Mati | The Autistic Coach on Nostr: Imagine calling yourself “neuroaffirming” and charging an autistic person because ...

Imagine calling yourself “neuroaffirming” and charging an autistic person because they had a meltdown, a shutdown, a health flare, a family crisis, or simply woke up unable to do the thing they thought they would be able to do two days earlier.

Imagine calling yourself a “neuroaffirming” coach or therapist and charging people for cancellations less than 48 hours in advance, while reserving the right to cancel yourself.

Imagine calling yourself “neuroaffirming” and requiring people to buy packages of 6, 10, or 20 sessions before they’ve even had the chance to see whether you’re a good fit.

Imagine calling yourself “neuroaffirming” and spending more time learning sales funnels than disability support.

Just because someone is autistic doesn’t make them affirming.

I’ve been doing peer support work since 2006.

Long before it was my profession, it was something I was doing for free because I believed autistic people deserved support.

My work is pay-what-you-can.

Most people I work with pay nothing.

The people who can pay make it possible for someone else to attend for free or at a reduced rate.

My standard rate is already around half of what most coaches charge in the UK and US.

I don’t do “free discovery calls” designed to sell people into expensive packages.

I don’t make people commit to ten sessions before they’ve even met me.

And if someone cancels because they’re overwhelmed, burnt out, having a meltdown, caring for a family member, dealing with a crisis, or simply having a bad day?

I don’t punish them for being human.

I often have clients cancel after a session was supposed to begin.

Life happens.

We’re autistic.

We’re disabled.

Things happen.

My goal is not building a coaching business.

My goal is supporting autistic people.

I’ve been doing peer support work for nearly twenty years.

I’m an autistic person myself.

I’ve undertaken countless trainings over the last sixteen years.

I’ve completed thousands of hours of pastoral care training and supervised practice through rabbinical school.

I’m a registered disability educator in France.

I’m an approved Access to Work provider in the UK.

I have over 10,000 hours of client hours.

I’m a member of professional autism coaching organisations in both the United States and Ireland.

I train other peer support coaches.

I work alongside other coaches, therapists, psychiatrists, counsellors, social workers, and support organisations and refer people when something falls outside my scope.

Because that's what professionals do.

The rabbis of the Talmud distinguished between gamirna (I have learned this) and savirna (I understand this from my lived experience.

They said to be a teacher, one must strive to master both.

When it comes to autism, disability, and peer support, both matter.

Learning, understanding, and living the reality of what you’re teaching is a qualification.

The most important one.

"Neuroaffirming" isn't a credential.

It’s not a marketing label.

It’s how you treat disabled people when money, power, access, and vulnerability enter the room.