Educating Future Autistic Leadership

Transcript

Educating Future Autistic Leadership

April 13th, 2025

Episode Preview

Jenna Olson is a graduate from Minnesota Independence College & Community.  Jenna is here to tell us about her Autistic journey. Jenna will share what life was like before she began attending Minnesota Independence College & Community and how MICC helped her to become more independent to be an Autistic leader in her daily work and life.  When young Autistic people can be who they are and educated to be leaders in Autism Acceptance, they change the rules in a time when we never needed more courageous Autistics to show us a path to a better tomorrow than we do now. Welcome to the episode Educating Future Autistic Leadership on Today’s Autistic Moment.

Segment 1

♫ Today’s Autistic Moment’s Theme Song, Today is Your Day ♫

Today is your day on Today’s Autistic Moment: A Podcast for Autistic Adults by An Autistic Adult. Where Autistic Adults get to be yourselves in a space that is safe and made especially for you. While listening to this podcast, you stim, and fidget all you like.

This first segment of Today’s Autistic Moment is sponsored by The Autism Society of Minnesota, known as AuSM throughout Minnesota’s Autism Community. As Minnesota’s First Autism Resource for more than 50 years, AuSM serves the whole state, the whole spectrum for the whole life. Visit AuSM at ausm.org.

Before I begin, I want to give some basic information about Today’s Autistic Moment to help all listeners find our many resources.

Please visit todaysautisticmoment.com where you can listen to the podcast, get transcripts, program updates, and read the guest bios pages. You can also visit the Adult Autism Resources Links Page. Please visit the Future Shows Page to read the titles, guests, and descriptions of all the shows coming up. The transcripts are sponsored by Minnesota Independence College & Community. There is a link provided to get access to a document form of the transcript without the purple-colored background so that you can print it without using up the ink on your printer. The written document has a font that is accessible for dyslexics. There are additional transcripts available in Spanish, German, French, and Chinese Simplified.

Please follow Today’s Autistic Moment on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Blue Sky.  Join Today’s Autistic Moment Community Group page on Facebook for conversations and updates. Please subscribe to the YouTube channel @todaysautisticmoment to watch any episode of Autistic Voices Roundtable Discussions.

In celebration of Autism Acceptance Month, James Erickson, whom I have known for a long time now, has given me permission to use a poem he wrote entitled In the Silence of Self-Acceptance.  

I once moved through a world that spun too fast, a quiet hum inside, never quite in tune with the noise outside.  Thoughts twisted, tangled—Words felt foreign, Like hands reaching but never quite grasping. 

Yet in the stillness, I began to hear my own rhythm, Not shaped by expectations, but an unwavering truth.  My mind, a landscape rich with colors unseen, Not broken, not needing to fit, But whole in its own way.

I’ve learned that my rhythm needs not match the world’s. The pauses between my words are spaces where meaningful breathes, And silence, never still, Becomes a quiet breath before something deeper stirs.

Acceptance isn’t about reshaping the world; It’s about allowing myself to exist without apology. Not a riddle to unravel, But a living thing, wild and real, Unfolding in its own time.

In my differences, I find strength-A quiet power, soft yet clear, Felt in the things I notice that others overlook, In the way I experience a world that is both too loud and too still.

Let me be as I am, And in that being, let the world learn to see, Not just what’s familiar, But the quiet beauty of things that need not conform—The intricate patterns, the waves that carve, Not to fit, but to exist, In a dance of strength, of truth reborn.

©2025, James Erickson. All Rights Reserved.

Used with Permission.

As the above poem is copyrighted, do not use it without permission of the author James Erickson or without including his copyright that is written in the transcript. 

After this first commercial break, Jenna Olson will join me to talk about how Minnesota Independence College & Community is Educating Future Autistic Leadership. 

