Since COVID started there has been change after change. As an autistic person, I struggle sometimes with change – even the good changes can be difficult.
As I’ve been forced to deal with a lot of change these days, change has gotten a bit easier for me… and some BIG changes are coming.
Announcement number one:
I’m still going to be working with businesses to deliver autism and neurodiversity related training – via Zoom while we’re still under restrictions.
I’ll also be collaborating with some other neurodivergent people to bring quality trainings starting in November… So be on the lookout for those opportunities.
Announcement number two:
I’m very excited to share that starting this fall – I will be taking on a very limited number of one to one life coaching and career coaching clients.
I’ve been coaching autistic and neurodivergent individuals for the past year and I’ve loved working one to one helping others and hope to help more people in the future.
More information about one to one coaching coming soon!
These services will be provided through my website www.NeurodivergentConsulting.org
You can also email to inquire about training and coaching at Info@NeurodivergentConsulting.org
Announcement number three (and why I’m only taking on a VERY limited number of coaching clients).
I’d recently had to take a pause in the writing of my autobiography, now that I’ve got more free time. I am going to start working on my book again.
Because of that, I’ve decided that if you support my work on Patreon starting this month (October 2020) through whenever the book is sent to print – I will print your name in the book as a thank you to my supporters who help make it possible.
Links mentioned in live:
Subscribe on Patreon:
www.Patreon.com/NeurodivergentRebel
Art & Clothing – Zazzle:
www.zazzle.com/store/neurodivergentrebel
Facebook Live Video Replay
Transcript
Alrighty, we’re going to give just a minute because it takes a while to connect and let people know that this is happening. So we’ll give people a minute to tune in. Alrighty.
[00:00:24] Hang on too- let me, let me pull up these, uh, this here so I can see the comments as well. So I can follow along with your comments. Um, let me get there guys. Well, one person, one person operation here. Here we go. All righty. There, there, I’ve got it pulled up so I can, uh, see your comments as people tune in and we’ll give everyone just a second to trickle in here, cause the live gives that notification.
[00:00:56] Um, awesome.
[00:00:59] Alrighty. So I’ve got is here. So I’ve got us up in multiple places.
[00:01:04] Thank you for tuning in this morning. I am really excited to be, um, sharing some of these announcements with you. I’ve got, I’ve got some big news. But, um, let’s just get just a second, uh, as people are connecting, uh, I see, we’ve got some of you here now.
[00:01:24] Okay. Um, Hey, no puppy, dog, not right now. And I may have to go and let him out. So let me put him outside. You want to come with me to put him outside? Let me put him outside. Cause otherwise he’s going to be like, I have to pee the entire time and that won’t be very good. Cause he’s a big dog and we don’t want him to pee in the house – do we?
[00:01:46] Awesome. Oh, right. I’m going to set you guys down here for a minute – come on, puppy dog.
[00:02:06] Awesome.
[00:02:08] We’ve got people here now, so we can jump in
[00:02:16] Good morning. It’s early and earlier I tried to ask him to go out and he was like, no, I refuse. I don’t want to get out of bed. And, uh, well now of course, as soon as I start the livestream, he needs to go out to pee. So, you know, what are you going to do? He’s a dog. Mmm.
[00:02:36] So anyway, um, yeah, you know, the, the re the reason that I’ve been here is I wanted to share and talk about change.
[00:02:46] Good morning, guys. I see some familiar faces. Yay. Um, and before COVID started, I had been working within businesses to provide training and coaching and consulting in the areas of neurodiversity in the workplace. And lots of things were different before COVID, as we all know, uh, I had flights booked, you know, from March to November.
[00:03:14] Um, you know, and then the world really changed, and, you know, two weeks after it really hit here, all the, all the flights started canceling and things went virtual and we’ve all been Zooming and using Google Hangouts and the Microsoft Teams and all of these virtual tools to connect. And I feel like I’ve actually had the opportunity to now become a Zoom expert, which is great.
[00:03:44] Uh, because that is, you know, how we’ve been delivering trainings, those trainings that didn’t cancel and that did move forward, all went virtual, it went digital and a lot of things have gone digital. I’m really excited about all of the things that have gone, digital, you know, healthcare going, digital, mental health services going digital.
