 It's realized Sorry guys, just realized that my YouTube sound was not on that's very annoying. Why is my microphone not working? Okay, we got we got the actual mic working now. Thanks Stephen. Thank you James Hello stallion, how you doing? stallionCathy Sure, I think it's the opposite. It should be the opposite way around here. Oh So yeah, what was the saying? Welcome. Yeah for everyone YouTube welcome back to another audio style live stream I just realized that all of my audio was just not on I was frantically frantically trying to find something to perch my phone up on top so But we are now it's all good. We're all golden. There's your lovely voice. Thank you very much Stephen So Yeah, this this week's been a bit kind of different for me because it's been the first week where I've been fully self-employed and It's been quite a nice like the organization that I was working at has offered me some work So I'm going to be delivering like some like a presentation to a group of local authority leads who like Basically like if you take different parts of the UK they have like the leads of each of those sections who? Pretty much like manage the resources and like what? Each part of the UK kind of works on so it's gonna be a good good thing what I'm gonna be talking about co-production so that's Something that I'm quite passionate about it's not really something that I've mentioned a lot like within the work that I do online and Mostly because it's it's kind of a lot to do with like organizations and stuffs and I tend to like talking about things that are a little bit more personal but co-co-production for anyone isn't always basically kind of like the process of including people within a project so for example, if you were to Create like a film like I created like a film recently With the organization that was working with basically trying to highlight the Experiences of young disabled adults some of which autistic but basically The whole thing was Kind of co-co-produced from the start so that there is an element of Co-production which is I can find out. I've just been like creating my slides today. So I've got them up already so you have co-design which is Like the actual planning of a project so planning of like the film what the goals of the film Making sure that the voices of those young people are included within that You know what they actually want to get out of it what they want the goal to be also like decision-making so Including them in meetings not having like separate meetings outside just for the organization You know including them in all kind of like the steps of the process as well as like co-delivery so if for example You know obviously I had to film some of the young people but So so they were part of that and if if there were people within That project who would want to edit the film and would want to like film it Do all of like the camera work and stuff like that then we would Let them and that would be something that we would include it We didn't have anybody who wanted to do that So it's so I did it So that's kind of the co-delivery and then obviously like the co-evaluation so making sure that It's able young people have the Like the say and like whether we achieve what the goals were what they decided they wanted to do So that's that's kind of what I've been doing today Making sure that you know, I Can I can accurately describe how to co-produce projects Not not just films, but like actual like projects and services and resources designed for people By the by the actual people themselves, so it's It's been good Thank you for elaborating. Congrats and getting that project. Thank you. It's gonna be fun I love doing a bit of public speaking bit of training Very much so so if you haven't been to one of these streams before These all the time lives. This is basically an opportunity to ask any question that you want I do go live on YouTube where I look at particular videos On the internet and so I'll give my commentary and like review them and stuff, but this is Primarily just a Q&A session So it's very much dependent on what you guys want to ask me you can ask me anything about autism Mental health anything personal fitness related Anything like that go for it. I'm very open to questions And if I don't want to answer I won't and I won't be offended. No wrong answer. No wrong questions Want to highlight that I won't be offended by any questions So, yeah Let me just check and see if I I'm very hesitant to like touch my Phone in case it all comes crumbling down Why do you have a green screen behind you? It's because I I go live on YouTube and Instagram, so YouTube you guys get to see the nice little background you guys get a green screen sadly I don't know if I can I don't know if you can you can you do green screens on lives? You probably can can't you I probably should do that. I'm gonna check it. I'll check it for next time That'd be cool Hope you stay hydrated with some water. I you'll be you should be very proud of me. This is Joshua G I have been hydrating myself very much so Today and staying on top of it and Yes, another more important thing than the auto time life. It's Halloween. Are you guys doing anything for Halloween? Because I am I it's it's pretty much like my favorite holiday So I'm very excited to I think I'm gonna dress up as a vampire and go into a friend's house party This weekend. It's gonna be really cool That's one that's what I'm doing for Halloween your hair looks fantastic today. Thank you very much. I appreciate that Brie How are you doing Austin? Nice to see you dude How did your Livestring go since I remember you said that you went live on Twitch. It's really cool Illy we cut else says what is your educational career background and was it difficult For you to open up about your diagnosis in the work environment there's a good there's a good question My educational background is in biomedical sciences I went to the University of Manchester and I Think you know, I've always had kind of quite a keen interest in psychology and philosophy and so I did a lot of different kind of Reading into different areas of science Obviously learned a lot about autism both from like the medical perspectives Even from like the biomedical perspective as well. I did my What's it My final year project as a documentary and with that I got to like delve into the Biological links between autism and mental health, which at the time there wasn't very much at all perhaps a little bit to do with epilepsy and generalized anxiety some like mechanisms but other than that like Not really much At that time so that was my educational I did I worked as a special needs TA for a year, which was really lovely I really love the kids