♫ Segment Ending Music ♫

Commercial Break I

Podcast Apps

Today’s Autistic Moment can be downloaded and heard on most podcast apps including Apple. Google Play. Breaker. Castbox. Overcast. iHeartRadio. Pocket Casts. RadioPublic. Spotify. TuneIn. Pandora. Amazon Music. Audible. Podcast Addict. Podcast Chaser. If you are looking for transcripts, go to todaysautisticmoment.com, click on the episode you want to listen to and follow the directions to find the transcripts. 

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment

♫ Looking Forward Life Coaching Ad ♫

♫Best Care Ad♫

Segment 2

♫Segment Beginning Music♫

Philip King-Lowe 

Jenna Olson, welcome to Today's Autistic Moment. It is a pleasure that you have accepted my invitation to be a guest. So welcome.

Jenna Olson 

Thank you. I'm excited to be here. First time doing a podcast.

Philip King-Lowe 

Oh, well, good. Well, I'm sure you will do well. All right, we are starting, of course, Autism Acceptance Month, and this is being recorded on April 1st, so we are right on schedule. And so given the focus of Today's Autistic Moment, this year about Navigating the Future of Multidimensional Autistic Leadership. I wanted to have a couple shows this month about helping future Autistic leadership. Because they're the ones who are going to have to navigate the future of all that is going on now so and Minnesota Independence College and Community is a generous supporter of Today's Autistic Moment and a proud business partner with Today's Autistic Moment, and I am always grateful for their continued support and partnership. It's an invaluable resource in Minnesota, and one that I can say is envied by many in other states. So, with that in mind, let's build a foundation for our conversation today.

And as part of this, I'd like to ask you, Jenna, before you started attending MICC, what was school and life like?

Jenna Olson

Yeah, so I grew up in Duluth, and life was very different before MICC say, let's just start with that. So, I was first diagnosed at the end of sixth grade. I remember in sixth grade, I had a lot of different behavioral issues, and nobody could figure out what the heck was going on. And when I was diagnosed, it was just like, oh, this is what's going on. Let's figure out a way to help Jenna get where she needs to be in life. So, I remember in middle school, in seventh and eighth grade, I remember having, I had a professional with me, kind of guiding me, making sure I was making the right decisions. I also had what's called a behavioral sheet, where they would track different points and how I regulated myself. And at the beginning that was not very good, but slowly and surely, I was able to figure out how the heck to get through middle school and then in high school, when I first started high school, it was a bit of an eye opener, because I didn't have that person with me anymore. My high school didn't offer that, but I was for the most part. My freshman year, I was in a part of the school that was kind of segregated away from the norm, the other people. And then I slowly integrated myself away from throughout the four years, I slowly integrated myself away from that wing of the high school into being almost fully independent. And then MICC came, and they really helped grow that independence.

Philip King-Lowe 

How did you find out about MICC?

Jenna Olson

So, my mom was the first one who found MICC. My high school was throwing a resource fair, and my mom attended, and then she later looked online and was just like, “this existed? How were you supposed to know that this existed?” So, she went online, and we went through it, and we set up an interview, and we went and, well, the first day that we went, it was more like a question to answer, you know, like, what is MICC? What do we offer? How can we support you? Stuff like that, and then the second, the second time I visited, it was an actual like spend a day here at MICC, where I spent some time with staff, and then we went and we spent some time in what's called the Student Center, which is like a normal hangout area for participants, and I got to see, I got to tour an apartment which was really nice, a three bedroom apartment with roommates. And it's basically, I got to feel what it would be like to be on the MICC campus, which was really nice.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, and what was that like for you as you were going through things? Did you find yourself comfortable? Or what would what was going through your mind as you were going through that?

Jenna Olson

Um, I remember the first, the first interview, I was very nervous. I didn't say much because I was, you know, taking it all in. I remember the one of the first thoughts I had about MICC was, wait a second, why would they put a college in an apartment complex? That doesn't make sense. I'm used to schools being in bigger buildings, not in apartment complexes. It was just but then I was just like, this is actually pretty cool that they have a school and an apartment complex, because you can use these as classrooms. You don't have to go. You don't have to leave the building to experience cooking or cleaning or stuff like and stuff like that.

