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June 25, 2024 35 mins

Congratulations, you’ve been accepted into the inaugural class of Therapy for Black Girls University. Whether packing for a new year on campus, thinking through your gap year, enrolling in a community college, or grabbing your stoles for graduation, TBG U is here to help you thrive at this stage of your life and beyond.

College, an experience already notorious for its difficulty, can be a lot harder to navigate if you’re also dealing with a medical disorder or learning disability. These experiences are covered under the term neurodivergent, and today we’re shining light on what it looks like to pursue an education as a neurodivergent person.

Joining us today to talk about their experience as a neurodivergent college student is Chicago-based creative, Kai Foster. Kai has humorously documented the ups and downs of young adulthood via sit-down chats, vlogs, and poetry since 2017. Beyond the camera, Kai attends film school and pursues independent documentary projects. 

During our conversation, we discuss what it means to be neurodivergent, the importance of on-campus accommodations, and how to advocate for your needs when a professor is reluctant to understand them.

Where to Find Kai

YouTube

TikTok

Instagram

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HOMEWORK

  • Find out if either your school or town has a local food pantry that you can utilize, remembering that it’s okay to accept and receive help.
  • Talk with your school’s accessibility office or your academic advisor to discover what accommodations are right for you.
  • Schedule time with each of your professors at the beginning of next semester to discuss your learning needs.

 

Make sure to follow us on social media:

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Interested in being a part of a future TBG U episode or suggesting a topic for us to discuss, send us a note HERE

Order a copy of Sisterhood Heals for you and your girls HERE

 

Our Production Team

Executive Producers: Dennison Bradford & Maya Cole Howard

Producer: Ellice Ellis

Production Assistant: Zariah Taylor

TBG University Host & Coordinator: Jayna Ellis

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Congratulations, You've been accepted into the inaugural class of Therapy
for Black Girls University. Whether packing for a new year
on campus, thinking through your gap year and rolling in
a community college, or grabbing your souls for graduation, tbgu
is here to help you thrive at this stage of
your life and beyond.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hi. I'm sorrya Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
We'll return to Jana right after the break.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Why do friendship breakups sometimes hurt more than romantic ones?
How do I make friends in a new city? Is
it true that women can't actually be good friends to
one another? I'm exploring all of these questions and so
much more in my book, Sisterhood Heels, now available in
paperback at your local independent bookstore or at sisterhood Heels

(00:59):
dot com. Grab a copy for you and your girls,
and let's talk about it.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
College, an experience already notorious for its difficulty, can be
a lot harder to navigate if you're also dealing with
a medical disorder or a learning disability. These experiences are
covered under the term neurodivergent, and today we're shining light
on what it looks like to pursue an education as

(01:28):
a neurodivergent. Person joining me today to talk about their
experience as a neurodivergent college student is Chicago based creative
Kai Foster. Kai has humorously documented the ups and downs
of young adulthood via sit down chats, blogs, and poetry
since twenty seventeen. Beyond the Camera, Kai attends film school

(01:51):
and pursues independent documentary projects. In our conversation today, we
discuss what it means to be near divergent, the importance
of on campus accommodations, and how to advocate for your
needs when a professor is reluctant to understanding them. Here's
our conversation. Hi, Ki, how are you?

Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'm doing pretty good. How are you doing?

Speaker 1 (02:15):
I'm doing so well. I'm so excited to talk with
you today.

Speaker 4 (02:19):
Thank you guys for having me. Very excited to be here.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Of course, of course, so, I, like many of us,
have followed your journey from your high school content, being
a student at Howard University, and moving back to your
hometown in Chicago. I'm curious how has being so transparent
online for the large parts of your life impacted you.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
Well, it's definitely impacted me in positive and negative ways.
I think that just looking back on my journey, I'm
always grateful to have helped out other people, especially in
the realm of mental health. I feel like, especially within
black families, we don't talk about that stuff. My so
very grateful to have been able to share those parts

(03:03):
of myself to a wider audience. But I guess like
on the more negative side of things, I think that
now I'm prioritizing like living life for me a little
bit more. It doesn't sound like that crazy, but I
guess having broadcasted so many my milestones and moments, it

