, Jillian Nelson will join me to talk about Queer Autistic Leadership.

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Commercial Break I

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Segment 2

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Philip King-Lowe 

Jillian Nelson, welcome to Today's Autistic Moment. It is my pleasure to have you here so welcome.

Jillian Nelson 

Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure. We've been friends for years, and it's nice to finally sit down and join your show.

Philip King-Lowe 

Thank you. Thank you for being here. And I agree. Long story short, for our audience, back in December 2017 I wandered into the Autism Society of Minnesota for the very first time, and Jillian was the receptionist, and she was my introduction to the Autism Society of Minnesota, and I attended the support groups that she facilitated, and boy, was it a lifesaver. So, I'd like you to know, Jillian, I am forever grateful that that happened, because AuSM is I always say that AuSM are my best Autistic friends in the entire world. So that's where that comes.

Jillian Nelson 

It's been quite a journey together, and like seeing how it's been exciting too, to see how both of us have grown like you went from just learning about all of this to running an amazing podcast, and now I get to be the Policy Director, so we've kind of grown up with the Autism community as things have changed over the years.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, we have. Well, it is now Pride Month, LGBTQIA+ Pride Month. And I'm going to say some things that I know our audience already knows, but let's, let's say it for the record here. We know that the LGBTQ+ communities and the Autistic communities have been experiencing a lot of baseless garbage here. You know, this has probably been one of the most difficult for me. We have been seeing horrific laws about our transgender, Autistic friends, and I'm sure that Jillian will tell you later, when we talk more, that this has been heartbreaking for us to watch, especially since there are so many Autistics who are transgender. Um, I'm going to say that one of the first things I saw when I attended one of the support groups, the support group for LGBTQ people, who are Autistic is we were in that meeting, and the majority of the attendants were transgender. Okay, so that just gives me a window as to how large that is. So today we're going to talk about Queer Autistic leadership, and this is going to be a loaded topic. Now, one of the reasons I've asked Jillian here is because Jillian has been part of the advocacy for the LGBTQ people and the Autistic people on a very active level. So that's one of the reasons I've invited Jillian here, and I know this is going to be a great conversation, believe me, you're going to love it. So, let's start off by building a foundation for our conversation. What does Autistic Queer leadership mean for Autistics as we are multidimensional, let's lay this foundation and go ahead.

Jillian Nelson 

So, I think Autistic Queer leadership it's, it's a really, it's still a very foreign concept to a lot of the public policy advocacy world. The disability advocacy world is still very, very used to our poster child leadership that we've historically had, where we have like the Autistic person that's going to advocate for themselves and speak out, and they're going to do it alongside their parent who has supported them the whole way and help them get all the right therapies and help them live independently. And as we've moved into an era that's a lot more focused on disability justice, we've seen a blossoming of Autistic Queer leadership. Because, like you said, like it's impossible to swing a cat in the Autistic community and not find queer people. We are very well represented in the Autistic community, and as more and more of us are stepping into leadership, and as more and more of us are stepping into leadership authentically and unmasking and stepping away from the paternal roles that have often kind of coached and guided Autistic leadership, we're seeing the prevalence of Autistic Queer leadership. It's coming of age, with some growing pains, the world isn't necessarily ready in all spaces to acknowledge both sexuality and disability in leadership, and that both of those play a vital role in how we lead and how we experience the world. But we're getting there, and I think, I think it's an important movement, because the intersectionality of queerness and disability is probably where, honestly, we're going to find the strongest fighters for our communities. Both the disability community and the queer community have been we were born to fight for our rights. It's part of our legacy. Both of these communities have been fighting since the beginning of our history for our civil rights, for our equal rights, for just simply our right to exist authentically. So, when you combine those two intersectionalities into a leadership role, we have some pretty determined and passionate people that have been born out of the fire of resilience and are ready to keep going and fight for Equity and Inclusion and our rights and not back down.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, you know, one of the challenges that you and I have spoken of, and others have spoken of, both on and off, off the air here on Today's Autistic Moment is that we have a disconnect between LGBTQ advocacy and Autism advocacy. Because the Autistic community, there have been many who have gone to like, here in Minnesota, we have LGBTQ lobby days, and they have gone, and Autistics have gone, and they've been pretty much silenced and spoke or just plain old, dismissed. And so, a lot of Autistics have had to find our own way of advocating for both, yeah and what I appreciate and the Autism Society of Minnesota knows how much I appreciate them. The one thing that I love about the Autism Society of Minnesota is that the Autism Society of Minnesota is an organization that has brought Jillian into that position of public policy advocacy that represents all aspects of our communities, including but not limited to disabilities and LGBTQ+. So, one of the disconnects has been that Autistics have often had to find their own ways of leadership, and queer people have often assumed that they don't need the voices of Autistics to advocate. And, you know, I'm going to say one more thing, and then I'm going to let Jillian talk. I believe very strongly that a lot of the resistance, a lot of the trouble we're having, especially with our Health and Human Services Secretary right now has a lot to do with the fact of how much the LGBTQIA+ and the Autistic community overlap. It has everything to do with that. Go ahead, Jillian.