Philip King-Lowe 

And then, when you first began attending classes and living at MICC. Tell us what that might have been like.

Jenna Olson

So, MICC was my college experience, and it was the first time of living away from my parents. I don't remember too much of the first week, but I do remember, you know, it for me, it felt nice to be able to do stuff and not have the parents over my shoulder saying or asking, “What you doing, where are you going, what's happening?” Felt it felt nice to be free from the parental guidance.

Philip King-Lowe 

When you first got to MICC, and what you're telling me, happened was there something in particular that helped you know that you were in the right place for you.

Jenna Olson 

I think having an instructor or advisor that you could go to if you had any issues, and then say, and then validating you saying, “Yeah, that sounds that sounds like a tricky situation. Let me help you through it.” Instead of saying, this is how, this is how you should handle this. This is how you need to think about this.

Philip King-Lowe 

We know that being Autistic sometimes we have those experiences of explaining what's going on with us and having people not really believe us that we know what we're talking about, and I would guess that Minnesota Independence College and Community helps you to find out for yourself that your Autistic needs are important. They do believe you, and they're willing to give you the space to be who you are, without asking you to be or do something that you are not, because of who you are. Right?

Jenna Olson 

Mm, hmm, yep.

Philip King-Lowe 

When that happened, can you talk about what? Maybe you can talk about the relief you might have felt. I know I'm putting around the spot here Jenna.

Jenna Olson

Yeah, no, it's okay. It's okay. I felt better noting that I didn't have to solve the issue myself. That's one thing that, um, I'm still working on, still trying to figure out, or that's something this realization that I'm still working on today. But just knowing that I don't need to solve this. This is not my issue. This is their issue. This person has the staff and support that they need to figure out what the heck is going on in their life so they can help solve it.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, that all sounds great. That is so important, and when we're talking about educating the future of Autistic leadership. Um, there is nothing so important as it is helping Autistic individuals know that that their identity is not disordered and it's not it is real, it is a good thing, and it needs its own special kind of nurturing. You know, being Autistic, there's so much negativity around us, that somehow, we're unusual, so unusual, or we're “a danger to society,” which we know is absolutely not true. And the thing is, is that it's just a matter of putting us in the best environment that we can be in so that we can, you know, get ourselves engaged in the work of becoming who we are meant to be. You know, I know from my time of attending events at the Autism Society Minnesota a number of years ago and just being in a space where there were other Autistics who said we experience that too, and they had their responses to what they were experiencing. What a life changer that was for me, and I feel that when it comes to Educating Future Autistic Leadership, that the important thing is that they find and do some community building so that they can impact the a change in how society understands, receives, and, you know, accepts us, and here we are in Autism Acceptance Month, an acceptance that we are more than what many in society say that we are and that's what I appreciate about the work that MICC does. I have seen it myself in my interview with Holt Mills last year, and you know, and now just this interview with you, it's telling me a lot that is so important.

After this next commercial break, Jenna and I are going to talk more about how MICC creates the environment where Autistics and our intersectional communities can be affirmed and prepared to be leaders.

♫ Segment Ending Music ♫

Commercial Break II

Are you wondering if you are Autistic and want advice about where to look for options to find out?  Are you a newly identified Autistic and want to ask questions that no one else will answer?  Do you want to talk with someone who is Autistic who can identify with your experiences? Are you looking for resources? You can now contact me for TAM Autistic Consulting Services.  As the host of Today’s Autistic Moment, I can answer your questions and give you some Autism education and make recommendations to help you decide what other services you might need.  Go to todaysautisticmoment.com and click on the menu option TAM Autistic Consulting Services to learn about my consultation services and make an appointment.

