.png)
THE SJ CHILDS SHOW-Building a Community of Inclusion
🎙️ Welcome to The SJ Childs Show Podcast! 🎉
Join Sara Bradford—better known as SJ Childs—as she bridges understanding and advocacy for the neurodivergent community. This podcast shines a light on autism awareness, empowering stories, expert insights, and practical resources for parents, educators, and individuals alike.
Brought to you by The SJ Childs Global Network, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting autistic individuals and their families worldwide, this show is your weekly dose of inspiration and actionable ideas. Visit sjchilds.org to learn more about our mission, find resources, and connect with our growing community.
Catch us on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Goodpods—or tune in Fridays at 8:30 AM EDT on the Helium Radio Network’s Life Improvement Radio (Channel 1). Together, let’s foster a brighter, more inclusive world! 🌟
Go here to download training materials!
https://sjchilds.myshopify.com/
THE SJ CHILDS SHOW-Building a Community of Inclusion
Bonus Episode from the International Autism Summit 2024-Transcending Expectations: An Autistic Journey to the Center Stage of Love on The Spectrum
Welcome to a sneak peek into The International Autism Summit 2024 with special guest speaker Devin Morrisey
When doctors told three-year-old Devin Morrissey he would never graduate high school, attend college, or live independently, they couldn't have imagined he would one day help transform how the world sees autism. In his powerful presentation "Bringing Autism to the Center Stage," Devin takes us on a journey from his childhood diagnosis to becoming a Netflix personality, podcast host, and fierce advocate who consistently defies expectations.
Growing up in Danville, California in the 1990s when autism was often viewed as a "death sentence," Devin didn't learn about his own diagnosis until age twelve. This revelation explained why he had been pulled from recess for various therapies and why certain aspects of social interaction felt challenging. Though initially struggling with this identity, Devin eventually embraced that "being normal is completely overrated" and that his differences were strengths to be celebrated.
Devin's accomplishments speak volumes: bachelor's degrees in liberal arts and music from Whittier College, a master's degree from USC completed during the pandemic, experience as an elementary school teacher, and now working as a recruitment coordinator at Sabacon, a neurodiverse recruiting firm. Perhaps most recognizably, he appears as Dani Bowman's best friend on Netflix's Emmy Award-winning "Love on the Spectrum US," offering dating advice and support while helping bring authentic autism representation to mainstream media.
Beyond the screen, Devin amplifies autistic voices through his blog "Autistic Superpower" and podcast "Autistically Unapologetic," where he interviews other autistic trailblazers about their experiences. Most recently, he's returned to his performing roots by joining Epic Players LA, a neurodiversity theater company, combining his passion for performance with autism advocacy.
Ready to embrace your own authentic story? Follow Devin's journey at www.autisticsuperpower.com or on Instagram @DevinMorrissey and discover how one voice can help break stigmas, defy limitations, and inspire a movement of acceptance.
The SJ Childs Show is Backwards' 13th season. Join Sarah Brafford and the SJ Childs Show team as they explore the world of autism and share stories of hope and inspiration. This season, we're excited to bring you more autism summits featuring experts and advocates from around the world.
Speaker 2:Go to sjchildsorg.
Speaker 3:Looks like Devin is backstage. I see his face this time, so we don't want to take any more of his time. Let him get going. And we're so want to take any more of his time. Let him get going. And we're so excited to have you here, Devin Hi. Thank you so much for letting me come on.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much, Hi. How are you?
Speaker 5:Good Nice to meet you.
Speaker 4:Thank you, I must admit I have thoughts for the delay. Thank you, I must admit I have thoughts for the delay Camera problems at 7.30 in the morning, camera not the greatest, so I've been fighting a little bit all morning. But I'm so excited to be here and thank you guys so much for letting me help kick off the summit. It's an honor really.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's so great to have you and we're just going to let you get to it and then we'll be back on. Jeff will give you a little notice when it's times, you know, but we're flexible. We have some time flexibility, I think, here. So we will be back after a little bit and we'll be here enjoying your presentation.
