Transcript
Speaker: oh Oh, here we go. Back in the room. we are back in the room. Actually back in the room. We've had a few tech problems, but it seems we are definitely back in the room. Yeah. Back on the thrones. Right. And we did skip a week the other week.
Speaker: Yes. um That was because my life got so full, I couldn't get a podcast out. that's on me. But anyway. It happens.
Speaker: It happens. So what are we doing today, Martin? Well, let's but let's look. let's look We're going to be looking at what the future The future, future, future, future. The future. What the future of diagnosis and therapy might look like. Like, like, like, like. What's it going to look like?
Speaker: Yes. Like, like, like. um So let's go to a place where the distractions, the landmarks and the detours are the main roads. Welcome to ADHDville.
Speaker: Meet the gang, cause the boys are here Boys to entertain, boys to entertain, boys to entertain, boys to entertain, boys to entertain, boys to entertain you
Speaker: ADHD, ADHD. ADHD kind of thing. ah So, yeah. um um So what going to say? Oh, yeah. Hello. My name is Nina Simone. And when I'm not playing my piano and and looking eternally different in contrast to my audience's enthusiasm, ah know I like to talk about ADHD on podcasts like this one.
Speaker: And am. Alternatively, I'm Paul Thompson. And I was diagnosed with the ADHD calling towards ah a couple of years ago. And I'm Elvis Presley.
Speaker: And I was diagnosed with the combined ADHD. ah Oh, yeah, man, about 2013. And contrary to popular belief, I am not dead.
Speaker: I'm alive and doing a podcast. Elvis has not less left the room. No, I am in the room. elie throw In room. In room. In the room. In the room. Okay. In the room.
Speaker: So, have we got on the... Yes, it's me, isn't it? It's me, isn't it? Yes. God damn it. Oh, see, you see what? It's just like if you if you're like a week out.
Speaker: If you're a week out, it throws you. Yeah. We start off, as we always do, in there in the ah King's Agitated Head pub In ADHDville, where we, the ex-mayors of ADHDville, sit at the back table and enjoy a pint.
Speaker: Yes. And this week, let me just look at my agenda. We have, we have, ah yeah, so we're talking about the future of diagnosis and therapy, what that might look like.
Speaker: And then we have a quiz. We have a quiz. Yes, we just... And you're going to attempt to make me look small and pathetic and stupid. Yes.
Speaker: In front of millions of people. Yeah. Yeah. I hope so. but you should quite well. You should do a lot better than I do. My last attempt was was i pathetic.
Speaker: All right. I owe you a quiz back, so maybe next week we will have a quiz. So already ah where are we going to have this chat about the future?
Speaker: Let's go to the farm, Marty. Let's go to the farm. All right. Well, let's jump in our tractor, which seems rather appropriate, and head over to the farm.
Speaker: That's it. Get in, get in, get in. Come Now we're off. We're off! There we go! Whoa! Never fails that tractor!
Speaker: Raise the plow! Raise the plow!
Speaker: All the years we've been doing the podcast, the tractor's never failed. Always goes the first time. It's that reliable diesel. That's what it is. Yeah. Those were the days.
Speaker: Those were the days. So, yeah. So the idea was, because ah it got me thinking, it's like, you know, the diagnosis seems like really like prehistoric compared with, you know, um kind of advances in neuroscience, right?
Speaker: And I heard one day, a few weeks ago, Actually, the the diagnosis and the therapies for neuroscience is ah it's about 20 years behind the actual ah research.
Speaker: Okay. Oh, I see. I'll give you an example. Like Alzheimer's. Okay. there were like They found in 1995, which is what, 35? How long is that? 25 plus 10, 35 years.
Speaker: No, 30 years ago. Right. 30 years ago, they'd already discovered a really good, fantastic Alzheimer's biomarker diagnosis, basically more accurate than...
Speaker: brine scans and things like that really accurate it's not available 30 years ago and it's still not widely used even in the nineteen twenty s and it in nineteen twenty in the still not freely available so it's like way behind but you think like ADHD it's like filling out questionnaires you know like massively ah prone to misdiagnosis ah badly interpreted you know and all that kind of thing.
Speaker: Okay. um So was thinking, what's out there already? What's going on? What's going on, Martin? What is going on, Paul? I don't know what's going on.
Speaker: What's going on? What's going What's going on? And apparently... Apart from, i was just saying, you know, the the current diagnosis method are are really bad. But they're even worse for marginalized groups and female adults.
Speaker: So, you know, it's a shit show. Let's call it what it is. It is a show. a nightmare. And the tongue technology is out there, right? It's just they're not, people aren't just like on it, okay? They're not it. So it got me thinking. So what's actually already available on the...
Speaker: both on the therapeutic side and also diagnosis, right? All right. so So like, okay, so, you know, you've got your wearable devices, okay, already.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. There's stuff out there that's really good. Smartwatch. Smartwatches. Yeah. Yeah, um the stuff out there can already diagnose if you're prone to having um ah epiley epileptic attacks.
Speaker: There are devices out there that say, mate, you're about to you you are actually in danger of having an epileptic attack. So it's stuff out there, you know. um There's also stuff that can be, there's also things out there that could always already be useful if you've got dyspraxia.
