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Autism In The Workplace - Concentration, Employment & COVID 19 w/Barry Aldridge
245 Plays5 years ago
What common issues occur for autistic people in the workplace? What mindsets help during workplace problems? How can society better accommodate autistic people?
In this episode of the Thoughty Auti Podcast, Thomas talks to Barry Aldridge (@barryaldridge1983) about his experiences in the workplace and some of the benefits and difficulties of being autistic in those settings.
What common issues arise in the workplace or learning environments? In what ways can you cope with these problems, and which mindsets are beneficial in those scenarios? How can society change to better accommodate and include autistic people in the workplace?
We chat about our shared opinions on things such as 'jazz hands' instead of clapping at my student union, the FMV games Barry has been involved in with Tayanna Studios, and even his experiences as an old-school YouTuber back in the day!
We are currently over a month into isolation, and although I'm very bogged down in promoting my new documentary 'Aspergers In Society'... I will be trying my very best to keep putting out content (Albeit, late in this case)!
Documentary Website - https://www.aspergersinsociety.com/
If you have an exciting or interesting story and want to appear on the next podcast, please contact me at: aspergersgrowth@gmail.com
Barry's Links:-
► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/BarryAldridge
► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/barryaldridge1983/
► BBC 3 Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d69tTXOvRq4
► Tayanna Studios - https://www.tayannastudios.com/home/
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Channel Merchandise - https://teespring.com/stores/aspergers-growth
Support via Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/aspergersgrowth
Social Media ♥ -
☼ Facebook - Aspergers Growth
☼ Twitter/Instagram - @aspergersgrowth
♫ Listen On -
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6vjXgCB7Q3FwtQ2YqPjnEV
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/thoughty-auti-the-autism-mental-health-podcast/id1470689079
Music -
♫ Track: [Chill Music] Ikson - Reverie [No Copyright Music]
Advert Track: Empty Parking Lot - Colours Of Illusion [Epidemic Sound]
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Transcript
Introduction to 40 Auti Podcast
00:00:07
Speaker
Good day, my lovely listeners. You are listening to the 40 Auti Podcast. Tune in every week to explore inspiring stories and insightful information that dive headfirst into the world of autism and mental health. With all those tantalizing tongue twisters out of the way, let's get into the show.
Meet Barry Aldridge
00:00:41
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Fortiorti podcast. How are you doing today? Thank you very much for coming on, joining me and my lovely guest to talk about autism and concentration.
00:00:56
Speaker
Yes, autism does seem to have a lot of disadvantages in terms of the sensory aspects and the social aspects, but it also has a lot of strengths and advantages. My guest that I have today, Barry, is a very successful YouTuber and game producer. He's got a lot on his plate and he's got a lot of secrets to his abilities and strengths to share with us.
00:01:24
Speaker
But anyway, do you want to introduce yourself Barry? Wow, that was a really good intro there
Barry's Career Highlights
00:01:31
Speaker
Tom. I do appreciate that my friend. Yes, he is absolutely correct. I am known as Barry Aldridge and I have been on probably YouTube now for
00:01:42
Speaker
probably 12 years, I think, having like over 6,000 subscribers. And he is correct. I am actually a game producer, but a brand new one for sort of FMV games, which FMV stands for full motion video, which is kind of like interactive movie sort of stylized. And it could be like point and click and whatever sort of thing, working for all these different gaming, indie gaming companies. So they're independent games, which is a good thing where you have more creativity in that to your control.
00:02:12
Speaker
Also, just before we started, I did a thing for BBC Free, a short BBC Free short thing about autism in general, and it was a short, full five-minute video, which I had a lot of fun with. So much fun, though, doing it.
Personal Challenges and Pandemic Experiences
00:02:29
Speaker
And, well, and also, yeah, I'm also a customer assistant at the Tesco's Express, where, as we're recording this,
00:02:37
Speaker
As you can gather, we've got COVID-19 situation as we're actually recording it. And it's just before Easter as well. Just want to just give you a bit of a secret as well, just in case this comes out after Easter. So yeah, I'm probably going to be having my Easter eggs or finished off all my Easter eggs. I've got like five Easter eggs and they'll probably be down to zero as soon as this podcast comes out.
00:03:00
Speaker
but I can definitely emphasize that I've been giving up sweets and chocolate for Lent. I'm not religious. I'm not religious at all, but I just decided to have a little bit of a challenge to see whether I could not eat all that sugar and chocolate that I do on a regular basis.
00:03:17
Speaker
I did that once years ago and I think when I was in my teens and it was absolute hell for me my friend, trust me, but I don't mind so much though nowadays though really to tell you the truth really. You definitely do have a lot of work on your plate, you do a lot of different things and I mean like
00:03:38
Speaker
What was it like to produce something at such a massive scale like with your BBC 3 short?
BBC Video Success
00:03:47
Speaker
Did you say that it had about two million views on it?
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think it was like three million. Yeah, it was three million. And I was part of the video and I came out with this brilliant line, which I forgot to mention before the podcast. I referenced Star Wars and, you know, we was talking about what autism was like. And I said, yeah, we're like the rebel alliance in Star Wars. And I said at the very end, come on, bring on the lightsaber.
00:04:15
Speaker
So yeah, that's on there guys. So trust me. Um, it's a really, really good little video. Um, some people will say it's a little bit dated because of some of the references, but you know what? I had a fun time doing it. He even got aired on BBC one as well back at the end of 2017. And I got recognized a couple of times on the street for that.
00:04:34
Speaker
god yeah well we well i i definitely need to um try that video out um after we finished our little talk um but that's really awesome how did you get into the the sort of uh youtubeing side of things like what sort of sparked up your desire to put yourself on camera and talk to lots of people
00:04:57
Speaker
Oh, that's a really good question though, Tom.
YouTube Journey
00:04:59
Speaker
What actually happened was, I think my life was on a bit of a low at that point, and my best friend at the time, Aaron, if you're listening to this, Aaron, hello to you. He felt very, very sorry for me at that particular point, and he said, he showed me this YouTube website, and all I did at the time, back then though, is sort of the same as nowadays, but except though,
00:05:21
Speaker
It's okay to do it where music artists put up their music videos or, you know, gameplay footage and all that sort of stuff. And I thought, man, it's nice to watch. And then I started to watch other vloggers ran about that time. Ran about, it was 2006, 2007. I went, wow, cool. And then I started off with a channel called Barry832003, which I absolutely hate that name with real passion. I really do. And then I was going through all this different stuff and I thought,
00:05:51
Speaker
Hang on, everyone's using their codename. Nobody I know, apart from one or two people, were using their real name. So I thought, you know what? I'll go buy my real name in the future. So the, I think it was like November 21st, 2007, I decided though to use my real name and I came up with the real name no gimmicks. I just did it as a laugh and it caught on there. And then, you know, I started to go to back then was known as YouTube gatherings, which is now known as meetups.