and it was a really good experience for me to kind of see like What the school system is like so got to go to that kind of like different places You know see different skills schools see how they did it some of the mainstream schools some of those special needs schools and For past two years and a half. I've been working First full-time and then part-time Social kind of like a Inclusion charity, I would say national development team for inclusion really good charity As far as like talking about my autism diagnosis It's a good question. The thing is is that in my CV A lot of what is in my CV and what kind of I think Would be would be like good for employers talks about autism, you know I talk about like Podcasts that I do and the work that I do online and the writing and you know all of the skills that I've got got from that So it's it's kind of a bit difficult for them for me to like not tell them that I'm autistic I've never had a job where I've gone gone for it and they've turned me down before You know special needs teaching, you know, they they saw the utility of You know having an autistic autistic adult to give give my perspective in it In teaching and then obviously within the inclusion charity They're very much like put the voices of Disabled and different people at the forefront. So it's kind of like Kind of like a good fit for me So it just just happens that I I you know to be honest if I went into any other role like Like I tried to get into like the BBC apprenticeship before the before like The virus hit and all that I got to the final stage, but It got it got. Yeah, it got cancelled because of the virus And I mentioned autism in there and that was kind of seen as a positive, I guess, but I Think the the common thread through all of the industries that I've tried to get into is that they have like a pretty good focus on like diversity And so it hasn't really been an issue for me Gene Milne says hi Thomas. Hope you're good. Enjoy your weekends. You had 20 views in total That is awesome, man. I Should title them oversized autistic man screams or hurricanes And you remember for seven months, thank you so much Austin, that is so cool, man I'm much appreciate that dudes Thanks for answering the question and for your work raising awareness and autism. No worries at all. It's a great question Do you watch horror movies? Of course They're like the only types of films that I really go and see it like the cinema. I love horror movies Yet to find yet to find like it's very hard for me to find a horror movie that scares me I think I've I've had one which have like has like noticeably Giving me a bit of an adrenaline rush, but other than that, it's quite hard to find them You're working for Halloween. Oh dear. I Don't even know it's Halloween on the weekend. It could be another time maybe I Be interested in knowing more about the biology of autism and how it impacts mental health. I think I've Overdeveloped to make amygdala's as a part of it Yeah, there is some research into like In terms of the brain like the connections in like the Brains brain areas that are related to social cognition tend to be a little bit underdeveloped Whereas other parts of the brain You know tend to be overdeveloped you can imagine like the sensory parts perhaps and the You know, obviously the amygdala, I guess I mean to do the amygdala is like the emotional center of the brain basically It's what kind of gives gives you kind of like your fight and flight kind of reactions to stuff and your feelings and all of that kind of stuff But yeah, I'm mental health wise I think we're a lot more wired to experience the world a lot more intensely which I think Can obviously contribute to anxiety a little bit more kind of sensitive Also, I think when it comes I Don't know when it when it comes to like You know because obviously with a lexifier and stuff I suppose that's not like the actual like biology of it though. That's more the psychological element But the epilepsy and the anxiety tended to be like something that they could somewhat prove like biologically Obviously like I haven't looked into As much of the biomedical literature at the moment, so I'm not too sure if there's been any other like developments with that But a lot of the studies they're very like correlative because it's it's pretty Because we don't we don't particularly know like All of the reasons why like all of the genetic and environmental reasons why it's quite hard to Like pinpoint exactly what's happening. I guess Gene says I'll make a payment later today. I've learned more from you than professionals. Thank you. I'm so glad I really appreciate that gene Thank you Good luck and melons us. Hope you good advice for new activities that are autism-friendly If it's outside of special interest New activities all just unfriendly I'd say that anything that you can do in isolation is probably a good bet. You know a bit crafty stuff That stuff is a bit more indoor would be a safe bet Obviously like being who I am I Always encourage everybody to get into some form of like physical activity Doesn't necessarily have to be like a team sport or anything. I'd probably hit like Teeter on the side of going for something that's a bit more individual Yeah, I mean it's it's very dependent isn't it because it's it's like You know, I you can't really choose what you're interested in you can only like Have a look at different things see which catches your eye try some things out see what sticks For me that was Jim martial arts a bit of gaming here and there Halloween's also your favorite holiday, but social life is dead Yeah lifting Although I'm biased, yeah The gym can be great as long as you find a good gym and you Try and figure out When people are less likely to be there You're always gonna have the we're depending on the gym that you go to you probably gonna have like the sensory element So it might be good to try and find somewhere that is a Little bit less bright a little bit less echoey and noisy You could try and find something like that Thank you Iqra for buying a badge for supporting the stream much appreciated. How are you doing Iqra? How is your leg? My leg is actually doing really well I've been Pivoting my my lifting to strength stuff at the moment. So I've been Yeah, I've been I've been doing some strength work. I did did some poor squats Earlier in the week Got about 120 kilos did about three reps of them So it's doing good. It's doing good We've also been doing some deadlifts go up to about 210 kilos for five reps, which I'm quite happy with Juichi says is there a way to reduce my stress by eye contact? I think The thing is with that with that is that, you know, obviously like that there is a presumption