Beyond 6 Seconds

Ben VanHook is an autistic master’s degree student studying public policy at George Mason University, with the hopes of reforming employment and education policy to make them more inclusive for neurodivergent individuals. Ben's passion for creating a more inclusive world stems from his own experiences as an autistic Jewish Asian American adoptee and has led to him speaking and presenting to employers, professors, researchers and self-advocates in the United States and abroad. During this episode, you will hear Ben talk about: How he learned he was autistic while he was in high school The challenges he faced coming from China to the United States as an adoptee His insights about the intersections of his identities as an autistic, Jewish, Asian American adoptee How posting on LinkedIn led him to become a neurodiversity advocate and public speaker on the intersections of autism, race and religion His role in a TV documentary about intersectionality between race and autism  His thoughts on supporting neurodiverg