00:06:22
Speaker
It lifted from there and I got featured a few times on the YouTube front page before it all went corporate and all that sort of stuff. Well, that's just my opinion about before it all went corporate and it's all about money, business and that. But for me in general, YouTube experience has always been about community, making friends, meeting up with people, whenever you can do and, you know, having that social connection.
00:06:44
Speaker
And it makes me wonder about what YouTube is so now that I think it's still slightly there, but it isn't what it once was, but I still try every now and then to do a video, whether like, like we talked before, whether it's a review of log, maybe even the live stream, because I've done a couple of live streams of a couple of games with a couple of companies I'm friends with because and they allowed me to do that because I got sent review codes. And yeah, so you were there at the.
00:07:10
Speaker
Really at the the start of YouTube before it became such a massive, you know part of people's lives. Yeah, I would say Just trying to think maybe a few months after it really got started and then you know I was kind of there from the very beginning that and you know, I remember watching a music an interview with an old YouTube star and
00:07:33
Speaker
from back in the day and it talked about what happened to his career as well. And probably some people probably know about it as well. So, and it was kind of interesting to see what actually happened to them and that, you know, I think that YouTube fame sort of thing, I'm glad that it never.
00:07:46
Speaker
caught onto my head a bit. I'm just proud about what I've done at the moment though, Tom, to be honest with you. Definitely. I think you should be very proud of what you've done. You've got a lot of videos out there and obviously you're very successful on the game producing front. How did you get involved with game
Game Production Passion
00:08:06
Speaker
producing? Did you do a degree or did you teach yourself or did you know some people?
00:08:12
Speaker
For me, it's more surprisingly though, it's myself really, because my university degree is in fact more immediate. And just for people that want to know, we had a quick discussion about our degrees where in certain realities, our degrees don't measure up to what we do in the near future, you know, in our lives.
00:08:33
Speaker
I'm a big fan of FMV games, which I did mention. And I saw this guy who was doing a Kickstarter and he had a producer credit for like, am I allowed to discount how much? It was only like a hundred pound, which is very, very cheap to be a producer. And I thought, you know what, I'm going to put my name in there. I was like, Oh no, but he was still accepting PayPal things. And this is my friend, Darren, Darren Hall from Teyana Studios.
00:09:02
Speaker
And I said to him for so many weeks, I'm going to get you the money to help produce the thing for you. I think he probably thought, nah, you know, that sort of thing. Then within two or three weeks, when I got a paycheck from my job at Tesco, I thought, you know what, I'm going to go for it. I just thought, why not? And then after that, another company calling themselves Super String, they had a Patreon sort of thing. And I liked their ideas of their game.
00:09:27
Speaker
For that, even though it got mixed reviews, but I liked the passion and the ideas behind it because this guy works for Squaring. He works for Squaring. He used to work with Sega and a couple of other big gaming companies. And I thought, wow. I thought, why not? You know, better help him out in that. And he's got, he's got, he's got his next project coming out later on this year and he's got a side project that he's hoping to release very, very soon. By the time this podcast out, the information of that will actually come out. So, and that was my friend jamming off super string, really. So.
00:09:58
Speaker
Yeah. Wowee. Cool. So what is it that you're currently working on right now? Like the thing that you were working with? I think it's Tiana? Yeah, Tiana Studios. What it is, yeah, I just provide the money and I just let them get on with the project and that at the end of the day, and I can fully trust them because he's got a couple of actors who's done an FMV
00:10:21
Speaker
for a game I really, really like and I became really, really good friends with. And, you know, every now and then I do ask him, can you share me any video or any pictures or something like that? And he does, to a certain degree. Like there were maybe certain times he can't share things because of contracts and all that sort of stuff. Yeah, yeah. And while it's a bit annoying, but I can understand the situation, you know, that's the point about making sure that everybody's cool. Now, if I feel like, yeah, he's done something wrong, I would say,
00:10:49
Speaker
Hey man, maybe pull back on this and that and the other. But the good thing is, we are both fans of Only Fools and Horses and he's Del Boy and I'm Rodney. And we sometimes throw those type of jokes at each other every now and then. And that's always fun though, really. And so you got a good relationship together.
00:11:07
Speaker
Yeah, definitely a very, very good relationship and I would like to help him out on his next project, definitely. And he lives up in Yorkshire. I can't remember the place, but all I'm going to say is Yorkshire. He lives up in Yorkshire and I'm on the south coast of England in West Sussex.
00:11:26
Speaker
But I'm not going to give any more information just in case. Yeah, right on the South Coast. Because I'm actually in Yorkshire as well, in North Yorkshire. No way. Yeah. Nice. So, from different side of the country. Brilliant, my friend. Brilliant. You know, I think it's crazy that we're having a conversation in two different rooms with two different mics all the way at the other side of the country from each other.
00:11:52
Speaker
Oh, tell me about it, mate. And, um, I think that's the incredible thing about, you know, when you're doing a podcast or having a chat with people that you can be anywhere in the world and you can, and it feels like you're in the same room. Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:07
Speaker
That's the beautiful thing about it. It's fantastic. Awesome. Well, um, there was actually, there's a game that really comes, you know, like you're saying about how it was sort of like a point and click more of a sort of movie-esque kind of game. Yeah. That was being made.
00:12:25
Speaker
Well, there's this game that I really enjoyed. I actually watched a popular YouTuber player. But it was something like... It was about this girl who could sort of redo things, redo things in time.
00:12:41
Speaker
Can't remember what the name of it is. Oh, I know what it is. Um, is it called Life is Strange? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And here's another fact about that. My friend Jammin of Superstring, he actually helped to promote that game with Square Enix. Whoa. I know. I absolutely love that game. Oh, I absolutely love it as well. And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not saying it as just to build a story. I'm saying it as a fact he actually helped to market
00:13:07
Speaker
that particular game, no question. Well that is definitely, definitely something that, definitely a game that I really enjoyed and there's not many sort of, there's not really many games out there that have such a compelling story to them. I absolutely loved that game, I thought it was really great.
00:13:27
Speaker
Definitely. Cool.
Autism in the Workplace
00:13:29
Speaker
So today we're talking about autism in the workplace, talking about like concentration, the advantages and disadvantages of being in the world that we live in and working in the world that we live in and being autistic. Yeah. What do you believe, what are your experiences with being autistic in the workplace?
00:13:50
Speaker
Well, I've had a lot of mixture of opinions about it. Like for a while, I probably kept myself quiet and I found out, you know, during one of my jobs, it wasn't very, very helpful in the long run. I just felt like, you know what, I could have spoken out a bit more about it because I was a bit worried though. If I kept on talking about it, it will rub people the wrong way.
00:14:17
Speaker
And I don't want to rub people the wrong way at all. But I feel like, yeah, if you make a quick mention of it, then hopefully people will be understanding about it. Because back so many years ago, I think, I think it's probably since the eighties or maybe a bit before that, yeah, that autism has become a bit more mainstream nowadays that you now got World Autism Awareness Week, Autism Awareness Month, World Autism Day, aggressive fun bag.
