speakers

Grace Joplin (she/her)

Grace is committed to fight for social justice causes. Recently started a PhD at University of Helsinki  in autistic language use, with focus on women and the masking behavior. Member of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR).  Grace's agenda is to bring more positive awareness of the charactheristics of autism. In the past, she carried experience in teaching languages for neurodivergent and neurotypical populations in Brazil, England, Germany and Finland. In her free time, Grace enjoy sun, bird watching and dancing.  You can find Grace's interview with the Finnish Association for Autism here https://soundcloud.com/heta-pukki/grace-joplin-and-the-helsinki-pride-week-event-on-autism 

Elena Mayans (she/her)

expert on sexual rights and bilingual consent  - Diaconia

"I knew that my future was in the social field. I was born for it ... the possibility of making a positive impact in other people's life". Elena did made an impact, she is part of a dissertation about sexual pedagogy for people with autism. From this material, in 2022, a booklet was created with sexual education material that will benefit professional and service users of Autism Foundation Finland. Elena noticed the rapid change in the disability research and she decided to be part of it, by aiming to be a sexual assistant for people with disabilities (tendency present in the Netherlands for example). Elena devotes her life to serve minorities. Nowadays, she is a socionomi in Finland. In the past, she worked in Spain with social intervention for people deprived of liberty and freedom.

You may find the sexual rights material here: https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/745863/Mayans_Umbert_Elena_Seck_Ngaty.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y 

 Henrik Lindholm (he/they)

self-advocate and an activist on autistic transgender identity 

"I knew I was a boy". Henrik Lindholm, 43-vuotias transmies. Autismi, adhd ja fyysisesti vammainen. Ollut mukana aktivistina sekä autisti että sateenkaariasioissa. Opiskelin sukupuolentutkimusta Helsingin yliopistolla

Henrik has a lot of personal experience about not only being on the spectrum but as being an autistic transgender. He will give a presentation about discrimination and many challenges faced currently in the trans-hospital of the city of Helsinki. He is part of Suomen Autismikirjon ASY and during the past years since his diagnostic, he is engaged in many social projects for autistic people. You can find Henrik in social media here https://www.facebook.com/henrik.lindholm80/?locale=sv_SE