Next week I am doing a live interview with an expert on autism.
Carly Danesh-Jones is a British autism advocate (who is on the spectrum herself).
She even received an “MBE” for her work on autism advocacy.
It is one of those cool things that the British Royal Family does like making people Knights and Dames and stuff!
According to Wikipedia, an MBE means a person is a “Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire” which sounds like something straight out of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure!
By the way, if it sounds like I am mocking Carly or British customs, I’m not. I genuinely think it is awesome!
I did a pre-interview with Carly to prepare for our live zoom interview and I was blown away.
Carly’s level of self-awareness is staggering.
I don’t want to give away all her stories, but Carly was in her 30’s before she discovered that she could ask someone for help.
Carly explained:
“Think of all of the cognitive leaps that a person must make in order to ask for help.
First, you need to understand that you feel uncomfortable about something you are experiencing.
Second, you must understand that there are people who can help you with your problem.
Third, you must know that the people who can help you with your problem are not aware of your problem.
Finally, you must understand that those people will probably help you if you ask.
I am short. I often cannot reach the top shelf at the supermarket.
When I discovered, in my 30’s, that I could ask tall people to get a box of biscuits down for me I felt like I had acquired a superpower.
Suddenly, I could get other people to do things for me using nothing but words!”
I was absolutely blown away by her ability to explain her mind in ways that my mind could understand!
I suddenly started to understand why many people use the concepts of “neurodivergent” and “neurotypical.”
Carly showed me that—in many ways—her brain simply functions differently than my own.
Her brain “diverges” from more “typical” brains.
If you—like me—want to understand autism, but have struggled to wrap your mind around it, this conversation is for you.
In fact, I am so excited about my conversation with Carly next week that we decided to make it free.
Normally, our monthly training series is only for paying members.
But, we want as many people as possible to hear Carly’s insights.
Our zoom account can only handle 3,000 people, so we will have to cut off registrations at some point.
Feel free to share this email with anyone who you think might benefit from a little more understanding of the autism spectrum!
Have a great week!
Peace,
Ryan
