Why did you create Autistic PhD?

So many people ask me questions about autism that I wanted an efficient way to provide helpful responses. I also wanted to grow something cohesive that combines my experiences with the expertise of some trusted others who want to contribute to “the good stuff” out there for autistic people and those who want to get to know them.

Part of it is solidarity with other autistic folks, sharing our stories, and another part is reaching back in love to the children whose parents are making big decisions today that will affect their little ones’ wellbeing. Some of those parents were asking for my thoughts on things, and so I formalized it and this site was born.

I want to respect their trust with good quality info, while also ensuring that they have enough information to resist the tides that pull parents into harmful, oppressive, and sometimes abusive so-called treatments that hurt children in order to make them appear more normal and thus make parents feel better.

So, for all of these reasons and more, I wanted to share what I’ve got with whomever wants to look to me for my thoughts. And I’m including more voices than my own, with varied expertise (coming onboard very soon).

We have about a million blog post topics on the drawing board, so please do sign up for our email newsletter so that you will know when new topics come out. The newsletter comes out approximately four times a year.

For anyone reading this who does not know me (Erika), while this project is still new, having soft launched only in May 2023, I don’t begin things that I cannot confidently do very well. This is gonna be a good project, and I’m so glad you all are here for it.

Please do share your thoughts and responses on our social media channels and let us know who you are. Although we’re on Threads, Instagram, YouTube, and facebook, it’s the facebook page that is where people seem to be gathering and forming community.