Jillian Nelson 

You're absolutely not wrong when we think about the way that our current administration's laws and executive orders are targeting our trans community. It is not at all surprising to me that the Autism community is the first disability community that they're coming after. I don't think we'll be the last, but it does not surprise me at all that we are the first. I think it's a challenge when we look at the intersection of disability and queerness, because I think both of those populations come us and with certain expectations and stigmas, like when we look at the disability community and like overall as a community, we don't discuss sexuality and bodily autonomy nearly enough so like intersection meaning disability or sexual identities with disability is still something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. But then when we get into the LGBTQIA community, in the mainstream community, I mean, there's definitely some subcultures within that community that are very, very different. But like in the mainstream community, when we look at things like the queer community and media, and we look at things like massive queer events, or like where queer culture happens, like, let's be honest, queer culture happens in bars, and there's a certain level of expectation of social grace in those communities. There's a lot of unwritten social rules in the queer community of how to be, how to act, how to engage, how to present. And honestly, as an Autistic community, we don't always do well there. I remember my early 20s. Like, I look at pictures, I'm like, why was dating so hard? I was super cute, like, but I was also super awkward, and I couldn't, like, follow all the social rules that went into like, early 2000 lesbian land. So, I think we end up almost with our own subculture of, like, neurodiverse queerness. I'm really proud to be here at the Autism Society and with our partnerships with Twin Cities Pride and all of the work we've been doing regarding accessibility with Twin Cities Pride over the last almost 10 years, because I think we really are starting to break down some of those barriers, at least here in the Twin Cities, where we are starting to demand neurodiverse space and queer spaces, and those responses are being welcomed, like for those that haven't ever had a chance to visit Twin Cities Pride. We have a huge sensory space. It's right in the middle of the park, and we have sensory teams that roam the park to help people that might need support before they get to the sensory space. And we have accessible space at the parade. And this year we're actually going to have a mobile sensory room at the parade so that people can just like, sneak away and take a break and come back. So, we do a lot. And I think as far as like merging that leadership and those voices, like the first thing that's step one for me in creating Autistic Queer leadership in queer spaces is to kind of force the queer community to acknowledge that we exist, to acknowledge that we have needs, to acknowledge that we have the right to be in the same places that they are. We talk a lot about how the first pride was a riot, and that we need to acknowledge, like trans women and women of color, because they were the ones that led that first movement at Stonewall. But we don't talk a lot about the fact that the that we those women, those women that for threw the first bricks, they would have also fallen under the neurodiverse umbrella. They were black, trans, women with disabilities, and when we tell the story, we erase the piece of that story that involves disability, because it's for decades, it hasn't been something that's been okay to identify, but I think slowly but surely, at least here in Minnesota, we're bringing back that identity of disability and recognizing that the very, very foundation of the queer community, having civil rights, having freedom, having pride to celebrate, was started by a person with a disability, by a person that would be at a table filled with people who are neurodiverse, and I think bringing those stories to the forefront is step one, and really getting our community to engage.

After this next commercial break, Jillian and I will talk about how the Autistic Queer communities are engaged in the work of challenging the norms of ableism, Neuronormative, in terms of sexual and gender identities and meeting the needs of our intersectional communities.

