140. Celebrating Three Years, with the Global Autism Community

Discover what’s possible when you remember your why. 

This week we are celebrating the 3-year anniversary of this podcast, as well as the 2-year anniversary of our online Global Autism Community! 

It’s been an eye-opening journey that continues to surprise, inspire, and move us. We’ve learned so much from self-advocates sharing their experiences, family members talking about acceptance, and professionals discussing best practices in the field of autism services. 

We’ve covered a wide range of topics, such as ableism, bullying, masking, the neurodiversity movement, intersectionality, disability rights, dating, communication, personal growth, cultural humility, and international collaboration, as well as controversial topics like person-first vs. identity-first language, the puzzle piece symbol, and ABA therapy. 

I recently went back and listened to episode 1. Honestly, I hadn’t listened to it since it was first released back in 2020. What a trip down memory lane! I was brought back to all of the preparation leading up to our launch: the nervousness I felt during my first interviews, the late nights spent editing, the fears of what people would think of the show…

Yet, listening back, I could also hear the optimism in my voice. I was reminded why I decided to start Autism Knows No Borders in the first place, and that why remains the same today. Through shared stories of struggles and breakthroughs, we hope to expand the reach of human connection and remind people that they are not alone. 

Three years after launching Autism Knows No Borders, we are more energized than ever to keep going. There are many meaningful stories we still want to share with you. We will continue to elevate autistic voices and do our best to help them be heard. We want their stories to travel across the world, so that more people can join the cause for autism awareness, acceptance, and hope. 

A huge thank you to all of our guests for openly sharing and educating us with their perspectives, as well as to our team members who keep making this podcast happen: our visual creator and social media manager, Anh Ngoc; and our sound designer and editor, Marc Aliana. 

And, of course, many thanks to you, our dedicated listeners, for tuning in each week, sharing your takeaways, and ultimately giving meaning to what we’re doing. By the way, we’re honored to celebrate 100,000 downloads this month! So again, thank you for that — and cheers to the next 100,000! 

If you’re a new listener, we’d like to welcome you as well!

Our online Global Autism Community has been growing over the past couple of years. This is a space where members have the possibility to share insights, listen to different perspectives, and create real change in their own communities — whether they’re autistic individuals, family members, or service providers. A huge thank you to our community moderators, who monitor posts daily to ensure that our online space remains safe and respectful.

Today you’ll hear from our new cohort of community moderators: Andrew Bennett, Cassidy Hooper, Stephane Guidon, and Korey Taylor. 

Join us today at community.globalautismproject.org! Let’s work together to transform how the world relates to autism.

Related episode:

1. An Introduction, with Rachel Harmon

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