that you would want to make more eye contact and You know something something that I'm very vocal about is that You know you I don't I don't really want to like encourage people to mask like their autistic traits The anxiety that you feel from eye contacts just pet personally from my experiences over time If you can find some ways to like lower your overall anxiety You can find some ways to lower your overall like exposure to sensory things than perhaps It might be a little bit more tolerant You can also practice it if you really want to but I would really advise against that At least just try to keep it to a minimum It's a difficult one isn't it but that's just that's just how I would I would approach that Yeah, there's not really much that you can like you can do to convince yourself that eye contact is fun Yeah, I switched to a far less over stimulating gin today, but all same equipment and overcrowded. That's really good. It's really good Same cerebral horror movies are more prone to stick with me, but not much scares me. What's your favorite genre of horror? Yeah, it's a lot that the cerebral stuff kind of like the psychological things are a lot more like a Lot more a lot more like my thing. I'm not really into like the gory stuff. Like it just doesn't really do much It's kind of just a bit just makes my stomach turn a little bit. It doesn't it's not like scary The psychological element, you know, if they do it they have to do it really right, though Building up like tension and like all of those movie techniques and stuff like that. That's that is like Jeff's kiss Amaran says Any advice on how to manage autistic burnout when it's still mild to moderate. I don't want to get worse I'm cutting hours at school, but it's not enough um It It's obviously it's very dependent on on the situations that you that you can That you have I'm I'm gonna Try and pull up the presentation that I made I won't be able to show you it but I can read from it because I did I did like a full kind of comprehensive video over on youtube Which is all about autistic burnout And it covers like four of like the key main stages in my head of like How burnout occurs for me? um Let me see if I can find it for you. Yeah, it's called the autistic burnout roller coaster and um You have like four different stages. You have um capability, which is where you work life balances is good and um, you're kind of in in a state of normality You have your capacity stage when you take on too much or um Life is just getting a little bit too overwhelming for you to cope on a daily basis and obviously like Going into burnout. Um, I'd always try and scale back on as much as possible um You want to take a lot more precautions around sensory and social environments I wouldn't cut like isolate yourself and cut out um, everything But if you do go, you know, make sure that you are with somebody That that that you feel comfortable with um Make sure that like You are like keeping your sense Sorry about that You are keeping your sensory supports on point like, um Yeah earbuds if you're going into like noisy spaces or just taking all of those like extra precautions and also, um Try you know, it is really you really do just have to to rest during this time if you are like In in like the the deep ends when it comes to burnout um You can you can ask for support and perhaps go to a gp and see what see what they can do for you um and and try and like Adopt something Adopt like a new routine which is focused around kind of more of a relaxing Regiment or routine, I guess um, so like easy hobbies Like games walking crocheting music All of those things can can be really helpful once once she's like You have to kind of you have to kind of monitor like where your your mental status you need to like It's it's difficult because it obviously is dependent on the person um For me my burnout symptoms Are no desire or like focus On anything like I couldn't even focus on like watching a tv program when I was in the midst of burnout Uh your executive function goes down so you struggle with organization time management focus a lot more than usual um It could it can sometimes some sometimes come across as Like having us like more of a severe period if you if you have depression or mental illness or it could just Kind of if you don't have mental illness it could come across as Perhaps like having like situational depression It's very similar in in in that sense. It's hard to like separate the two apart Um, you may find that you you're a lot more socially withdrawn Or at least you just don't really share as much of other people Or or kind of want to connect with people as much Uh your appetite might change You might find that you're having a lot more panic attacks meltdown shutdowns If if that kind of describes your experience at the moment, um I'd highly recommend trying to take off as much as much rest as you can because um If you don't and you kind of teetering on it and you kind of back and forth Saying like hey I'm gonna cut down. I'm still gonna do this and this and this um If if your symptoms aren't improving you're not feeling as good It's it's probably a good idea to try and scale things back a bit more If you get to the point where um, you're starting to feel a little bit a little bit more level then I would try your best to adopt like a reasonable routine In terms of what you're capable of Like taking on at that time So this doesn't necessarily have to be things that are work related Um or productivity related or school related Um, but having being able to to craft a routine is really important for you to feel um, comfortable and like Certain with what the day is going to to bring. Um, it definitely helps me a lot And whenever you do try to add stuff in um after the fact Take it slowly and don't just add everything in like straight away, you know, you want to make those changes very very slow Go easy on yourself if you like don't manage to do something Don't just like write everything off. Just be like, okay today he's gone gone to pot. You know, it's it's not good today Uh, can't really do this Make it a wrap try again the next day, you know, and feel okay with that because that's that's fine Uh and take breaks as well You want to put as many as the the adjustments in place that you can If you are going to do something that's more productive So perhaps in school you want to make sure that like I don't know like um the university Professors or people people know that you're not particularly in a good place and you might need some breaks Or you might need to weigh your sensory supports and just being like, okay, this is This is good. Um And also Try trying a little bit more Once you're in that kind