(03:24):
is nice kind of realing it back a little bit
and just focusing on what really appeals to me without
having to really, I guess consider so many opinions and
thoughts about what my next move is going to be,
or like how I should do something.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
And I can only imagine like being in your twenties
and navigating that as well as being online and like
showing your life is like completely vulnerable and like almost
too vulnerable at times.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
Yeah, I totally agree, because I was really doing it
heavily from like seventeen to twenty two, and that right there,
I feel like that's multiple lifetimes that are going on.
So yeah, definitely was a lot, definitely very vulnerable. And yeah,
as I've gotten older, I think that my perspective has
of course changed, and I just value a little bit

(04:15):
more privacy. But like I said, I'm not ashamed of it,
and I'm really grateful to have been able to do
something like that.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
I love it. So take us back to the moment
when you first found out you were autistic. What were
some of the first feelings you went through?

Speaker 4 (04:31):
Okay, so there's been a few moments. Honestly, I remember
somebody they either sent me a DM or they commented
on a video that they think that I might be autistic.
And I was living in Atlanta at the time. I
was honestly like a little bit caught off guard because
I think that my idea of it it just did
not match up to what like it actually is. And

(04:53):
the term autism, I feel like, even today, it still
has a negative connotation, and I think that I kind
of I've had that thought process at the time, and
so I just kind of let that comment go because
I'm like, oh, just another person trying to tell me
who they think that I am on the internet. And
then I did some more research into being like nerdivergent
because there's so much underneath that umbrella. And I think

(05:17):
the book that I was reading was called Divergent Mind.
In the autistic section, I like highlighted everything. Still didn't
think I was autisting because I was like, no, that
just that can't be the truth. And so that was
the second time that it was brought to my attention.
But the third time was I think back in the
summer of twenty twenty two, when everything clicked. It started

(05:39):
to pick up, and I guess like traction popularity on
TikTok as well, and just social media in general, and
just like learning more and coming to terms with the
fact that I was autistic. I would say it took
me like a couple of years or maybe like a
year and a half before I was able to finally
like sit with that and to grief. And I think
that that's what it was for like a majority of

(06:02):
that discovery process with a lot of grieving about what
my life could have been, like what kind of support
I could have had growing up, why certain relationships didn't
work out, why school was actually really hard for me
once I got to college, and so definitely like very sad,
but at the other end of it, I think that
I was just really grateful to finally have an explanation

(06:22):
as to why I operated a little bit more differently,
and I was able to let go of a lot
of shame that I had pent up over the years
because I wasn't able to do things at the same
pace or at the same rate as my peers.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
I think it's really interesting that you brought up the
comment that person left on your video because it literally
reinforces the fact of like how negative our community has
made being on the spectrum is like it's an insult
when it's that's an experience that people live through and
navigate every day, and that we've made that term an

(06:57):
insulting phrase. That's super interesting to me that that's like
where we've taken the word.

Speaker 4 (07:04):
I feel like the way the media portrays autistic people
is not great whatsoever. And yeah, I think, like I
said earlier, within black communities, like being any kind of
different is just bad. So I think that that's also
where that came from.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
For sure, For our listeners who are unfamiliar with the
experiences of someone with autism, can you give us a
rundown of your specific experience and some of the general
symptoms you know of.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
I would say that being autistic for me or for
a lot of people, is just like a heightened sensitivity
to your environment on an emotional and on a physical level.
While I was pretty good in school with my grades
and stuff, when it came into like basic tasks, which
is like feeding myself or having to do things that
take a lot of steps, there's literally so much underneath

(07:56):
the umbrella. I think one facet of it is being
a bottom up thinker versus being a top down thinker,
meaning that it takes you a little bit longer to
process things because you're having to take in all of
the details of something before jumping to conclusions, whereas a
lot of neurotypical people or realistic people are more so
top down thinkers. They can kind of gather a big idea,

