My new favourite podcast

Written in April 2024

I suppose I'm duty bound to say that the Autistic Radio podcasts are my favourite, but the podcast I look forward to most is a new one (we are 6 episodes in) from Danny Whitty, an autistic author, poet, publisher, podcaster, social media guru and advocate. Danny makes All Our Brave Hearts with his sister and CRP* Tara from their home and it is fantastic for several reasons.
 

Episodes are between 20 and 25 minutes long which is perfect for me and my attention span for audio only material, but I have to listen to each episode twice to get the most out of it. The topics and their discourse is so thought provoking that my brain runs off and has whole conversations with itself so I have to keep skipping back, or listen again. I love listening again though, even the bits I have listened to properly give me new things to think about.

Danny and Tara have a really wholesome brother/sister dynamic and that's a big part of the appeal too. The way they support each other, check in with each other and interact is so lovely, it's role-modelling of how to be a great human being; their beautiful personalities bring out the best in me (and I dare say in all their listeners).

The production of the podcasts and how they demonstrate Danny's communication methods is also a big part of the podcast. This is something that although I'm used to but for many people the use of AAC, and Danny's (massively improving) vocal speech development will be an entirely new concept. Danny and Tara demonstrate perfectly how nonspeakers, minimally/unreliably speaking people, multi-modality communicators or AAC users actually communicate.

Anyone who doubts the abilities of nonspeaking autistic people will be surprised in all the best ways by this podcast, and those in the know will still enjoy it for the deep topics, the respectful nature of the discussion and the insight we can all get from Danny and Tara's perspectives on some really important issues.

You can listen and subscribe at Substack (where the transcripts can also be read) or subscribe through whatever podcast service thingy you use. Fair warning – the title music is really catchy and will get stuck in your head, my brain is treating me to it right now!

*CRP = Communication and regulation partner

Substack link: https://allourbravehearts.substack.com/about

Danny's website: https://dannywithwords.com/author/dannykwhitty/