of recovery phase to to reach out to to more of your close closer ones Consider meeting them up meeting up with them a little bit more and um, obviously like a big one which you don't necessarily have to do when you are Recovering and trying to reach that kind of stage of capability um You you can identify like what they're like the circumstances and causes to to this Sort of particular situation that I'm in like what's actually like is it the sensory stuff? Is it stuff to do with school stuff to do with work or Friendships or relationships or general mental health or Other other kind of factors perhaps like events Within within the media within the world that are happening that that kind of impact you emotionally You want to consider all of that and make make note of it? um and You know, hopefully like over time Uh building that routine up um as you're feeling more and more capable you will get to a point where you can like properly be like, okay I'm I'm I'm Sort of backed normality. I can I can try and like do my my regular schedule and routine But it's not it's not a fun place to be and if you are pretty conscientious and you wanting to like get good grades and stuff um I can understand like Why that that might be a difficult thing and also if you're not allowed to that's that's obviously going to be an issue um But if worse comes to worse go and go and see your doctor go and see gp I'm sure if you if you explain your situation Um, even even if even if they don't understand autism you could explain slight as mental health general mental health Um, you could you could get some time off, you know But it's very dependent on your circumstance. I don't really know what the particular circumstance. I don't know how long it's been for you. So That's that's how I would approach it in a very long-winded way Um, but it's a very good question. So 100% like really important Thank you for that. I I appreciate that question Angel says hello everybody. Hello woodshed as well um Lechon Says do you have any tools or tips for medium-distance communication with someone? We live in different cities, but we see each other a lot on the weekends um With with possible ASD Are you are you talking as taxing for them? Um Perhaps perhaps like organize Um, like a schedule for calling with each other That could be something that you can try 100% like Definitely Crushing is the best. Yeah We're allowed to know why and when you decided to do awesome content Uh, I decided in my second year of university that I wanted to Well, I was involved with it for a long time, but it was never like my main Kind of focus of what I wanted to do with my life. Like I wanted to be a scientist um But I I found myself very kind of lonely and isolated at university And I wanted to share my experiences in the hopes that like I don't know. I just wanted to like tell people about my life And then it eventually got to a point where I started to learn a lot and started to like Improve in a lot of areas and want to share like How I have made improvements in my life with other people And sort of the ways that I view things and the information that I've that I've come across That's kind of the short answer I have answered it before I think in it a while ago, but Um, yeah, that's that's a short answer. It's it's very very very important to me to try and like Make sure that less people go through The difficult times that I went through in life Um Austin says going to be busy would work signing off. Have a good day. So thank you very much, Austin Thank you for the seven months. Um membership. It really does help out a lot, dude. Hope you have a good uh, good working day Too much masking at school too much stress at home and health issues Quite a rough month someone with pda. Oh, I can imagine Tasty hot salsa says I have been doing a lot of research on autism I know I also think I have it too. However, I I don't think I've ever had burnouts. So is it normal? um I don't I don't particularly like You don't you don't have to have burnouts um I think it's it's very dependent on the person about like how intense it can be And how long it can be it tends to be a lot longer and more intense for for autistic people Just from from what I've seen Um who I've talked to and you know my own experiences, of course um, it's not necessarily like uh Okay, you have to have burnouts to be autistic, you know You could have quite a like a well sort of designed environment and have quite a good grasp on What you can handle and and have the kind of the skills in self-advocacy to Put things in place when things are too much So it's not it's not like a write-off kind of thing. I would say I have friends and family and friends who don't care when I get burnt out. I'm sorry to hear that That really sucks Pretty much everything you said is applicable to my situation. Also Diagnosed with bipolar. So I already went to my psychiatrist to get advice and treatments To start down to class and still I'm doing better. Well, I would I would just keep keep up with it then, you know, it's It may take it'll take a variable amount of time. Um, but once once you kind of feel Like you're a bit more kind of you have a bit more clarity You're a lot more clear-headed Um with things I would just try and like ease yourself back into Doing some more kind of chill stuff, you know Uh crafting a routine that's not not like Work or school related. Um, and then eventually you can kind of substitute those things out Um Yeah Hello, Pedro. How are you doing? Mike says I like your talk. I'm having a hard time to be in crowds. I I understand that Michael 100% All right, I've got a fly around me brilliant Fly is one of my least favorite bugs They're not like they don't cause me any pain but Like the noise It's on it's on my green screen now Like the noise and like it just landing on me. It's just uh It's not very conducive to my autistic traits my sensory profile It's one of the reasons why I don't go for like picnics and stuff You've got some support at schools. They don't know that you're autistic And your classmates aren't so great, but I managed eventually well, um I I do understand that I'm sorry that that's that's the the situation for you, but I'm sure like if you get in touch with other kind of autistic people In a community read read a bit more about people's experience. You might feel a little bit a little bit less alone in that um, you know, it's So it's hard especially when people don't understand 100% You're a cool person. Thank you Brazilian fan here Thank you Tamara. It's nice to see you Stephen says how can I better manage over stimulation from exercising? I can't practice my sport enough to stay fit And it's the biggest thing holding