(08:19):
a big picture of something, and then they can get
down to the details. And I think that autism and
ADHD they both count as learning disabilities, and so it's
not necessarily that you're always quote unquote not intelligent or
slower or this that, and the third. It's more so like, oh,
I just don't learn in the way that a lot

(08:41):
of like major institutions and schools teach, and so I
think a lot of it just comes down to different
ways of processing and just different ways of responding to
your environment. Stemming is a really big thing within the
autistic community, just like getting out all of that external
extra energy, because I think that I'm worned down more

(09:02):
quickly by my environment because my brain is trying to
I think my brain is just like easily distracted, I
would say, by my external environment, and so I think
that it takes me a lot longer to recover from
social scenarios or just exerting energy in general. I think
for me, it definitely affects me a lot more on

(09:22):
like a physical level, but it differs for everybody.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Honestly, thank you for breaking that down for us. I'm wondering,
like how have conditions such as ADHD, depression or OCD
impacted their daily experiences and routines.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
So, when it comes down to autism specifically, I would
say that like when I'm not able to receive accommodations
for that, that can become the depression or that can
worsen the OTD. So I feel like as long as
I'm able to work on what I need within that area,

(10:01):
then I'm able to like kind of flow a bit
more easily. But for me, I think that having autism
in ADHD is pretty much like needing routine but needing
flexibility and like having to find that fine line, which
can be like very difficult in and of itself. I
would say a calendar like really helps me just not

(10:24):
have meltdowns and things of that nature, because I think
that for me, things definitely need to be planned out
way ahead of time. I really do not respond well
to too many changes in my routine or just like
my day to day, I definitely feel like I can
only do like one or two big things a day,
like after that, I'm pretty much out for the count.

(10:46):
It definitely affects my social life, like I feel like
I am not as social as I would like to be.
But because cooking and going to school and working just
take so much out of me, I'm not really able
to put the energy into things such as that. I
feel like a lot of things such as even taking
care of myself and like hanging out with friends, they

(11:09):
feel a lot more like privileges than anything else, and
so I feel like I'm always trying to just do
the bare minimum. It feels like just to get by.
I think that a lot of the time, it just
feels like this constant state of surviving and like having
to adjust to my environment, especially like when I'm at school.

(11:32):
I have to keep things very simple so that I'm
not overwhelmed, because I'm very easily overwhelmed by a lot
of things.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
Thank you for walking me through that. So tell me,
what do you think the general public gets wrong in
their representation conception of neurodiversent people.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
Well, I think the first thing that they get wrong
is thinking that being neurodivergent means that's just like autism
in ADHD, because being a divergent, like you could be
a narcissist, you could have OCD, you could have VPD.
There's so many things within the neurodivergent umbrella. I hear
a lot of the time that people describe neudivergent people

(12:15):
as lazy, and I think that is actually just us
responding to a system that's not designed or built for us.
A lot of people think that like TikTok is to
blame for the uptick in people coming out as having autism, ADHD, OCD,
et cetera. But I think that TikTok and other social

(12:36):
media platforms have really just made information about it more
accessible because I feel like a lot of information when
it comes to mental health is very much so gay kept.
The mental health field is very classies in and of
itself because it costs so much to get a diagnosis,
so much to see a doctor, and so while yeah,
like you can't diagnose yourself off of one or two tiktoks,

(12:58):
you know what I'm saying, I think that it is
a really, really really helpful tool if you don't have
that instant access to mental health professionals, because even then
a lot of mental health professionals don't know what they're doing,
and so there's no guarantees even if you do have
the money to go see you on HI.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
I'm sorry, Taylor, and I'm the TPG podcast production intern.
We'll return to Jana right after the break.

Speaker 3 (13:25):
This July, Therapy for Black Girls is bringing our yearly
Minority Mental Health Month celebration in person to Atlanta, Georgia.
Join us Thursday July eighteenth and Friday July nineteenth as
we shine a light on mental health professionals and all
those who dedicated their careers to holding space for others.
Our inaugural Holding Space for Healers Therapists Summit will gather

(13:47):
some of our favorite voices in the field for workshops, seminars,
and opportunities to connect. You don't want to miss this,
so secure your ticket to wellness by visiting Therapy for
Blackgirls dot com slash Healers.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
So you brought up earlier about not putting energy into socializing,
I'm wondering how has autism shown up in your relationships
with your friends. Was there ever a time when you
felt like you needed to set boundaries or advocate for
your needs? If so, how did you navigate these situations.