[00:04:03] Um, these are all really good things.
[00:04:06] Thanks for the captions. I know I told Facebook, I wasn’t going to go live again until they gave that to me. So I’m here because Facebook fixed it. I have captions on my live videos. I stopped doing them because they weren’t accessible. I’m still gonna download it and try and scribe it after this to make sure the captions are correct. Um, because it’s, you know, it’s live captioning, it might be fallible. Um, I’m also gonna try and remind myself to speak slowly. So let me remind myself to slow this down a bit because I, um, I move quickly. I can be all over the place. So, Ooh, that’ll be hard for people to follow and hard for the captions to keep up.
[00:04:51] Um, so, so, you know, there there’ve been lots of changes happening, rapid changes, constant changes happening over the past several months since March and you know, businesses have changed the way, like I said, the way we deliver training has changed. Um, and you know, some days at the end of the day, I feel like, you know, I say I’m a Zoom zombie because I have just like- brain dead from being on Zoom, after Zoom, after Zoom.
[00:05:21] Um, and you know, as an autistic person, I, myself struggle with change. Uh, and the thing about that, that some people don’t understand is I struggle. With change, even if it’s a good change, sometimes I can have difficulty with that. Does anyone else relate to that? Like, do you have, like, even if you’re going through like a good change and the change you want to go through, it can be really hard on me.
[00:05:53] And I mean, that, that’s what my been, my experience is just, I change is really difficult, even when it’s a change that I want. Um, and let me see, I’ve got. Yes. Oh, the captions. Yay. I’m kidding guys. I’m so happy. We finally got these captions. Um, so hopefully if they work well, we’ll do more live videos, as long as they’re they’re working.
[00:06:16] Um, and part of that is me speaking clearly. Um,
[00:06:26] I’m reading comments too, as we go. I want to make sure if any questions pop up, I get those. So thank you guys. Um, so you know, this week I have been processing very sudden news that had a large impact on my life. And as of Monday afternoon, um, I am no longer employed full time.
[00:06:56] Uh, I lost my full time job due to COVID and the initial reaction is panic and fear and terror. When you hear something like that. And at this point, you know, it’s very bittersweet.
[00:07:11] Um, and I want to make sure to say that there’s no ill will at all, between the former employer and myself, we’re all still close friends- friendly, and we’re actually even collaborating on a few projects still.
[00:07:25] Uh, But, you know, the shift has left me in this crossroads and, you know, I lost something really wonderful. Uh, but I really hope to build something even better. So I’m trying to remain optimistic.
[00:07:50] Guys – don’t don’t no, no, I don’t want sorrys. No, there are no there’s no sorrys here. You know, we’re, we’re at a bridge.
[00:07:57] Um, you know, there’s a, well, actually, let me, let me say that before I get any more sorrys.
[00:08:05] Has anyone ever heard the phrase be careful what you wish for?
[00:08:11] I feel like I’ve been asking the universe for more time to work on helping with Autistic issues. Like literally just, you know, a few days and the day before. And then this happened and I couldn’t even help but say, okay, well, you know, it sounds like those, those prayers have been answered. Right.
[00:08:37] Um, and the reason I say, don’t, don’t say, sorry, is, you know, this is the first time I’ve ever lost a job – um, like normally if I lost a job, I would – I’ve only lost – one time I was laid off was in 2008 when we had the last crash, um, and normally losing a job, I would feel just overwhelming anxiety, um, but, that was the knee jerk reaction at first.
[00:09:09] But now that I’ve had time to process the event and really look over things, um, I’m actually feeling surprisingly hopeful and even excited about the potential for this change.
[00:09:24] Um, and it’s scary. It’s, it’s really scary, but, um, you know, sometimes. You need a little nudge or a little push or someone to like rip the bandaid off, to force you to act or to do something that you’ve kind of wanted to do, but hadn’t done.
[00:09:50] Um, let me read comments really quick too, cause I want to make sure I read comments, but you know, I I’m determined right now.