00:14:45
Speaker
Yeah, all these different things and that and sometimes the information can be misleading. And sometimes it can be very, very honest in that and it is a bit more accepting nowadays. That's what I've discovered. Definitely. And the great thing is, at my job at the moment with
00:15:11
Speaker
Tesco, before one of the managers had to leave because of a heart condition. He was very, very understanding about it. He wanted to learn more about it. And the same with other people as well. And sometimes they can forget because we all got our own minds about worrying about how we're going to get through the day with the job and all that sort of stuff. And yeah, it's, how can I describe it? It's
00:15:37
Speaker
It's quite a lot to take in and all that sort of stuff, but also I'm very, very understanding about other people's needs as well. If it comes down to certain conditions or how they're feeling with the day. Sometimes I may not be able to read people straight away.
00:15:50
Speaker
But I can find out, yeah, maybe see how we go from there. So do you have any particular sort of positive or negative experiences with either telling someone that you're autistic or, you know, either having a problem that's to do with some some autistic trait? Well, the great thing is I've kind of forgotten a lot of the negative aspects because I'm someone here that tries to get rid of that stuff because
00:16:20
Speaker
One of the things about with the mainstream media is, and I know this is going a little bit off topic here. I feel like they're, while they can be a bit too negative with their things and trust me about how they treat autism in general, like they probably got some stuff down, but they haven't, they don't completely fully understand it. Yes. I remember mentioning to my manager one time about the noise factor and the same, and same with a couple of other managers.
00:16:45
Speaker
And they will completely understand they were wanting to help out and I said, I could deal with this a lot of the time, but if it does get me down, I would probably need to be by myself in a room just to sit down and, you know, just have a quiet moment reflection in that. And one of my jobs, luckily, is doing bakery where I'm actually alone in a room at the moment, which is kind of good as well. But then also I have to go out on the shop floor.
00:17:13
Speaker
to put the bakery out once it's out there and that. And do you find that in terms of working on your YouTube videos and the sort of game side of the stuff that you do, do you find that there are any advantages to being autistic in those kind of things?
00:17:34
Speaker
Yes, it does give you a voice to voice your opinion about autism and that. And in the past, I did do some World Autism Awareness Day videos and I thought, well, maybe I might only get a couple of people to help me out. Even people who ain't on the spectrum wanted to help me out because they knew a bit about my condition, but they just wanted to say what facts or whatever and they wanted to help out. And it was absolutely was amazing. It really sent a tear down my eye.
00:18:04
Speaker
When I showed my dad the video, he was in hospital at the time and he doesn't normally cry too much. And I saw him crying and I was like, wow, I've done something really good here.
00:18:16
Speaker
from watching the video yeah from watching the video i did like edit it together put it all together and it's probably one of the proudest videos i ever made and that view wise not strong but it means something it means something exactly exactly my friend i definitely find that sometimes the videos that i don't intend to be the most meaningful and impactful and i don't put as much effort into a certain video it's sometimes
00:18:43
Speaker
doesn't sort of line up with just how many views or how much attention it gets. It boggles me a little bit that sometimes the views don't match up with just how much effort and meaning you put into a video. And I guess that's one of the sort of negatives of YouTube in this current day and age. Would you agree with that?
00:19:10
Speaker
Yeah, I sort of agree with that. Definitely, mate. It's something that gives me a bit more food for thought, I would say. But yeah.
Work Strategies and Respect
00:19:20
Speaker
So what do you believe are the main reasons why autistic individuals struggle within the workplace? What are the main things about being autistic in those situations that cause conflict or cause disagreements or cause difficulties with actually doing the job? Well, speaking again about with the Tesco job, I think it's just more about
00:19:50
Speaker
understanding the autistic nature, because, you know, I think there are people that don't know about it, or they don't know any family members or friends that actually have it. And they think, when they hear it for the first time, it's just like, maybe someone just trying to say it just to get attention. And then it does lead into conflict of kind of interest. But then when they hear about that is actually a disability, more of a hidden disability, they go like, Okay, yeah, yeah.
00:20:18
Speaker
But you know, a lot of people have been very, very understanding. They don't, if they wanted to ask a question, I'll try and answer to the best I can. I tell them sometimes it may be a bit difficult to explain and all that sort of stuff. And it's just down to them at the end of the day, whether they want to listen or not, though, really. But yeah, I always make sure to tell top brass and yeah, they always try and make it really, really understanding. And as long as, you know, you build a two-way system with each other, then
00:20:47
Speaker
You've got it in the bag, you know, as long as you make sure you do your job, get on with it, that you know what it is. And also, if you don't understand, just ask again. And sometimes they'll make sure that you actually understand, make sure that you got the right essentials. So sometimes when I'm on the job, they'll tell me the instructions and say, so I do this first and do that afterwards. And they'll go, yeah, yeah. So I'll have a bit of a better understanding really at the end of the day.
00:21:13
Speaker
So it's about being communicative and bringing things to the forefront that you think is important. Yes, absolutely. And you know, I'm fair with them that I make sure that I do the job that I can. So then if they like, yeah, I have some issues with certain things, they can actually pay attention at the end of the day. It's that sign of
00:21:34
Speaker
respect at the end of the day, really. That's brilliant. Yeah.
Discrimination and Misinterpretations
00:21:39
Speaker
A lot of autistic people that I talked to mentioned that there is a lot of difficulty with autism in the workplace and I think, yeah, it does kind of depend on
00:21:50
Speaker
the people around. You're not in the same environment in different jobs. The people in certain areas of industries tend to have different personalities and outlooks. One of the things that is usually quite a problem in the workplace, looking at the statistics, is bullying and social exclusion in the workplace. Yeah. Yeah. I do sort of see where you're coming from with that.
00:22:20
Speaker
Like I said, you know, some of our bad memories are kind of gone. You know, I make sure I don't focus on the bad stuff. Maybe a couple of times afterwards, after a little bit, but after that, I just don't see those people again, really, to be honest with you. Never ever focus on them, really. I think maybe it's something that I was taught, you know, how to do normal stuff, but also trying to adapt my autism in the process. But hey, everyone in the autistic spectrum and including anybody who's
00:22:48
Speaker
Neurotypical, is that the word for normals? Yes, normals. Yeah, I'm going to say normals just make it a bit easier. I mean, you might get a little bit of flack in the old social justice division, but I'm not on air. Oh, come on, the social justice thing. I think they need to wake up sometimes, seriously. Seriously, I'll be honest with you, I understand them being a bit offended.
00:23:15
Speaker
But at the same time, it's like, come on guys, you know, if you want, yeah, word up. Yeah. Please just make sure if we were rude to you, then I can understand you being offended. We're not being rude here. We're just trying to be honest and that at the end of the day. But yeah, going back to the thing, um, I forgot what I was going to say about normals. Sorry. That was normals. I know those normals. Um, the normals, well.
00:23:45
Speaker
I, shoot, I've completely forgotten. No, don't worry about it. But yeah, I think you get roughly the idea in that, but if anybody wants to ask me, you'll probably know from the, which I'll give the information at the very end. I think I'll ask you about some of the more personal aspects to it, I suppose. Yeah.