Speaker 4 (14:23):
Yeah, that's a tricky one because I feel like when
it comes to friendships that has changed so much over
the years. I would say like within the past few years,
all of my friends have pretty much been r the
vision either ADHD or autistic. My little friend group right
now they're both autistic, and so I feel like a
lot of things don't necessarily need to be explained if

(14:45):
we ever just co ghost for a few days or whatnot,
like it's completely understood that we're probably just going through it.
And yeah, I mean I think that also when it
comes down to having autistic friends. There's a lot less
judgment when and we do need extra support when it
comes down to doing things that people might consider simple.

(15:05):
And so it's really nice to like not have that
shame or fear or embarrassment of asking for help when
it comes to such things as like meal prep or
just getting out of bed and needing to take a walk.
Like my friends have been body doubles a lot of
the time when I can't get my work accomplished, and
we're very big on like, hey, you don't have the energy,
Let's just do a virtual hangout. We do not need

(15:26):
to meet up in person. It's all good. And so
I would say, like, right now, I don't really have
to do so much. I don't have to set too
many boundaries because things are just understood. I would say,
in the past, I wasn't able to keep up with
a lot of my elistic or neurotypical relationships just because

(15:48):
I wasn't able to be as present. And like I said,
my social battery, my battery in general, it just drains
really heavily, and that was something that people didn't always understand.
And so I feel like a lot of our relationships
in the past kind of just like fizzled out. And
specifically when I figured out that I had autism, I
can't hold you, Like I honestly ghosted a lot of

(16:10):
relationships at the time, just because I feel like that
was like such a distinct moment of a there's you
before something and then there's you after something. And so
I feel like after I realized that I was autistic,
I realized how many like unhealthy relationships that I was in,
And like we said earlier, being autistic or just the

(16:31):
word in itself, can have a very negative connotation. So
I think that at the time, I wasn't really equipped
with like how to explain what I was going through
to the people around me, and unfortunately, those things just
kind of like fell off, and yeah, I just like
started fresh.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
It sounds like your friends now, it's like radically honest
and like you eliminated the superficial, you know what I mean,
Like you have sometimes the pressure with your friends, like
I have to show up and I have to do this,
and I have to be the best version of myself.
But it sounds like with your friends now you can
be your true self in the most truest form, and
that's beautiful because I feel like a lot of us

(17:09):
in our TONI is just like trying to be the
best friend we can be at all times, and that's
so exhausting. It's exhausting sometimes like to be a friend,
but when you have a friend group that sees you
as who you are, it takes out half the work.

Speaker 4 (17:24):
No, I definitely agree, it's kind of weird. I think
about it a lot of times, like, Wow, I'm here,
especially as somebody that grew up a lot more solitary
into myself and like wanting friends but never really being
in those environments where I felt safe to branch out
and make those friends. It feels so full circle to

(17:44):
be here and to have people that just get me.
Didn't really think that I would get to this point,
especially with the challenges that I've had socially growing up.
So I'm so blessed and so grateful because even outside
of being neurodiversin, just with the way the economy and
society is so it's hard to be social anyways. You

(18:04):
know what I'm saying. Everybody's working, everybody has to do
what they have to do, and especially in your twenties,
like everybody's at a different point, and so I think
another part of that is the fact that like me
and my friends were all at the same point of
living with family and trying to figure out work, and
I don't know, it just helps that like we're all
on the same level there.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yes, I completely feel that a thousand person. So let's
transition into talking about your school experience. One of the
things that you've documented on your YouTube channel was your
decision to attend a community college. What motivated this decision.

