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Listen "4. "Neurodiversity, a Dirty Word!" – The Importance of Feeling Understood & Having a Fierce Advocate"
Episode Synopsis
Episode 4: "Neurodiversity Used To Be a Dirty Word" – The Importance of Feeling Understood & Having a Fierce Advocate
Michael comes to the group with a clip from a longer video by @5NewsUK on J Grange and how misunderstood he felt before he was diagnosed with ADHD. In the clip, J Grange says, “I got so frustrated. My parents would always side with the teachers.” Speaking to his father, he remembers how it felt like his father and the teachers were on the same team and “there was me just all on my own, being misunderstood by everyone.” His father also struggled, “We just thought he was playing up. Feeling that you couldn’t understand your son or daughter is a terrible position to be in.”
Michael got emotional the first time he saw it, and this viewing was different only in that the rest of the group also was strongly moved by J’s story of feeling alone. Michael describes how parents feel lost, they don’t know about neurodiversity and often the teachers don’t know either. "This is how those bad narratives begin," Michael says.
The team talks about how the stigma is not there like it used to be. Rudy remarks that being neurodiverse used to be like having cancer, no one talked about it, no one wanted to have a child labeled as neurodivergent.
Krista, who’s open about her kid being neurodivergent, shares her role as FIERCE advocate for her child, and says quite possibly it’s because there wasn’t an advocate for her. Though her mother is now an autism specialist who went back to school later in life, she knows her mother would have been a fierce advocate if she’d known -- but girls present differently -- and now her mother has helped her advocate for her kid.
Rudy shares that his stepkids have various types of neurodivergence, like misophonia (trouble with sound). He then talks about one of his kids who is deaf and how that compounds the struggle for that kid.
When Sarah saw the video she kept hearing her bad narrative, “What is wrong with you?” about herself and about her children, “What is wrong with you that you can’t parent your kid, what is going on at your house that this is happening.” She opens up that one of her neurodivergent kids is also trans. Rudy has been through something similar with his stepdaughter, April, who is deaf and was assigned male at birth.
The team geeks out on the correlations between autism and trans-identities, and ADHD and hypermobility. Rudy wonders about correlations with deafness and neurodiversity. Krista responds that misdiagnosis is common for these communities and can contribute to the frustration. Holistic treatment is needed for people who contain multitudes. Though all these differences make diagnosis complicated, Krista says, "how boring life would be if we were all the same." Sarah conjures a Buck Rogers episode where everyone on a planet wore masks because they all looked the same. The binary made everyone there unhappy. Michael unilaterally decides that we should have a GenX reference in every episode.
Michael sums up how everyone identified with the teen who didn’t feel understood and how transformative it can be to have the trust of their parents and teachers.
Recorded 2/23/24
Link to clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdXN0Dct4Ck&t=24s
(To watch full news story on J Grange - I just played an excerpt)
Thanks to our sources
@5NewsUK
https://jgrangeofficial.com/
J is an International Public Speaker, Musician and Neurodiversity Advocate born in East London. After facing many mental health challenges during his time in education such as depression, a lack of support, suicidal thoughts, being permanently excluded from two schools, going to court and being diagnosed with ADHD and Dyspraxia, J finally found his passions in music and advocacy.
#ADHD #ADHDMisunderstood #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #transgender #autism #autismawareness #autismacceptance #adhdcoaching #adhdhumor #NeurodiversityWasABadWord #BuckRogers #DiversityIsASuperPower
Michael comes to the group with a clip from a longer video by @5NewsUK on J Grange and how misunderstood he felt before he was diagnosed with ADHD. In the clip, J Grange says, “I got so frustrated. My parents would always side with the teachers.” Speaking to his father, he remembers how it felt like his father and the teachers were on the same team and “there was me just all on my own, being misunderstood by everyone.” His father also struggled, “We just thought he was playing up. Feeling that you couldn’t understand your son or daughter is a terrible position to be in.”
Michael got emotional the first time he saw it, and this viewing was different only in that the rest of the group also was strongly moved by J’s story of feeling alone. Michael describes how parents feel lost, they don’t know about neurodiversity and often the teachers don’t know either. "This is how those bad narratives begin," Michael says.
The team talks about how the stigma is not there like it used to be. Rudy remarks that being neurodiverse used to be like having cancer, no one talked about it, no one wanted to have a child labeled as neurodivergent.
Krista, who’s open about her kid being neurodivergent, shares her role as FIERCE advocate for her child, and says quite possibly it’s because there wasn’t an advocate for her. Though her mother is now an autism specialist who went back to school later in life, she knows her mother would have been a fierce advocate if she’d known -- but girls present differently -- and now her mother has helped her advocate for her kid.
Rudy shares that his stepkids have various types of neurodivergence, like misophonia (trouble with sound). He then talks about one of his kids who is deaf and how that compounds the struggle for that kid.
When Sarah saw the video she kept hearing her bad narrative, “What is wrong with you?” about herself and about her children, “What is wrong with you that you can’t parent your kid, what is going on at your house that this is happening.” She opens up that one of her neurodivergent kids is also trans. Rudy has been through something similar with his stepdaughter, April, who is deaf and was assigned male at birth.
The team geeks out on the correlations between autism and trans-identities, and ADHD and hypermobility. Rudy wonders about correlations with deafness and neurodiversity. Krista responds that misdiagnosis is common for these communities and can contribute to the frustration. Holistic treatment is needed for people who contain multitudes. Though all these differences make diagnosis complicated, Krista says, "how boring life would be if we were all the same." Sarah conjures a Buck Rogers episode where everyone on a planet wore masks because they all looked the same. The binary made everyone there unhappy. Michael unilaterally decides that we should have a GenX reference in every episode.
Michael sums up how everyone identified with the teen who didn’t feel understood and how transformative it can be to have the trust of their parents and teachers.
Recorded 2/23/24
Link to clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdXN0Dct4Ck&t=24s
(To watch full news story on J Grange - I just played an excerpt)
Thanks to our sources
@5NewsUK
https://jgrangeofficial.com/
J is an International Public Speaker, Musician and Neurodiversity Advocate born in East London. After facing many mental health challenges during his time in education such as depression, a lack of support, suicidal thoughts, being permanently excluded from two schools, going to court and being diagnosed with ADHD and Dyspraxia, J finally found his passions in music and advocacy.
#ADHD #ADHDMisunderstood #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #transgender #autism #autismawareness #autismacceptance #adhdcoaching #adhdhumor #NeurodiversityWasABadWord #BuckRogers #DiversityIsASuperPower
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