Late To The Party - a podcast on Autism, AuDHD and Neurodivergence

In this episode, I’m joined by Jodie Herbert, a neurodiversity mentor, lifelong carer, disability advocate, and the founder of Ability Pathways. Jodie has one of those rare brains that can take chaos, complexity, and bureaucratic nonsense and turn it into actual support, actual progress, and actual hope. She’s spent decades navigating disability from every angle: as a parent, a partner, a carer, and now as someone helping adults and the invisible labour neurodivergent people carry every day.
And because I can’t help myself… I also dive into my own past. While digging through old family documents for Ancestry, I found my high‑school report cards, those 80's classics where teachers wrote things so blunt they could strip paint. I read out some of the worst ones on the show. If you’ve ever been called lazy, unfocused, or “destined for ruin,” this episode is for you.
If you enjoy the podcast and want to help me keep it going, please consider supporting me on Patreon. It’s literally the price of a cuppa a month, and it means the world, helping me cover hosting, equipment, and the time it takes to make these conversations happen.
Ability Pathways Australia (official site) https://abilitypathways.au
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In this episode of Late to the Party, Dan speaks with MJ Warfield about what it’s really like to work in a job that looks completely incompatible with an AuDHD brain. Loud, chaotic, high‑pressure, the kind of environment most of us would run from. But MJ shows how building a career around your special interests can flip the script entirely. She shares the quiet superpower that helps her thrive in a loud job, and why it works.
Later, Dan sits down with his friend of forty years, Martin Ryan, for a conversation about late diagnosis, self‑knowledge, and the strange clarity that arrives when you finally get the right lens for understanding your own life. It’s thoughtful, funny, and grounded in the kind of honesty only long friendships allow.

If you enjoy the show and if you’d happily meet Dan once a month and buy him a coffee, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support keeps the show independent, covers production costs, and ensures Dan can keep making the kind of episodes no sponsor would ever approve… especially the song he wrote for Martin at the end of this one.
Links:
The Round: https://theround.com.au
Martin on Insta @martin_t_ryan
Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/LateToThePartyAutismPodcast

Please come join us on our socials where we are very much present.
 We very much want you to share your stories and opinions. Join our public and private pages to start the discussion.
Public Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/latetothepartypodcast
Private Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1168470233702726
Email us at latetothepartyasd@gmail.com
Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/latetothepartyasd/
Website at https://latetotheparty.buzzsprout.com

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This week on Late To The Party, I chat with author and engineer Travis Alexander about his memoir, life as a late-diagnosed autistic adult, and the many unexpected twists that led him to where he is today. We talk about relationships, communication, travel disasters, fatherhood, breakdancing, engineering, and the challenge of making sense of a world that often feels a little confusing. Honest, funny and deeply relatable, this is a conversation about self-discovery, resilience and finding your place in the world.

Find Travis Alexander
📖 Stairway to the Spectrum
https://www.travisalexander.com.au/book
🌐 Website
https://www.travisalexander.com.au/
🎧 Audiobook available on Spotify and Audible. Paperback and eBook available through Amazon.
Instagram: @travisalexanderbooks
Facebook: @TravisAlexander
TikTok: @travisalexanderbooks

#LateToThePartyPodcast #TravisAlexander #Autism #AutisticAdults #Neurodivergent #ActuallyAutistic #AutismAwareness #LateDiagnosis #Neurodiversity #MentalHealth #Parenting #Relationships #AuthorInterview #Memoir #PodcastAustralia #MelbournePodcast #DisabilityInclusion #Breakdancing #Engineering #SelfDiscovery #PodcastLife #NeurodivergentVoices #BooksAndAuthors #AustralianAuthor #LifeStories #AUDHD #ADHD #DanKerr #StairwayToTheSpectrum

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Episode 72 of Late To The Party is live, and today we’re going full neuro‑nerd with the incredible Sadie Dingfelder.  
Sadie is a science reporter who discovered she has face blindness, aphantasia, and a handful of other brain quirks and then turned that whole journey into a hilarious, insightful book called Do I Know You?
We talk perception, identity, weird brain settings, and what it’s like to realise your mind has been running a completely different operating system this whole time.
It’s chaotic, curious, and very, very us.

You can find Sadie here -
Website 
Book Publisher page
Twitter 
Instagram 
Washington Post Author Page
Goodreads
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Recorded live at The Round on March 19th, Neurospicy 2026: Accessibility in the Arts, is a special live podcast diving into what genuine inclusion looks like for neurodivergent artists, audiences, and creative communities.
I was joined by pianist and composer Nat Bartsch, whose reflections on sensory experience, performance, and neurodivergent creativity brought depth and warmth to the room. We also spoke to Arty Owens, creative director at Arts Access Victoria, whose leadership continues to shape a more accessible and equitable arts sector.
Hosted at The Round, a venue committed to creating welcoming, accessible environments, this conversation blends music, lived experience, humour, and honest discussion about what needs to change and what’s already working.
This was a candid and fun conversation for anyone invested in neurodivergent creativity and the evolution of accessible arts spaces.
Support the show via Patreon
Please come join us on our socials where we are very much present.
 We very much want you to share your stories and opinions. Join our public and private pages to start the discussion.
Public Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/latetothepartypodcast
Private Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1168470233702726
Email us at latetothepartyasd@gmail.com
Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/latetothepartyasd/
Website at https://latetotheparty.buzzsprout.com
Support the show