''Introvertendo'', occasionally credited as ''Introvertendo - Autismo por Autistas'' (In portuguese: ''Introverting - Autism by Autistics''), is a Brazilian
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
launched in May 2018. With content about autism, it became notable for being the first podcast made by autistic people in Brazil.
Originally created by autistic students from the Federal University of Goiás, ''Introvertendo'' addressed autism issues in adult life. The programme began its activities independently, with weekly episodes related to autism and other topics of interest to the members, all presented by Tiago Abreu. In 2020, after changes in the podcast's staff, other members started presenting it. That same year, the podcast began to be produced by Superplayer & Co, and its audience grew, coming to be considered one of the best programmes of 2020 in a portuguese list by
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts (known as simply Podcasts in Apple operating systems) is an audio streaming service and media player application developed by Apple Inc. for playing podcasts. Apple began supporting podcasts with iTunes 4.9 released in June 2005 ...
. In 2025, the show was revived with new hosts — Brendaly Januário, Gustavo Borges, and Marx Osório — under the production of the Núcleo de Arte e Inclusão do Autista (NAIA Autismo).
Throughout its history, ''Introvertendo'' has become known as one of the forerunners in the discussion of autism by autistic people in Brazil on the podcasting scene, which has influenced later productions in the same format. The debate on topics such as cultural representations and
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
from an autistic perspective has come to be seen as a different way of observing the daily lives of people on the autism spectrum. The podcast has a range of accessibility features, especially on its website, which includes audio description, transcription of all episodes and a
Brazilian Sign Language
Brazilian Sign Language ( ) is the sign language used by deaf communities of Brazil. It is commonly known in short as Libras ().
Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) is a well-established language and legally recognized.
History
In April 2016, a therapeutic group for people diagnosed with
Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...
, an
autism spectrum disorder
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
Goiânia
Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. The group was formed by five people – Luca, Marcos, Michael, Otavio and Tiago – that later became the founders of ''Introvertendo''.
The first ''Introvertendo'' episode was released in May 2018. It was the first Brazilian podcast produced by autistic people.
In 2019, ''Introvertendo'' hosts started publishing in '' Revista Autismo''. In September 2019, ''Introvertendo'' received an award from Expocom, delivered by .
In 2020, was no longer an independent production, and started being distributed by Superplayer & Co. In March of the same year, a
Brazilian Sign Language
Brazilian Sign Language ( ) is the sign language used by deaf communities of Brazil. It is commonly known in short as Libras ().
Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) is a well-established language and legally recognized.
In 2023, the ''Introvertendo'' team announced that the programme would come to an end. The final episode aired on 22 September 2023.
In 2024, ''Introvertendo'' received the Orgulho Autista Brasil Award from the Movimento Orgulho Autista Brasil (MOAB) in the category “News coverage broadcast on radio or podcast". Tiago Abreu, one of the podcast’s original founders, considered the possibility of launching a second generation of ''Introvertendo''. He consulted members of the original team, who authorized the idea. The new hosts chosen were Gustavo Borges, Marx Osório, and Brendaly Januário. Adriano Quadros, who had contributed to audio editing during the podcast’s earlier years, returned to lead both audio and video editing. Video production was handled by Nicolas Melo and Alexandre Stacciarini at the studios of Faculdade Realiza, in
Aparecida de Goiânia
Aparecida de Goiânia () is a city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in central Goiás, Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state (with a population of 590,146 inhabitants, according to the 2020 estimate) and the third largest ...
.
The reboot was announced on May 11, 2025, the seventh anniversary of the podcast. The first episode, about autism personal diagnosis, was released on June 18, 2025, coinciding with
Autistic Pride Day
Autistic Pride Day is a pride List of minor secular observances#June, celebration for autistic people held annually on June 18. Societal and cultural aspects of autism#Autistic pride, Autistic pride recognises the importance of pride for autist ...
. The launch was held during the 2nd Adult Autistics Meeting of Goiânia, which included a public screening of the debut episode and a Q&A session with the new team.
Format
Over the years, ''Introvertendo'' has been a continuously released podcast, with weekly episodes, usually on Fridays. The structure most often explored by the show was the free conversations between the members, usually on topics that were included in the title of episode. Among the topics most frequently covered by the show were late diagnosis of autism in adults, inclusion at school and university, challenges of social interactions and characteristics of autism. Until the end of 2019, the podcast also explored topics outside of autism, such as episodes on
religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
, the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
and
afterlife
The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...
. From episode 20 to episode 80, all the episodes with a number ending in 0 dealt with the discography of some artist or band, such as
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
,
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...
and the
britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
movement.
Another feature of the programme was the inclusion of reading emails sent by fans, who could be other autistic people, but also family members, professionals and other people interested in the subject of autism. In 2022, emails were replaced by audios, which could be sent via
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
or
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
. ''Introvertendo'' was available on various podcast download and streaming platforms, such as
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts (known as simply Podcasts in Apple operating systems) is an audio streaming service and media player application developed by Apple Inc. for playing podcasts. Apple began supporting podcasts with iTunes 4.9 released in June 2005 ...
,
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
,
Castbox
Castbox ( zh, 鑄造箱) is a Hong Kong–based podcast company. The company both hosts, and produces its own podcasts.
Founding
Castbox was founded in 2016 by company CEO Renee Wang in Beijing, China. It also has offices in San Francisco and Ho ...
,
Amazon Music
Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers.
It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...
and
Deezer
Deezer is a List of companies of France, French music streaming service and media service provider founded in 2007 that provides users with access to a vast library of music tracks, podcasts, and radio stations. It offers streaming services in ...
.
Over the five years, the programme featured more than 150 guests, most of them related to the brazilian autism community. Among the notable names who have appeared in episodes are figures such as Andréa Werner, Márcia Wayna Kambeba,
Mauricio de Sousa
Mauricio Araújo de Sousa (; born October 27, 1935), known artistically as Mauricio de Sousa or mononymously just as Mauricio, is a Brazilian cartoonist and businessman who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's co ...
Tito Aureliano
Tito Aureliano Neto, or simply Tito Aureliano (Recife, December 28, 1989), is a Brazilian paleontologist, researcher, science communicator, and writer.
Biography
Although born in the city of Recife, Tito moved to Brasília as a child, with his p ...
. Members of associations and organisations related to autism also appeared on the podcast, such as members of the Movimento Orgulho Autista Brasil (MOAB), Associação Brasileira para a Ação por Direitos das Pessoas Autistas (Abraça), Instituto Autismo & Vida, Associação Nacional para Inclusão das Pessoas Autistas (Ania), Organização Neurodiversa pelos Direitos dos Autistas (Onda) and Núcleo de Arte e Inclusão do Autista (Naia).
Cast
Current members
;Hosts and members
*Brendaly Januário (2025–present)
*Gustavo Borges (2025–present)
*Marx Osório (2025–present)
*João Victor Ramos (2025–present)
*Izabella Pavetits (2025–present)
*Maysa Antunes (2025–present)
*Bruno Frederico Müller (2025–present)
;Contributors and collaborators
* Tiago Abreu – general direction, audio and video editing, mixing (2025–present)
* Nicolas Melo – video direction (2025–present)
* Adriano Quadros – audio and video editing, mixing, soundtrack (2025–present)
* Alexandre Stacciarini – video assistant, video editing, design (2025–present)
* Michael Ulian – video assistant, transcription (2025–present)
* Ana Júlia – content planning (2025–present)
* Anderson Gomes – general assistant (2025–present)