00:24:06
Speaker
My experiences obviously are very limited in the workplace because I only finished uni about a year ago, if not a year ago. And I think most of my sort of workplace experiences have been within school. So for example,
00:24:29
Speaker
The initial sort of difficulties that I've had with working with other people have been during group projects that we'd had to do as part of modules. Oh yeah, yeah. I can remember certain stuff back at secondary school that happened to me but I was like, yeah. And it did happen with me at uni as well but I'll be honest with you, again, it's like
00:24:53
Speaker
water under the bridge in my view, water under the bridge. I'm like, you know what, if they want to see me again, that's fine. If not, that sounds to them at the end of the day. With that instance and those particular instance that I recall, where we were doing this sort of poster for, we were supposed to do a topic around microbiology, so about the
00:25:17
Speaker
you know, tiny sort of microscopic size organisms and stuff and it was my job to sort of put the poster together because I did a little bit into IT and stuff and the majority of the people in the group
00:25:34
Speaker
So I could tell that they got on quite well. And because it was my job to do the poster and stuff, and I had quite a bit of experience with it, I decided to lay it out and do it. And there was just one person in that group that did not agree with
00:25:54
Speaker
So something like this, the font or the font size or something silly like that. I sort of, you know, really, really add it back to them and change it around and stuff. And then at one point they said like, I'll tell you what, I'm just going to do it.
00:26:10
Speaker
and obviously that left me with zero work to do because they were all sort of congregating and talking to each other and pretty much just completely ignoring me and because of this one individual person
00:26:25
Speaker
who decided that I wasn't fit for the job. One of them actually asked me to go home, like just in a normal conversational setting asking me to go home. And at that time, my social skills were not developed to the standard that they are now. And I found obviously that very not not I wouldn't say cruel, because it's not exactly that the end of the world, but it's just
00:26:50
Speaker
Those types of instances have occurred in many times of my life. And another instance that's quite clear in my mind is going to work in Thailand. And so I did like a research project for a year in Thailand, did a bit of traveling and stuff. And obviously the understanding of autism and just general science is a little bit
00:27:19
Speaker
Not lower, but not as strong in either the public awareness or in the scientific literature that they produce. And I had a lot of problems with that. I tried on many attempts to sort of explain how my brain works and try my best to be communicated and stuff.
00:27:42
Speaker
but sadly they didn't really listen to me and it ended up where I was a person who's never done proper formal research going into a place that I need to do proper research and is going to become a research paper and be actual science with absolutely no help.
00:28:06
Speaker
at all. Yeah. And anytime that I'd ask for help, it would be completely minimal, sometimes even incorrect. And then obviously, when I approached my supervisions asked if it was correct, it would be incorrect.
00:28:20
Speaker
due to the information that these people had gave me. So they very much isolated themselves off me. So they sort of left me on my own. And the sad thing is that these individuals actually made very good friends with the rest of the students that came over to Thailand with me. And it was a very difficult situation, as you can imagine. Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine that, mate.
00:28:47
Speaker
Yeah. That those are the kind of workplace issues that I've had. I think it's, it's generally just that I don't think people are willfully, willfully ignorant. It's just that they don't, some people don't really grasp just how different people can be. Yeah. I can totally understand that though, buddy. And, um, I think what it is, maybe they might have a bit of an understanding to it, but they don't completely understand. It's like.
00:29:13
Speaker
Maybe they don't know any, like I said, they probably don't know anybody in their friends or family that actually understand it. And yeah, I think that's what I got from you telling me your story in Thailand right there. There's this individual that I interviewed for my documentary, my documentary Asperger's in Society called Peter Bainbridge. And he's sort of like the co-founder of this place called Salford Autism.
00:29:42
Speaker
which is like a charity that goes and helps people, autistic people in the workplace, autistic people that have to sort of mediate, have to be mediated with like local authorities and stuff like that. And he says that the most problematic thing for people who are what you describe as normals or neurotypicals.
00:30:05
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. He would say that in a lot of cases, the problem isn't that they don't have an awareness of it, but they just have such a broad understanding of autism that he describes a very myopic, which is
00:30:23
Speaker
sort of in having a very limited view that, you know, that they feel like they know everything about it. And if you go against their preconceptions about how autism is supposed to be supposed to sort of occur in people, then, you know, it's not your autism, it's you. That seems to be the biggest problem from what I gathered from the interview that I had with him.
00:30:49
Speaker
And I think that's, it is a big issue for a lot of individuals. Obviously you seem to be quite good at sort of moving past stuff from what you've been explaining. You're very good at discarding the people who are going to be a nuisance, who are not going to be helpful and going to lessen your happiness. Yeah. I would say a few years ago, I would have had a struggle with that, but
00:31:18
Speaker
As I've learned over the course of time, I feel like now I can sort of move on a little bit. I would be a bit upset for probably a day or two. And then after that, it would be a long time. I'd be like.
00:31:29
Speaker
Yeah. Move on. I like that. I like that view. It's definitely something that I've grown increasingly towards over the past few
Autism's Advantages in Creativity
00:31:40
Speaker
years as well. I think it's important to realize the extent of which you can make an effort and not be reciprocated. That's when you gotta stop. It's not being reciprocated. There's no reason to continue.
00:31:57
Speaker
Yep. You may be a gold medallist, my friend, but I could still teach you an odd trick here or there. Well, which, which tricks? I would like to hear one of those tricks. Like, you know, just teaching you right now about that, you know, you can get upset for a short thing, but if you can manage to deal with it in the long term and be calm long term, you'll be fine. Trust me. So it's more of like a, would you say that you've, you're very much, um, a stoicist?
00:32:27
Speaker
Just trying to remember the meaning of the words. So like, deal with what you can deal with, ignore and move on from what you can't deal with. Yeah, yeah. I think that is it, yeah. I thought it would be that meaning but I just need to be sure.
00:32:43
Speaker
So yeah, I definitely think having that stoicis attitude towards life, particularly for an autistic person, can be quite helpful. So is there a lot of little sort of niggly issues that occur during your life? And sometimes it can just be quite good just to be able to move on from stuff and focus on things that are positive and all that.
00:33:10
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. So, we talked a lot about the sort of issues and the disadvantages and stuff and being autistic and the kind of problems that can occur. Are there any advantages that you believe that your autism gives to you if you can think of it as a separate entity?
00:33:31
Speaker
In terms of like, I think some of the, some of the common things are abilities concentrate, out of box thinking, routine, straightforwardness.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely, trying to keep thinking different things ahead that other people do, try and think two or three steps ahead, like a psychological move, having obsessions with certain TV shows, films, even online series, having the knowledge about who did what or whatever.
00:34:03
Speaker
Sometimes with Doctor Who I can remember who directed a certain story or who wrote it, who did the music, who actually came up with the idea for this particular line, say like the final line of say like a series or who came out with this and yeah and concentration again.