Speaker: So if you're like prone to falling over and, you know, kind of things that might kind of like might happen. um like that you actually got wearable devices that exist already with that kind of technology it's like okay if something bad happens sleeping disorders already stuff out there already existing for sleeping disorders okay metabolic health okay so like even like insulin resistance inflammation disrupted sleep glucose, glueose glucose
Speaker: um ah if you're lacking glucose, you know they can get um can get help for that, ah for helping you know monitoring your glucose, basically, temperature monitoring.
Speaker: There's loads of stuff out there already. Skin hydration help. There's already stuff out there. Menstrual and reproductive health. There's already um wearable devices for that kind of thing.
Speaker: Okay. But even like you get really specific, app ah apple's Apple's AirPod Pros, all kinds of really cool stuff.
Speaker: They're already kind of okayish on the therapeutic side for ADHD. Right? Noise cancellation. And you can selectively filter out certain sounds.
Speaker: Okay. So you can hone in on voices. Okay. All right. All right. Okay. There's other stuff. There's other tech with the the the Apple thing.
Speaker: Okay. but But there's also diagnoses out there, right? There's stuff already out there for actual diagnosis. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: um Like you neuroimaging, that's the kind of the oldest technology out there. um You can have a brain scan and it can detect ADHD and autism.
Speaker: Okay, it can? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah, you can actually do it. um its currently It's available. it's it's just very kind of It's just too expensive.
Speaker: It's just not being used. So I could stick my head in one of those donut machines. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they could yeah get... Oh, look, see you you see this big blank space right here yeah at the front?
Speaker: Exactly. That's where you should have brain cells. But but Mr. West, I'm afraid you seem to be missing quite a lot here. Exactly. All right. i once I once went to see a neurologist and he said, you don't happen to, because I was suffering from migraines.
Speaker: And he said, you don't happen to have like a CD with like, or a DVD with like your brain scans. Well, actually, funny you say that, I do. Right. Well, you just carry it around on you.
Speaker: I did. Hang on a second, mate. I think I've got it in my back pocket. Oh, there we go. Well, I did have it my back pocket. I handed it over to him and he was looking at it. And he said, um Mr. Thompson, just, you know, let's have a little conversation.
Speaker: And they all ah this conversation won't go outside these four walls. Oh, no. Have you ever been into, like, serious, you know, like, drugs?
Speaker: Oh, right. Are you a drug addict, Mr. Thompson? And he and he said, if you what about this drug? And I said, nope. ah What about that drug? Nope.
Speaker: What about this drug? Well, actually, I did go through a couple of years, you know, when I was, you know, kind of doubled in that area of substance abuse. A bit of a wild time. Be a crackhead.
Speaker: He said, well, come over to my side of the yeah of the desk and I'll show you something. Alright And he showed me this part of my brain scan You see you see these spaces here right Between this bit and that bit He said it They should There shouldn't be a gap ah shouldn't be a gap.
Speaker: So those two years of, of ah you know, fun that you had, there was some consequences. Mind the gap. Mind the gap. So, yeah, but apparently you can you can see um a lot of neuro,
Speaker: ah ah you know, you could detect a lot of neurological um inefficiencies in brains. Not inefficiencies, imperfections.
Speaker: Right. But it's just too unwieldy and too expensive to roll out. But there's stuff out there. Some people say, talking about wearable devices, have you yeah ever heard of hats for ADHD people? I've never heard of hats.
Speaker: Never heard of hats. Oh, wait, have. have No, I have heard of hats. Hats for ADHD people. Oh. That weigh a lot. That weigh a lot?
Speaker: they They're actually out there. There are hats for ADHD people that weigh a lot and have certain therapeutic benefits. I like a hat. They didn't specify the weight like a ton.
Speaker: Right. But apparently, you know like ADHD people who like having heavy blankets, or at least I do. It's quite common. Apparently, if you have a heavy hat...
Speaker: It can help you. heavy heart heavy hat helps. Exactly, exactly. So I was i was wondering, if like, what if, you know, we could use our imaginations a little bit.
Speaker: What if, you know, there was, like, cufflinks? Let's go through the wearable devices and where this could go. Can you imagine, like, a cufflink that, like, you know, an ADHD cufflink or a baraclava?
Speaker: Well, I'm just thinking, right, you can get your regular hat and then under the hat you can put like a brick. Right. Get a brick and put it out on your head then put a hat over the hat. You're looking at saving money.
Speaker: Okay. Yeah, you just get your hat, put the brick under it. You can find a brick. Anyone can find a brick, right? Anyone can find a brick. Or a medium-sized stone.
Speaker: yeah a Or a copy of War and Peace by Tolstoy. Yeah. You know, I thought i think there are options here. You could nick some leading off your parents' roof. Ah, man.
Speaker: And mould it to your head. If you've leading on your parents' roof, you have rich parents. so Yeah. um um'm um um thinking And you could probably afford to get a proper brain scan done.
Speaker: Okay, yeah, that's a good point. But what about socks? Would you be, you know, against a sock, an ADHD sock? What, I mean, like a a weighted sock?