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Commercial Break II

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Segment 3

Philip King-Lowe 

This is a great place to launch into my second question, and I want to talk about engaging our communities, especially our intersectional communities. And this is where I'm going to bring in a very important person, and that name is Nick Walker. They have talked about Neuroqueering, and there's one reminder that Nick shares is that queer is actually a verb. And I actually did an AI search on the word queering. And not surprisingly, this definition tends to focus mostly on sexual and gender matters, which, yes, that's true. But one of these, one of the key aspects it gave me, was social and political subversion. Queering is also a tool for activism and social critique, aiming to unsettle, complicate normative practices, spaces or discourses, such as introducing queer perspectives into traditionally heteronormative environments. And what Nick spoke about on my show a little while ago, a few while months a couple years ago, was that in Neuroqueering, as with any queering, what we are trying to do is liberate ourselves from the heteronormative, cis gender normative, and the neuro normative idea that there is a norm and that there is an abnorm. And so, the queer movements that exists for the LGBTQ people and the Neurodiversity movement are, in fact, cooperatively resisting the normative cultures. Now, having said that, this is an example of where Autistic Queer leadership involves all of our intersectional communities. Before the break, Jillian mentioned that the movement began with a woman who was disabled, transgender, add the rest. And what strikes me is that the LGBTQ movement and the movements for Neurodiversity have been horribly whitewashed. And I hate to say it, but even we have ableism issues within our Autistic communities. Go ahead, talk about that. Jillian.

Jillian Nelson 

Oh, it's we have as a community as a whole, both the queer community and the disability community, we have not been inclusive in terms of calling in our BIPOC community members. Yeah, we look at the history, I mean, and even in our queer community, we still have very, very divided culture within like the white queer community and the BIPOC queer community that's still very, very segregated, and I think it's a heartbreaking thing, because there are so many beautiful things in the BIPOC queer community that I think really just deserve to be lifted up and celebrated and seen and appreciated. But we don't celebrate the BIPOC contributions to the queer community unless it's in large entities like Marsha P or RuPaul, things like that. And I think we can do better. I also think that a lot of that is the systemic ableism and systemic homophobia, like when we look at our BIPOC communities, we don't see, like, it's a different type of pride. It's a quieter pride. And things take a lot are a lot more, I don't want to say elite, but like, it's, it's more private and less out and public. Like, they don't have giant, there's not giant BIPOC Queer bars on Hennepin Avenue. It's parties that take place in smaller venues and smaller engagements. And like we see the same things within the BIPOC disability community. And I think we really, in order to understand the lack of diversity in both the queer community and the disability community, we really need to look at the systemic racism. When you have an individual who might be living that life of intersectionality, of being queer and disabled and BIPOC like you, you're only going to show so many of your cards to the world. And when you're spending your day trying to stay alive, fighting systemic ableism or fighting systemic racism, you're not going to put your disability cards and your queer cards openly out, because those make you more vulnerable. And our BIPOC communities have been conditioned to fight for survival, and presenting any other types of vulnerabilities makes them more vulnerable to all of the systemic things, to institutionalization, to involvement with our CPS agencies, to ostracization from the religious communities, where they find a lot of support and a lot of community. And so, I think in order to break down some of the systemic ableism and some of the systemic homophobia we have in our society. The first step is to really address the systemic racism. Like until and like, I always say that if we're identifying as queer, queer, like, like Nick Walker talks about it's a verb. I always tell people that for me, identifying as queer, it's not about who I love. It's about my politics and how I live my life. And if I want to queer, be queer in this world, I need to be committed to bringing along all the other people that are living in a marginalized world. And that means abolishing systemic racism. It means abolishing the ableism. It means addressing all of the systemic things that keep people who are living intersectional lives from living their best lives, and until we do that, none of us are truly actually free.

Philip King-Lowe 

Right. Yeah, and I mean our, our advocacy, our activism, really is not complete unless we are advocating for and with everyone. Now I will say that in many ways, the Autistic community is better at inclusions that I've seen. However, the issue of systemic racism is a big one because of the fact that most of the diagnostic language in in the DSM is very much you know about white, male, cisgender, all the rest, okay, but also, you've heard Precious Lesley in here. You've heard other black Autistics in here say, for example, that them getting a diagnosis is even more challenging because of things like the black culture tends to be louder in volume. The black culture tends to be more assertive in styles. And so, they've had, there are those who have gone and they've said, you can't be because you're loud and you're you know, because it's part of their culture, therefore the rest of it doesn't apply when, in fact, there's a lot more of that going on. I mean, you heard Shalese Heard earlier this season talk about how she has gone into groups of black individuals, and she has spoken up like she has, and she's been told she's even louder than the rest.