you back, but exercising can be absolutely nightmare at times What type of exercising are you doing? I'd like to know You're a big help. Thanks They appreciate that dude Yeah, so um Very like um coherent with my words today Or like just recently, I think it's I think it's because I'm kind of like taking a bit more of a You know and doing doing like the videos on youtube and stuff and doing a bit more kind of right research and stuff Like I wanted to So it's been it's been really cool um There was there was something that actually like Quite surprised me. I think someone else within the community on youtube Made a video about this, but there was this um kind of I think german doctor or like psychologist or something like that called sabine hossen Felde who made like a pretty I mean at the time what she it didn't really feel As intense but kind of kind of thinking about You know what what she said kind of and considering she has like over a million YouTube subscribers it was quite concerning actually like the type of Information and what she was putting out um Onto the internet, um, I'm not really going to go into it too much I will you can go and watch like the the live stream replay on my youtube channel If you want to see it sooner, but I will be releasing like a clip of it Um, but yeah, so it wasn't wasn't very good. She um Labeled the autistic community as extremists I yeah Because we don't like eugenics basically craziness I think that was what it was don't don't quote me on that, but I'd go I'd go watch and watch the video if you haven't already You're a big help. Where are you from? I am from the uk In the north of the uk, which is why I don't have too much like a london accent Yorkshireman, that's what I am Yeah extremists, I know like craziness Amaranth says thank you so much Being here and listening to your advice has been really helpful and heartwarming. I'm really glad that I've I've managed to Be of some help can be very isolating sometimes being autistic when People around you don't really understand it Especially when it comes to like unmasking Like that that is a big one that like Yeah, I'm gonna watch the video after this stream. Yeah, it's it's it's not the best not gonna lie Angela um It's quite concerning to be honest It's um, I think I think the reason why she labeled us extremists is because Uh, the autistic community didn't want um The I think that like the the the message ms s ng project or something where they were trying to gather up a database of like autism genes um Like they said that people who were fighting against that was where like an extremist group Fly still like Buzzing around Hello figgy. How are you doing, dude? I think well, what what are your pronouns figgy just so that I know Personally in school. I struggled with communicating a lot and my parents didn't think too much Thoughts um that it was They didn't think of it much thought that it was an issue they thought it was they just thought I was shy Yeah, I think um I think I did autistic women tend to have like tend to mask a lot more their social behavior Sorry, I am I am getting somewhat distracted because this this fly is like causing me anxiety because it you know like it It says me right for having my window open But I didn't think that flies could could handle like this this cold temperature Can you reveal any information on your film projects? I can it's actually going live on youtube. Uh, I think I think it might have gone on live already. It might be in like a premiere or something I didn't time it very well With the fact that I do these live streams But it should be up there You can also go to the NDTI youtube channel where it is there as well. Um, it's also on my my place as well Kill the fly I don't I don't like killing things really If it was something that could harm me then I will but Now the the bugs Uh passaggio Ali velo says good evening. Welcome to the stream Which says my parents thought that I was on The droogs in high school nope just high on the tizm Oh my god Yeah, my parents I always picked up quite Like my parents probably should have picked picked it up on like sooner Because I definitely did have a lot of autistic traits that were very apparent when I was younger Um But now I was I was diagnosed when I was 10 angela says I'm not autistic but I struggled My whole life with feeling that I was weird And people most of the time didn't understand me Well, I guess you can somewhat relate to the autistic experience then Can be an honorary autistic angela Put the fly in a box and pet it Um I mean that that would require a lot of craftiness. I don't even know where he's gone though He's probably shouldn't like to stab him if he's I think I think he's a he him maybe Another one as well. God damn it Denver yo yo says was diagnosed with ADHD last year. I'm 52 years old just found you What are your feeling on? ADHD can also mean mild autism Um You mean I mean like ASD ASD one I imagine Um, there is like quite a bit of crossover between autism and ADHD Um in terms of the traits You know, some some people have theories about like ADHD being Basically just like a different form of of autism, but Like the presentations in like traits and behaviors tend to differ quite a bit um If you are diagnosed autistic, there is a very high likelihood that you're also ADHD I think more more than likely Um, and if you're ADHD there is to a lesser degree Um, let less that less than half of a chance that you might be autistic as well Um, so there there is a little bit of crossover with them. Oh, there's a lot of bug hating in here What you guys got against bugs? I do like bugs. I just don't like Flying insects that land on my my body Especially my face I'm so like Sensitive to Light pressure and touch that when I was in Thailand I could feel like when mosquitoes landed on me They were very irritating I'm convinced my father a baby boomer has um high functioning autism. Are you autistic wisdom? If you are autistic wisdom, there is a chance that there is a pretty good chance that um You know, um Either your father or your mother Is autistic See our cast says hi thomas. Hello You love books too. Um Guys, I appreciate the the back and the but like The that you wanted chat to each other, but could we not like make this on On the on the stream I just I don't really want to like um I don't really want to like bring this into The stream about autism, you know Hence why I'm not I'm not really responding to stuff about like Yes, I did I did turn off the comments on pedras video Oh, no, I was not talking about you denver. Don't worry about it um I just I don't I don't really want to like I don't I don't want to have like Drama or anything that's not to do with