♫MICC Ad♫

♫ITI Assistive Technologies Ad♫

Autism Acceptance Month has arrived.  There is an urgent need for Autism Acceptance with all the negativity that is coming to the surface this year. Today’s Autistic Moment is talking with our guests about future Autistic leaders who will guide the Autistic community forward by example and self-determination.  Today’s Autistic Moment is bringing a diversity of guests to help us identify our multidimensional characteristics to energize Autistics to take a lead.

Today's Autistic Moment is seeking your financial support to continue to bring you the best topics, guests and conversations. Supporters can contribute in several ways:

1.    You can make a one-time donation through the Ko-fi icon when you tap on Support Today’s Autistic Moment on todaysautisticmoment.com.

2.    You can become a monthly supporter via Patreon.

3.    You can purchase Today's Autistic Moment merchandise, such as a 16oz drinking cup or a lapel pin, from the Logo Shop.

While donations are not tax-deductible, they help maintain the podcast's production quality by funding studio expenses, software, and equipment. By supporting Today's Autistic Moment, listeners contribute to the continuation of important conversations and resources for the Autistic community.

Thank you for supporting Today’s Autistic Moment.

♫Segment Beginning Music♫

Segment 3

Philip King-Lowe

We know that Autistics are engaged in educating the future of Autistic leadership, and that there are some intersectional identities, that include our LGBTQIA+ people and those who are gender non-conforming, and that sort of thing. Jenna are you able to talk a little bit about some of the diversity you saw at MICC.

Jenna Olson

One of my one of my best friends is actually, they don't like to refer to themselves as trans, but that's what she is, and MICC was one of the best places she could be with the way she with her Autism and her disability.

Philip King-Lowe 

Did she confide in you?

Jenna Olson 

So, my junior year, she was a freshman, and she was my roommate, okay, and she's actually one of the first transgender people that I have ever met, and you know, a lot of people, there are a lot of people who would not like the way that she represents herself, but I did not have any issues with it. I said, “Girl, you be you. I don't have any issues. You be you,” and I became one of her closest friends.

Philip King-Lowe 

Good, yeah, yeah. Was there a lot of diversity around you, as in students of color, and, you know, you know the diversity around you there at the college must have been a really, very, very visible and very accepting.

Jenna Olson

Yes, yup.

Philip King-Lowe

Can you talk at all about, as far as helping you to engage in leadership and in helping you and others become a leader, engage in leadership. I believe when we were rehearsing a few weeks ago, you said something about patience, and I think you said something about a summit class?

Jenna Olson 

Yes. So, freshman year, there was a class taught by an instructor who unfortunately doesn't work full time at MICC anymore, but this class was called The Summit. And it was all about learning leadership skills. I don't remember. There's a lot of stuff about the class that I don't actually remember, but I do know that one of the opportunities that came from that class was to the opportunity to become a camp counselor for True Friends. Camp Friendship. It's a non-profit organization based in Annandale, and it's, oh, I can't it was a summer camp for everybody, for anybody and anybody with any kind of disability. Leadership so being a camp counselor did make you a leader in such that you were taking care of people with any kind of disability, and they really counted on you to be their leader because you were, you were basically their caretaker for a week.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, and what was it like for you to be in that role?

Jenna Olson

It was eye opening in the fact that, yes, it's, how do I put this? Because I want to the thing that I want to say is that I'm glad I had the experience, because now I know that I don't want to be as hands on with personal cares, if that makes sense. But I did enjoy it.

Philip King-Lowe 

Well, as you were being that counselor, um, you know, and you had to do some of that personal care, support, were there some things you learned about yourself, such as you know that you can do this, you can be a leader? You can and that leadership, for example, is, is more of like serving other others, rather than, you know, dominating. Because last month, Carole Jean-Whittington pointed out that “Autistic Leadership is collaborative in nature.” So, what you were doing in that camp, and what the skills you learned from Minnesota Independence College and Community you know, helped you to be collaborative in your leadership role. Is that a fair statement? Yeah. Yeah, and I imagine that you know some of that involved, I know, making sure that things are accessible.

