It's June 1 and The Sound of Autistic Culture Is Almost Here. Get ready with us for our Next Chapter
This month we’re getting ready for something big. Explore our June calendar, meet the creators, and join us for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network launch.
This month we are celebrating a major milestone: the launch of the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. While our regular Late Diagnosis Club meetings pause for the summer, we are gathering around a new set of voices and stories created by Autistic hosts across our community. Join us on June 22 for the premiere and be there as the network begins.
The Sound of Autistic Culture is Here
On June 22nd, we will officially launch the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, the first global podcast network built by Autistic creators to document and celebrate the full breadth of Autistic life through audio.
We hope you’ll help us spread the word and join us for launch week, because this project arrives at an important moment in the history of Autistic civil rights.
For decades, autism has largely been discussed through medical, educational, and clinical institutions. That work has shaped diagnosis, services, and public awareness. It has also meant that much of the public conversation about autistic people has been filtered through systems focused on need, intervention, behavior, and support.
Those conversations matter. They are part of our lives.
They are not the whole story.
Civil rights movements grow stronger when communities begin telling fuller stories about themselves, in their own voices, across the ordinary and extraordinary parts of life. That shift matters because culture shapes public imagination. Media shapes belonging. The stories a society tells about a group influence how that group is understood by institutions, by neighbors, and often by members of the community themselves.
Autistic people have always had rich and varied lives. We build families. We create art. We care deeply about sport, science, religion, politics, gaming, nature, books, disability justice, friendship, and a thousand niche passions. We experience joy and grief. We navigate illness and recovery. We age. We make meaning. We contribute to culture while also building cultures of our own.
Yet there are still very few places where the full dimension of Autistic life is visible all at once.
That is why ACPN matters.
The Autistic Culture Podcast Network brings together more than 25 creator-led podcasts from across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, covering hobbies and interests, health and wellness, identity and advocacy, and the ordinary rhythms of everyday life.
Taken together, these shows offer something powerful: a wider and more internally consistent public record of who Autistic people are, what we care about, what we create, and how we live.
That matters culturally.
It matters politically.
And it matters personally.
Because when a community is represented only through challenge, the hardest parts of that experience can begin to stand in for the whole. A broader cultural record creates more room for recognition, dignity, belonging, and connection. It helps Autistic people see one another more clearly. It helps families, clinicians, educators, and institutions build deeper cultural literacy. It expands the public imagination around what Autistic life looks and sounds like.
This is one small part of a much larger movement toward Autistic cultural self-definition.
And we would love for you to be part of it.
Please join us on June 22 as we launch the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, help us share it with your communities, and help us welcome more people into this growing conversation.
The sound of Autistic culture is here.
And we’re just getting started.
You can apply to have your own show on the network too. We are especially looking for:
Radio Drama
A Minecraft themed show
A Dungeons and Dragons show
A Taylor Swift Show
Nancy Drew/ Murder She Wrote/ Sherlock Holmes themed show
True Crime review show - what’s the best True Crime content?
An Engineering Show - Tell us how things work!
Rollercoaster Reviews
But we want to hear what is on your mind too. Right now we are not looking for shows about autism, we are looking for shows BY Autistic people created in an Autistic way!
Each month we have content exclusively for our paying supporters including Book Club sessions, workshops, member meetups, and our Virtual Writing circle. More exclusive content for paying supports follows. If you are not already a supporting member, just click “upgrade” in the top right-hand corner on the AutisticCulture.substack.com page or get a free 7 day trial here. If you enjoy your paid trial and want to continue but don’t have the funds, just ask for a free pass, no one is ever turned away who wants to join and cannot afford it.
If you are already a member, keep reading for the members’ only writing prompts for the month.