Jillian Nelson 

Okay, so fun fact, when I was growing up, like in high school, middle school, most of my friends were black, and it was because I fit in like it was loud and assertive and yeah, my friends versus the rest of the white girls that wanted to bat their eyelashes and curl their hair and I didn't care about things.

Philip King-Lowe 

So, yeah, and then there's the other matter that I have said on this show multiple times I'm going to repeat, because I think again, this has to do with why the Autistic community is being so badly attacked this year. I do believe that all Autistic individuals, regardless of the gender you were born with or your sexual orientation, that we are all gender non-conforming.

Jillian Nelson 

I would 100% agree with that statement. Early on in my policy career, I was sitting in the office of the former senator Jason Isaacson, and he looked at me one day and he was like, you know, he was my former college professor, so we had a good relationship, and he looked at me, he's like, Do you know what I like about you as a lobbyist? I was like, what Jason? And he's like, when you when your feet hit the hill, you claim male privilege. And it was this really great insight like that. What made me such a different lobbyist as an Autistic adult was that I never really follow, like, the gender norms of how people act on the hill. Like, I'll walk straight into a meeting. I'm not going to ask you about your kids and the weather. I'm going to tell you exactly what I need from you and how you can help me and why you should help me. And he's like, and this is refreshing, like so many, like, I started watching the other female Autistic or female lobbyist on the hill, and looking at how other women were leading, and realizing, oh yeah, no, I don't follow any of the same patterns. Like I really do follow, like, more of the social norms of the male lobbyists. When I come up here, and that was really interesting to me, and I won't lie, it kind of sent me into, like, this whole search, trying to figure out, well, am I non binary? Am I gender non-conforming? What does that mean? And then, I'll be honest, it made my head hurt, and I realized I'm 40 something years old. It doesn't actually matter what my gender identity is, I'm just going to live as myself. And I stopped thinking about it because it was stressing me out. But yeah, no, I can 100% agree with that, like I don't think any of us really fully conform to those gender norms or those standards. We kind of don't pick it up naturally, so we just perform the gender we identify as in the way that makes the most sense to us.

Philip King-Lowe 

Right. And I remember I've had Precious Lesley in here Sarah Dwan. And you know, they are both females, and they have said, you know, when they were younger, they were accused of being tomboys, you know, which meant that, you know, they were very aggressive for their gender. And then I can tell you that, I am cisgender male, and I know a number of cisgender Autistic males, some who are straight, some who are not. And we tend to be very highly sensitive in a feminine kind of way, you know, and we tend to, you know, we tend to be more like that. So, I do think it is. It's not something that we're saying just because we're saying it because it's true. Now we know that not everybody's going to share that opinion. And of course, you're welcome to keep whatever opinion you want, and some are going to be more gender conforming. I just think that there's enough, enough proof of that that we're really not and again, I think this has everything to do with the oppression that's going on at this time. Now I'd like to turn our attention to the third point which we’ve been talking a lot about this as we talk about Navigating the Future of Multidimensional Autistic Leadership, and this has to do with how we are physical, cultural and all the other things I've mentioned that interdependence is our best way to advocate. And actually, interdependence fits into what we were just talking about with regards to our intersectional communities. You know, if we can only get the idea that Autistic Queer leadership has to do with all of us being interdependent upon each other, including with our all of our intersectional communities. This is an important part of who we are. You know, there are, you know, this is where we want to talk about some ways that we can support Autistics to be proactive and not just reactive. Here, go ahead, Jillian, please talk.

