Aaron Paul Orsini & Justine Lee: Autism, LSD, and Appreciating Neurodiversity

Can psychedelics be considered a “neurological contact lens” for those on the Autism spectrum? Today’s guests Aaron Paul Orsini and Justine Lee are determined to find out and are sharing their findings with the world.

On the podcast, we discuss how experimenting with LSD helped Aaron understand and appreciate his Autism as a kind of altered state and led to his book Autism on Acid. We cover seven key takeaways for using psychedelics to work with autistic populations. Justine shares how connectivity works in neurodiverse brains. Finally we talk about the weekly gathering, the Autistic Psychedelic Community, and how psychedelic therapists can get involved.

Aaron and Justine are cofounders of the Autistic Psychedelic Community, a peer support group for neurodivergent individuals interested in discussing psychedelics. Aaron is the author of Autism On Acid: How LSD Helped Me Understand, Navigate, Alter & Appreciate My Autistic Perceptions and is currently editing his second book, a neurodiversity-minded anthology of psychedelic essays that is now available for preorder. Justine is a graduate student in pharmacology at University of California, Irvine. She is investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds with respect to autism and other neurological conditions.

Links

• Autistic Psychedelic Community
• Autism on Acid: How LSD Helped Me Understand, Navigate, Alter & Appreciate My Autistic Perceptions
• Preorder the book
• 7 Essential Takeaways for using psychedelics to work with Autistic populations
• NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

Timestamps

• :04 - How experimenting with LSD awakened Aaron to interoception and led to him writing the book Autism on Acid
• :16 - What is Autism and how does that express for Aaron
• :24 - 7 Essential takeaways for using psychedelics to work with autistic populations
• :39 - Justine describes the connectivity in neurodiverse brains
• :46 - Aaron suggests a peer-supported retreat or ceremony model for working with autistic populations with psychedelics
• :57 - The Autistic Psychedelic Community and how psychedelic practitioners can get involved
• 1:09 - Aaron and Justine speak directly to psychedelic practitioners