Speaker 4:All right. Well, thank you so much, sarah, once again for allowing me to be a part of this. Danielle, it's very, very, very nice to meet you. So hello to everyone out there. For those of you that do not know me, my name is Devin Morrissey. I am an autism advocate, I'm a blogger, I'm a podcast host and I'm a public speaker. Some of you out there may recognize me from a little Netflix show that I was fortunate to be on for the last two seasons, called Love on the Spectrum US.
Speaker 4:My life has completely changed as a result from partaking on that show, even if it was just as a supporting cast member. So this particular presentation I have presented and I'm about to share for everyone is called Bringing Autism to the Center Stage. It's pretty much a story about my life, from very humble beginnings, growing up in the Bay Area, to overcoming a variety of obstacles to what I am doing now in relations, to work and in terms of autism advocacy and much, much, much more. So if I can try to share my screen, I will be able to start. And again, my sincerest apologies about the lateness. Let's just say the cameras sometimes, let's just say that they can have a mind of their own. So, with that being said, I'm going to share my screen with everyone. If you guys can see it, fantastic. And with that being said, here we go Again. This is bringing autism to the center stage and this is basically a story about my life and sort of what I'm doing right now. So, as many of you know, this is the face from season two, quite, the friend right there that didn't realize that he was about to be seen doing a meditation technique in front of all of you out there watching the show. So you know, let's just say that sometimes you don't always get the choice of, you know, choosing what Netflix airs, but you know what. It was even an honor to be on the show for the last two seasons to begin with.
Speaker 4:So, before I even got to center stage, this is sort of where my life took place. So I was born and raised in the Bay Area my whole life. I was born and raised in the small town of Danville, california. It is about 30 minutes east of Oakland in San Francisco. I grew up there all my life. So for those of you that do not know what Danville is, if you've ever seen the movie Mrs Doubtfire and have ever seen the Bridges Restaurant. That was my hometown, so we have little history with Robin Williams there. So after graduating from high school in 2012, I moved out to Los Angeles right away to attend Whittier College and within the span of four years, I received my bachelor's degree in both liberal arts and music in 2016.
Speaker 4:After working for quite a few years in education, I decided that I wanted to continue my educational journey by getting my master's degree from USC in 2021. I will say it was definitely quite the journey getting my master's degree from USC in 2021. I will say it was definitely quite the journey getting my master's degree because halfway through our program, as we all know, the world shut down due to COVID. But if there's one thing that I learned about myself at that time, it is that perseverance really pays off and that resilience goes a long way in terms of ethic. And that resilience goes a long way in terms of ethic, determination, drive, and it just shows that if you're able to do a master's program on the autism spectrum during a global pandemic, then you can pretty much do anything at this point. So that's a little bit about who I am as a person. You know just a little bit of stuff about me.
Speaker 4:So my autism journey actually began when I was formally diagnosed at the age of three years old and, from my understanding, when I was growing up I was nonverbal until I was actually two or three years old. I was singing a lot, I was humming a lot, and so music actually helped build language. But around the time that I was around nine, 10 years old, I began to suspect that something was up. I had been in special ed classes in preschool, but kindergarten through fifth grade I was completely in a public school setting. But I noticed that certain things were not meshing. I was having AIDS from kindergarten to fourth grade. There were times where I was taken out of particular classroom activities to go to different therapies at school. It actually got to a point where I was actually even taken out of lunch recess, which if you're a kid back in the late 90s and early 2000s then you know recess and lunch recess was lit and it was the place to be.
Speaker 4:So I was pretty angry about being pulled out of that time in my life because I was actually going to speech therapy and occupational therapy. But it wasn't making any sense. So when I was 12 years old I was about to head off to middle school and my parents sat me down and they just showed me a book about autism and they said hey, devin, so we have been hiding something from you for a very long time. And do you see this child right here? And I said yeah, yeah, yeah, and they're like well, this is a book about autism, which is what you have, and at that point I will say it made sense. But it did have me ask a lot of questions and I struggled a lot with figuring out how to fit in with being normal.
