Ep. 22 - Exploding Trucks, Chuck Berry, & a Lifetime of Autistic Traits Revealed (with Peter O'Neil)

Autistic Tidbits & Tangents

Ep. 22 - Exploding Trucks, Chuck Berry, & a Lifetime of Autistic Traits Revealed (with Peter O'Neil) - Bruce and Kara interview author and lawyer, Peter O'Neil, who was late identified as autistic at 65. We reflect on living autistically without knowing it, and how autistic thinking is an asset in the legal field -- and how central it is to our passions and relaxation activities. We compare experiences and discuss Peter's recent memoir. GUEST BIO (PROFESSIONAL): Peter is a tenacious litigator who has successfully taken on giants of the automotive industry including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Hyundai, Toyota, Nissan and others. Peter first gained national recognition as a paralegal when he represented burn victims and uncovered crucial documents in the infamous GM side saddle fuel tank cases. Just a few months after becoming an attorney in 1998, Peter tried and won his first case against Ford Motor Company. In 2002, Peter helped set a record in Clark County, Washington by winning an $8 million dollar verdict against Hyundai. After an appeal, he caught Hyundai withholding evidence and helped turn the Magaña v. Hyundai verdict into a default judgment that remains one of the biggest discovery sanctions in Washington State History.

Peter’s work is not limited to automotive defects. He has worked on product liability cases ranging from badly designed and manufactured bottle caps and heating pads to defectively designed windows, tractors and dangerous drugs. His work on negligence cases runs the gamut from auto crashes to negligent highway construction. Visit Peter’s website to read more about his case results. GUEST BIO (PERSONAL): A husband, father of three, grandfather of one, youngest of seven, identified as autistic at the age of 65. As a young teenager I found my first huge passion in the music and person of 1950s musical icon Chuck Berry, whom I first saw perform in a nearly empty auditorium in my hometown of Sacramento, California. It was his aloneness on stage that grabbed me even then, and even though I didn’t understand how solitary my own life would soon be (or perhaps already was). In my mid-fifties I turned that strange lifelong obsession into an unpublished memoir that I now see as a bit of thoroughly autistic literature. My luck was to accidentally find a profession that took full advantage of my autistic charms—i.e. my ability to absorb and connect a nearly infinite number of facts about things that interest me—in that case the harmful products that injured my clients or killed their loved ones. When I learned how many autistic people struggle to find and keep fulfilling work I knew I would have to write and speak about my own experience. Peter's legal website Peter's Chuck Berry blog

Things of the Day: My So-Called Disorder by Peter O'Neil

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Autistic Tidbits & Tangents is a biweekly podcast, co-hosted by Kara Dymond & Maja Toudal (and guest co-host Bruce Petherick!), centered around topics relevant to autism and the lives of autistic people. We are both autistic professionals with a passion for broadening and advancing accessibility for autistic people and understanding of autism and neurodiversity. We approach our work with the combination of our personal and professional experiences.

Episodes can be found on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Anchor⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and with video on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Maja: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.majatoudal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / YouTube - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An Autistic Psychologist⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / Facebook - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@majatoudal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / Twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@majatoudal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / Instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@majatoudal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kara: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.karadymond.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / YouTube - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dr. Kara Dymond⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / Facebook - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@drkaradymond⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / Twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@drkaradymond⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / Instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@drkaradymond⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bruce: Facebook - ⁠@BrucePetherickMusic⁠ / Instagram - ⁠@bpetherick⁠

SPECIAL THANKS:

-Theme composed by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bruce Petherick⁠⁠

-Today's guest, Peter O'Neil