[00:09:59] I’m really determined, uh, to push myself harder than ever but also that said is – a big part of this is realizing, um, I am a recovering workaholic who tries to overwork to compensate or bury themselves in their problems and I have neglected people and things in my life when I am so much buried in my work are so overly focused on work.
[00:10:27] So a big part of this is not, you know, wanting to work a million hours. Uh, a week, um, so that I can have better mental and physical health and time with the people in my life that matter to me, um, because I, I see them all from a distance and when all you do is work, you don’t ever. You know, you don’t have a lot of time for anything else.
[00:10:53] And I tend to be all or nothing. And that’s like my own thing. It’s like when it was like, I go to work and then I stop and go do NeuroRebel work. It’s like, I created a whole nother job on top of a job. So I’ve had these two jobs for a really long time now. Um, and it’s a labor of love. Uh, and I really love doing the NeuroRebel work and that – there’s been a lot of things I’ve been doing offline for awhile that I haven’t even shared on social media, because I’ve just kind of been buried in those things, just buried in doing the work and the best stuff is the things that nobody even hears about. Honestly, the things that are off social media, that’s the most rewarding.
[00:11:39] Let me see, let me read comments here for a minute.
[00:11:42] But I’m feeling very encouraged. I may have to go get the dog to hang on. Let’s let me go grab the dog and look at comments at the same time. Let’s go grab him. He’s barking. I don’t know why he’s barking. I hear him. He’s having a fit. Okay. Not blind you guys with that light.
[00:12:02] Okay. Let’s get the doggey. Come on, buddy. Let’s go, Dust. Come on baby. Good boy. Oh my baby!
[00:12:13] Okay. Woo, loud noise. My apologies.
[00:12:18] Move that back over for the light. ..
[00:12:20] Okay. You get a little quick tour of my living room slash kitchen slash everything room, cause you know, it’s an RV.
[00:12:29] Actually, I’ll give you a tour another day, but I did not tidy up enough beforehand to give you a tour and I didn’t get up early enough today. I was not feeling great last night, physically and I didn’t sleep well.
[00:12:42] Maybe it’s the moon. You had a full moon. It was beautiful. Anyone else loves the moon?
[00:12:47] Okay. I’m reading comments. Now, give me a second to catch up. Uh, yeah. Okay. Uh, let me turn changes. Rough.
[00:13:01] Yeah, it’s – and see – I know the person I am when I’m overwhelmed and I don’t want to be that person. I don’t want to constantly be overwhelmed. I have had a really bad habit of always operating just barely on that edge of burnout. Just like just right there. And so that means I’m constantly like tipping over and burning myself out and pushing myself to making myself sick, uh, and, or being overwhelmed.
[00:13:37] And then I’m not even, I’m not even a wrong way. I’m not, I’m not even a pleasant person to be around when I’m overwhelmed. So I don’t want, I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be that way. I, you know?
[00:13:51] Reading, reading, reading, You got this! Oh, you guys, you guys good guys. So sweet. You’re always supportive. I know you, I, you know, I know, um, you guys would be supportive, um, but I also have announcements and I promise there would be, uh, announcements today.
[00:14:11] Right? So. Let me, I had to pull that back up cause it went to sleep. Uh, so let me get to the announcements here. I’ve got my notes and I’ve gotten a bit rambly. Uh, I’ve gone off script. Ooh, dangerous thing to do. I’ve gone off script, but, uh, so I had heartfelt feelings. I have feelings, all of these feelings.
[00:14:33] Um, so announcement number one. Uh, I, I am still going to be working with businesses to deliver Autism, and Neurodiversity related trainings, uh, via Zoom while we’re still under all of this COVID. Um, so…
[00:14:50] that’s interrupted is that that’s not true.
[00:14:53] You’re still here, right? Good. Give me a, give me a wave. Okay.
[00:14:57] We are still here. It sounds like what it doesn’t say broadcast interrupted.
[00:15:00] Okay. So anyway, I, I’m still going to be working with businesses to deliver autism and neurodiversity training. Um, and we’ll, I’ll be doing that via Zoom as long as COVID is a thing. Um, and I’ve already got some collaborations coming up with other neurodivergent people.
