August 6, 2025 • 30 mins
What does it truly mean to be neurodivergent in a world built for neurotypical minds? Shereen Yazdian, a brilliant 24-year-old psychology master's student and award-winning speaker from London, takes us on her deeply personal journey through diagnosis, shame, acceptance, and ultimately empowerment.
Diagnosed with ADHD at age eight in Iran, Shereen initially felt broken and defective, keeping her diagnosis secret for nine years. "I remember hearing the words 'attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.' That doesn't sound really fun to a nine-year-old to be told you're different and not in a good way," she shares with striking vulnerability. Shereen was repeatedly told she would "grow out of it" – a false narrative that left her waiting for a day that would never come.
Through her educational journey from Iran to Switzerland to London, Shereen's relationship with her neurodivergence evolved dramatically. From shame to what she calls a "superhero narrative" focusing only on ADHD's positives, to her current balanced perspective acknowledging both strengths and challenges. Now pursuing clinical psychology, Shereen aims to become the support she desperately needed as a child.
The conversation delves into critical issues around language, identity, and acceptance. Shereen advocates for neutral terminology rather than euphemisms that attempt to make disability more "palatable." She challenges hierarchical acceptance of different neurotypes and the harmful impact of "functioning labels" that ignore the mental and physical toll of masking one's true nature.
For fellow neurodivergent individuals struggling with their identity, Shereen offers profound wisdom: "It's okay to feel whatever you're feeling about the fact that you're different. It does get easier, but there are times that things will remind you of all the challenges again." She reminds listeners they're not alone – many successful professionals excel precisely because of their neurodivergent perspectives.
Listen in as Fatima and Shereen reshape how we think about difference, challenge us to recognize undiagnosed neurodivergence all around us, and celebrate the unique contributions of differently-wired brains. Your perspective on what makes us "normal" might never be the same.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Fatima Bey (00:04):
This is MindShift Power Podcast, the number one
critically acclaimed podcastwhere we have raw, unfiltered
conversations that shapetomorrow.
I'm your host, fatima Bey theMindShifter, and welcome
everyone.
Today we have with us ShereenYazdian, and she is out of
(00:27):
London, england, in the UK.
She is 24.
She is working on her master'sin psychology and she's an
award-winning speaker andadvocate, and she herself is
neurodivergent.
How are you doing today,shireen?
Shirin Yazdian (00:43):
Hello, I'm good, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Fatima Bey (00:47):
And thank you for coming on.
I'm looking forward to thisconversation.
So I, as in my usual Fatimaform, I like to dive right in.
So tell us for those out therelistening who don't really know.
This word is thrown around alot, but I'm not sure everybody
knows what it means.
What is a neurodivergent person?
Shirin Yazdian (01:05):
So anyone that diverges sorry, let me start
again.
Everyone has, you know,everyone works, everyone's.
Okay, let me do that again.
Everyone's brain worksdifferently and, based on an
average of majority of people,we've decided what is
(01:25):
neurotypical.
We've decided what is majorityof people's way of thinking and
way of being.
Whoever doesn't fit into thatnarrative is neurodivergent and
is diverging from aneuro-normativity, from
something that, as a society,we've decided that is our normal
normativity, from somethingthat, as a society, we've
(01:47):
decided that is our normal.
So that can be ADHD, autism,dyslexia, dyspraxia, tics,
tourette's.
Some people who are OCDidentify as neurodivergent.
It's a very inclusive word andyou know, essentially it comes
from neurodiversity party gamethat says, just like we don't
have a correct or normal culture, language, sexuality, we also
(02:11):
don't have a correct or normalneurotype.
Fatima Bey (02:15):
Okay.
So, and I ask that becauseneurodivergent, like I said, a
term that gets thrown around alot, but every time I ask it it
I get a different answer.
They do summarize down to thesame thing, but I like, uh, I
like for people to hear itdifferently.
So what?
What makes you neurodivergent?
Shirin Yazdian (02:36):
so I'm ADHD, dyslexic, and recently I've been
thinking that I'm also possiblyautistic, and that's something
I'm exploring for myself.
Fatima Bey (02:54):
Yeah, I think that I just want to comment on the
autism part.
The more I talk toneurodivergent people and those
who work with neurodivergence inthe field, the more I'm
recognizing, I think, that a lotof people are walking around
undiagnosed with differentneurodivergent diagnosis.
I have met people who found outlater in life that they're
actually autistic.
I've seen people who recognizeas adults that their parents are
(03:17):
autistic and just were neverdiagnosed.
I think that that's what do youthink about that?
Shirin Yazdian (03:27):
um, I think that that's.
What do you think about that?