like autism is supposed to be kind of like a place to to talk about Autism mental health, you know things like that Not about particular games consoles and things like that Just the overstimulation insects cause the problem for me I have a light touch problems too You have to grab me Okay, uh wisdom Well, what did you why do you say I'm sorry? I'm I'm just I'm talking about the the youtube chat Yeah, I have it open on youtube and instagram CL says I'm in love with my very good autistic friend, but he's never been in a relationship It's very difficult to know what to do Have you asked them if they are have you told them that you're romantically interested in them? I'd say that's a good like first um First thing Oh, no, don't don't worry about it guys. I just like I'm not I just don't really want to talk about it here. That's the that's the anything um That's it But no no bad feelings. I'm not gonna like I know block you or anything to do Oh my god, it's hard to type instagram comments Okay, so we have about, um Um, 10 or 11 minutes if you guys got any any questions that you want to ask, um About autism fitness mental health personal things Please go for it And uh, yeah after this stream make sure to go go over to youtube and and check out the film See what you think the one that I co-produced the one that I was talking about I really enjoyed making it and I know a lot of the The um the people who are being interviewed as well Does some good work with them Really nice people Go like a melon says what would be a good way to show support for our friends without Needing to ask them specifically um I think it's a very personal thing. I would say You know, uh, I would always It depends what what I guess there's a lot of like personal factors in You know what um, what could be involved in that I suppose um I'd say always always asking in the instant and perhaps like making a mental note of it Uh, you could also You know, um The the the thing is what when it comes to like supporting people I think if you if you were to kind of more Transiently help if there's struggle with social communication and perhaps Advocating for their needs or something like that and you're also sort of a part of that conversation You could you could help them Sort of um Advocate for themselves and and things like that a lot more Uh, but I would the the thing is is that I I don't want to say You know help help them with the executive function give them reminders and things like that because you know Uh, there is a very big difference between being like a carer or a supporter and a friend and um You know particularly for me I've I've had um Some some relationships in the past not necessarily like romantic ones, but like friendships and things like that uh, where the person kind of Just decided that that they wanted to to help me with things that I didn't want to help with um And that wasn't very good And they didn't really listen to me when I said that I didn't want want to help and You know, I wanted to kind of tackle things myself. So I would always try to ask I would say 100% What's your favorite music? Uh I don't think he'd like it I like dark trap, which is a very aggressive kind of rap music Don't look it up Uh, I also like metal. I like all types of music really it depends what what sounds good Like a bit of lo-fi a little bit classical You know Denver do you want to ask um your question again? I feel like I I missed like Missed one of your questions that I'd kind of like to To answer it if I'm right. What did you say? I feel I think I answered it about the like adhd autism cross either Any thoughts on um a sentence about the link between anxiety issues and autism? I think we talked about anxiety and autism um a little bit Further up could you could you send it again, please pedra? What is the film film called? I missed that part of the stream. It is Our world of work That is the name of the film. I agree I have told him Uh, being very clear about my feelings. He definitely flirts with me a lot And we have great chemistry when I bring up feelings. He gets uncomfortable um I mean if if you've been direct and you've like said You know you've you've shared your feelings and you you guys Flirt it kind of feels like he's leading you on a little bit if he's not If he's not giving you like a definite like I don't like you or I do like you well, you know um You shouldn't invite him invite him to go on a date and call it a date and say do you want to go for like? Do something together and Say if it goes somewhere uh, if they're not ready for it then they're not ready for it and if You know, they may not not be sure and you might just want to take a little bit of a a back seat um You know, uh, it's very dependent on on the situation. I would say Is it common for autistic people to be queer? I think we also had a question from sweet sweet and tender hooligan as well about um sexuality Uh, I did have a question about sexuality. I'm also bound with the lgbt q plus community. So it makes me Makes it a little bit different than standard boy-girl experience and he's suggesting to create autists um I would I would answer to you uh tasty hot salsa. There is actually like a pretty Pretty good correlation between autism and lgbt Um, there's some you can you can google like this. This takes it's pretty pretty high kind of crossover um I don't really have any suggestions Uh, I I would like to have some suggestions, but I feel You know as with talking about ADHD Um, that it would probably be better to come from Somebody who is a queer autistic person rather than myself I would like to answer it, but I I feel like It my voice would be But like a a drop in the ocean like compared to what you could get from from somebody else who who does have experience with um You know not not boy-girl relationships I hope that's helpful. I'm sorry about that He's never given me a clear answer on his feelings for for me. That's well, that's not good um You know if if they're not giving you a clear answer on stuff then You can either Kind of keep suing it. There is a chance that they'll they'll just kind of keep you well arms length. I suppose Um, or you can sort of back off a little bit. I suppose Maybe maybe consider it consider dating somebody else Um, it's not not the best the nicest advice to give but you know if It doesn't matter if they're they're autistic or not if I'm pretty sure that from what you've told me that they understand that you're interested and they and if they flirt with you then they probably are like They're aware of it and so they're choosing to kind of keep their feelings private Or just not pursue it and just kind of lead you on a little bit. There's a possibility Uh, but I