[00:15:18] To bring some call quality trainings, actually starting – I’ve got a couple coming up in November, so we’re jumping right into it. So more details about those will be coming. So be sure to subscribe to the Facebook page so you catch the information about those events and be out on the lookout for more of those opportunities.
[00:15:38] I think we’ve aligning some up from November all the way through maybe February.
[00:15:43] So I’m excited about that because really teaching is where I’m in my happy place. You know, when we, when we’re doing things that we enjoy, it kind of recharges us and it is good for the soul. Right. And so teaching and a big part of teaching for me, because I’m a writer is writing.
[00:16:10] So I get to write the whole thing and then organize it in a way that makes, since, because it comes out of my brain, like in a way that probably doesn’t make sense to me, everybody, uh, and then putting it together and sharing it with the world that is so relaxing to me and I have fun doing it. So I want to keep doing that and I’m going to keep doing that. Um, and so that, that will continue.
[00:16:35] Uh, and let me, let me read comments, cause I’ve got more comments coming in here. Um, so that that’s something to know, like I’m still going to be working with organizations to do training. I’m going to work with some companies, uh, to do training that is available for purchase to the public.
[00:16:53] Um, I’m going to be. Maybe trying to figure out a way to host some training on my website as well, that’ll be available, um, you know, the access easily for people. Um, and of course, you know, I’m going to shoot you to do – keep doing more free content on the, on the blog and the Facebook page and social media, uh, now that live stream has captions and they seem to be working, um, maybe we’ll do these live streams more frequently as well, um, here, because it’s all about helping.
[00:17:32] Um, and so, you know, I wanted more time to help. So that’s where I’ve got to put my time.
[00:17:39] Um, and then, uh, announcement number two. I wish I had like soundtrack sound effects, (plays drum roll on fingers ) um, and I’m really excited about this one. It is. I’m going to be starting this fall, not just yet, because I’ve got some projects I’m working on that I need to finish off through, um, October and, uh, mid November.
[00:18:02] Uh, but this fall I will be taking on a very, very limited number of one to one life coaching and career coaching clients. Uh, and you know, I’ve been coaching autistic and neurodivergent individuals for the past year, and I’ve really loved working one to one and helping others. Uh, and so I would really like to help more people in the future.
[00:18:28] Um, but obviously I, you know, I’m one person, so there was a limit to the capacity that I have to do this. So stay tuned because there will be more details and information about the one-to-one coaching coming soon. But that, as I stepped out of my full time role. That was one of my favorite things that I was starting to do, and I want to continue doing it.
[00:18:57] And so I don’t see any reason. I can’t continue doing that on my own. So yeah, I’m excited about that because it feeds my soul. And that’s why I’m saying this whole thing is about, I’m going to try and do more of the things that. Well, I meet two conditions, one, it needs to feed my soul and two, it needs to do some good in the world, like making the world better somehow or educate someone, you know, it needs to – so those are my two goals that I’m trying to do moving forward, um, with, with these items.
[00:19:38] So then going on my own to continue to do training and to help educate and do some coaching.
[00:19:48] So those services will be provided through my website NeurodivergentConsulting.org.
[00:19:54] And that site, it has been up for awhile. Uh it’s. Yeah, I was doing this before, too and I’m just going to kind of refocus into it again, moving forward.
[00:20:05] Uh, and you can also email to inquire about training and coaching at info@neurodivergentconsulting.org.
[00:20:12] That’s on my to do list too, is that website’s gonna get it major overhaul. I’m going to need to do some updates in the WordPress. So that’s coming soon. So let me read comments because I saw some comments popping into, and I do have one more announcement if you guys want to stay tuned for that, but let me, let me read your comments – yay!
[00:20:34] I have, I have to have one task devoted to one day and if I try to do too much, I burnt out fast.
[00:20:41] So and that’s the important thing for us to realize that we all have different limits. Um, And even my own limits has changed throughout the years and day to day can be different. You know, when I was younger, uh, I’m in my twenties and in my late teens, especially, I feel like I could physically and mentally take on a bit more than – I like- like – I need more rest time.
[00:21:12] I need more downtime now, as I’m getting into my thirties.
[00:21:18] Ginger ale. Oh. I have a thing for ginger, I love ginger ale.