00:34:23
Speaker
can be sometimes a struggle, but I make sure that I keep it in there, make sure that everybody gets whatever they need, focus on the end game, as they would say as well. So you'd say that a lot of sort of the skills that you've been using for your videos and your work and stuff come from attention to detail, would you say, on things that you're interested in? Yes, absolutely. Just to make sure that I get to the end game,
00:34:50
Speaker
Get through the hardships, get through the hard times, because you know, yeah, that there are better days ahead in the long term.
00:34:58
Speaker
Even though I know we're not immortal, but I know for a fact here that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as they would say. In terms of sort of like out of the box thinking, do you feel like in comparison to most individuals that you have a different way of interpreting things, a different way of explaining things? Would you say that that's an accolade for you? I would say that, yes, because
00:35:26
Speaker
You know, I might have a different idea about how we could actually get things done or try and think ahead. Like if I noticed certain things were a bit short before someone else spotted it, I'll be like, yeah, we need to get this done and all that. And sometimes I don't need to say anything. I'll go, right, right. Let me just go and get this thing unless they say, no, no, no, don't do that. But you know, if they notice that I've been thinking ahead, they'll be like, well done. Well done. And always thinking ahead though, really. That's a.
00:35:53
Speaker
pretty good thing though, really, at the end of the day, I could say. Definitely. I found that in general, I do think ahead, but the thing that lends to me the most is concentration in my case. I can go for days obsessing about a certain project. I've had times where I've stayed awake for about 48 hours just
00:36:22
Speaker
I know it's not good but yeah you know not eating you know good good meals just you know grabbing something from the kitchen just keep me going oh being there you're not going to the toilet as much all that kind of stuff getting getting really into something there was this piece of scientific literature that I'd
00:36:46
Speaker
which sort of compared the different persistence of thoughts between neurotypical people and autistic people.
00:36:56
Speaker
And for a neurotypical person, it takes around three seconds for them to sort of shift their mind onto something else. Whereas with an autistic person, it's 20 seconds. So the neuronal patterns and firing persists longer in autistic people. So it may be a
00:37:21
Speaker
sort of a factor in how we just obsess about things and just staying like, stay on working on projects, you know, through the night or through, you know, needing to go to the toilet. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I think also, as well, I think routine of being compelled to stick to a routine can be
00:37:48
Speaker
helpful in some situations and i guess disadvantageous in some situations as well because once one of the things that my my ticondo coach sort of praised me on when i was training and stuff was that i was you know i stuck to this schedule
00:38:07
Speaker
Like I stuck to, I came every time to it, to all of the sessions that I was, that he wanted me to come to. I did all of the exercises that he wanted me to do after or on the off days of training. And he said that that was quite a sort of determining factor in sort of my ability to fight and stuff. But then I suppose as well, which is, I guess more of a recent topic, which is the whole, the COVID thing.
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I had a good routine. A good routine. I went to work, I wrote on the way to work, did some work on the book that I'm working on. Ah. In the lunch times I'd go out, I'd do a little sort of live stream video, give some like autism related tips, come back in, finish work, get on the bus, do a better writing on the bus, go to a coffee shop, do some more writing there, then come home and work on some videos or go
00:39:06
Speaker
and go training or something and i had that solid routine that i'd been working on and i've been trying to solidify my head and now i can't do i can't do half of the things that were once on my routine and it's kind of like these past two weeks i've had to wipe the slate clean and just sort of like start new and that's been really difficult for me
00:39:30
Speaker
I can understand that,
Pandemic Resilience
00:39:32
Speaker
mate. I mean, if it was me from a few years ago, I probably would be in the same boat as you. With me, yeah, with COVID-19, just going off a little bit here. A few weeks ago, it was my birthday. It was the last major outing. Happy birthday.
00:39:46
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. Just for anybody who's wondering, I'm 37. So yeah, I'm probably even twice, nearly twice your age. Yeah. Just a little bit over, just a little bit over. Yeah. Yeah. So I went on a birthday trip to downtown Southampton and I spent nearly all my money. So I was stuck between my workplace at Tesco, which is only around the corner from me.
00:40:11
Speaker
And my home and I was like, Oh God. So I actually had some practice with self isolation during that period. After my birthday back in February, um, I spent a lot of money and I didn't have much money. I was like, Oh, I only have to go to work around the corner. I could go to the next town on the train, but that was basically it. So I was like, Oh, I'm stuck in the same area and all that, but saw a bit when COVID-19 became serious. And then the lockdown came down. I was like, Oh, I've already done this for so many weeks. I know it's going to be a bit annoying, but.
00:40:41
Speaker
Oh, right. This is partly my life. And I found out, yeah, I can save a bit more money in that and do all this sort of stuff in that, which if, if I was having a normal life, I wouldn't be able to do it so much would be a bit tricky. So you found that, that your actual, your routine hasn't really changed that much because of COVID. I would say slightly a little bit in the terms, I can't go out because I would just go out just to clear my head or something like that.
00:41:07
Speaker
But other than that, it's not a major issue, to be quite honest with you, which has surprised me a bit. It was like I prepared myself and the same with my mum as well, to be honest with you. I suppose there's been a lot of, I've heard a lot of autistic Instagrammers and there's a lot of memes going out there about neurotypicals before COVID and after COVID, you know, having complete changes.
00:41:37
Speaker
now. It's an autistic world now, you know. We stay away from people. You have to keep a two metre distance. You can't interact with people. It's less busy, less cars. It's... It's a lot more fresher as well. You can even see a moon now.
00:42:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I tried to take the picture of the moon last night and it was like a blinking white light. Is it full moon? Or is it just the moon? It looked close to a full moon, but I can't really remember really, to be honest with you. So yeah, I have to check into that actually at some point. I have to check my picture again.
00:42:26
Speaker
In terms of routine again, I think the main changes in routine for me would be, so obviously now I've decided to sort of isolate with my girlfriend. Oh, lucky, lucky, because a lot of people, they can't seem to do that at the moment with their other halves, whether, you know, whatever their sexual orientation is.
00:42:50
Speaker
They have a bit of trouble. They can only do online communication or phone or some of that. So you are very, very lucky, my friend, which is a good thing. We were together before the lockdown occurred. How did she...
00:43:04
Speaker
How did she feel about it? You don't mind me asking. No, definitely. I think she's finding it quite difficult in terms of not being able to go out and see friends and obviously not be able to even just, you know, go out, go out and sit on the park and have a little bit of a sunbathe and a breather.
00:43:23
Speaker
Or just go to the pub and get a meal. You know, it's a very big change in the sort of recreational activities that you can do. And I think the days for her sort of like blend into one. It's very difficult, sort of very, you're routine enough for it to not feel like it's just a never ending cycle of days. If that makes sense. I could see that. Yeah, I could sort of see that. Is she neurotypical? Yes.