Speaker 4:I think that, as any child and as a particular preteen, I was only 12 years old when I found out that I was autistic, so feeling like you were never, ever going to be normal and that you had to figure out how to work with that in a public school setting with a bunch of other neurotypical kids. It was rough and it was a sad realization for a preteen like myself, and I had a lot of obstacles thrown at me throughout Midland High School in terms of fitting in, socializing, communication, and it was an extremely difficult time. But as I grew older and as I left the nest for the first time on my own, I began to realize that being normal is completely overrated and being different and being unique is the right trend to go. So that, for me, is sort of a little bit about how my autism came into play. And you know but I will say, though, a lot of what the doctors had told me growing when I was first diagnosed they were I had a lot of odds that were stacked against me.
Speaker 4:I was told by the doctors when I was three years old that I was never going to graduate high school. I was mostly going to be in special education my whole life. I was never going to go to college. I will probably just do some transitional classes or some vocational services after high school. I was never going to work full time. If I was lucky I could have maybe just done, you know, the simple grocery store or warehouse work and I was never going to live independently. So the doctors basically said that with my diagnosis and you have to remember this was 1996, 1997 when I got diagnosed so at that time autism wasn't really seen as a positive thing. Autism in that time and that year was actually seen more as a death sentence, like if you have this, you're basically going to struggle the rest of your life, life.
Speaker 4:But and I say this with a big but throughout all of the trials and tribulations, I ended up surpassing everyone's expectations, but not only just pursuing everyone's expectations and surpassing them. I literally took the ball and the bat and just smashed it out of the ballpark and the bat and just smashed it out of the ballpark. So, as you can see, there are some photos of here of me. I have my high school graduation there in the green gown. I am still trying to figure out why my school decided to go with the green gown and cap, even though green was technically our school color. You see my college graduation from Whittier College, all the way to the left, bottom left, with the long blonde hair. Back then I was trying to go for the whole hippie look because I don't know why.
Speaker 4:And then at the top right, that was my most current graduation photo from USC During the global pandemic. I'll be honest with you, I was prepared to do the whole virtual graduation because I already had two in-person graduations with my bachelor's and my high school diploma and I was good with that. So to even go that extra mile and to do it in the USC Memorial Coliseum, where they've had the Olympics in the 60s and the 80s and a good chance they'll do it again in four years, in 2020. I'm just like, wow, this is incredible. In the middle you actually see me in Washington DC. I've had the honor of working full-time at a tech talent transformation firm and some of my business trips in the past have actually required me to go to Washington DC. So that's me with the Washington Monument. It's actually a lot more bigger than it looks, far more bigger than what you see on TV and what you see in the movies.
Speaker 4:And then you see a photo of me living in downtown Los Angeles. I had the privilege of actually living in downtown Los Angeles for four and a half years and it really kind of shaped me into realizing, you know, I can actually live in this crazy world called life, and it's funny because a lot of people don't think that people on the autism spectrum can live in big cities. But they can, and if you can live in downtown Los Angeles during a global pandemic, you can do anything with your life, pretty much. So, in other words, I like to say with these photos that I proved all the doctor's expectations wrong and I'm continuously doing stuff, but that's what I love to do. I love showing people. I'm like you know what? You say that I can't do this. You watch me, you watch me. So, taking a look at the next slide, my current position is a very special honor and this hits really close to home. I'm now working as a recruitment coordinator at a neurodiverse and disability recruiting and career consulting firm called sabacon um it. I was brought on to their team um just a few months ago and we held, we helped sponsor, the very first autism and entertainment conference in los angeles and, to be honest with you, I would have never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever given be given the chance to pay it forward, and it helped get back to a community that has literally given me so much growing up and so now being able to help literally put on an event within just three months and help bring more inclusivity and more neurodiversity into the entertainment industry, which is so long overdue. But that's actually not all.
