Autistic Europe Fringe talks and comedy

Dr Larry Arnold, Caroline Hearst, Martijn Dekker, Dr Damian Milton, Paul Wady

Dr Larry Arnold : Autism, whose identity?
Larry Arnold has a PhD in Education based upon researching the autistic community which he has inhabited since the late 1990s having formerly been an activist for disability rights before discovering his own autistic identity. He has had a number of formal roles including being the first autistic board member of a British autism charity. He has a particular interest in the ethics of autism research.
He has been a frequent presenter on themes of autism and disability rights for over a decade and currently maintains a role as an activist for neurodiversity.

Caroline Hearst : Claiming an identity they taught us to despise
Caroline discovered she is autistic seven years ago. She utilised previous experience qualifying as an art psychotherapist and working as an adult educator and consumer advisor in mental health combined to devise innovative autism awareness sessions which she offers to individuals and organisations via Autism Matters.. She specialises in training therapists.
Caroline also founded, and is a director of, AutAngel an autistic run community interest company, this has enabled her to devise and deliver a post-identification programme for adults. This programme is currently the subject of a collaborative research project. She edited AutAngels “welcome book” Being Autistic. Caroline also serves on her local autism strategy board and the new “forum” set up by the NAS to replace its council of members.

Martijn Dekker : A history of early autistic space
Martijn (rhymes with 'design') Dekker is a 42 year old autistic father of three who divides his life between the Netherlands and the UK. Diagnosed with "299.00 Autistic Disorder" (DSM-IV) in 1995 at the age of 21 after two decades of being different without knowing why, he ran an international support network for autistic people called InLv which was cited in "Neurotribes" by Stephen Silberman (2016) as "another nutrient-rich tide pool that accelerated the evolution of Autistic culture". In the 1990s and 2000s he was a regular on the autism conference speaking circuit. Between 2006 and 2015 he served on the board and organising committee of Autscape, the UK conference run for and by autistic people, in various capacities, including chair, programme coordinator and technical manager.

Dr Damian Milton : Shifting the agenda: autistic involvement in research.
Damian has completed his doctorate at the University of Birmingham. He is a member of the programme board for the Autism Education Trust, and a member of the scientific and advisory committee for Research Autism.
Damian works for the National Autistic Society as Head of Autism Knowledge and Expertise (Adults and Community) and as a researcher for London South Bank University. Damian’s interest in autism began when his son was diagnosed in 2005 as autistic at the age of two. Damian was also diagnosed with Asperger’s in 2009 at the age of thirty-six.

Paul Wady
Paul Wady was diagnosed autistic at the age of 41 in dramatic circumstances detailed in a Guardian newspaper article. He has worked for the National Autistic Society since 2006 in numerous roles including meditation teacher to other autistics, autism awareness trainer, film maker & narrator and setting up and running a social group.

He wrote the unique and controversial book Guerilla Aspies - a neurotypical society infiltration manual. He has performed his audience mass autism conversion show for two years around the UK and Ireland. The Guerilla Aspies show has just completed its second run on the Edinburgh Fringe. Paul is married to another autistic adult and wants you to know that all his views are his own.