Chelsea's Vocation
Chelsea's neurodivergent offspring are the reason her heart and mind have grown year after year for two decades. As a neuromajority human caring for and about autistic humans, she has learned to apply a thing or two about brain wiring and wants to share that learning with other people so they can know better and do better, too. These 20-minute long shows will be released every two weeks (two per month max), feature occasional guests, have a neuroaffirming focus, and highlight autistic experiences.
Chelsea's Vocation
Autism as Explanation vs. Excuse
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Recently, the mother of a young woman who is working as an ABA therapist in a center reached out to Chelsea and was rather distraught. Her daughter was frequently being hit, bitten, kicked, and scratched by dysregulated children. While that’s not good either for her daughter nor for those children, there needed to be so much more context. Mom believed the center was making excuses for the childrens’ behavior. Chelsea wondered what that behavior was communicating and what might have precipitated it.
And that wondering comes from decades of hearing some form of “autism is an excuse” from various folks in the community. Chelsea remembers when her son was first diagnosed with autism at age 4, it was, to her, an explanation of so many things.
She invited Jonathan Domsky, who identifies as autistic and aphantasic, to lend his perspective to this topic.
Jonathan coaches successful entrepreneurs whose minds don’t run on default settings. He helps founders redesign the architecture of their business and leadership so their intensity, precision, and pattern-seeking strengths become leverage instead of friction. His work is about alignment—building businesses and lives that actually fit the way leaders think.
These previous episodes might provide more context for this topic:
- Episode 1: Intro
- Episode 2: Justus
- Episode 7: Acceptance
- Episode 18: Service Dogs
- Episode 20: Masking
Podcast includes an introduction for episodes 6 and following at the beginning. Transition music, "Taking a Vocation", by Noey Budde.
Closing narration for episodes 6 and following.