Speaker 4:I have had previous roles. I've actually worked as an elementary school teacher in the school district that I grew up going to, as well as the Los Angeles Unified School District. I taught kindergarten, transitional kindergarten, fifth grade, so I taught the biggest of the elementary school kids and the littlest of the elementary school kids and it definitely takes a lot of patience. It definitely takes a lot of thick skin like elephant rhinoceros thick skin but I really really, really enjoyed my time working as a teacher and I learned a lot. That then was introduced into sales. Sales, I have to say, was probably one of the toughest roles I've ever had because you were consistently communicating 24-7, 365 with other clients that may not always necessarily want to answer your phones or may not always want to answer your emails that you've sent them, but it really also helped me develop thick skin and actually work more on communication and employee engagement that I also had the chance to work at. It was also getting a chance to work with other fellow employees and sort of learn more about their experience. So I've had the opportunity now of hosting a variety or holding a variety of different roles, but this recruitment coordinator position with Savicon had, I think, been the most meaningful for me.
Speaker 4:As you can see right there, this is me our latest autism and entertainment conference, and for me, this was a really, really, really, really meaningful way of giving back in many ways. So, as I mentioned before at the beginning of this presentation, I'm an autistic advocate, I'm a public speaker, I'm a blogger and I'm also a podcast host. So in 2017, I launched my blog called Autistic the spectrum, and I felt that writing it in the journal is great. However, as I've soon as I realized as I was graduating college and I was working professionally full time that there was a lot more that I wanted to share with the world about autism. At the time, you know, the whole actually autistic movement and the whole storytelling about autism was just beginning. So I launched my blog in 2017, and it really follows my life and experiences growing up autistic. It really has been sort of like a project that I'm working on that I kind of consider like a child, like a baby. You just watch it grow and blossom, and blossom, and it's been really awesome to talk about a variety of different stories that I have experienced growing up. Some of the experiences that I've actually talked about have been great focus topic points such as bullying, masking, autism awareness and acceptance month, et cetera, et cetera, and acceptance month, et cetera, et cetera, and really it has been a labor of love talking about my story to a wide variety of people and it actually was sort of kind of the launch of many more things yet to come.
Speaker 4:So this and so with Autistic Superpower that I launched, it was also the brainchild, it's sort of the motivation to launch another project that I launched. It was also the brainchild, it's sort of the motivation to launch another project that I launched last year called Autistically Unapologetic, with Devin Morrissey. So, in other words, I launched a podcast this past year and it has been so much fun being able to do. After doing quite a few public speaking appearances, after doing a variety of different podcast interviews, I was told by my girlfriend, actually, that I should start a podcast of my own, and she was 100% right that I should do so. So, with her encouragement and with her inspiration and with the support of a variety of other people besides my girlfriend. I actually launched my podcast Autistically Unapologetic, with Devin Morrissey last year, in 2023.
Speaker 4:And this time it's still about storytelling, but I also wanted to put the spotlight on other individuals and other autistic trailblazers and their lives and their accomplishments. I think that if there's one thing that I have learned growing up autistic is that if you've only met one person with autism, you only met one, and the way that I've seen is that there are so many different stories out there to share and there are so many different stories to tell, and I think that what is special about this podcast and what it's done is that it's opened eyes to what life is like for other autistic people. And some of the guests that I've actually had on this podcast include Layla Weiner. She's a supporting cast member on the highly critically acclaimed Netflix series Atypical. I had the chance to interview Eileen Lam, the owner of the Autism Cafe, chloe Hatch, who was on the original Love on the Spectrum in Australia from both seasons one and two, and Danny Bowman, the owner and founder and CEO, ceo of the animation entertainment, who also was on the US version of Love on the Spectrum, us Henceforth. Why I was even on Love on the Spectrum? To begin with, because Danny actually asked me to come on, and then for the second season she asked me to return, and so did Netflix as well.