Jillian Nelson 

I think interdependence. I was just, I was actually just in a conversation about this this weekend at a Partners in Policy Making graduation. I think sometimes we get stuck on this idea that I'll be a leader, or I'll make change, or I'll help the system, when I have my life together. Like there's this magical like summit that we're going to reach where everyone's like, your executive functions working great, and like everything's okay, and like, nothing's a mess. And that's when I'll show up and I'll do the work, because I can't possibly do the work until I get to that place. And this is where I'm very, very committed to being authentic in my existence, because I've had that for a long time too. And then I realized that there was no magic summit. I was never going to have it all together. I'm always going to be semi feral and a hidden mess behind closed doors. And I can be a mess and still make change. I can be a mess and still be a leader and like really recognizing that in that interdependence, we all have different capacity for leadership. Like my leadership really looks like going to the capital and testifying at hearings and speaking at rallies and organizing and writing laws, but I am dependent on other people and their abilities. Like, I'm a horrible data person. I'm so bad at finding data and putting it into talking points, I'm even worse at analyzing data that's just a bunch of numbers. So, like, I really rely on a lot of Autistic Advocates to help me with those things, to really bring them to the table. And I think that's like, when we talk about Queer Autistic leadership, that's really probably the biggest takeaway, is that it really is going to be an active interdependence. There's not one person that can show up and be the poster child for Queer Autistic leadership, because there's not one of us. It's going to have all the skills and all the tools necessary to tackle what we need to tackle as Queer Autistic leadership. It's going to be all of us coming together as one unit, as an interdependent unit, and presenting that unified front to the world of what Queer Autistic people are capable of. So, it's going to be me on Capitol Hill. It's going to be you bringing together all the right voices to have all these really amazing conversations. It's going to be my data nerds behind the scenes. It's going to be the Autistic therapist that we employ here at the Autism Society to help people heal their wounds and like, live better lives. Like, it's going to take all of us for Queer Autistic leadership, which will become Queer Autistic liberation, and we're all going to walk through that doorway together, because it's going to take all of us to build that legacy.

Philip King-Lowe 

Right. And as my longtime friend and Self-Care Specialist Becca Lory Hector has been on here to say, your Autistic leadership must include your self-care. You absolutely have to do it. And you know, this is one of those places because you were just talking about, you know, if you gotta show up when your executive functioning is, "working," a lot of that actually is your own internalized ableism talking. I'm gonna say that out loud. But the other part is that recognizing that you show up as you are, but also our interdependence includes all of us taking that time to stim or fidget or seek um some sensory input that comforts us or some kind of whether it's group discussions or talking with our best friends or, you know, engaging in the positive relationships we have. It includes all the things that we do to take care of ourselves. Blogging is a great way to do your self-care, you know, and just indulge in those things you know, even in these rather perilous times, it is okay for you to say the word no.

Jillian Nelson 

Yeah, thanks.

Jillian Nelson 

It is a complete sentence.

Philip King-Lowe 

It's a complete sentence, yes. So, I mean, these are things you simply must do. And I also want to bring in here the fact that there's a tendency um, when there are campaigns such as the ones for transgender and queer people, like there are now, and of course, the actions regarding our health and human services right now, internalized homophobia, internalized transphobia, and internalized ableism are unavoidable consequences, because it's so much negativity around you that we internalize it, okay, and part of your self-care is, is to help yourself purge those messages, if you will, go ahead and talk about that Jillian.

Jillian Nelson 

Um, yeah, I think, I think it's a challenge. This is one of the things I have found to be most challenging in the Autism community, is really challenging ourselves and our own lines of thinking. We tend to be a really black and white community, that things either are they aren't. One of the greatest lessons I've learned in politics is that the only thing that's black and white is that everything is gray. There's always pieces in the middle there that don't necessarily fall in the black and white, and it can be hard, especially as an Autistic Adult, to really challenge some of those thoughts that we've always held as black and white and recognizing that some of that all or nothing thinking really can be stemmed in transphobia or homophobia or internalized ableism or internalized racism, and really starting to address those, I really urge us to be gentle with one another in our community. The best way that we're going to grow and change in those isms is by gently working with each other and identifying those things and saying, hey friend, like when you say that that kind of is really, really transphobic, and this is why, and then being open to listening, even though being told we're wrong is something that most Autistic people don't do super great with we have to take that deep breath and listen because Autism and our understanding of the world or our processing skills and being told we're wrong, that doesn't give us carte blanche to exist and hold on to problematic thoughts and theories and beliefs like we do need to do better, and we need to do better so that we can lift each other up and we can support each other, and we can, like, celebrate all of the beautiful diversity that is the Autism community. And I know it's going to be a hard journey, and I know that growth and learning isn't always comfortable, but it's something we're all gonna have to do together.