Speaker: I mean, like it's hard enough. No, wouldn't be weighted. it would be like, because apparently, apart from the weighted hat, they're talking about... We're talking about a hat that wasn't weighted, but it would be able to pinpoint where pressure points were needed at any certain point and be much be really accurate.
Speaker: Okay. I mean, you know, I i do like a nice hat that kind of compresses on. and I think we've talked about that recently. and But your you you seem to be talking about come compression socks.
Speaker: Yes. Or hats. Well, I worked i worked about 20 years ago in London on a brand. um for It's actually an American brand called Bristol Myers Squibb.
Speaker: And they were working on a sock for people that had ah circulation problems. And where by an operator, like a nurse or a doctor, could remotely operate the sock to adjust the pressure points on their leg.
Speaker: So they could enhance the efficiency of the blood flow. and Now, if you apply that thinking to a hat for your communal garden ADHD, like you, Martin...
Speaker: I am communal and I'm garden. yeah Right. And um there there is stuff going on with that. There's other ideas as well. ah There's another category here of potential diagnosis. Okay.
Speaker: Right. Yes. is um gamified neuropsychological assessments, right? Apps and computer-based tasks that could measure attention, working memory and impulsivity, right?
Speaker: All right. And there's old there are already some tools that are working on that. It's called of so called Tova. It's already existing. It's used by professionals, I think, in America, called Tova.
Speaker: And they're kind working on gamifying the test, the diagnosis. Rather than it's a rather of being oh fill out a questionnaire, you know, and stuff like that.
Speaker: They talk about gamifying it. Okay. Another one, machine learning and AI-based. do you win Do you win prizes?
Speaker: For this i might be game gamification? No. well It's only available to professional peeps at the moment. It costs about $1,500 this game.
Speaker: Can you win a cuddly bear? At all. Yeah, you could do. Maybe with pressure points. All right. Maybe the bear you maybe the bear could like but do body doubling for you.
Speaker: The cuddly bear.
Speaker: Exactly. Then there's AI tools. AI is coming in. This is all real stuff, by the way. It's all stuff that's been actually ah we really bit worked on. Yeah, yeah, it's real.
Speaker: I thought you were just making it up until this point. it's all real. there is actually people There are actually people working hats. Okay.
Speaker: That can not only detect ADHD, but actually die detect and diagnose it, but also potentially have therapeutic uses too. Yes. So game and also other under the category of diagnosis, making it gamified. Right. I think yes yeah we've touched on those. Yes.
Speaker: Okay. There's also speech and language analysis as well. Actually, there's a technology out there called Natural Language Processing, NLP, analyzes how people talk or write, e.g. coherence, pauses, and topic shifts to detect ADHD-related language patterns.
Speaker: Oh, Jesus, I'd be like stammering fool. They'd be like, well, I don't understand what this guy's saying. Right. Or what he has. right because also i know because i was like i was um i was one of the things that that pops up on my tiktok is this woman who does um like um oh You know people who can kind of read expressions in people's in people's faces?
Speaker: Yeah. Like their little tiny little micro. Oh, totally, yeah. You know, and the, oh, body... language, that's her thing. She works with the police and trains and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker: And every time it comes up, it just feels like It only works on neurotypical people because, for example, should be like, yeah, you can tell someone is lying if they if they pause before answering and then they start to over-explain. And I'm thinking, this is just, yeah, this person could be lying or...
Speaker: They could just as easily ADHD or autistic or trauma. I mean, like... loads of stuff but if you've got ai involved you know you know people that that ring up emergency numbers like if we're in the states nine um what's the what's the number in the states nine nine one on one nine one one or in the uk nine nine nine people that's that they ring up these numbers and they they've like shot or killed their their their um i don't know spouse or whatever and they pretend to be shocked you know see Yeah. Oh, can you come around now? Oh, my my my wife, I think I think she's dead. You know, they pretend to be kind of like shocked when it's actually them that's done it.
Speaker: You're talking about using AI to actually really um pinpoint people that are being fake or not. And then you just know there are experts that have researched these these emergency calls. And you can you can pretty quite easily point them out because they over explain themselves.
Speaker: Right. But my point is, yeah it's going to be based on normal people, which is neurotypical people, and won't account for us. And we'll just come up looking like a guilty idiots. Yes.
Speaker: i get ah guess Yes. Yes. be We'd be in the pokey in like two seconds. It's like, oh, what did I do? What did I do? What do you mean I was over explaining? I always over explain.
Speaker: That's my job, I thought. Jesus Christ. That's what i do best. That's why a podcaster. Jesus. Yes. excess That's why you're a successful podcaster.
Speaker: i am I am busily over explaining ADHD week in, week out. But i i I'm guessing that AI, because, you know, the AI is quite clever stuff, isn't it?
Speaker: Yeah. no It'll know. It'll be able to detect, surely. Yeah, but patterns, it's always it's always going to be based on the average, on what average people do.
Speaker: Right. It's always going to be based on on average people. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't it? Yeah. It's going to say statistically. yeah can imagine I'd sound really odd if I, if i if God forbid, if I ever had to do that, I'm touching wood.
Speaker: If I ever had to do that, I was in that situation, I'd probably sound a bit odd, I'm sure, and say something inappropriate. Exactly. or just and Or just off topic.