don't I don't know your individual situation. Hello fellow autistic persons. Hello, john johan Um The best people in my life are autistic and I'm so happy to have them as friends I learn a lot from them and can have very deep talks with them Yeah, that's that's always a good thing about having autistic friends very much like Into it not at all just watching listening awesome Um, of course, um apologies for not being specific. Don't worry about it I love your music videos and watching you work out. Thank you very much Wisdom says I was diagnosed with ADD non-hyper But I have yet to ever get officially tested for autism Would you would you say that you? identify a lot with like sort of the diagnosis criteria and like Uh, the experiences of autistic people and the traits and stuff um, I I think there is there is like a Genetic kind of I think if you you do have a parent of adhd more likely to to be adhd I don't know all max. I haven't you know, I tend to focus a lot on the autism side of things, but There there is a possibility. Yeah I'm learning that anxiety has a strong link towards them. They both feed into each other. They totally do both both biologically and psychologically And also just part and part of being different in our society and going through The negative experiences that we do go through. Um, definitely like 100% contributes to towards developing anxiety disorders Fugi says I've been speaking to a guy He seems to be really into me. It feels strange that somebody would like me like that Yeah It's um, you know, it's I I relate to that as well. I find it kind of It's it's difficult, isn't it? I think when when you kind of Grow up autistic you you're kind of used to being locked out weird or You know, not really fitting in and so when someone does kind of take an interest in you It's it feels a bit like Really? But I you know, I I try I try your best to to to feel good about that, you know um I'm sure I'm sure they You know, you you're definitely a likeable person Thank you for your videos. Thomas the helpful. No worries at all Uh, he might not know his feelings. Well, a lot of autistic people find it hard to recognize their feelings Yeah, that that's like the elixir find me a component I think I think the thing is with that is that I'm assuming that it's been quite a while And um You know, the elixir find me it tends to be a lot more of like uh in the moment thing It can be over time as well. Like I definitely Struggled to characterize them just because they didn't really understand understand like What back then like I didn't really understand what flirting was versus talking to people And so when I was a lot younger when I was a teenager um people Would flirt with me and I would just think I was talking to them and I had a girlfriend at the time so you can imagine like I didn't think anything was wrong. I thought like hey, I've got a good friend and they're interested in them make jokes with me and stuff like that, but um, I I didn't I didn't understand Um back then so there is possibly that but As as you said like you have been very direct with them and told them how you feel so You know, it's funny because we actually do hang out a lot. Yeah, maybe he's just not ready for it Why I I think it's you should put the focus less on um Less on him like I think it's good to try and understand uh why and you know, perhaps like understand about like autism and The ways that it can be different for us. Um, but You've also got to think about yourself as well like uh, it's not it's not your job to like um Pull all of the weight, you know and and really kind of chase and push for something but The other person is not being very reciprocal of That's all I would say and it doesn't really matter about autism or not You know, it's you got to you got to think about yourself as well Don't fall in love Simon Gad says would you ever do a collab with other autistic youtubers? Uh, I have done a lot actually on my podcast Uh, you can you can find my podcast on my youtube channel. Um, I've interviewed the aspie world purple purple um I've interviewed like some celebrities as well as well as over youtuber Aspie world or autism from the inside Um, so I I kind of have done collaborations with them. I also did um, you know Uh rest in peace um with with indy andy Back in the day we did a collaboration together I think the thing that I find the most difficult about collaborating with people is the organization element of it I find that pretty difficult Do a collab with mince salad Don't know who that is Jeffrey says I had the increasing vagal turn vagal tone can help with anxiety Yeah, I've I've had a look into like the poly poly vagal theory and all of that kind of stuff. It's um You know, I I think that there are a lot of ways that you can You can you can manage anxiety Um, I'd say that like if you are undiagnosed one what one kind of a thing that would probably help all autistic people is to Uh monitor your sensory environment Um at home make sure that there's nothing That's setting you off make sure that you have like dimm is on the light and stuff like that and perhaps get some shades perhaps, um Get some noise cancelling headphones some earbuds perhaps when you're going out Um try and reduce the sensory input that that kind of sets you off and it might take a little bit of time to figure out what exactly um does Contribute to you to you feeling more anxious I think it's it's not underrated to look into a bit more about like masking and the process of unmasking as well Because masking long term can kind of have really big impacts on one's mental health Including anxiety it can lead you to actually to feeling quite paranoid Um about yourself and others and how people kind of interpret who you are Mint salad. She's one of my favorite neurodivergent youtubers. I'll have to check them out I'll add them to my list Mint salad It's just come up just type it in google. It's just come up with like literally a mint salad It's just coming up with cucumber mint salad mint salad dressing recipe Make a gut-friendly recipe banana mint salad Um, I'll have to check out check a bit later. I can't seem to find it at the moment No worries denver it's nice having you on and thank you for the question Not a question, but I'm so thankful for your streams really looking forward Really looking forward to them Thank you for being you. Thank you very much for that It's fine. Don't worry about it. I'm homosexual and demisexual. I think I might have ADHD and autism You don't have any autistic friends you should find some I love your neurodivergent conversation conversations you were in. You are all so great. Thank you While she's on youtube, I will I will find find them. I