So I think actually, um, weknow very little about autism,
adhd, dyslexia, um, because ofthe research, because of you
know the poor research that wedid beforehand.
You know that was, you know thecase for everything, not just
um neurodiversity, um, and also,you know medical racism, so we
mostly studied.
You know medical racism, so wemostly studied.
You know everything in boys andmen, typically white men, and
(03:49):
we excluded everyone else in ourexperiments, in our studies.
So you know, I do psychology, soI'm really also interested in
research aspects of stuff, and Ithink that's one of the main
reasons because now we'recatching up.
So our research is recognizingthat lots of autistic people are
also non-binary.
Lots of autistic people, a lotof more autistic people exist
(04:12):
than we originally knew.
But there's also something elseabout autism is that up until
very recently there were quite afew different diagnosis with
different names, different umcharacteria, but recently
they're all combined into anautism diagnosis.
So before you know, there wasasperger's, there was autism,
(04:33):
but now they both go under thesame category in dsm-5 yes, and
that's something that I'mfinding.
Fatima Bey (04:40):
the more I learn, the more I I recognized that
this landscape for I would callit the neurodivergent landscape
is rapidly changing, butprimarily changing because you
don't know until you know, andstudying neurodivergence is
something that's a little bitnewer in terms of human history.
So when did you first realizethat you were different?
Shirin Yazdian (05:03):
So I think it took me, it took me very long to
realize that, even after I hada diagnosis.
But so my parents firstrealized that, my mom first
realized that I'm ADHD, and Ithink I was around eight.
She's a doctor, so you know shepicked it up, yeah, so I was in
Iran in you know, 2009, a 2009,a time where, you know, girls
(05:27):
couldn't be autistic, couldn'tbe ADHD, um, and she really
fought for a diagnosis for me,oh, wow, um, but I didn't really
identify with it when I got it.
You know, like it was more likeI was just struggling at school
.
I was not good at maths, maybe,and that's what it what it was,
and yeah it was.
You know there was quite a lotof shame with that Quite.
(05:50):
You know, like I felt broken,you know, I remember.
I remember the day that I gotthe diagnosis and I remember,
you know, hearing the words.
You know, attention deficit,hyperactivity disorder.
That doesn't sound really funto a nine year old to be told
you're different and not in agood way, in a way that you know
you will need medication.
(06:11):
And there's also quite a lot ofshame with, you know, taking
medication, kind of needing tofix something you know, like we
take medication, that is ourperception that you take it, so
you get rid of stuff.
You know you get rid ofsickness by taking medication
and you know, unconsciously,that was the narrative that was
put on me.
I don't think that was you knowsomething that people chose to
(06:33):
you know give me, but that ishow I learned about it and it
was quite you know negative.
I actually never told anyone.
Fatima Bey (06:42):
I never told people I'm ADHD, until nine years after
wow, how did it affect you whenyou first find out?
Like did it affect yourfriendships?
How did it affect schooling?
Shirin Yazdian (06:57):
so I think the main thing was I realized there
was a reason and it wasn't myfault okay um.
So you know, like puttingputting stuff in perspective, um
, I was not doing as well as Iwas expected to do because, if
you know the way people thought,um, my iq is in school, um, but
I do think, you know, iranianstandards of education are quite
(07:20):
high.
So, you know, if I was getting17, that was a bad grade, but 17
out of 20 is not a bad grade,um.
Or you know, if I was getting16 out of 20, that was like
really bad.
I would get lower than that aswell.
Not saying I wasn't, but youknow, that was quite
disappointing in the culture, um, and it did make me feel, you
(07:42):
know, broken.
It did make me feel like I'mnot good enough.
So at the time I only thoughtit's an education-related thing
and I didn't really reflect onit in kind of like context of
everything else.
It was definitely something Iwanted to get rid of.
I was told that I'll grow outof it and I really, you know, I
(08:04):
really hold on to that.
I was told that multiple'llgrow out of it and I really, you
know, I really hold on to that.
I was told that multiple timesby multiple psychiatrists and
multiple psychologists that thisis a childhood thing and you'll
grow out of it and I waswaiting for it.
I was excited to grow out of itbecause of all the challenges
that comes with it and you know,especially different
environments, different times.
(08:25):
You know we knew very littleabout ADHD in 2009 from like
research perspective, from likesociety perspective.
It was always, you know, thenarrative of young boys not
being able to sit down inclassroom.
But I was able to sit down inclassroom.
Was I paying attention?
Not, really Not.
You know again, not consciously, I was.
(08:45):
I was really trying, like Iremember getting headaches
because I wanted to, because Iwanted to listen.
And you know, like, yeah, likethat is quite distressing for a
10 year old to, you know, wantto do something because everyone
else is doing it, because it'sexpected of you, and not being
able to do it.