Speaker: Right. You know, go down a rabbit hole and talk about nanoscience or something. Yeah. The science of nans. Without any reason. Science of nans. Okay.
Speaker: Then we've got, this one's actually been used, this is, our next one is eye tracking. And I know that this has already been used to track Asperger's, what it used to be called.
Speaker: They've already been using this for years, eye tracking. But apparently it's the same for ADHD peeps as well. So it says here, individuals with ADHD show distinct patterns in fixation, saccades, and pupil dilation during attention tasks.
Speaker: Yeah. you mean Okay, so our eyes go weird. Yeah. Our eyes do weird, weird things. Our eyes dilate when they shouldn't. um so And this potentially is quite affordable, relatively affordable technology.
Speaker: And this should all be pretty much available, you know. Also, virtual reality testing. Hang on, hang on, hang on. We have to discuss each one of these before we launch into the next one.
Speaker: Oh, okay. All right. no I mean, have to get some space. Oh, discussion. Yes. have to say, I need to discuss briefly. Asperger's.
Speaker: So we're saying that the eyeballs. Fixation. that that uh say you've been on the old on the old uh on the old drugs again paul oh drugs i mean like like like back back to right right and then they say well i'll make let me just test your eyes get your eyeballs in the machine it'd be like overnight test right and then you'll be looking at the letters they'd be like, Mr. Thompson, have you been doing any of the funny stuff?
Speaker: You'd be like, no, I've got ADHD. So my eyeballs are like, wee, wee, wee. They zoom in and out. Yeah. yeah All right. That makes sense. Yeah. You can go, Mr. Thompson. All right. Something like that.
Speaker: So maybe in the future, you could go for an eye test, get some new glasses and be tested. for so Oh, by the way, Mr. Thompson, know you only came in for some sunglasses.
Speaker: right right But I just want you to know, you've got ADHD and, you know, there's probably some other shit going on as well. would you like to know more? I think I could tell.
Speaker: could tell. I won't need a machine because ADHD eyes are always looking for their keys. They're always looking for something they've lost. They're always looking around the room, wondering what, what they were doing in that room and why they were there.
Speaker: Yeah. But do you feel a little bit more self-conscious now? so he's like, Oh, I look at things in a different way.
Speaker: I don't think so. No? I don't think so. Well, you should. Well, you should. should. You bloody well should, mate. You bloody well should. Just, yeah, just be a bit more conscious.
Speaker: One thing I've heard was that this this test for Asperger's was actually developed by, is it the Unilever? or um one of those other companies, big companies.
Speaker: Because they used to use um this kind of technology, eye tracking technology, to to discover um new strategies for where they'd place their products in supermarkets. Oh, yes.
Speaker: We've used that um i in a previous company. um aha where so the idea so the idea is is that you have a is you and people wear this kind of headgear which can track where their eyes go and they basically go around the store and they shop and then yeah ah the the the computer knows exactly what they are looking at so that you can see exactly um whether anyone sees your product on the on the shelves, whether they're walking past it, whether it's standing out or not, how how well it's yeah per performing.
Speaker: So, yes so they yeah, they do that a fair amount. Yeah, there is a lot of science in the supermarkets, and I think we we're going to talking about um I think the next episode after this is about supermarkets. So yeah there we go. There's like a italy's there we go teaser. A teaser.
Speaker: ah teaser A little teaser for you. A little heads up. Okay. Can I move on now? Yeah. so um So imagine, if you will, you're like your virtual reality goggles that you might wear.
Speaker: Okay. yeah There's also a immersive immersive attention tests. So you might have virtual reality environments that simulate classrooms or real world tasks to assess attention in and impulse control more naturally. Okay.
Speaker: So there could be like goggles. Maybe that could be gamified as well. You could pair this one up with the gamifying. All right, so you're basically saying that you would put your little goggles on and then they would do stuff in your head and then it would track yeah what you looked at. and yeah Is that right? I think I'm going to be in trouble because if I play computer games, I get really nauseous within about two minutes.
Speaker: Oh. My tracking is all over the place. I get i feel like shit. I get nauseous. think so like when I used to play um Call of Duty, right? I used to really annoy all of my mates because we'd have a Call of Duty night.
Speaker: and I couldn't run around like they did because I would get nauseous and I'd like you know feel sick. I'd feel sick. Hang on, guys. I would just play the sniper.
Speaker: I'm just going to hurl. I was just a sniper picking everyone off and they again they were getting really irritated. and that But now I know it's the ADHD, you see. Sorry, guys. It's my tracking.
Speaker: My tracking's off. It's me fucking tracking, isn't it? Blimey. Yeah. and um so ah So that's on the diagnosis part. right. Okay.
Speaker: It's also the therapy part. It was a bit easier. Okay. Okay. All right, go for it. Did you know, for example, have you ever heard of yellow-tinted glasses for ADHD people?
Speaker: No. ah Okay, glad you said that, Martin, because I've got some information on it. So, yeah. so You can actually, to understand how, I'll read what I've got here, to understand how yellow-tinted glasses might benefit individuals with ADHD, you and It's essential to delve into the science behind their potential benefits.