00:43:54
Speaker
I thought so, yeah, because I remember I had a discussion with one of my neurotypical friends and she said to me, which kind of rubbed me the wrong way, she thought, yeah, it was best for me to find someone who is also autistic and... Not necessarily. Yeah, it sort of rubbed me the wrong way. I think, yeah, she was trying to be honest with me to try and make me feel a bit happy. But at the same time, I think she didn't realize, yeah, that it actually affected me in that way that it's like,
00:44:37
Speaker
making exactly exactly yeah and that friend was trying to explain that to me i just sort of fought back against her afterwards and that and i'm gonna have a conversation with them again about it though one day to explain that whole situation like i know yeah you were trying to be honest with me and i do appreciate it and i know you were trying to be nice but it wasn't nice for me to be honest with you so
00:44:48
Speaker
it's like saying it's like pulling the race card or something like that on someone or the sex or the gender card or whatever, you know what I'm saying?
00:44:59
Speaker
There are a lot of positives and negatives to both autistic and neurotypical people. For example, I'm not very good with my executive functioning. I'm not very good at organizing and cleaning. She's a very big manager in a social care company and her head's on straight and she's got everything organized and stuff.
00:45:26
Speaker
There are some benefits to that, of course. And then, you know, with, I suppose, with an autistic partner, you'd have a bit more of that unspoken sort of understanding, I guess, with certain issues.
00:45:42
Speaker
It's good. I don't see any problem with that. I think if you enjoy being around someone and you like them, then you should. That's just it, isn't it? I'm just clapping my hands just in case if you can't hear me. I'm just clapping my hands at the moment. Yep. So it's just in case though, if anybody's wondering about what my reaction is, I thought, I'll just say I'm clapping my hands at the moment, ladies and gentlemen.
00:46:08
Speaker
I love it. Okay, right. What about the main sort of negatives of being autistic in the workplace? Like the typical difficulty with social situations, possibly getting overwhelmed century-wise.
Coping with Sensory Overload
00:46:26
Speaker
In what cases do you feel like autism is a negative and in what ways do you sort of work around that?
00:46:35
Speaker
For me, it's more about the overwhelming about how many jobs you've got to do, especially though, when you're, when I'm a CA at Tesco, the Tesco Express I'm working at, like you got to do this job, you got to do that job, make sure you get this done and all that. And then they suddenly change the job midstream and that and, um,
00:46:54
Speaker
It can be a bit overwhelming sometimes and even trying to remember, because I do bakery during weekend mornings, I'm just trying to remember, did I cook this? Did I cook that? And sometimes I forget to cook something and I put it in the bag and I go like, oh God, I hadn't cooked that part. And I'm selling it to a customer here, Jesus Christ. And especially around about this particular time where I've got to be extremely careful with the bakery, making sure that everything's all bagged in with
00:47:22
Speaker
It's all passes the protocol. It takes a little bit longer to do, but I feel more proud about doing it, you know, just to get it out there and that, you know, and get it out to the people really at the end of the day. And especially around this period where it's going to be very, very busy over the Easter weekend. And when I first discovered it many, many years ago, I was sent into a meltdown or some of that. And after like probably a week or so, I was like, eh, time to move on from it really at the end of the day.
00:47:51
Speaker
I definitely get the having lots of things. I am very much a person who likes to do one, two, maybe three at the max things in a day. If it goes over to an extreme amount where I have to think about multiple things that are going to be happening, then it becomes very much like an overwhelming. It's like my brain doesn't know which
00:48:18
Speaker
part of it to attribute energy to. And even if I do have a plan, it still gets to me. It's like, I should start this, but I need to start that and start this. And I struggle very much with that aspect of attributing energy, even if I do have a set plan.
00:48:40
Speaker
I can't cope with too many things on my plate at the same time. It needs to be sectioned off and then each finger needs to be given my full attention. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's something where neurotypicals have a bit of trouble. I can multitask, no question about it, but there are certain times that you may need to pull back.
00:49:03
Speaker
sometimes on the multitasking. I know, yeah, certain things have got to be done. Now, if it's an emergency and they tell me it's an emergency situation, I would be like, yeah, okay, yeah, I can manage that. But if it's like something like last minute and it is an emergency, I would probably go, what?
00:49:21
Speaker
And that's it, really. I think one of the difficulties that sort of popped up in my mind, I mean, as I said before, I'm sort of doing special needs teaching assistants and stuff like that. And there was a class that I worked in that, honestly, I absolutely adored every single child in that class and they were beautiful kids and
00:49:45
Speaker
I missed them a lot and I had a little bit of a difficulty with the communication with the teacher. I told the school that I was autistic and I told the members of the team of the people that were working in that class that I was autistic.
00:50:04
Speaker
But the problem was that they were asking me to do a lot of things that were sort of conflicting. So I think another difficulty for me would be ambiguity, not being able to give you a set plan, a set of things that you have to do. That aspect of it is difficult because they'd tell me things that I have to do and things that I should do.
00:50:29
Speaker
But then also say, well, if you feel like you should help out in this situation, then you should, which is a difficult one for me because it's like, where does the line, where do I draw the line? Like, and my idea of where that line is to cross over into something else that I feel is more important is very different and very dependent on me. And their idea of it could be completely different to mine.
00:50:57
Speaker
And I think that that is one of the sort of problems that I found very difficult sort of ambiguity and not understanding just just how much we need to be explained things in order to really get it into our heads or understand what they're trying to put across. I think that's that's a big sort of communicative issue that I've had in in work. Definitely.
00:51:25
Speaker
So I feel like once we have sort of a repertoire and a thing to work from, and it's very concrete and there's a lot of explanation and detail, we do that extremely well. As soon as there's blank spaces, as soon as there's things that haven't been said, then it's a problem. Yeah. That's definitely one of the biggest things for me. So in terms of...
00:51:54
Speaker
trying to work around these issues, obviously, like you've sort of told me that, you know, basically the stoic principle of sort of moving on with things and dealing with what you can do is a big part of your personality and how you navigate the world, would you say? Yes, I would say that definitely, my friend. It's just
00:52:19
Speaker
Sometimes, though, you just can't think about the small stuff, though, all the time. There are certain times that you can't win every battle. There are times, though, you're going to have to lose battles. It's like you're not going to win Olympic gold gold all the time in practically everything, really, at the end of the day, even though if you really want to and that. But at the same time, I really still want to achieve it. It's very, very strange that the best way to success
00:52:45
Speaker
is actually learning from your failures. Yes. And everyone's going to fail, whatever particular point. And I think that's a problem with nowadays, like everyone feels like they want to win everything. And I think that's... Entitlement. Exactly. Exactly. It's like entitlement or some of that. I think if you earn it in the right way, then yes, the entitlement should come. But if you're just doing it and there's nothing out of it, then
00:53:14
Speaker
What's the point really at the end of the day? So it's going through those hardships, going through those hard times, even especially what you told me of what happened with Thailand. You had that hard time though in Thailand and you've gotten better out of it by, for example, producing this podcast, talking to various different people on the autistic spectrum, including yours truly here. And you learn from it at the end of the day, which.
