My name is Kara Nash. I am an adult with Level I Autism. I am also a mental health RN with over 20 years of experience working with patients and their families in a variety of settings.

I am a certified “Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist” and have over 500 hours of continuing education in autism-related information and have presented at local and regional autism conferences.

The Autistic Autism Consultant grew out of a desire to hear more autistic voices involved in caring for people on the spectrum.

Autism and how it affects people is my biggest special interest. My passion is helping people understand their physical and mental health in order to decrease the shame, discomfort, isolation, anxiety, and depression that can come along with an autism diagnosis.

Working with a trained medical professional, who is also on the autism spectrum, is potentially the best way to understand autism and how to best work with its challenges.

(You wouldn’t expect a sighted person to have a nuanced explanation of what it’s like to be blind. It’s equally unreasonable to expect a neurotypical provider to have a rich understanding of autism.)

My story is one story. As we say, if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. That said, in my career, I’ve worked with hundreds of people on the spectrum and have been lucky enough to do presentations and provide educational interactions for hundreds more.

I am queer and have worked with many clients who are queer and/or in the process of transitioning. As an RN, I can train clients to give their own T shots.