Speaker: Yellow tinted lenses work by filtering out certain wavelengths of light, particularly blue light, which is known to have a stimulating effect on the brain.
Speaker: blue mar Blue light emitted by electronic devices and present in natural daylight play a crucial role in regulating um our rhythms and and alertness. so However, excessive exposure to blue light, especially in the evening, can disrupt sleeping patterns and potentially exacerbate attention issues.
Speaker: By reducing it, um therefore, you you using yellow tinted glasses, it might help to mitigate these effects. There you go. I've lost there somewhere. Yellow glasses.
Speaker: Okay. So basically, if you're... Oh, no. Let's just kind of like... We don't need to go back over it. No, no I'm not. i will just I will just assume that yellow tinted glasses are good.
Speaker: It's good. Yes. All right. Sorry, I've got a bit scientific there, Martin. I know. I just like i was like, I'm last... Did you switch off? Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, there's a lot of blue light around, okay, especially in the modern technology world, blah, blah, blah, bla bla blah. But even in the natural world, non-technological, there's a lot of blue light, and it can have adverse effects on ADHD people. So use yellow tinted glasses.
Speaker: That helps, apparently. yeah All right. Got it. Yeah. Okay. um Yeah, and then weighted hats or sensory hats can be good for therapy. We've already said hats. Yes, i've got I've got it mixed up. I've got my presentation mixed up.
Speaker: that The weighted hats is actually a therapy thing. It's not a diagnosis. Swap your slides around it in the in the slide carousel. Weighted hats is just for therapy, not for diagnosis.
Speaker: All right. Yeah. Gotcha. We've cleared that one um There's also these actual real things that are available. Technological smart hats are actually being developed at the moment.
Speaker: um What they can do the thinking you? measure brain waves and attention. Okay. Okay. It's a bit like... you have a mike newest It provides, it can potentially deliver mild neurostimulation and collect attention data.
Speaker: My car lets me know... It is your car, Duce. My car lets me know whether it thinks i should stop driving and have a cup. Yes. and Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Exactly. yeah i mean, I ah once hired ah an Audi Q5 and the technology in that thing was ridiculous. It's like within 10 minutes of using it, it could detect it knew my driving style. It said, poor mate, you might want to stop and have, you know, chillax.
Speaker: Stop for coffee. might want to stop and have a driving lesson, mate. Yeah. Jesus, thanks. Thanks, car. It's a good job that the car, like like if you hire a car, wouldn't it be good?
Speaker: Wouldn't it be good if at the end of it, it just ranked to you? compared to all the other people well hi that hired that car. Or potentially saying, potentially the car just say you probably shouldn't be driving at all.
Speaker: Right. But I like to think like, know where am on the list? Yeah.
Speaker: It'd be like an episode of to Top Gear. You know, like like, where in this list am I? Am I in the middle? Yeah. No, no, you're in the bottom quarter. Ah, I suck.
Speaker: Well, potentially, your your jury whilst you're driving, you could see going up or down in real time the cost of your insurance, depending on how you're driving. Right.
Speaker: Exactly. Bloody hell, that's scary, isn't it? That's coming, surely. That's coming, isn't it? Yeah. Well, it's already there's also already technology being used in the UK, AI technology, cameras, and they can detect ah if people are driving erratically or not.
Speaker: All right. Oops. Yeah. I can do that. Under the influence, back on that subject again. Mm-hmm. So, yeah. So just um this, like, loads of companies. I've got three or four companies. I won't go through them.
Speaker: There's companies actually working on this as we speak, this kind of technology. All All over the world. Yeah. Okay. Already, there's a couple here. They're already FDA approved. Yeah.
Speaker: um um What else is on your list? I'm just looking at the time. That's it, Martin. Oh, perfect. That's it. So, yeah, I mean, the point, boy you know, going back to, you know, what was said at what where we said at the top is like the technology, it is stuff is starting to happen and it is catching up, but it is clearly freakingly slow.
Speaker: Right. So what you're saying is, is that the current way that we do, which is terribly slow because there are waiting lists like as as long as as as long as as your arm and longer.
Speaker: And it takes so long to get a diagnosis that. Yeah. the There has to be a better way and maybe exactly them a bit of AI tech, glass, yellow tinted yeah compression stock device. Someone's probably seen an opportunity, haven't they?
Speaker: Someone's seen opportunities. Like all these waiting lists that are going up, there's some money to be had. Right. You know, so they're, are there you know. And as I say, there's even like this this thing, just one example, already FDA um approved.
Speaker: It's digital therapy additional therapy for ADHD children between the ages of 8 and 12. Oh, okay. It's like a prescription video game that uses AI-driven adaptive gameplay to access and improve attention.
Speaker: Okay. So not just diagnosis, but also therapy to maybe like train, you know, those brain waves to work in more efficient way. It seems weird because, you know, like what?
Speaker: I can't be anyone who's thinking this. I can play video games and I'll just, i not can if it's gamified, I can hyper-focus on it. Like, if it's gamified, i get a dopamine hit from it, right?
Speaker: Yeah. It doesn't improve my attention when I need it, which is like when I'm doing my tax returns. yeah You know what i mean? It's like, yeah sure, you can gamify something and I'll be interested in it.