00:53:41
Speaker
I'd say is a great achievement at the end of the day from a gold medalist. Learning from failures is a big part of the sport of Tae Kwon Do. There's been countless times where I've got my face beaten in and I was trying to make it up to the big leagues. And even times in the big leagues where I got my face beaten in, but there's also a lot of times where
00:54:06
Speaker
I passed through that date and grown and got better. And I think that whole sort of learning from failures, especially for an individual, can be extremely important. To see every failure as an opportunity to improve. I think that's a great thing. But in terms of looking at autism in the sort of broader sense,
00:54:33
Speaker
What do you think are the big problems that could be worked on, some things that workplaces could put in place to help involve autistic people or make autistic people feel more comfortable and able to work in the workplace?
Enhancing Workplace Inclusivity
00:54:50
Speaker
What would you say those things are? Oh, this is a really good question. This could be quite a really broad, big question. I would say, you know, maybe
00:55:03
Speaker
Bring in someone who actually knows about the condition, like even if it's someone who is a doctor or someone who knows about the diagnosis a bit, or maybe bringing in a guide or something like that from say like one of the autistic charities that know
00:55:22
Speaker
about the condition or actually understand about the condition, you know, to every single workplace that, you know, even older big corporations would have to, if they find that there's a certain condition, they got to try and study it and learn about it. And trying to
00:55:39
Speaker
bring it all forward in that. And, um, with the job I've got at the moment, they, we got these, um, Laylards that have the sunflower thing on there, you know, a greenback and I've got a couple of those, you know, and I always make sure to wear it around. And there's an interesting story, you know, when I was serving on the tool, this was like, I think around about a month before the COVID-19 thing started. This lady, I think she was like 60 or 70 or some of that. And she asked me about, you got that nice Laylards and
00:56:09
Speaker
I explained it to her and she asked me about my condition. I thought, you know what, because she's been so nice. I explained it to her and I tried to explain the best I can. I said, I may not be the best at it, but she learned something from it as well. I remember one time I felt a bit sad because there was someone who asked for the Laylards and we didn't have any more Laylards left at the end.
00:56:31
Speaker
That was a good thing as well, something like that. Although I have heard some people didn't like the fact that Tesco actually put down their name on the Layla, but to me...
00:56:40
Speaker
It's more of a positive that they're actually supporting those who have hidden disabilities like autism, Down syndrome and all that sort of stuff, you know, at the end of the day. Definitely. You know, I feel like there's a problem. I feel like a lot of the policies and initiatives, workplaces are pushing seem to be a lot more on the sort of like superficial level.
00:57:07
Speaker
So we had this thing in the Manchester Student Union where they'd band clapping. Yeah, yeah. And that was in my, I think that I was in my student union. They'd band people from clapping. Yeah.
00:57:25
Speaker
I've heard about this. I've heard about this in the news, mate. And when I heard about this, I was like, are you flipping kidding me? I'm trying to control my swearing here, but I'm so close to actually swearing right now, to be honest with you. So I'm going to keep it clean for you, mate. Don't worry. I'm going to keep it clean. I don't want you to.
00:57:46
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm going to keep it clean, but what I can say is, are you flipping kidding with me when I first heard about that? And I was, I was doing an apprenticeship at the time when that was going on. I think they wanted to do the jazz hands, which I find very, very funny, but at the same time, the clapping nature. I mean, I think it's more about there are autistic people who find the noise a bit distracting. I think I did a little bit as a kid, but it never bothered me after that little period.
00:58:13
Speaker
But I was like, are you kidding me when they said that? But you know what, I saw where it was coming from. But at the same time, I was like, PC stuff going over the top again, please, gentlemen. I do think it does come from a good place and it does come from good intentions, but it's just completely not, it's not the thing that people should be focusing on. No.
00:58:42
Speaker
reducing clapping in a thing. It's not revolutionary. It's not about affecting the things around autism and the matter. For example, employment and mental health support and bullying at school and all of that stuff. I think a lot of these things that most people believe that are the main problems for autistic people, like the sensory stuff, which
00:59:11
Speaker
Yeah, I guess it is a large part of it, but it's a very small issue in comparison to all of the problems that we need to tackle. Yeah. As I said with all the other stuff. Yeah.
00:59:26
Speaker
One of the ways that I believe workplaces can better integrate autistic people is to make sure that there is a positive mindset and there's a good level of understanding, not just from a symptomatic point of view and a scientific point of view, but
00:59:46
Speaker
You know, even if it's just having someone who talks about, comes in and talks about their experiences with autism and allows people to sort of question them or even, you know, something like the, something that I've come across such as the autism reality experience, which is like,
01:00:04
Speaker
This very cool sort of van that goes around. That sounds really weird. Come to my autumn reality experience, there'll be a white van appearing over there. But basically it simulates sensory overloads and it gets people to get to do tasks and stuff.
01:00:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Just think things like that, like things like that, that give people a bit of an understanding, a bit of a basis to work on, or at least just the openness to listen to an autistic person rather than.
01:00:41
Speaker
immediately pass judgments upon them for something that they may not have known was an issue. Absolutely. Absolutely. Just that base level of understanding and integration, I think is very important. And I don't know whether that's something that needs to be done in the workplace. I suspect that it's something that needs to be done at all levels of society, secondary school, primary school.
01:01:05
Speaker
Yes, I was going to say that as well. It needs to be integrated a bit more into society. Also, I think maybe on a government level as well, because I feel like they're not doing enough to a certain degree or not. I think they got a grasp of understanding it though, governments and politicians and that, but I feel like they're not a hundred percent there though, really. That's what I gathered from, you know, at the end of the day.
01:01:35
Speaker
But when most people think of autism, they think of it as something that takes away from your life, something that is a disability and is always a negative.
Societal Views on Autism
01:01:47
Speaker
Whereas there's a lot of people out there who don't believe that. And they believe that a lot of the struggles that are occurring is, you know, due to more of the social model of disability in terms of integration and stuff.
01:02:03
Speaker
So I definitely think that, you know, autism does come with some negatives, but also, you know, some positives. But I feel like there is an unspoken sort of assumption that autism is the problem.
01:02:20
Speaker
rather than, you know, the other things like the bullying and the, um, the mental health and the unemployment is the problem. It seems to be autism is a problem, not the things that autistic people experience. I think that disconnect, it gets in the way, it gets in the way of progress and people learning about it. It's really difficult things trying
01:02:48
Speaker
brings people's attention because, you know, it's like someone comes along and it's like, well, they're autistic. Well, obviously they're going to have some disability that they're disabled and they're going to have a lower quality of life. Not necessarily. No, absolutely not. I think what it is, I think just people just want things simple, like a couple of paragraphs. That's it. But they don't realize, yeah, that it involves more than just
01:03:12
Speaker
a small text, it could be like a wealth of knowledge. It could be like a big 500 page book rather than a 10 page pamphlet at the end of the day. But also at the same time, you got to make sure it's manageable for people so then they don't get bored. Like you say, it's a very, very difficult thing at the end of the day. I definitely agree with that.