Speaker 4:So, with this particular podcast, I love talking about other autism-related topics, and what I also love doing is getting other people's opinions on those topics. So, with a lot of the variety of different guests that I have, I actually just taped an episode yesterday and so that will be dropping sometime next week I love getting people's opinions on other autism-related topics in regards to the entertainment industry, masking, et cetera, other autism-related topics in regards to the entertainment industry, masking, et cetera. Because even though we might not always agree on certain things and we live in such a divided world these days, it's so important to at least respect people's opinions. And, coming from someone that has experienced a lot growing up and has experienced every single autism-related topic that you can think of, I'm always curious to know and learn more from other autistic point of views. So learning from autistic point of views actually are kind of going into this next slide, which I'm sure you all know by now. I'm sure that you've heard about it from everybody, everywhere, from Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan to Kelly Clarkson.
Speaker 4:It is the three-time Emmy Award-winning docuseries US version of Love on the Spectrum Love on the Spectrum US. I am a current cast member in a supporting role on both seasons one and two of the docuseries. A supporting role on both seasons one and two of the docuseries and um for those of you that probably have already known by now, or in case you didn't know, um, I am danny's best danny bowman's best friend on the show for both seasons, um, and basically I was giving her advice and cheers on finding love. Considering that, I also found love myself outside of the show with my beautiful girlfriend of the last three years, and if you watch this season and if you saw a crazy best friend with blonde hair doing meditation techniques and kind of making himself look like a fool, that was me.
Speaker 4:Being a part of Love on the Spectrum has been truly a life changing and very fun experience, because when we shot this show back, when we shot the first season back in 2021, all those years ago, I would have never, ever, ever thought and none of us had ever thought of just how huge the show was going to become. And when the first trailer dropped and I see myself on there, I'm just like wait, is that me Like, what am I doing on there? I'm just a supporting cast member. I really have no business being on there, but I have made some incredibly, really good. I've made some incredible friends throughout my time on the show, bonding with other customers as well. And what people don't realize is that what the show has done is showcase autistic people in the limelight, and that's something that hasn't really been done before, and we've actually have had the success of having some successful couples um come from the show, such as um, abby and david and my best friend danny and it's on um. It has been awesome to watch just the show take off in many ways and seeing the success now and everyone being so receptive to the show. The third season has been renewed. They're looking for a cast, so if you're interested in applying, make sure to reach out to know the pitchers and, who knows, if you're watching out there, maybe you could be on season three of Love on the Spectrum, who knows? And so what I am up to now?
Speaker 4:I have actually decided to take another leap of faith and kind of return to my roots in terms of performing. I actually what a lot of people don't know about me is that I grew up basically singing in the church choir for many, many years and then that kind of transition going into high school and middle school where I performed in very competitive choirs and that also carried on in college as well. I had the opportunity to perform with professional, competitive choirs in Honolulu, hawaii, austin, texas and New York City. I also had the opportunity to do a lot of professional pre-professional productions growing up, such as Rent, hairspray, fiddler on the Roof. So there's a lot of great the Music man. There's a lot of great performances and performing that into sales, going into recruitment et cetera. But recently I was invited to be an inaugural player of the slide that you're seeing right now, called Epic Players LA. Epic Players is a neurodiversity company that is originally based out of New York City. Epic stands for empower, perform, include and create.
Speaker 4:And I actually went to go see a fundraising show there in LA with my girlfriend and I got to tell you I was not planning on auditioning. I had left performing behind all those years ago, about almost a decade ago, after I graduated from college. But one of the performers in that show Rachel Barcelona, who is a member of the New York branch of Epic Players, and Danny Bowman, of course, from Love on a Spectrum they actually put my name, or they sent my name, over to epic players because I got an email from them saying, hey, we want you to come audition and so I did, and now I get to be a part of this wonderful, uh, branch of performers. Um, as you see, they are all so incredibly wonderful and so incredibly amazingly talented. Um, two faces you actually may recognize, um, actually are lillian carrier from the freeform sitcom everything is going to be okay, and my fellow love on the spectrum cast member and sister, abby romeo. Um, it has been almost a decade now since I've been on the stage on my own. In fact, the last time that I was on a stage was for my last choir concert in college and my senior recital in college. So it is so great to come back home and come back to a place where you really really, really learn so much about yourself, and so I am incredibly excited to help launch this branch of Epic Players here in Los Angeles, and we actually have our first showcase coming up on June 18th. Tickets are on sale now. So, if you're curious to you know, come watch, perform or even sign up for some exciting classes that are going to be coming up. Come to the show on June 18th at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood. It's going to be awesome and it's going to be talented.