Speaker: yeah But it's it's when it's not a gamified. it's It's like when it's boring. yeah the the eye That's where I struggle. Maybe they have to gamify your tax returns.
Speaker: See, that that would be more helpful. People, if if you're if you're listening, anyone out there, gamify my tax return. yeah and and and i mean it's not stupid an idea actually it's not that dumb as an idea it's one of your better ones thank you I think I'll just go out and invent it yes
Speaker: so yes right i think well you know there's an interesting list of stuff this' interesting and and almost quite well structured As a presentation.
Speaker: I know. eight It was quite interesting for me to have done zero research whatsoever and then just react to you. was Yes. It was a but bunch of fun is it as far as Oscar said.
Speaker: um a All right, well, let's jump a think back. ah if you If you were to pick out one item from there, I think this the the weighted hat is the game changer. love a good hat.
Speaker: I love a good squidgy, nice tight hat. So, you know, yeah, if I could, if it was a separate ah device that could add pressure points into it at various points in the day, I'd be great. I'd be into that.
Speaker: Alright, well let's jump in the tractor because we've got a quiz and we're going to go back to the pub we have for a pub quiz. Right, let's go. Pub quiz time. Let's go.
Speaker: I'm going to get my pen and paper ready. um
Speaker: Alright.
Speaker: I find jotting down the ah the the options to be quite helpful.
Speaker: All right. What's the quiz about? a quiz it's we Well, thanks for asking, mate. The quiz is is um based on the history of town criers. ah like and Given that we have our official town crier.
Speaker: alec Alexandra? Alexandra? Alexandra, official town crier. I thought, oh, let's go in down a tunnel about the history of town criers, Martin. and And then just to remind everyone, town crier isn't the guy sobbing on the pavement. No.
Speaker: That's someone else. Town criers are official people that come out and they tell the town what is going on. They make official proclamations and they a bell. Exactly.
Speaker: And I learned a lot, Martin, going through this. They had the town cries in in England, for sure, in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, and in America as well.
Speaker: And probably far beyond, yes. So I've got – how many have we got here? We've got three. It's not too long today. We've got three different things to go through. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: So um this is this is on a theme of Scottish town criers, Martin. Oh, I like that. Only one of these is real. Okay. So I'm going to give you um this fact. Okay.
Speaker: yeah Okay. This is the fact. Okay. Fact me up.
Speaker: um this but This town crier was a lady, okay, um who was um who was an elderly town crier in the town of Dalkeith, okay, a town in Midlothian, Scotland, in the mid-18th century.
Speaker: Okay. Okay. But instead of a bell, Martin, she would beat a wooden plate and a spoon. She, yes, she, with a wooden spoon, making a loud din to draw attention to announcements, working for just a penny for each announcement.
Speaker: She was known for wearing a distinctive long gown, a cap, and a cloak. All of that is true. The only thing you've got to guess is which one of these is the right name of said female town crier in Scotland. I am going to say, before you go into that, that if I was being paid penny an announcement, I would be making all kinds of announcements all day long. That's true. Like, the grass over there is getting longer.
Speaker: That's another penny. That woman over there has got a large loaf of bread. Yeah. That's another penny. That's right. It's another penny for your excellent Scottish accent.
Speaker: Right. i I would be just doing click-baity nonsense announcements. Yes, what i've been doing course you would. Yeah. And you could do all kinds of stuff. Yeah, just gossip, general gossip.
Speaker: Yeah, anything. Just announce something. That's another penny in the bag. Right. Go on then. Okay. So there are three. I'll give you five names of this lady. Oh, five names. Jesus.
Speaker: I thought, because I thought town cries was a pure male thing. It wasn't. They were, in Scotland at least, there were female town cries. How misogynistic? Was her name yes Slotty Rick?
Speaker: Yes. Betty Dick, no, Beatey Dick, Slotty Rick, Beatey Dick, Bloaty Sam, Throaty Roy, or Botty Edith. I'll give you those again.
Speaker: Slotty Rick, Beatey Dick, Bloaty Sam, Throaty Roy, or Botty Edith. Okay, I have written all these down.
Speaker: Just so you know, she was a town cry between 1693 and 1773. What? was 80. Beaty dick, on. Come on. dick, that's the right No. No.
Speaker: she was
Speaker: was eighteen
Speaker: beatie dick come on yeah come on beatie dick that's the right one um What? no Is it? so slot Slotty. i thought it was you were telling me.
Speaker: Slotty Rick, Beaty Dick, Bloaty Sam, Throaty Roy, Botty Edith. Well, I mean like five. I'm going to with
Speaker: five i'm going to go with
Speaker: Spotty Edith, because it's the only one. It seems to stand out just yeah just how it ah sounds. You probably picked that because it's the only one that's got a female name in it.
Speaker: It does have a female name in it. Which is wrong. It's Beatey Dick. Oh, come on. Beatey Dick. Her name was Beatey Dick. That's so wrong.
Speaker: it's a wrong Scotland, get yourself, get so sort yourselves out, please. Okay. All right. Now, I've got five examples here of town cries, one of which I've made up.
