The Unasked Collection #5
the experience of being autistic and menopausal by Marion McLaughlin
Marion McLaughlin is the Managing Director & Founder of Aurora Autistic Consulting, having founded it in early 2024 after a career as a teacher and serving as CEO of Autism Understanding Scotland.
They write and deliver training, create bespoke packages of support for Aurora’s clients and oversee day to day operations.
Marion founded and organises Autistic Pride Aberdeen and first became interested in Autism while training to be a teacher in 2004. They were formally identified Autistic themselves in 2018.
Marion is the representative of a collective of Autistic Persons Organisation on the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Working Group for Autism, and is spokesperson for the Scottish Government’s Different Minds campaign.
When not working, Marion can often be found watching Star Trek or walking through forests with their family.
Marion writes…
When people ask me about being Autistic, usually it’s just about what my special skill is (I don’t have one and that’s ok!), about sensory difficulties (never about the sensory joys), and express sympathy for being Autistic (don’t get me started on that one).
I really like being Autistic. I genuinely love being Autistic. There are so many beautiful aspects to my identity. I talk about them a lot both in person and online!
One area in which I would definitely benefit from support but rarely gets asked about is my experiences of being Autistic and menopausal. I have been menopausal for over 3 years now, and it remains a taboo topic. Which may explain why there is only a small but growing amount of research in this area.