[00:21:28] So, you know, we, we all have different limits. We all have different thresholds for what we can do. Uh, and you know, we need to learn what those limits are and, you know, teetering on the edge of burnout.
[00:21:41] For so long, uh, it’s not good.
[00:21:44] Um, “Edge is not survivable. I’m not sure how to not live at or over that burnout line.”
[00:21:54] See, and I realize I do this and live at that line for like, I’ve known for a couple of years that’s what I’ve been doing.
[00:22:07] And I felt it, because I was diagnosed autistic because I was burnt out and I was having physical and like mental health symptoms from the burnout and I was unwell.
[00:22:24] And so I was diagnosed because of burnout. So I’ve known since, you know, that was four years ago.
[00:22:31] I was diagnosed a little over four years ago now… and then I started the blog and started learning here with all of you.
[00:22:45] It’s been four years. Um, and you say, you know, you’re not sure how to not live at or over the burnout line.
[00:22:56] I don’t know if I would have made the decision on my own.
[00:22:59] Someone ripped – the bandaid was ripped off and here I am and now I’m trying to say, okay, well, I’m not going to work more than this many hours a week, and I’m not going to work on weekends.
[00:23:11] It’s I know since I’m so all or nothing, it would be really easy for me to just work 24, seven, seven days a week, especially doing something I really love.
[00:23:22] Um, But that wouldn’t be healthy. Uh, it might be more healthy for me because I can do those activities longer than I can other activities because they recharge me and bring me joy, but it wouldn’t be healthy for my relationships for the people I care about.
[00:23:40] Um, you know, I’ve got loved ones and grandparents and, um, you know, people that, you know, if you don’t see them you’ll regret it later.
[00:23:54] Uh, and anyway, shoulder – distracting, it hurts.
[00:24:01] Um, anyway, so, you know, those things are important.
[00:24:07] Okay. Scrolling, reading the comments.
[00:24:09] Um, so it sounds like the captions are doing well, which is good. I’m really excited because I wanted those so badly. Um, I told Facebook, I really needed that.
[00:24:22] Okay.
[00:24:25] “I’m really glad to have found you where I live for support for neurodivergent and individual adults is almost nonexistent and people are way too apathetic to care.”
[00:24:37] That’s really sad, but this is what’s even worse is this is really common. There is a very big lack of support for adults almost everywhere, universally, because services tend to be really focused on children.
[00:24:57] So I’m glad you’re here too. I’m glad you’re here too, but this is your you’re bringing up actually a much bigger problem that in general, we don’t have, uh, the support for adults and that’s why so many of us are, I think out here, we blog and we share when we get online, because you know… that’s why I did it.
[00:25:23] Cause when I was diagnosed, I went online to try and find something, some information, some support, where do I go from here? What’s next?
[00:25:34] And there – there was nothing, there was the blue puzzle people, which is just horrible gloom and doom and it’s all really for children. Well, four years ago, it was different, but things were worse four years ago, but then it’s all just medical gloom and doom.
[00:25:51] It’s all terrible. There was no, like there were autistic voices out there, but when you Google them, you couldn’t find any of them. It was so hard to actually find autistic people. It was so annoying and it was like, there’s no help. I don’t know what to do.
[00:26:07] Um, and that’s the problem. Like they’re, you know, you’re diagnosed and then you’re like, You know, what’s next?
[00:26:16] Ah, congratulations. Figure it out, read a book.
[00:26:21] And actually that’s the best thing. The person that diagnosed me did was recommended I read books by Aut-odess- uh – autistic authors, my words.
[00:26:32] Okay. It’s early here and I’ve got back to back video calls all day. I’m keeping myself busy.
[00:26:40] Y’all don’t don’t worry about The Rebel. The Rebel will be fine. The Rebel is charged. The Rebel is excited.
[00:26:50] I’ve talked about myself from a third person. I don’t, that’s a new one…
[00:26:57] Comments.
[00:26:58] Jude! Jude, see? Yes, Jude. We’re going to be working together and doing training. I’m excited about working with Jude. We’ve got some good stuff coming. I can’t wait more, more coming about that.