Speaker 4 (18:44):
Well, I've always enjoyed school. I dropped out of Howard
University when I was nineteen just because it was too
much keeping up with everything. I was also being hazed,
which was like affecting my scholarship, and so yeah, just
took a break for four years from that. But in

(19:04):
terms of community college, I just wanted to fresh start
because when I went to Harvard, I was getting pretty
big on YouTube, and I think that that kind of
affected my social life and I just don't feel like
I got I don't want to say I'm more honest experience,
but like a more wholesome college experience, just due to

(19:24):
like being in that limelight. And at eighteen, I was
a political science major and I just think about that now,
like what would you have been doing right now? Like
I thought that I don't care about political science. I
think that right now especially it's so important to be
like politically aware. But I think that I just wasn't
as passionate about my major. And so when I left

(19:47):
and I had that little self discovery process, I just
realized like how much I enjoyed video editing, specifically in
documentary work, because that's what I'd pretty much been doing
on YouTube, was documenting my life. And so I was like, well,
why can't I do this for other people? And so
community college, for one, it's a lot cheaper than most

(20:08):
traditional colleges. I think Howard was like thirty thousand a
year and I was only going there because I had
a scholarship. But my community college now is like I
want to say, about three thousand a year, depending on
how many classes you're in. Yeah, a lot cheaper if
you're like within the district of it. And it's just
like nice to just go to school and go home

(20:29):
and not have to worry about all of the extra
stuff that can come with like a traditional college campus.
And there's also so many resources at my community college
as well. Like I go to their food country weekly.
There's financial assistance if you need it, and so it's
just nice to like not have all of the extra factors.

(20:50):
I would say community college is very cut and dry,
like you go to class, you go home. Like I
wish that I could be more social there, but I
don't know. I'm also working, and I wasn't like working
working when I was at Howard University, and self balancing
work in school can be a lot as well. But yeah,
community college is just a lot more chill, I would

(21:11):
say for me.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
No university life it's like, yes, you go to class
and you do that, but the other three fourths of
it is the social is the organizations, it's the drama,
it's the related it's just once you take that out
of it, it's like you're just supposed to be a student.
So I can imagine that community college is like refreshing

(21:34):
just to have a simple life and not have all
these external factors that are draining when your purpose is
to study and to move on after the four years.
I can only imagine, No.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
That's like exactly what it is. I think that, like
I said, I'm very easily distractable in many respects and
so just being able to go to class and go
home and for one to go home to my own room,
my own bed. Like when I was at Howard my
first year, I was in a triple and I was

(22:09):
the top bunk and I did not really like messing
my roommates like that, and they never left the rooms
and so it was just a lot. It's like I
never catch a break, you know what I'm saying. So
it was just really nice because even after that, I
was in a student apartment paying like twelve hundred dollars
for a one bedroom and a two bedroom, and I'm

(22:31):
just like, what, why are we doing this to ourselves?
You know what I'm saying. I think that it's so
important to get those experiences of like leaving home and
trying out new things. Like I don't regret it, and
I think that it's taught me so much. But I
think that for the most part, I just gathered what
I don't want to do versus what I actually do
value and enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Right, you're taking me back, encringing me. At the same time,
what do your accommodations look like on your college campus?

Speaker 4 (23:02):
So for me, I have accommodations for my ADHD and OCD.
I don't have a formal autism diagnosis. That's a whole
other conversation, but for the most part, they pretty much
cover what I feel like they would cover if I
did have an autism diagnosis. Right now, my biggest accommodation
would be breaks within class. I can that's just like

(23:25):
get up and leave and just take a breather if
I need, and my teacher can't really say anything about it,
which is really nice. I've definitely like gone back and
forth with teachers but my accommodations because they just don't
understand it or they just take it as me being
like lazy, you're not paying attention. But I also crochet
in class. That's a big one that like I've gone

(23:46):
back and forth with teachers about, and that's just like
very therapeutic for me, very grounding. I have flexibility attendance,
meaning I can be a little bit late if I'm
just having a bad day. They call them flare ups.
But I could just not attend now obviously, like that
does come with its own consequences because like I still

(24:06):
want to keep up with the material that I'm learning,
so like I really try my best to be present
and do what I can. But then I just also
have to remember to not shame myself when I just
do need that extra help. When it comes to testing,
I get double test time, and I can also take
my tests in a room away from my peers like

(24:27):
a loans. But I'm not distracted by things going on
in the room. And I'm pretty sure I have like
other accommodations, but those are the main ones that I
use for now, and they honestly do the job.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
How have you navigated your professors who don't like you
crocheting in class?