Jenna Olson 

Yep, making sure things are accessible, making sure or explaining to someone how to do something, explaining, maybe the daily schedule. You know, we're gonna do this first, and then we're gonna go back and we're gonna get ready for this, and then we're gonna go back, and then get ready for this, and then, yeah, stuff like that,

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, and that that's so helpful, because I know, you know, people with disabilities, again, there's a lot of negativity around us because we, “can't do certain things.” We just do them differently in an environment like that, as well as the educational and community environment at MICC, you know, it is a positive spot where you know we're not expecting you to be like someone who is not disabled or someone who is neurotypical. We are working with you as you are, and you know, rather than being dismissive or minimalizing things, we're giving you opportunities to really enjoy being you here. Yes, yep. I know that you are also a mentor with the Autism Mentorship Program, and they are going to be on the next show to talk about that, yeah. And the thing is, the thing is, I remember Emily saying that one of the great parts about that program is that, you know, an Autistic mentor and mentee, for once, they're not afraid to stim or fidget or afraid just to be in a place where they feel safe with another person. That is how much that really changed things for them.

Jenna Olson 

You know, I wish I had that when I was in high school, you know, someone who is Autistic or other learning differences, who graduated from high school, who's been in the world to just sit down and talk about, you know what to expect? Because I didn't know what to expect when I graduated high school. I didn't have any plans. I didn't know what I was going to do.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, I know. And, and that's also one of those great things that MICC gave you, being in a place where, okay, you have other Autistics around you. You probably had Autistics who were instructing you, or, you know, just kind of, you know again, just let go of what the rest of the world tells you. Just be you, yeah, yeah. I think that's so powerful. The final question which we're going to talk about today is that we want to talk about interdependence. I'm talking a lot about that, a lot this season, because, I mean, part of Navigating the Future of Multi-dimensional Autistic Leadership is interdependence, and this is a spot where a lot of us Autistics get to change the rules. In other words, instead of it just being about me versus them or them and me or me and that sort of thing, now it's everybody kind of working together in their roles, you know, so I mean, how did Minnesota Independence College and Community prepare you to be interdependent?

Jenna Olson

Can you remind me what the word interdependence means?

Philip King-Lowe 

Perfect, I can do that. Okay, so there's independence, which is kind of a feeling of being able to do everything yourself. Yep. The part, the part that's about dependent, means you're entirely dependent on someone else. You don't have a sense of independence because you have to be dependent on somebody else. Interdependence is a little bit of both. It's like saying that you know, while you are in the space where at MICC, and while you're learning some independence, you're also learning that while you're doing that, everybody is kind of interdependent upon each other. Your instructors are teaching you. You are learning. Your roommates are living, and they are working. You know, they're working through their relationships with each other and their struggles with each other. They're interacting and by doing that, there's an interdependence by which we realize that we're not an island, nor are we left alone. We basically, we need each other to support each other, and from that, we build, if you will, a greater sense of that what we're doing, we're doing with everybody else.

Jenna Olson 

So, one thing that I really needed help with was transportation. I do not drive yet, and I am very directionally challenged, so getting around for me when I first got here was going to be a big issue because I didn't know where things were. I didn't know directions. I didn't know how to get from point A to point B smoothly. So, a class that MICC offers, I think, all three years, or maybe it's just two, is transportation. Transportation 101, which really helped me get to know the bus routes, the different bus routes, because there's, like, I don't know, 100 or maybe even 200 different Bus routes just here in the Twin Cities alone. And MICC really nailed the skill in me and how to use Google Maps and how to figure out when a certain bus is leaving and when a certain bus is coming back and the interdependence part is saying, is helping someone else, saying, saying you should take this bus route to get to this point, because I know that it leaves around this certain time, and You should get there at another certain time.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yep, and those bus routes are often changing, drivers exchanging, and sometimes you even gotta reroute because of how, of how the Metro Transit works.