[00:27:10] Stay tuned. I’ve got to, I’ve got to post share. I’ll share something about that later today, too, about one of the first ones we’re going to be doing. Uh, so that’s going to be fun.
[00:27:19] I love, okay. Let me read these other comments, scrolling up the guys, scroll back up. Cause it goes to the bottom.
[00:27:24] You love in my hair.
[00:27:25] I love it too but look, this – it’s getting really fuzzy. It grows really fast. I’m like a chia pet and I think it’s time to shave the rainbow off. I’m so sad that the Rainbow’s going to go. I don’t want the rainbow to go, but I’ve, it’s, it’s going too long. I don’t know if maybe I can cut it a little shorter and save some of it.
[00:27:48] Um, But my head is getting really prickly and it’s starting to touch my ear. And it’s a sensory thing that I’m like, it’s like, I, I keep thinking there’s a bug crawling on my ear, but it’s like the hair touching my ear and I’m like, Ugh. And it’s like, Oh, it’s just my hair. Okay. It’s just my hair. And especially if I’m outside, like it plays mind games with me.
[00:28:09] Uh, and, uh, I’m trying to, that’s another thing, guys. I’m trying to spend more time outside. Uh, fresh air because I’ve been spending like 12 hours a day, 10 to 12 hours a day in this chair, in this corner, in this room of this RV, you know, 10 to 12 hours a day, five days a week. Um, And that’s not necessarily helpful.
[00:28:37] And I’ve got some back problems and some shoulder problems and neck stuff, and it just makes it way worse and I’m kind of in constant pain from sitting. So I need to like get up and move. I don’t go physically go out and do training anymore because of COVID.
[00:28:51] So I don’t, I actually, I can’t believe I’m saying this I miss the airplanes, but I’m not going to hop on one anytime soon.
[00:28:58] I’m keeping to myself, RV life has made for social distancing.
[00:29:05] I’m reading, reading, reading.
[00:29:08] Well, thanks.
[00:29:09] “Nobody understands how lonely that makes us feel. And I’ve even been questions about my diagnosis.”
[00:29:15] Yeah. Because people are ignorant.
[00:29:16] People don’t know what an autistic, like, people don’t really understand what autism is. Like. If they’ve heard about autism, they’ve only heard like a very narrow. Id- they have a very narrow idea because they haven’t been exposed to Autistic people and it’s a very medical idea and it’s not a very human idea.
[00:29:35] And it’s probably not an idea or a practice that was, uh, from an Autistic person either.
[00:29:43] That’s why more of us, I think, need to like speak and to share, because it’s important to show the diversity and autistic people. Um, like I wish there were more accounts that had large followings that were more diverse types of autistic people because our experiences are so different from autistic person to autistic person and we, we all are very different people. None of us are alike. Um, you know, different genders, races, all of that. We need more representation.
[00:30:20] Reading, reading, reading.
[00:30:22] “I have my hair under cut just above my ears and I hate it when it’s especially tickle my ears.”
[00:30:26] Yeah. Like this is the best like sensory haircut. You know, it’s, it’s a Mohawk basically. Um, I’ve ever had, it feels so, so good. Like, especially when it’s hot, I have really thick hair. You know, two thirds of my head is shaved right now and you know, we still have a lot of hair. Like I could part my hair down the middle and look like I have hair and you wouldn’t know, I have a Mohawk.
[00:30:53] Um, my mom does my hair for me. My mom has always done my hair for me. She’s a hairstylist. She’s been, she’s a barber stylist. She’s been doing hair longer than I’ve been alive. Uh, I grew up in the hair salon this thus the, the obsession with hair color. I’m actually a beauty school dropout. Believe it or not, I dropped out cause I only, we wanted to do color and back then people didn’t just only do color and I really only wanted to do this kind of color.
[00:31:23] Bright-
[00:31:23] Beause I, I touched up my own hair like recently. Like I, I get, she helps me with it a couple of times a year, but I do it myself in between. Um, so I’m, I’m a beauty school dropout.
[00:31:35] You come on these lives, you learn these little random facts about me. When I go off script and start reading your comments. That’s what your comments do. If you want to take me off script, throw me a comment. You’ll get me off real quick.
