The Embodiment Coaching Podcast 753. Coaching Autistic People More Effectively – With Mark Walsh & Dr Helen Machen-Pearce
Jan 27, 2026
Dr Helen Machen-Pearce, psychiatrist and long-time autism specialist who teaches professionals, joins to unpack how autism shows up in coaching, teaching and relationships. Short, practical segments cover sensory processing, predictability, communication style, and nervous system regulation. Hear clear adaptations like structured language, limited choices, and attention to embodiment and masking.
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Clinical Work And Lived Experience
- Helen worked across child and adult autism services and taught many professionals about autism.
- She also has two adult children who are autistic, combining clinical and lived experience.
Processing Differences Shape Experience
- Sensory and predictive processing differences are central to autistic experience and shape behaviour.
- These processing differences explain many social and bodily responses often mislabelled as rudeness or clumsiness.
Neurodiversity Reframes Autism
- Neurodiversity reframes autism as wiring difference rather than solely a medical disorder.
- Medical frameworks remain useful for accessing interventions, but social context drives much impact.