Speaker 4:I know that this particular, this particular part of this summit which has been amazing, by the way and I'm so honored to help launch today's summit and be the first person to speak. So there, I know that I have been asked a lot of questions about, you know, embracing being autistic and owning it, especially since I have been so vocal and so open and honest about being autistic for the last 11 years. So I actually came up with some tips and tricks for all of you out there that are autistic but haven't fully revealed being autistic yet or are trying to figure out ways to embrace it and own being autistic. So the first thing that I have learned from my own journey is that the journey is never ending, but I guarantee you it is always worth it, and what I mean by that is you're constantly learning something new about your own autism every single day, and you're also learning about other people every single day. You know learning doesn't stop after school. You know just when you get a degree it doesn't mean that you're done learning. I've learned so much from so many different autistic people, whether it's from Epic Players LA or it's from Love on the Spectrum and I continuously learn more things about myself and my autism. I have learned about that.
Speaker 4:I am a very strong person who has been through a lot, but have never, ever, ever, ever let myself doubt myself ever again, which leads me into my next tip and trick, which is believing in yourself and believing in your abilities. I know that as autistic people, sometimes we can be very critical of ourselves, have a lot of self-doubt. Believing in yourself and believing in your worth is so important if you have a voice and you speak up about it. I truly, truly, truly believe that there are more autistic voices that should be heard and I think that have a right to be heard. So self-confidence in telling your story is super, super, super, super, super key. This next particular trick, actually, and tip, is something that I think is super important.
Speaker 4:No autistic story is the same. Yours is yours to tell only, and what I basically mean by that is we live in quite divisive times within our own community. People sometimes tend to think that, oh, my story should be everybody else's story to tell, but that's not necessarily the case. Every single person on the spectrum is different in his or their unique way. As I mentioned earlier, if you only met one person with autism, you've only met one person, and that for me, has been a true um trademark. For me, it's really that you know what my autism is, my story. It doesn't make anyone else's right or wrong, but it's and I it's hopefully a glimpse of what autism can be like for some people, but it doesn't represent everybody else. So this particular next tip and trick I think is super important, because I've been doing this all my life.
Speaker 4:When people tell you that you're not able to do something, just ignore it. Do what makes you happy anyways and prove them wrong. When I was told that I was not going to be able to go to college and when people had said, oh, you might want to, you know, stick something close to home, stick something close to their area. I said no, I want to get out of the Bay Area. I want to as much as I love the Bay Area and that's always going to be my home. I want to see the world. I want to see the world, and so I have a chance to look at quite a few schools, and even though that I did look at some out-of-state schools and actually got accepted into some of them, I mean, let's be real, I could not leave California and I could not turn away from Los Angeles. I ended up proving the doctors wrong that diagnosed me by moving to Los Angeles straight out of high school when I was only 18, 19 years old, and I proved them wrong time and time and time again.
Speaker 4:And this last tip and trick is a tip and trick that I really find to be incredibly powerful and very special in my mind. If an opportunity is handed to you, do not doubt it, take it and own it. If the opportunity to audition for Epic Players was handed to me, did I doubt it? No, I took it and I ran with it. And now I get to be back on stage for the first time in almost a decade, which is an incredibly amazing feeling.
Speaker 4:If I am given an opportunity to be on a podcast, talk a little bit more about my time of love on the spectrum. I take it and I own it. So, really, it's about taking any opportunity that you are given in life and owning it. We are only given one life and, honestly, we're never guaranteed tomorrow, and I think that the biggest thing that I can give to any autistic adult out there is your stories are just as important to tell, and telling your story is an amazing opportunity to inspire the next generation of autistic trailblazers to tell their own stories. And so, if you ever have an opportunity to tell your story, just do it. It is so, so, so worth it, and I guarantee you that it is one of the greatest gifts and one of the greatest journeys that you can ever embark on. And so, with that being said, that is sort of how I brought autism, and so, oh, by the way, so if you are curious to know a little bit more about my life and you want to catch up on the latest blog post, catch up on the latest podcast episode, as I mentioned earlier, I taped one yesterday, so that particular podcast episode will be dropping soon.