[00:31:47] Um,” I’ve been lucky that I’ve had support from my diagnosis from early in life. That being said I’m willing to help and assist others who have not been so fortunate.” –
[00:31:56] And see, that’s really important that peer to peer support that, you know, we are able to find that and unfortunately, locally, it may not be easy to find support. Especially if you’re in a rural area or especially right now, people aren’t getting out. Uh, and so we’re turning to the internet to connect.
[00:32:17] “I feel so much better with my Mohawk cut.”
[00:32:20] “Did I miss the announcement?”
[00:32:21] There were two announcements and I will put the replay up so you can catch what they were. And then I have one more announcement. So you didn’t miss all of the announcements but you’ll catch the replay.
[00:32:35] You’re really late. You’re half an hour late. It’s good to see you though. I’m glad you made it fashionably late, Robert.
[00:32:45] All right. The autistic Avenger in the house, fashionably late.
[00:32:53] All right. So let me see. Okay. I think I’ve caught up on your comments and then I can give, since you’re here, we’ll give you one of the, one of the number three number three announcement.
[00:33:02] Um, and you’ll go back and rewatch and catch the other two, I think you can rewind.
[00:33:07] But I’m going to pop off soon because I have a call as a video call at 9:00 AM and I need to, um, be ready, like. Mental space. Be ready for that call. Um, gather my thoughts and download this video.
[00:33:22] Oh, Hey. No, no apologies necessary.
[00:33:24] I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re here better, late than never.
[00:33:31] That’s that’s why, that’s why it’s a video. We gotta replay. Nope, no sweat.
[00:33:35] Anyway announcement number three. Hey, you made it just in time though for number three, and this is why I’m only going to take a very limited number of coaching clients.
[00:33:46] So Robert that’s one of the announcements you’ll have to rewind and watch.
[00:33:50] Um, so I’m only gonna take a very limited number of coaching clients because of announcement number three.
[00:33:57] Um, I had recently had to take a pause in the writing of my autobiography. And now that I’ve got more free time, I do plan to start writing on the book again.
[00:34:09] Um, and because of that, I have decided that, for some of you, or for those of you who support my work on Patrion, Robert, this includes you because you’re on there already.
[00:34:19] Um, this month, uh, through, uh, October, 2020. So starting this month through, whenever I do get the book sent to print. I will print your name in the book as a thank you to the Patrion supporters who are helping make that possible.
[00:34:34] Uh, so that that’s actually the two part announcement that’s relevant to you. So I’m glad you made it for that one.
[00:34:42] So anyone who wants to support on Patriot I’ll link that in the comments or add it to the video description after the live stream.
[00:34:48] Um, And like I said, you know, I do still plan to make free and educational content for the blog and social media pages.
[00:34:57] Hopefully I will be doing even more free and educational content as I focus on making this what I plan to focus on full time all day, every day.
[00:35:10] Okay. Um, and so let me see, there’s more comments coming into a, so let me see if there’s any other questions.
[00:35:23] Okay. Oh, this is a good one. So I’m glad I paused to read this.
[00:35:28] Um, “so how do you feel about self-diagnosis? Wasn’t a thing that I recognize when I was a kid now I don’t have insurance.”
[00:35:41] So honestly, for a lot of autistic people, self-diagnosis is that first step. Uh, and you know, I call it self discovery instead of self-diagnosis. Uh, and like, when I write about my, you know, it’s like, I, I feel like I I’m actually switching from using the word diagnosed when I talk about myself, I’m trying to switch myself to say when I was discovered autistic, uh, in support of those people who are unable to access the diagnosis for one reason or another, be that, you know, we’re, depending on where you live, there may not be services in your area or because the services are so expensive. People may not be able to afford diagnosis. They may have trouble finding people who diagnose adults or who are aware of adults.
[00:36:39] It’s and so, you know, I think people, we know ourselves very well. Um, and you know, it’s great if you can access that diagnosis, but I feel like the fact that I have a diagnosis, it shouldn’t be a privilege. It should be, you know, a right for people to have access to that but the fact is, yeah, I feel like I’m very privileged to have been diagnosed at all.
