Speechdude

Speechdude (Chris Wenger) is a speech-language pathologist with ADHD who makes content about working with neurodivergent kids.

When I started learning about the many (MANY) layers of my own neurotype, Speechdude was one of the first people I came across who made content about PDA specifically. 

He caught my attention because of his emphasis on treating neurodivergent kids with kindness, respect, and empathy, which is…you know…not always how we're treated.

His content helps clarify the differences between how a non-PDA autistic child might present vs. a PDA autistic child, as well as how an autistic kid might barely hold themselves together all day only to burst open at the seams upon getting home. I recognized myself immediately in his examples, and I find myself wishing someone like him had been there in my childhood to tell the adults around me what the hell was going on in my fracturing little mind.

He also challenges ABA narratives that autistic children need to learn how to present as more neurotypical and suppress their natural selves, placing the focus on autonomy rather than mere compliance. There's some content on his page for kids who are neurodivergent and/or use AAC, some of which uses their special interests as teaching tools, though I have not delved into any of them myself.

Overall, this guy radiates positivity, love, enthusiasm, gentleness, and support for autistic kids in particular, which is deeply refreshing and desperately needed in a world that too often seeks to punish (or Pavlovianly train) the autism out of us.