Speaker: You have to right work out which one of these I've made up. but Joseph Parr. Okay. 1790 to so. He was a town cry in Derby. Parr was born in 1790 and died internet died the age of 78. He's believed to have been, have descended of a decayed branch of a local family that rented space in the shambles of Chesterfield. Okay.
Speaker: which is a collection of narrow streets and old streets. So Joseph Parr, James Jimmy Hurst of Rowanstall in Lancashire, early 19th century.
Speaker: He was controversial because he rode an ostrich around town, trained a goat to mimic human behavior, and these particular, These spectacles drew particular ire from the local clergy and gentry.
Speaker: Gentry. Okay. So ostrich and trained goats. I like him. he yeah He is out in front as far as I'm concerned. Okay. There you go.
Speaker: How about Julius Megaphone Myers of San Antonio metck of Texas, right? Julius Megaphone Myers, San Antonio, Texas. Early 20th century, Julius Myers, affectionately known as Megaphone Myers, became the beloved figure in San Antonio, dressed in a football uniform, riding a horse, and would announce local events with gusto, he writes here.
Speaker: One of his memorable projects, Proclamations included, laddies, nandjumab, don't forgetn, non times, not hot wells, hot dogs, hot tamales and hot baths!
Speaker: Exclamation mark. Okay. Sounds. Madness. Weird. That's literally what it says. Right. Next one. Harry Pitcher Smithen.
Speaker: Harry Pitcher Smithen of Hackney Wick in London. Again, early 20th century. He's controversial because one of the last town cries in the London area, known particularly because he had actually been castrated in his childhood, doesn't say why, i mean and therefore stood out for his particularly high pitch and smooth cadence.
Speaker: Okay. Harry Pitcher Smithen, last but not least. George P. Clear of New Orleans, again, early 20th century.
Speaker: Controversial because one of the last town cries of New Orleans, he clashed with local officials over freedom of speech and began announcing personal political opinions. All right.
Speaker: Okay. So George P. Clear, Harry Pitcher Smithen, Julius Megathone Myers, James Jimmy Hurst, Or Joseph Parr.
Speaker: I'm just going to stick with my original, the guy with the ostrich, him number ah which is like number two, James. Number two, yeah. Something, something. Because I feel like he likes a show.
Speaker: but I made up the one. Harry Pitcher-Smithen I made up. He wasn't castrated, didn't happen.
Speaker: What? No, it was wrong. Your option, that was the last option, right? No, the fourth option. That was the fourth option. Right. I want number two.
Speaker: Option number two. Number is right. But you you had to pick the wrong one, the one that wasn't real. What? So that was actually real. Number two was real.
Speaker: Oh, sorry. He did actually ride an ostrich around town with a trained goat ah that mimicked humans. I did not understand the rules. Okay.
Speaker: This one is a bit easier for rules. All right. Okay. Ugh. I'm dead already. You just need to, ni on this one, you just need to name the ah of the correct country and region, okay?
Speaker: This is modern time modern time town cries, actually during COVID-19, okay? Yeah. Right? So during the COVID-19 lockdowns, town cries in this region took to the streets to lift the residents' spirits.
Speaker: Yay! Employed by a professional acting troupe, they delivered twice weekly proclamations that included town news, poems, stories, jokes, and puns sent in by the public.
Speaker: This initiative brought joy and and an enormous sense of community spirit during challenging times. Right? Okay. Nice, isn't it? Isn't that nice idea? lovely little story. It's a lovely little story, but where did it happen?
Speaker: Was it the Kansai region of Japan? Okay. okay Was it the Brittany region of France, French France?
Speaker: Right. The Kovsgul region of Mongolia? These are all real regions, by the way. The Khovskol region of Mongolia, the Basque region of Spain.
Speaker: Yeah. Or you could choose, Martin, the Almaty region of Kazakhstan. So Kansai region of Japan, Brittany region of France, India.
Speaker: Chikovsku region of Mongolia, Basque region of Spain, Almaty region of Kazakhstan. Doing nice things. I'm doing, i feel like this is quite a, I don't know why, but I'm feeling like this is a, this feels quite Asian.
Speaker: This feels, I would pick Japan based on its kind of varied, on the varied yeah ah content.
Speaker: but you got do japanese Do they tell jokes in Japan? i suppose they do. Yeah, of course they do. Oh, okay. I just don't understand them, so I don't laugh. Oh, okay.
Speaker: It was Brittany in France. Oh, the French. The French. Isn't that a nice thing that they did, though? but Just like updating people with news and jokes and puns and poems.
Speaker: That's really cool. That is nice. That is nice. Okay, well, that was it. Well done, Brittany. yeah I am shamed shamefaced. this You did Nortel 3. Whitewash.
Speaker: whitewash and i was right But, you know, a bit of history there about town criers. Yeah, yeah. I am, yeah. i I mean, I have to look now because i was hoping that there'd be one, at least one of Greek reference in there.
Speaker: Yeah. um Well, but I mean, I could do a quick chat GPT for you. I'm gonna do like... Greek, I'm looking up on the internet, Greek town crier.
Speaker: And see what, this is, yes, but is there ah is there a Greek one? That's what what i want want to know. But if there is, people can... But... Yes, there were. Yes, there were.