[00:37:03] I feel like I’m very lucky, you know, I had insurance at the time. Um, but even then it’s still like there was a deductible and it still was, you know, not, it was luck. There was luck there. And there was like access because there were doctors who understood diagnosing adults. Um, and. I feel very blessed and very fortunate, but you know, there, I’ve heard people saying, even in parts in the UK, there may be waiting for like two or three years on the wait list to get a diagnosis.
[00:37:33] Um, and I was fairly sure when I first read and started seeing autistic voices, like no 90% sure that this was correct, but I second guess myself by nature and wasn’t ready to tell anyone else, uh, or, you know, I w until I had somebody confirm it for me, that’s just something I felt I needed before I could actually share with anyone, because I just, you know, I don’t know, you gaslight yourself, and to not, not believing, but, you know, I knew before I was diagnosed, I just, I needed that confirmation for myself and I’m lucky to have it, but it’s not something everyone will have.
[00:38:22] Um, so I have solidarity, uh, to those who are self discovered or self-proclaimed Autistics.
[00:38:31] And I don’t actually even think that’s controversial. I think that’s pretty accepted from what I’ve seen. Uh, I’ve done a poll. It’s been a while since we’ve done a poll on Twitter, but I feel like it was pretty high in favor, if anyone’s good at searching Twitter, if you can find that poll about asking autistics, if they support self ID, um, cause I’m not that yet, but it’s searching through Twitter and I tweet too much.
[00:38:58] I tweet too much. I don’t even know how, how to find that one. Um, but it, it was interesting information because I think there were hundreds of people in that, in that poll. Um, So, um, let’s see. So let’s see.
[00:39:11] Anyway, I’m I caught up on the questions. Yes, yes, yes.
[00:39:15] So, you know, all of that, I said, you know, I, I’m feeling very optimistic.
[00:39:19] I’m feeling excited. I’m feeling hopeful, I’m feeling enthused.
[00:39:23] Um, but you know, I can’t do it alone. Uh, the blog is been made possible thanks to the help of readers and viewers like you and whether that is, you know, sharing your thoughts on one of the posts and engaging like we’re doing right now, like thank you so much for that, you know, or hitting like, or hitting share.
[00:39:47] Those things are extremely valuable and help power the blog. Um, or even, you know, those of you who are subscribing to my extra content, you know, uh, thank you so much, you know, for being here, you know, you guys are really helping power this engine, um, and. Yeah, I wanted to really sincerely thank you for being part of my world for the past, you know, four years now, because really the blogs kind of just turned four.
[00:40:15] Um, And, you know, if you’re wanting to subscribe to the extra content, uh, there’s a few ways you can do that one. Uh, I am on Patrion and the Patrion subscribers, they gain early access to most of the videos, uh, as well as announcement, sneak peaks, uh, and some BTS of my current projects. Uh, and it’s a, it’s a pay what you can subscription that starts with a dollar a month.
[00:40:41] So super cheap and everyone gains access to the same benefits regardless of the subscription level.
[00:40:47] And I think now you can actually subcribe annually. So yeah, like $12 a year or less, uh, to jump in there and get extra access to that content.
[00:40:55] Um, and then on Facebook, Facebook just unlock the thing. And if you’re a Facebook user and don’t want to go on to a new platform, you can gain early access to most of the videos, uh, the NeuroRebel videos on Facebook as well, and the Facebook supporters have access to a private NeuroRebel Supporters, Facebook group. And once I reached 25 supporters on Facebook, uh, I’m going to start doing live streams in that private Facebook supported group as well now that we’ve got captions.
[00:41:25] I’m so happy about the captions guys.
[00:41:28] Um, and you can also check me out on Zazzle if you want to get some of my tee shirts and my art thingies, uh, I’ll I’ll put, linked up with a link to those and the description so you can find them.
[00:41:41] Um, but you know, really the easiest way to support my work is share the videos and the content, because really, I always need help getting the word out.
[00:41:49] Um, Guys, thank you again from the bottom of my heart for being here. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. Over the last four years,
[00:42:02] I am truly grateful for each and every one of you and I’m excited for what we are creating together. And, you know, we will talk again soon. Um, Yes guys. Thank you all so much. Um, let me hit the end button and we’ll talk to you later.