Speaker 4:Um, you are more than welcome to follow my blog at wwwautisticsuperpowercom, my podcast authentically unapologetic with devin morrissey. You can find that on apple podcasts, spotify and on youtube. And um, my main social media is instagram. I'm not, um, you really can't find me on TikTok or Discord or any of those other sites, so my Instagram is at Devin Morrissey. If you see a profile picture with someone that you recognize from the show, the previous photo that you saw at the very beginning, that's me. So I just want to thank you all so much again for coming to my very first Autism Investor Summit, where I get to share my story about bringing autism to the center stage, and thank you so much to Sarah from the Sarah J Child Show for really inviting me to come on here, and so thank you all so very, very much, and I hope that you all enjoy the rest of the summit. Every speaker that is going to be coming on today is going to be incredible. So thank you guys so much, and it has been a true pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 3:Oh, devin, it's so nice to Hold on a second. My thing is doing something weird. There we go. It's so nice to hear your story and it was beautiful. I loved it, absolutely All of it. And I love Danville, because I'm actually from Reno, nevada, and I spent a lot of time in the East Bay area. Oh, there's Kat, well, hello. Hello, louie, how are you doing, buddy? Yeah, so, uh, that's fantastic. It's always like feels like home when you, you know, have been kind of in the same stomping grounds as somebody that you're talking to.
Speaker 3:so that's great. Um, it was a wonderful, wonderful and I'm just how exciting to go from, you know, kind of just self-realization to no more self-doubt, and I'm so proud of you for that. That is just like a message for everyone, right? Like the worst you know haters in the world is your own mind and your own imposter syndrome that creeps in on you and, you know, don't?
Speaker 3:you can't ever worry about the opinions of others. We know what that statement's like. So, uh, we, we only, can, you know, be kind of putting ourselves, uh, first as much as possible. I mean it's I am always trying to kind of be the better version I can be. Next, what can I do next? What can I do next? You know, is it? Maybe it's just this fervor inside of us or something? I don't know, but oh, it's amazing. Yeah, Thank you so much for waking up so early this morning. You know, on the West Coast, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 4:It's my pleasure, it really is.
Speaker 3:Oh, and what?
Speaker 4:a way to start the day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, fiance, now girlfriend. I said is she your girlfriend? I wasn't sure no, um.
Speaker 4:So my girlfriend and I um actually met outside of the show. But if you watch season one, um, when danny asks me how's my dating life been going, I mentioned I have myself a fourth date coming up same girl. Um, that same girl that I talk about on the show is not my girlfriend, and we've been together now for the past three years.
Speaker 3:I love that yes, it's congratulations and um, you guys are a beautiful couple.
Speaker 3:I mean thank you just it's so great to you know, take those people's stigmas and ideas of what autistics can have in their lives, can have love, can have families and stuff and just say let's rethink this, let's look at this a new way. Everyone and this is the way we're going to do it by showing up and being honest and authentic and you know, it'll be 20 years for me and my husband this year and we're both autistic and we have autistic children and let's show up right Show up, show out, show out, share your story, and I think that really does help break the stigma and you know who can relate to your story and who can, you know, inspire them to share their story and continue to break those stigmas, especially with you?
Speaker 5:know the fortunate things that doctors say to either individuals or their parents when they're younger, and I remember hearing a story about a family that was from Poland and the doctor said you know, don't even teach your son to speak Polish, he'll be lucky if he speaks English. And now fast forward, 20-something years later and he can speak English and understand Polish and French. And you know, it's just. People are capable of so much. So we have to continue to break those big walls.
Speaker 4:It's to find the obstacles that people throw at us every day. It is consistently defying those every single day and saying you know what, you just watch and you see what happens there you go.