Speaker: Oh, come Paul. In ancient Greek society. There we go. Look, that's what I'm looking at. The ancient Greeks were already on it. they were They were way ahead of us. They were the original. They are the OGs of the town criers.
Speaker: Come on. There we go. I feel happy now because I'm like, if this is if this is for Alexandra, then there should be some Greekness in here. Oh, there's definitely Greekness because one of the things that they do, it they invited people to festivals or sacrifices. It's like two arrows.
Speaker: Festival this way, sacrifice that way. do You choose. I think I'm going to go with a festival this time, but next time I might get ah might get sacrificed. I'm sacrificially curious.
Speaker: Oh, today I'm in the mood for a good old traditional sacrifice. Yeah, yeah, exactly. um Yeah, they were way ahead of us, the Greeks. Of course they were. There we go. There we go.
Speaker: That's nice. I feel like we've rounded this off. All right, so let's jump in to the post bag as if it was a 70s TV show.
Speaker: We've got a post bag. This before it's so old. Let's look at the post bag, shall we?
Speaker: Wasn't it like that there was Saturday morning kids' programs that had post-bags? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, used to write off to Thames Television. Yeah, or to Noel Edmonds.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, Tendenton Lock. Yeah. Yes. um Okay. So should we get back on the tractor? No, no.
Speaker: Let's just do Let's go straight to the process. So, yes. So so let's go your let's go with the ah post office. Your feedback is vital to us. We read all the comments. We might read yours out on a future podcast like this one.
Speaker: Right. Well, we had we had one from like, yeah, we've got two. We've one from a month ago or so ago. That was Debbie in Scotland. um Yes.
Speaker: It's fitting because you've been attempting pathetic attempt at Scottish accents, as I have done. I have been, yeah. In the past. I know that you can't see it, but I'm wearing a kilt and under and under the desk with a big fat sporum. Oh, okay.
Speaker: Well, I say Sporan, but I couldn't find a Sporan, so I got Eddie the dog, and I just basically just... ah just Wrapped him around. Sellotaped him to the front of the kilt.
Speaker: And no one knows. No one is the wiser. I'm Zane. Is it is a ceremonial sporran or a hunting sporran? It is a very hungry sporran that that it seems to like snacks. Just so you know, well i'm just reaching out to our listeners,
Speaker: um I am looking out for a vintage hunting sporen. That's actually true. I haven't found one yet. Vintage. I don't want new ones. No.
Speaker: no You want it to have had previously hunted something. Yes. Exactly. It's got to have history. i'm So, look, this is my my image, right?
Speaker: Guy on a Scottish moors in his kilt with the wind and he's hunting Sporan, and he goes, off you go, laddie.
Speaker: And the little Sporan jumps off of his his kilt and then runs off into the heather and then comes out comes out ah with a with a rabbit or something. He ah, good laddie.
Speaker: i i that's the That's the kind of Sporan that you want, right? one of thoseley ah Totally. I think it this reminds me of and like ah some kind of 1980s British kind of humour thing that would, I don't know, it sounds a very Monty Python-ist.
Speaker: Yeah. you know Slapping each other with salmons and Sporans made of you know yeah your wee hunting dog. Right.
Speaker: So let's get back on. Do you want to read ah Debbie's post? Yes. So i finally got through two of episodes. Now my brain has less to worry about. Lol.
Speaker: The Scottish words might made me giggle too. Thank God. Because they could so easily offend some people, sure. Funny hearing English accents trying to be Scottish. Ha ha ha. Laughed a lot.
Speaker: Cried at this episode a few times. Probably our accents again. ah But he enjoyed the last two episodes. so That's good. There we go. Thank you, Debbie. Thank you so much. Sorry about our accents.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And the next one is from our our resident town crier, Alexandra, over there in Greece. And she said, um oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. She said last week, she said, as I was watching you guys on the last week's Poddy Pod, she got a phone call for a job interview.
Speaker: No. I know. Okay, right. I know. She says there's a four-leaf clover. Yeah. emoji and it says, ah my lucky charms.
Speaker: I had to share. I'm thrilled. And she then she says that she missed us that that week that we skipped. So I have to know that it's actually, it was her first day at her new job.
Speaker: hey Okay. Oh, nice. Okay. and ah I suppose she's going to be a town, visual town carer on a, you know, ad hoc kind of.
Speaker: Yeah. As a when she's needed. Too busy now. Busy for us now. To cry for our town. Okay. Right. Right. Exactly. Okay. And then we ah next week, as we've already said, we're going talking supermarkets. Supermarkets.
Speaker: Episode 89. Is that right? i' I'm um i'm i'm um'm actually out of... ah don't have be me notes. All right. So that just leaves me to say that ADHD is delivered fresh every Tuesday to all providers of fine podcasts. Be subscribed to the pod and rate us most amazing.
Speaker: And feel free to correspond at well in the comments. But wait, there's more. If you want to see our beautiful... beautiful faces and so forth to the YouTubes and the TikToks.
Speaker: You can also pick up a quill and email us at adhdveal at gmail dot com. In the meantime, fucking kind to yourself. And I beseech you fellow ADHDers, fare thee well with gladness of heart.
Speaker: Ah, where's the button that says? There, says the mayor. That's that.