01:03:37
Speaker
Cool. So I think I've got through, we've got through, um, pretty much all of the questions that I want to ask. Oh, wow. That's good. That's good. In terms of sort of a little summary, what three things do you think that with, with mentions, um, are the most important takeaway from this podcast? Oh, I'm just trying to remember now because again, like sometimes my concentration can go, I think for me, uh, it's more about.
01:04:06
Speaker
trying to overcome certain issues if you can do that's one thing I've kind of learned from it like if you've got the right mentality and you know what you're doing and you are told or you know what's going on and people have an understanding then things are going to work out that's one thing I can say
01:04:30
Speaker
Secondly, this is a little bit more hard than I thought actually. It's always the most difficult section. Yeah. Secondly, for me, there can be a lot of negatives with autism and I can understand why people are a bit worried about this and the other. They have to understand that not everyone in the autistic spectrum are the same and that concentration can be a bit up and down depending on it.
01:04:58
Speaker
Sometimes they can have the biggest gifts in the world. And I said that though, in a BBC free video that I mentioned a bit earlier on. And I think that's the second thing, like make sure that you know that actually though, not every autistic person is the same. And it's not a bad thing. It's actually a good thing at the end of the day.
01:05:17
Speaker
And the third thing is, yeah, just having a laugh with this, to be honest with you, buddy. That's all it is at the end of the day. That's all it is, really. Take the lighter side of life. Exactly.
Reflecting on Autism's Gifts and Challenges
01:05:30
Speaker
Exactly. I know that relates to point one, but in a way it's kind of separate in its own way, really, at the end of the day.
01:05:37
Speaker
Brilliant. Well, thank you very much for that. We have one last question, which is probably the most broad question of the podcast. What does autism mean to you? Uniqueness, having a gift, being different from the rest of society or, you know, to a certain portion of society, I would say. Being out there, maybe a bit, maybe a bit ignored sometimes.
01:06:07
Speaker
But to the right people, it can be the best gift in the world. Yeah. That's basically it, I can say really, to be honest with you, my friend. Brilliant. Thank you very much, Barry. Thank you. Cool. So, would you like to give out some of your social media links?
01:06:29
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I've never ever done this part before. Um, usually I never ever do, but I will do for you though, my friend, because you know, you'll help me out with this. So, uh, my YouTube channel is in fact, Barry Aldridge. Uh, my Twitter is also the exact same thing. Barry Aldridge Instagram. It's Barry Aldridge, 1983 as well.
01:06:54
Speaker
For people wondering about the BBC 3 short I took part in back in 2016, which was shared on BBC 1 back in 2017, I can remember the title of the video. It's called Things Not to Say to an Autistic Person. That's what the video is actually called. For those wondering about the producing of the games and also the voiceover, which I briefly touched on, the producing roles are for Teyana Studios and the game is called The Dark Side of the Moon.
01:07:24
Speaker
which I'm hoping will be coming out during the summer or the autumn. And that was done by Darren with the other producing thing with Superstring. Before this actually comes out, I already know some certain things, but I can't tell any more information. He's hoping, my friend Jammin is hoping to release the game by the end of the year, maybe 2021, maybe at the latest.
01:07:47
Speaker
And the voiceover game, hopefully it'll be out very, very soon. Who knows? Maybe after when this podcast has gone out, they'll probably have a release date or something like that or whatever. If it does, I will pass you on some details or whatever at some point because, you know, one of the disadvantages with recording in advance, you could say some sort of stuff and then you go, oh, right, it's coming out a bit sooner than you thought. Or you got an exact date. I'm like, oh, God.
01:08:15
Speaker
I almost did blast from me on here. I almost came so close. I was like, oh yeah, of course, yeah, I've got to keep it clean and all that sort of stuff. Just means that more people can hear it. Exactly, exactly. That's what it is.
01:08:33
Speaker
Other than that, I'm also doing some moderating business for a video game company called Wales Interactive. They're the ones who help to publish a lot of FMV games and that really, really good company. And yeah, I think that's basically it, unless I forgot anybody as well, anybody that's listening.
01:09:00
Speaker
If there is anything that you want to sort of put links or you want me to put any links in the description post, sort of doing the interview, then we can, I can do that definitely. Yeah. Cool, cool, cool.
01:09:13
Speaker
I'll put all of those links in the description of the YouTube video and also the podcast. So if anybody wants to visit any of Barry's links, check out some of the work that he's done. Check out some of the games that he's helping produce. Go check those out. I think it would be very interesting to have a look and I definitely will have to have a look as well.
01:09:35
Speaker
Yeah, definitely, definitely, definitely worth checking out though, guys. If you can, that is. And the FMV games, they're not worth a lot of money, probably between 10, 15 pound. If you're listening outside the UK, you have to find out through the dollar and all these different conversions of money really at the end of the day. It'll be different. I think it would probably be like $10, $15.
01:10:02
Speaker
If you're an American or Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Euro, probably 12 euros or 12, 15 euros at the end of the day. Barry, the currency converter.
01:10:20
Speaker
Well, thank you very much for those links. Obviously, if you want to check out the 4080 podcast on any different formats, it's available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Those are the main places that you can go to. There's a few more places that you can listen to it. If you go to the Anchor site for the 4080 podcast, you'll be able to find all the links to those things.
01:10:47
Speaker
In terms of videos, you can check out my YouTube channel, Asperger's growth. I've got a lot of videos on YouTube and mental health and all that kind of stuff. And then also the social media, of course, Asperger's growth, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And if you have a story that you want to tell, if you've got any ideas or topics that you want to hear about, you can always send an email to Asperger's growth at gmail.com.
01:11:18
Speaker
There is something also that I need to make aware to you guys. When this podcast has come out, it's likely that my documentary that I've been working on will be coming out as well. And I have spent an inordinate amount of time on this, trying to get it perfect with the low quality equipment that I was given for my project.
01:11:41
Speaker
200 to 300 hours presenting, produce, directed, all that stuff done by myself. It's called Asperger's in Society and I would be amazingly grateful. Amazingly grateful. I'd be really grateful if you went to check that out. But anyway, did you enjoy the podcast, Barry? I did indeed, mate. I did indeed. Thank you. It's been a real pleasure just to do this with you.
01:12:11
Speaker
Now all I need now is my paycheck. Now, where's my goddamn paycheck? This podcast is sadly not monetized. I know. Yeah, I know. I know. Yeah, I was going to say that. Yeah, exactly. I was like, I was going to say that for the very end. I was like, if you say bye, I'm going to say, right, where's my paycheck? Just leave it on a funny note.
01:12:38
Speaker
Well, thank you. It has been a pleasure to talk to you and I feel a lot more of a positive mood talking to you, so thank you very much for that. It's going to carry with me to the end of the day and I hope that other people will take on your positivity and stoicism in a year themselves, I suppose.
01:12:58
Speaker
Well thank you as well Tom and I hope everyone who's listening after Easter, again I thought I'd just mention recording it before Easter, I hope you had a great Easter and yeah, take care of yourself guys. Thank you very much peeps and I'll see you guys in the next episode. See you later. Bye.