Ways to Manage Sensory & Autistic Traits Outdoors: Making Adventures Accessible to Improve Wellbeing for Neurodivergent Adults & Young People. An Interview with Autistic Adventurer Allie Mason

Mind Vox

Allie Mason is a Children’s Author and a Landscape and Training Coordinator.

She was diagnosed Autistic at the age of 23 in 2020, and wants to talk about her late-diagnosis journey and what she has put in place to help with the Autistic traits that affect her wellbeing.

Allie describes herself as an Autistic Adventurer Extraordinaire, as she finds outdoor adventures help improve her wellbeing.

She wants fellow neurodivergent people to get outdoors for the same reason, which has inspired her first non-fiction book.

The Autistic Guide to Adventure was written to support Autistic young people to feel able to explore outdoor adventures if they have sensory processing issues that previously put them off attempting this.

Allie has come onto the podcast to talk about her late-diagnosis journey and the positive coping mechanisms she’s adopted since learning about her traits.

This episode explores:

-Allie’s Autistic late-diagnosis journey.

-Her reflections on being undiagnosed for 23 years, and misdiagnosed with other conditions.

-What Allie’s learnt about Autism and how to manage her traits since diagnosis.

-How Autism affects Allie’s wellbeing.

-How the outdoors and adventuring improve Allie’s wellbeing.

-Advice for ways other neurodivergent people can get outdoors when they’ve previously assumed it won’t work with their sensory needs and other traits.

-Creating a Sensory Toolkit to help indoors and outdoors.

-Exploring ways to enjoy nature with chronic pain and physical disabilities.

-What inspired Allie to write a book for Autistic young people, and how she hopes it will help them.

-How Allie managed the long editing and publishing process as a Neurodivergent.

*Trigger warning*

Contains conversation about ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, Depression, Sensory Processing, Lockdown, Skin-Ripping and unhealthy coping mechanisms including Self-Harm and Social Isolation.

Links

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To send us ideas for future episodes, or offer to be interviewed, please contact us via Instagram or email [e-mail]

Your host, Claire, can be found on Instagram, TikTok and via her website Single Parent Pessimist.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay.

Allie’s book The Autistic Guide to Adventure can be bought here.

Allie’s website can be found here, and her Instagram and TikTok are @alliewrote.