Jenna Olson 

Yeah, one day I was trying to get to work, and there was a snowstorm, and bus routes were running every hour instead of every half hour like they normally do. So, I had to figure out a completely different way to get to work, and this was before I discovered how to use the apps Uber and Lyft. So, it was a very stressful time, but Google Maps was my saving grace.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, yeah. What kind of work do you do now? And do you love what you do? And, you know, you know, maybe how does your time at MICC helped you prepare for a career you like and, you know, yeah, feel like you feel confident in yourself and what you're doing?

Jenna Olson

So, second year of the undergrad program. The junior year is very career-based. So, they have four track programs. So, you got culinary, you got hospitality, you have retail, and then you have health and human services. I chose the back then it was called just health services, but it's now called health and human services. And I, when I completed that program, I really my interest at the time, I wanted to go into, like, medical record keeping. Something like that, and my job instructor at the time suggested, or they got a tip from another MICC participant that they really needed help in the pharmacy. So, I went in and I just took a chance on being a pharmacy tech, and I'm still at a pharmacy tech today, but just not with the company that I started with.  I used to work for Walgreens, and now I work for CVS as a pharmacy technician.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, and do you enjoy that?

Jenna Olson

For the most part, yes. Being a pharmacy tech is a very hard job, but it also can be very rewarding. Yesterday at work, some customer called me their new best friend because I told them that they didn't have to worry about transferring their records from one pharmacy to another, because it's all recorded in the online database. So that, that I've never been called somebody's new best friend before. I've never been called a customer's best friend before. So that, so that was, that was, that was pretty funny.

Philip King-Lowe 

That's so wonderful. And I'm so happy for you that you had Minnesota Independence College and Community that could help you prepare to do something like that and be so confident about what you're doing and feel good about what you're what you're doing. That's wonderful. That's just wonderful.

After this final commercial break, Jenna will talk about what she is most thankful for after attending Minnesota Independence College & Community.  Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board is coming right up after that.

♫ Segment Ending Music ♫

Commercial break III

♫ Lisa Morgan Consulting Ad ♫

♫ The Autistic Coach Ad ♫

Future Shows

On April 27th, Emily Goldberg and Anna Voight with The Autism Mentorship Program will talk about Mentoring Future Autistic Leadership.  The Autism Mentorship Program is very successful because Autistic Adults mentor Autistic teens and youth.  Through sharing special interests, playing games, or just being with an Autistic Adult, Autistic teens find safe spaces with people who help them feel safe to be themselves.

On May 11th, David Gray-Hammond joins us for the episode Physical Autistic Leadership.  There is an unspoken bias full of misinformation that Autistics do not know our own bodies. There are many facets of being Autistic that are physical. Many Autistics have physical disabilities. The physical side of Autism has to do with interoception, proprioception, and other facets of sensory processing.  David Gray-Hammond has been advocating for how Autistics experience pain and other illnesses and will give us some in-depth information to advocate for our physical and medical needs.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment.

♫ Segment Beginning Music ♫

Segment 4

Philip King-Lowe

Do you have any last-minute things you want to say about MICC and how it prepares you know, Autistics to be leaders? Is there any last points you want to make? Is there something that you're particularly thankful for having attended MICC that you haven't really mentioned? When you think of all the good things that MICC has helped you find you know, when you think about that?

Jenna Olson 

I'm thankful for MICC, in the sense that there is more than one type of Autistic person.  When I was a freshman year, there's I remember at the time that our class was one of the biggest classes that MICC ever had. Yeah, and every single person either had an Autism diagnosis or was or had other learning differences. And that was an eye opener for me, because there are a lot of different ways that Autistics express themselves, right? That was, that was an eye opener for me, because I had never experienced that before.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, we have a quote that goes, “If you have met one Autistic person, you have met one Autistic person.” And I would imagine that MICC has helped you interact with them. You feel like a community.