Speaker 4 (24:45):
Like?

Speaker 1 (24:45):
How do you navigate that conversation with your professor?

Speaker 4 (24:49):
So there's been a few conversations. I like to say
that I handled it very elegantly, but I'd be kind
of irritated just having to go to school and do
with so much in general. And so the last teacher
that I had to check, I just sent like a
pretty lengthy email just explaining why I do what I do.

(25:10):
That's another thing, though, like I feel like when you
have disability accommodations, you should not have to explain why
to a teacher. They should just accept it and be like, Okay,
this is what it is. Cool because then that can
be a whole other thing, Like I'm not quite sure
the legal ramifications of the consequences that a teacher can
find themselves in, But for the most part, I think

(25:32):
that I just like stood my ground because I knew
that they could not say that I couldn't do it,
so I just told them what it was and that
pretty much fixed the situation. But yeah, it is really
tricky because when you're nerrative regent, paying attention doesn't always
look like what nurshipical or a lest do people think
paying attention looks like. And so yeah, definitely frustrating. But

(25:55):
I think that it just unfortunately comes with the territory
of it all, because I think the teachers also like
try to teach like a very one size fits all way,
and they look at all of their students as one
person all the time, which is not helpful at all either.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Even with the language that they might use in the
classroom is very much a one size fits all, when
if you're a bit more well versed in your field,
you would know that that's not a classroom setting at all.
So thank you for walking me through that. I was
just curious, what are those conversations.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Like, Hi, I'm sorry, Taylor, and I'm the TPG podcast
production intern. We'll return to Jana right after the break.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Were there specific resources or services that you found helpful
during your college journey.

Speaker 4 (26:51):
The food pantry is like the first thing, just because
from one, groceries everywhere very expensive. But also it's just
nice to like have something in this space that I'm
already accustomed to going to the grocery store. It can
be a lot for me, and so it's nice just
already being familiar with campus and knowing where I need
to go, and like it's in the little tiny room,

(27:12):
so it's not overwhelming whatsoever. That's been like a super
helpful resource. There's also tutors for like pretty much anything
you need at my college campus, which is also really helpful,
and I've utilized that like a few times here and there.
So some of a film major things aren't like super
super challenging, but the material can be danse and so

(27:33):
I think for me it's important to just have things repeated.
I think the repetition within my major in terms of
studying is what helps me the most. I feel those
are the two biggest resources that I utilize right now
for sure. But there's definitely a lot more on my campus.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
I didn't learn about my food pantry to like my
junior year of college at my university, and it's the
most underlooked resource on a college campus. Like the food
pantry saves lives. It's the best resource, and I wish
it was more advertised because I also feel like there
is a stigma around utilizing the resource, which is unfortunate.

(28:16):
But it's an amazing place to go.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
No, Yeah, there definitely is like a stigma in and
around food pantries with my school, Like you don't have
to have a specific need. It's just like, hey, you
need food here it is it really doesn't matter what
the situation is. And honestly, like I feel like the
more students that utilize a food pantry, they're encouraged to
keep it stopped because I will say with my food pantry,

(28:42):
like I do run across like a lot of expired
food and things of that nature, and it's like really unfortunate.
That's like just what the options are. But yeah, like
definitely cried the first time that I went to my
school is food pantry, because for one, there was just
like that internalized shame of like, oh, free handouts. I
never thought that I would be here because I used

(29:03):
to also volunteer at food pantries when I was in
high school. And when I saw people going through food
pantries when I was younger, I'm just thinking that obviously
they're going through rough financial situations, but I just never
thought that I would also be in that situation as well.
And so yeah, very grateful that I have that resource
for sure. And they also have things outside of food

