 |
Adulting with AutismAuthor: April Ratchford MS OT/L
ADULTING WITH AUTISM A movement for neurodivergent adults, created by autistic occupational therapist April Ratchford, OTR/L. Adulting with Autism is a global community for autistic and ADHD adults navigating independence, relationships, college life, careers, emotional regulation, and real-world executive-function challenges. With over 2.7 million downloads, April blends lived experience, clinical insight, and honest conversation to guide neurodivergent adults into their next chapter of growth. Each episode brings practical tools, mental-health strategies, autistic storytelling, and real talk about boundaries, burnout, sensory needs, finances, friendships, and the messy parts of becoming an independent adult. Featuring leading experts in autism, mental health, neuroscience, accessibility, and creative industries along with deeply human stories from autistic adults around the world. If you're a late-diagnosed autistic adult, a college student trying to survive executive-function chaos, or a neurodivergent person trying to build a life that actually fits you are in the right place. Hosted by: April Ratchford, OTR/L autistic occupational therapist, autism advocate, author, and executive contributor to Brainz Magazine. Language: en Genres: Education, Health & Fitness Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
Medical Child Abuse, Autism & Rebuilding Self-Trust with Jordyn Hope
Episode 369
Wednesday, 28 October, 2026
What happens when the explanations you were given about your body, your health, and your childhood no longer make sense? In this episode of Adulting with Autism, I talk with Jordyn Hope, they/she, a survivor expert, national trainer, consultant, and founder of Flourishing Wildly. Their work brings together lived experience and professional education to help healthcare, mental-health, education, and child-protection teams respond more thoughtfully to complex harm.response2recovery+1 Jordyn shares their experience of Munchausen by proxy abuse, late autism identification, eating-disorder treatment, medical dismissal, and the difficult process of learning to trust their own perceptions. We discuss why sensationalized coverage can leave survivors questioning whether their experience "counts," how autistic communication can be misunderstood, and why surviving medical abuse does not mean a person has no genuine illnesses or ongoing support needs. Abuse and real medical conditions can coexist. We also explore curiosity, compassion, medical records, peer support, and the difference between helping someone understand their experience and telling them what their story must be. This conversation centers the person harmed—not the spectacle surrounding the harm. Content note: Discussion of child abuse, medical trauma, eating disorders, institutionalization, and references to methods of abuse. Please listen at a pace that works for you. In This Episode, We Cover What Jordyn means by "survivor expert": lived experience alongside expertise in the field. Their work through Flourishing Wildly as a trainer, consultant, and peer-support provider. Why they use the term "Munchausen by proxy abuse" to keep attention on harm. What gets lost when media coverage centers the person causing abuse. Why a survivor's experience does not need to resemble a highly publicized case to matter. The destabilizing experience of reconsidering childhood explanations about illness. Jordyn's experience of discovering genuine health needs after being told their symptoms were all psychological. The role medical records played in their own understanding. Why records can be illuminating and emotionally overwhelming. How autistic communication and unmet needs were misunderstood in Jordyn's experience. The harm of treating requests for support as evidence of manipulation. Making room for uncertainty instead of forcing an "all real" or "all made up" account. Responding to symptoms with curiosity rather than immediate disbelief. The distinction between advocacy for necessary care and concerns about caregiver-caused harm. Why isolated observations are not enough to establish abuse. Listening privately and accessibly without assuming a young person will understand what has happened to them. Recognizing that a person repeating a caregiver's explanation does not automatically make them complicit. Rebuilding self-trust without demanding perfect certainty about every memory. Grounding practices that fit the individual. Beginning with support rather than trying to process an entire history at once. Why needing sustained care does not make someone "too much." About the Guest Jordyn Hope, they/she, is a national trainer, consultant, survivor advocate, and founder of Flourishing Wildly. Their work focuses on Munchausen by proxy abuse, neurodivergence, chronic illness, patient safety, and harm within systems intended to provide care.response2recovery+1 Jordyn brings survivor experience to training and consultation for healthcare providers, educators, child-protection professionals, mental-health practitioners, and multidisciplinary teams. Their stated focus is helping organizations build safer, more ethical, and more survivor-centered responses. In this interview, Jordyn also describes their peer-support role as a "liberation doula": walking alongside people rather than promising to fix them. Find training, consultation, individual-support information, media work, and contact details at flourishingwildly.com. Key Takeaways Centering the person harmed changes the conversation from sensational storytelling to safety, care, and long-term support. One survivor's experience should not become the threshold every other survivor must meet. Genuine illness and medical abuse are not mutually exclusive. A person's communication style, support needs, or uncertainty should not automatically be interpreted as dishonesty. Records may clarify parts of a history without resolving every question or memory. Support can make room for uncertainty without dismissing distress or supplying an answer on someone else's behalf. Needing help is not proof of manipulation, failure, or unwillingness to improve. A useful starting point is finding someone who can listen carefully and help identify appropriate resources.