Jenna Olson

One lesson that MICC taught me, and the Autism Mentorship Program taught me is that just because somebody is quiet, it doesn't mean that they don't have anything to say. Right. Sometimes it takes a minute. Sometimes you have to slow down and let them think for a second before assuming, assuming that they don't know what they want to talk about. Yeah, we're assuming that they don't have an answer.

Philip King-Lowe 

Well, whenever I've gone to the Minnesota Autism Conference and Today's Autistic Moment, will have a resource table at the Minnesota Autism Conference, once again, you know, but that, and of course, the Autistic Community Summit, one of the things that is so incredible is to be in one of the breakout sessions. And in that space, there are many folks who are just scrolling their phones or fidgeting or fidgeting or doing something with their hands, and everybody's comfortable there. Feels comfortable just to be themselves. And, you know, there's nobody saying, oh, you're being rude, you're not being attentive, or, you know, you're just not, you know, with the rest of us, or anything like that. No, everybody kind of gets to be themselves in that space, do what works best for them, and everybody is accepted there, you know? We deal with each other. We can be with each other and feel like, you know, we're still part of what's happening. You know. You know, that's one of the reasons why I created Today's Autistic Moment, so that Autistics like you and many of the others who are part of this network. You know, you come here, you talk, and you know we're hearing you, and nobody's, you know, shutting you up or shutting you down or anything like that we're actually listening and making, you know, centering our discussions around the people most affected by being Autistic. So yeah, that's one of the privileges of having something like this podcast. Well, Jenna, thank you so much for sharing this time with us today.

Jenna Olson

You're welcome.

Philip King-Lowe

Yeah, this has been a great conversation, and I'm sure our audience is enjoying it. So, thank you for being here, and we will see you soon.

Jenna Olson 

Alright, have a good day.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai 

Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board

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

todaysautisticmoment.com/bulletinboard.

You are invited to the Adult Coffee Club for Autistic Adults in Minnesota. They 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. Zip Code is 55114. The Adult Coffee Clubs will begin at 4pm to 6pm on April 15th. May 13th. June 10th. July 8th. August 12th.

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

Register today to attend the 30th Minnesota Autism Conference, April 16th through the 18th at the Doubletree by Hilton Minneapolis Airport Hotel, on 2020 American Blvd. in East Bloomington, MN 55425. There will be keynote speakers, in person and virtual breakout sessions, social opportunities for community building, and resource tables. The hyperlink to this event is on the transcript.

The 25th Annual Steps for Autism in Minnesota will be on Sunday, May 18th from 9am-12pm at the ROC at the St. Louis Park Rec Center. The address is 3700 Monterey Drive in St. Louis Park, MN. The zip code for your GPS is 55416.  The event includes a resource fair, a stage show, costumed characters, interactive activities, face painting, and more.  Families, Autistic Adults, and community members are all welcome! This year’s Steps for Autism is a self-led walk through the park by the venue.

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.

Minnesota Independence College & Community invites you to join them on Tuesday, April 29th  at 12pm-1pm for MICC’s Info Session Series: Strategies for Supporting Independence in Daily Living. This virtual session will focus on practical strategies to support Neurodivergent young adults in building their independence in essential home skills. MICC instructors will share ideas and tools for use at home, along with adaptive strategies to enhance independence in areas such as cooking, cleaning, and other living tasks.  Visit the events page on micc.org for more information.

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.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network invites you to a Zoom Webinar entitled Autism Myths and Misconceptions on Thursday April 17th beginning at 4:00pm to 5:30pm Eastern Time.  To find out more about this event click on Autism Myths and Misconceptions on the transcript or go to the Autistic Community Bulletin Board on todaysautisticmoment.com.

Today’s Autistic Moment is here because of the generosity of supporters and sponsors.  Please 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.