As the founder of Autism Personal Coach, Doug Blecher has spent over a decade helping autistic adults navigate the complexities of everyday life through personalized support. At its core, his work is about cultivating self-trust, celebrating joy, and reshaping how we think about connection and community. My conversation with Doug explores not only what support looks like today, but what the future of autism advocacy could become.
Discovering Identity Later in Life
Despite the average age of autism diagnosis in the United States being about 5 years old, it’s becoming increasingly common for more and more adults to receive an autism diagnosis. This could be attributed to the lack of understanding and resources when adults were in their childhood. Like many adults, Doug learning he was autistic at 42 wasn’t just a diagnosis but a revelation, helped him reframe his past and shaped his relationship with himself. “It felt like a lightning bolt moment,” he shared.
As an adolescent, Doug recalled moments of him asking himself, “What is wrong with my brain?”. He remembered moments that once felt confusing or isolating: feeling overwhelmed amongst big crowds of people or retreating to the corner of the room at college parties.
With greater clarity and understanding, Doug recognizes those behaviors as rooted in sensory differences. Additionally, Doug’s background in psychology gave him the vocabulary to reflect. However, it was his lived experience that helped redefine his past. “When you can learn how your brain works, and use it to work for you instead of against you, it’s a wonderful thing.”
Autism Personal Coach: Leading with Lived Experience
Doug’s journey in the autism community began when he started working with autistic kids in Columbus, Ohio. “Then about eight years into it, I thought, what happens when they become teenagers and adults,” he asked himself. “I did some research, and there was not a lot of support out there for autistic adults. There still isn’t.”
And that’s where Autism Personal Coach (APC) came to life.
Learning he was autistic, Doug knew that he could have an impact on these adult’s lives because he lived their experiences. He has transcended these experiences into the culture of life at APC. “There’s just simple things that we do. We talk about your preferred method of communication,” he mentioned. “I am trying to make it accessible. I always think that excessive options equal accessibility. So we try to have every option on the table for people.” Doug mentions that 99% of the time he is able to make sure everyone has their needs met, whether its creating flexible work schedules or giving people options.
His perspective towards an inclusive and comfortable work environment works. 80% of the APC coaches are autistic and 100% of the admin team have autism. The numbers speak for themselves. There is an immense sense of trust among the team.
Universal Design and Autism-Led Spaces
Doug’s work with creating Autism Personal Coach emphasizes the importance of designing inclusive environments by neurodivergent people for neurodivergent people. “I believe the people you’re designing things for should be part of the planning process,” he said.
Central to this approach is the idea of universal design, a framework that centers accessibility from the start. In this sense, it’s a matter of rethinking everything from how we structure our workplaces to how we define productivity. It looks like sensory-friendly spaces, alternate forms of social engagement or flexible schedules that help everyone. It’s a vision that challenges deeply-rooted societal norms and reframes accessibility as a right for all.
The Journey of Unmasking and Emotional Processing
In the APC world, before helping clients it’s important that the coaches themselves are their authentic selves and feel safe in the work environment. The key to that is trust because when micromanagement comes into the picture, people are more likely to mask.
In terms of APC clients, the mission of the organization is to help people learn about their autism, which eventually leads to unmasking. The organization is special because the coaches themselves come with their lived experience. “I think it’s really important. Our coaches do a really good job of validating any emotions that people have,” Doug shared. “There can be grief. There can sometimes be anger towards our loved ones for not understanding earlier. There can be grief about past experiences. So yeah, so there’s a lot of different emotions. There can be joy.”
Supporting Families in Autism Personal Coach
One big aspect of supporting clients is also supporting their families and loved ones. “When we bring in parents, when we can bring in siblings, when we can bring in coworkers or supervisors, or other paid support, and work together, that’s really where the biggest growth is,” Doug emphasized.
This collaborative approach isn’t about others speaking for the client. It’s rather about creating a shared understanding of their needs and preferences. For example, Doug discussed how helping a family member reframe their expectations or develop more effective support strategies can reduce tension and increase harmony in the household. It’s often about listening differently, adjusting assumptions, and honoring the client’s independence during these sessions.
I also brought up love languages in the conversation and asked if Doug utilizes them in his coaching sessions. He enthusiastically agreed. However, he noted that the traditional “five love languages” model is well-known but doesn’t fully capture the other ways many autistic people express and experience connection. “There’s other love languages,” he shared. “Like just being able to be in the same space and share or watch a favorite TV show or listen to a favorite band.” These kinds of parallel experiences can be really meaningful. For some, just existing side-by-side in a non-demanding environment can foster connection and understanding in a way that sometimes physical affection cannot.
The Future of Autism Advocacy and Inclusion
With increasing research and innovation, Doug believes we are slowly moving in the direction where individuals with autism can thrive. Central to this goal is understanding all of the unique differences that come with being human. “It’s universal design which means understanding sensory differences, communication differences, and executive functioning differences,” Doug shared. Though some individuals have different needs, they still bring as much value to the table as others.
“A world built for autistic people means valuing different communication, rejecting productivity as a measure of worth,” Doug shared. It’s all about building environments – in the workplace, at school, in the home, and beyond – that are flexible enough to meet a diverse range of human needs. As Doug’s work shows, real progress lies in listening to lived experiences, amplifying them, and redesigning systems that make room for everyone.