will I will It's fully funny how I'm so into this live. I usually hate lives Well, I'm very glad that you've that you enjoy this one Have you ever seen the korean netflix series extraordinary attorney young woo? I'd be interested in your opinion. It's an auto-main character. I have actually watched I think I watched one episode of it I couldn't really get into it Um, I might I might give it a go at some point, but I do I do know of that. I know what you're talking about um What what are your opinions? I'd like to know to know what you think of it Like do what what is it about? Do you feel like it's a good autism representation anyone who's watched it? Be interested in that to know what you guys think I have a planetary projector that really relaxes me Um, when my anxiety is high same It's really really good It's one of the things that I'll ask people around me to put on if I'm having like a meltdown or something It does help that and like a fan another thing of anxiety Also, if you have been late diagnosed or diagnosed for a long period of your life Uh, consider looking into different methods of stimming and like actively try and incorporate them into your day-to-day Um, because you'll you'll find that you do have mechanisms there to help you cope with anxiety and stimming can be really really important I'd I'd like to say as well that like I I haven't really Stimmed like it's I've I'm kind of at the moment going through a active process in trying to Stim more um because It's not something that was suppressed by my family um or school necessarily but it was um It was kind of like a I think a thing that I did to myself because of the environment like I I found that when I was stimming I tended to Um stand out a lot more and I didn't like that when I was like a teenager So I pretty much cut out all of my stimming And so now in adulthood I'm trying to Incorporate more of the stuff that that helps me relax um, so you might you might see now and again that I might be a bit more kind of Swingy in my chair Obviously the gym Jim's a massive like Stim stim for me. It's all experience Really really really helps with my anxiety Minced salad channel is called a s e presents. Okay mint salad Oh, they've got an instagram Oh Is that is that the person who is mint salad? Did they do waters and things? Seems like they do they do movie Movie related things Interesting start showing myself more or less masking Yeah, that's the way you want to be Um Personally I watched that show Uh when I didn't know that I might have autism interesting so if Say I didn't know much about autism I'd say I didn't know much much much about autism at that time Have you seen ellie middleton has just released her own book? I have not Oh from uh, we are unmasked Oh cool very nice I'll have to see i'm after contacts lec if She fancies coming on the podcast Oh, I think I have I already sent her like two messages I'll bump it See if I can see if I can get them on the podcast that would be cool talk about the book How's your week days last week being thomas? Um It's kind of kind of being um Up and down I would say but overall it seems like things are starting to Chill out a little bit more My favorite autistic youtuber is i'm autistic now. What? Yeah, I I reviewed I'm autistic now. What's video about autistic monotropism Recently so there will be a clip coming out and you can you can see the live stream where I react to it as well 100 percent Uh foggy says I tried to suppress rocking as I got picked on about it But lately I have been allowing myself to and it helps that is really good to him Has the fly stopped hassling you? Yeah, it's it's gone She's also autistic Interesting Uh sense says hey, man. I suspect I'm autistic plus ADHD Would you say that with your autism? Does it cause you to look at the ground when you're out and about to avoid sending your eyes and head funny? And to know your position 100 percent that's um something to do with vestibular hyposensitivity Um Could could also just be like I think that that's the reason I think it's here again now that you mentioned it peddler. It's come back To attack me Yeah, I understand what you mean. You should look at um My post on instagram about worm walking I think you'll find very find it very relatable And take it one day at a time 100 percent And yo samdi sam I have also interviewed yo samdi sam I think we talked about demisexuality, which was cool Love your hair thomas. Thank you very much. So you just say I hope you are all well How is dotty? Dotty's good dotty's um Uh with my brother and his his fiance at the moment, so Don't don't have her around but um, yeah What if the bug is not a fairy? I loved your recent video on autistic employment. I'm really glad to see you Guys, I'm I'm really really enjoying this um live stream I have realized that I have been chatting for about 15 minutes more than I usually do Um, so I'm probably gonna have to sign off for a little bit to work on this presentation um But uh, if you if you are interested if you're on Yeah, yeah, we did we did talk about demisexuality If you are interested in checking out some of my videos, I do have A full hour presentation or autistic burnout on youtube I do have about 72 episodes of my podcast on pretty much all podcasting streaming services And on youtube Did a video about self diagnosis obviously had the new film come out did the one on masking So there's a lot of stuff to go check out if you want to and also I do Do regular posts and videos over on instagram if you're on youtube you want to Read about some of the topics that I talk about on instagram I do post like full full length blogs about two times a week and some other stuff the other times I do post some strange training stuff. I don't post many tips and stuff because I'm not a bt but I may do it in the future if it if it seems to be You know something that people want And uh, make sure to like the stream if you haven't already because that would be really great It's been really great like um chatting with you guys And um, if you want to support my work Uh, you can become a member for as little as 99p Or I think about 99 cents a month A month Really helps me Helps me out in my self employment journey gets me to Encourages me to make more videos do more lives and things like that. So If you if you are Enjoying the stuff and you're finding some my stuff useful. I would really appreciate that Um, but yeah Anyway, I'm gonna say goodbye to you guys on insta. I will see you guys later And uh, you too. Thank you so much Uh, I will I'm gonna check my live Like actually on my live stream because sometimes It's a little bit behind So as soon as I'm As soon as my hands going up, I'm gonna I'm gonna end it