After this final commercial break, Jillian will talk about her experience with lobbying at the Minnesota State Capitol. Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board will follow.

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Commercial Break III

Public Service Announcement 

The 4th of July is coming up in a few weeks.  July 4th is not the best day for many Neurodivergent people and those with PTSD because of the fireworks.  The sound of fireworks can be a terrible trigger for the auditory sensory processing needs of many Autistics.  If you are affected by the sound of fireworks wear your noise cancelling headphones to decrease the volume of the fireworks noise, and/or find a safe space where you can fidget or do something to distract you.  If you are a caregiver of an Autistic person of any age who is affected by such sounds, please do not make them attend the fireworks as the brightness of the lights and the loud noise from them can have serious repercussions.  Let them wear noise cancelling headphones without saying negative things to your Autistic individual who react to those sounds.  They are not pretending, nor do they need to be made to feel that they are doing anything wrong.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment.

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Future Shows

On June 22nd, Jax Bayne will be my guest for the episode Autistic Nonbinary Leadership: Binary is the Barrier.  Autistic Leadership is about mutual support and empowerment. Jax Bayne is an Autistic nonbinary thought leader and a peer support worker. Jax will talk about how Autistic nonbinary people are an important part of the cultural shift away from systemic oppression.

Carole Jean-Whittington and I will be co-hosting the Summer of Self-Care Series (SOSS).  This year’s topics and guests are, on July 13th, Self-Care Through Story Telling with Tiffany Hammond. On July 24th, Lee-Anne Rueber joins us for Self-Care: Wellness for All Autistic Bodies.  In August, Michelle Markman will talk about Self-Care: Boundaries & Holistic Wellness. On August 24th, Lisa Morgan will join us for Strength Based Self-Care in a Medical Deficit Culture. 

Go to the future shows page on todaysautisticmoment.com for more details.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment.

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Segment 4

Philip King-Lowe 

Before we conclude this, you have been advocating big time this year at our State Capitol. And for my audience who doesn't know, there's been a lot of shake up this year because they've been moving to reduce the funding for certain disability waiver programs. And of course, the number one issue on all of our minds is what happens if Medicare and Medicaid Services are cut or funding is cut, and what that could really mean. One of the organizations you all would do well to follow is also the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network that is really on the forefront of following all this and informing the community about what's happening there. But you've been on the forefront of that at our own capital here in Minnesota. Can you share with us a little bit of what that's like and where you've noticed progress and that sort of thing. Maybe it'll help us all get a little hope here and there. You know?

Jillian Nelson 

It's really like swimming through an aquarium filled with lime Jell-O most days. It's complicated and it's messy and everything feels a little bit sticky. We're definitely even though things are messy and it's none of this is personal. Unfortunately, I wish it was personal, because you can change people's minds when it's personal, if it's a belief system, you can change things. This is all economic unfortunately, like with inflation and the changes in our economy, our state just our budget isn't budgeting, and that's why there's cuts happening. But it's been really interesting to see the allies that have stepped up that in in the years of abundance, as we've advocated for growth, and so we've advocated for system change, when there has been money to work with, seeing those legislators that we've worked with on those things that were slow in the change process, to really step up to the plate and fight for us and fight with us has been really, really healing in a time of a lot of hurt, and it's also been really exciting that as we talk about some of these system cuts and we talk about budgeting, there's been a lot of talk about things that would make the system easier for people with disabilities, while also being cost saving. So, we're hoping to see some of that in the final budget, because I don't think it's always about cutting just line items and saying, no, we're not going to spend this money. But I'm the first person that will tell you, I'm a huge proponent that I think the biggest perpetuator of waste and abuse in the Medicaid and Medicare system is not actually people or providers, but it's how the system works. It is incredibly inefficient, incredibly inaccessible, and if we make the system work better for people, we're also going to make the system be a lot more cost effective. Yeah, so we're starting to actually have some conversations around that as well. It's slow moving. We're not going to see all the fixes coming out of system transformation this time, but we're definitely seeing some and we're seeing a lot of passion, and we're seeing a lot of dedication and commitment, and it feels good to know that we're not alone. Just a shout out to Senator Erin Maye Quade, who has been a leading factor in making sure that Minnesota includes a lot of provisions in all of their policy bills this year to protect Autistic Minnesotans from a registry or a database going forward make sure that our information is safe. It's been really heartwarming. I was trying to figure out who we should go to and who would be our best advocate for that, when I was watching a floor session one day and realized that they were fighting and arguing for it before we even came to them. And that was really beautiful to know that, like we've been up there, we've been talking enough, we've been making our needs known enough that they hear our voices before we're even speaking to them.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, and, boy, that's a big move from where we were here, not many years ago, right?