(29:25):
in the pantry as well, like deodorant, like toilet trees,
like clothes, and I just would have never known.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
It's more than food, like trust, It's more things than
just the name overall. But I'm glad that you were
able to find that for yourself.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
So I know that you liked to crochet, which is
very impressive. I wish I had the talent and I'm
putting on my bucket list to learn this year. How
have you found other creative outlets or hobbies to be
beneficial for your well being and if so.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
How Christiane definitely like top three, but outside of Krishane,
I'm like experimenting with sewing. I think that these past
few years I can be like a doomer at times,
but I'm just like, Okay, what can I learn right
now in case we're ever like not able to consume
in certain ways. So I think that mending clothes has

(30:21):
been really intriguing to me. I've also like started to
make these bags out of genes, like upcycling genes and
just going to the thrift store and trying to see
what I can change things into. Outside of that, video
editing will always be like my pride enjoy. I can
zone out for hours editing something. And yeah, I would

(30:45):
say Kurshang sewing and video editing are my top creative
passions right now.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
I love the sewing outlet. I also think about doomsday
or the day that, like the Internet goes out, and
I should probably pick up archery, you know, just in
case that day comes, because it's coming. But I love
also the upcycling. I'm just always impressed by people who

(31:12):
are able to make tangible items like with their hands.
I think that's the most impressive thing. So I love
all of those and of course the video editing. But
I completely af fel you on the doomsday for sure.

Speaker 4 (31:24):
Yeah, I'm definitely like a big I need to be
touching things like very textile, Like I want to get
into pottery next, that's like on my list.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, my friends have tried many times to take me
to a pottery class, but I just I'm just intimidated
by it. I'm very intimidated by like the I guess
the failure of it. But it looks really interesting, looks
so interesting.

Speaker 4 (31:49):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
So what advice would you give to other neurodivergent individuals
entering or currently navigating the college experience.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
You really gotta go at your own pace, and I
think that that definitely comes with a certain level of comfortability,
like within yourself being able to do that, like being
able to not constantly compare your rate of success. I
guess to your peers, I think that the four year

(32:22):
college layout four years is a while, but if I
started at eighteen and I'm twenty four, it can take
a while, and sometimes you may need a gap year
a break. I think the college is a very, very
very demanding place, and so if anything, cut out those

(32:43):
extra distractions, because it can just be so overwhelming thinking
about managing social homework and being a part of orgs
and doing this that, and the third, I think that
keeping things down to like bare bones can actually be
a lot more beneficial, even if it may seem like,

(33:04):
I don't know, boring, I guess definitely see what kind
of accommodations you can get. I didn't even get accommodations
until I was in community college when I started it
around like twenty three, and I'm looking back like while
like accommodations would have been so helpful when I was
in college my first go round, and then just like

(33:25):
continue to learn more about yourself because I feel like
in a world that's so catered to and for neurotypical people,
we're not always given option through ways of doing things
that are like actually for us, and I can get
us caught up, like the last thing that you want

(33:47):
to do is burnt out and then just not be
able to do anything at all. And so yeah, I
think that those would be my big three for sure.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Lovely advice. This has been such a good and informative conversation. Kai,
Where can we keep up with you? What are your
social media handles?

Speaker 4 (34:08):
I'm on YouTube at Sincerely Kai or Kai Foster. You
can find me on Instagram and TikTok and tumbler if
you're still into that at Kai M Foster.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
Lovely well, thank you so much for talking with me today.
I loved our conversation.

Speaker 4 (34:25):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
I want to thank Kai once again for joining us
for this episode. Class is over for now, but before
we dismiss, here's some homework to take home with you.
Find out if either your school or town has a
local food pantry that you can utilize, remembering that it's
okay to accept and receive help. Talk with your school
successibility office or your academic advisor to discover what accommodations

(34:55):
are right for you. Schedule time with each of your
professors at the beginning of next semester to discuss your
learning needs. To learn more about the work Kai is doing,
or to do more research on this topic, be sure
to visit Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash tvgu This
episode was produced by Elise Ellis and Zaria Taylor. Editing

(35:18):
is by Dennison L. Bradford.
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