Speaker 3:That's all we can do. Right Is just keep doing that, and I love that we can do it in this way too, where we're coming together, because we're even stronger when we're together and we're even louder when we're together and we can really like be this voice in this movement. And we're so grateful for all of the people who came before us, the pioneers of this journey, always so grateful to them, and I love to share these messages and journeys with them as well as bring all of these new advocates and new voices and faces. I think that's the most incredible part of all is that this year, in years past, from some of the other events I I've I've known people that have been on the podcast, or I, you know, I've been in the community.
Speaker 3:This year there are about 18 people that I had never met before. That I'm like, oh my gosh, like that's crazy. Where have I been? Where have you been? Like, where have we been? So I kind of joke that we're creating this beautiful playground to all play together now, because I think that's something that we all missed and that we all felt like we weren't a part of in so much in that part of our lives, and now we can just embrace each other and take this journey together, so getting all the emotions in.
Speaker 3:Oh great, devin. Thank you so so much for your time and your beautiful presentation this morning. I think that people are going to be able to just go click right on it and rewatch it, so if you missed any part of it, go back and you can rewatch it right away. The replays are available for you. I'm thankful for our wonderful producer, jeff, who's doing so much work back there to create this. Yeah and seamless. He is just so kind and like, so technically, technically savvy. It's, it's. I couldn't have anybody better on my team, you know. So I'm so proud of that. Yeah, it doesn't look like our next guest has arrived yet, so we still have some time and, devin, you're so welcome to stay. You're also welcome to, of course, join and in the watch and and go and see some of the other sessions that will be today.
Speaker 3:Make sure to say hello in the comments and we'll um catch up. We do have some people in the comments that we could say hi to Um. Andrew Bennett is in the comments. Hi, andrew. Um, let's see who we have Mia Dawson, and Mia is one of our sponsors from the Superpower Radio Show. She is incredible. Her story, her journey with her son and a really like true friend of theirs. It's beautiful story, Just so moving Um. We also have um, a student that had reached out to me and said how do I come to the summit? Uh, eliana, she's um in the comments. Thank you so, so much for being here and I really hope that you gained so much from from this event and just really see all the value that everyone is will be sharing throughout the two days that we'll be here. So, yes, I, isn't it great? Oh, my gosh, can't even believe it.
Speaker 4:It's fantastic. Well, I actually have to run. Um, as you guys know, I work a nine to five job at Tavacon and my job, my job. It is a lot of fun but it is also very demanding, so I do need to get prepared for the day ahead. But thank you so much for allowing me to come on and to help kick off this international autism summit. I'm so honored that I get to be the first speaker. That's pretty incredible and best of luck to all the other speakers today and tomorrow, and you guys are going to do amazing and kill it thank you, thank you thank you everyone, bye bye, see you
Speaker 3:soon. Bye, oh, wow, I just uh. I love this already. I'm gonna be like need to go get a fresh tissue box. I don't even know if I have one. My neighbor has a store for me.
Speaker 5:Yes, Uber delivery or some type of door dash. There you go, delivery.
Speaker 3:Got it. Oh my gosh, it's so much fun. I love bringing us all together like this. If you are in the audience and you haven't said hello in the comments, say hello so that we can say hello back In the heart of a city.
Speaker 2:She's shining bright. Oh yeah, stories of love and courage. All throughout the night, her voice resonating An anthem for all. Through the trials and the trials, she answers the call. A mother and a fighter, breaking barriers and strife. Love is her guide. She'll never hide. Thank you. Followers gather like stars in the night. So bright, 44,000 voices sharing in the light. She stands for family, advocates for more, movement of compassion, ways we'll soar Podcasts together, symphony of support In life change. And rapport. She's changing the world for you with a heart that's fierce and strong. Empathy's a melody in a journey we all belong. To her eye, a vision clear. Together we rise, shedding fears. In every heart, she plants the seed of understanding and love for dearly me. She's changing the world for you With her heart that's fierce and strong. Empathies and melodies In a journey we all belong.