Jillian Nelson 

Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. And I feel, I feel very, I don't want to say I feel very hopeful, because hope hopes in a short supply right now, but I feel as safe as I feel I can feel in the current climate living in Minnesota, and that our Governor and our legislative bodies are looking out for us so.

Philip King-Lowe 

Jillian, thank you so much for being here for this great conversation. You know, I am very grateful to you for how work you do has impacted my own life and is really so helpful to so many Autistic, disabled and queer people. And you know, if you're looking for some ideas about how to advocate, by all means, contact. Jillian Nelson. Jillian, if someone wants to get a hold of you, how can they do that?

Jillian Nelson 

They can reach out to me via the Autism Society at jnelson@ausm.org, or by filling out our advocacy and interest form on our website at ausm.org.

Philip King-Lowe 

Sounds good. Jillian, thanks so much for this time and wow.

Jillian Nelson 

Always a pleasure. Philip, always a pleasure.

Philip King-Lowe

Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board

All these events and many others not mentioned here with their links are available on

todaysautisticmoment.com/bulletinboard.

The Adult Coffee Club for Autistic Adults in Minnesota are held on the second Tuesday of every month (weather permitting) at Dogwood Coffee located at 2700 University Ave W. Suite 100 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Zip Code for your GPS is 55114. The Adult Coffee Clubs will begin at 4pm to 6pm on June 10th. July 8th. August 12th.

Understanding Autism virtual classes are offered by The Autism Society of Minnesota. The next classes will be on June 9th, 6-7pm. July 14th, 10-11am. August 11th, 12-1pm. Classes are free of charge, but you must register to attend.

On July 31st beginning at 9am to 12pm, Logan Sand and Ly Baumgardt will present a workshop at The Autism Society of Minnesota entitled: Demystifying the “Sex Talk.”  Autistic individuals and their support systems often feel underequipped to discuss important topics like consent, boundaries, healthy relationships, and socially appropriate behaviors within those relationships. This workshop aims to demystify those topics and provide tangible tools for their discussion.

The Summer Autism Certification Virtual Class at The Autism Society of Minnesota will be on Friday August 22nd, 29th, and September 5th beginning at 9:30am to 12:30pm.  The objectives are understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder and how it can affect communications, relationships and behaviors. Each session is limited to 15 participants.  Register early to attend.

Go to ausm.org to get more information about these and other social and recreational programs, educational events, counseling services and support groups at The Autism Society of Minnesota.

MNeurodivergent is a social club rooted in a vision of bringing Neurodivergent Minnesotans together to build meaningful connections.  Its core principle is to foster an environment where all are treated with dignity and respect regardless of ability or preferences. Go to their website mneurodivergent.org for more information, become a member, volunteer and attend their events.

Today’s Autistic Moment is here because of the generosity of supporters and sponsors.  Go to todaysautisticmoment.com and select Support Today’s Autistic Moment to donate. 

If you have questions about Today’s Autistic Moment, please send an email to todaysautisticmoment@gmail.com.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment: A Podcast for Autistic Adults by An Autistic Adult.

May you have an Autistically Amazing day.

♫ Closing Background Music with credits ♫

All of the guests meet with me on Zoom to record the interviews. The interview transcripts are provided by Otter. The podcast is prepared and edited on WavePad Masters Edition by NCH Software.  The podcast is published by Spotify for Podcasters.  The Music that you hear is licensed to Today’s Autistic Moment by premiumbeat.com.