So, yeah, I went throughdifferent phases of identifying
(09:08):
with it.
In teenage years it kind ofchanged into a superhero
narrative How's that?
So, you know, only focusing oncool stuff that comes with ADHD,
because there are lots of coolthings that comes with ADHD.
You know, I can talk for hoursand I can get super excited
about a topic that is fun.
You know my brain does get lotsof dopamine by talking about
(09:31):
things I'm excited about.
And something else that Ireally hold on to at the time
was hyper focus, so the abilityto focus on one task, one thing,
for hours and hours withoutgetting tired task one thing for
hours and hours without gettingtired.
Uh, yeah, you guys can do thatand that was powerful.
You know like I could do a lotof stuff in that time, um, but
(09:54):
you know, there there are quitesome negative aspects of it that
I wasn't paying attention toback then.
But to stick with the nor tospeak, you know, to stick with
the superhero phase, I stilldidn't tell people.
I was very focused on positiveaspects of it, but I still
didn't tell people, becausesuperheroes don't tell people
that they're superheroes.
Fatima Bey (10:16):
So you grew up in Iran.
When did you leave?
Shirin Yazdian (10:20):
Yes, so I left in 2018.
I was 18.
My parents still live there.
Fatima Bey (10:26):
And where did you go ?
Shirin Yazdian (10:29):
So I went to a boarding school in Switzerland,
in the middle of nowhere, rightin the middle of Switzerland, on
a very cool ski slope and skiresort, with my brother, with my
younger brother.
He resorted with my brother,with my younger brother and,
yeah, it was, you know, aprogressive school alternative.
Definitely the way my brainworked was, you know, to be in
(10:51):
that school to get that type ofeducation.
How did you get there?
Um, um, so it was my mom again.
Um, so, funny story, I didn'tknow about the concept of gap
year.
I didn't know you can just takea year out, and that wasn't
something we knew.
And um, yeah, like I was doingentrance exam for universities
(11:13):
in iran, I was not doing reallywell emotionally.
Um, you know, like you don'tget any kind of accommodation in
iran and the exam is quite big.
It's a four-hour exam, or itused to be a four-hour exam,
hundred of multiple choicequestions um that covered four
years of education or threeyears of education.
Fatima Bey (11:35):
Yeah, that's a lot.
Shirin Yazdian (11:36):
That was, that was a lot, I know.
It's a lot for everyone, youknow, regardless of their
neurotype.
But to add in a little bit ofdyslexia, to add in a little bit
of adhd, um that just makes itharder.
Yeah, um, and I was reallystruggling with that, you know,
really struggling with, I wasfeeling quite depressed, very
anxious because of, you know,all the pressure of like wanting
(11:57):
to do well, getting into a goodschool, um, and, as I said
before, like in iraniancommunities, we do have like
very high standards foreducation for everyone,
regardless of gender.
Um, I think, even right now,majority of um university
students, like stem universitystudents, are women.
Um, but you know, there's quitea lot of pressure into getting
(12:18):
into a good course, um, my mom'sa doctor, so there was, you's,
quite a lot of pressure intogetting into a good course.
My mom's a doctor, so there was, you know, quite a lot of
societal expectation of mestudying medicine.
But, yeah, I sat down once withmy mom.
My mom sat me down and she waslike I don't think this is
working and we should dosomething else, we should find
something else.
And because I didn't know whatI wanted to do for university,
(12:41):
because, you know, my entireeducation was medicine, medicine
, medicine.
At the time I couldn't decide ifI wanted to do it or if society
wanted me to do it.
And I'm super lucky to have,you know, parents like I do.
They're very understanding,very open minded and they were
like, yeah, why let's trycollege, college, let's look
into college, and you don't needto go to university right now.
(13:02):
And when she was doing someresearch, um, she remembered
that when we were in switzerlandtogether a year before, it was
a very safe environment to be inand she was like let's look
into switzerland.
And when we're looking intocolleges in switzerland, we were
like, oh, we can do, um, highschool if you don't need to do
college and you have more timeto figure out what you want to
(13:23):
do.
So, yeah, without knowing thatyou know the concept of gap year
, we kind of created a gap yearthat later turned into two gap
years, two years and yeah, afterthat I came to London, to
Brighton, actually to do myundergrad in psychology.
Fatima Bey (13:39):
That's very interesting.
Well, first of all, it soundslike you had really good parents
.
I wish everybody had parentswho were like yours and really
tried to go out of their way anddo the difficult thing, and
there are parents that do, but Isee parents that don't.
So I'm glad that you hadparents that do, and so so now
(14:01):
you're in London and now you aredoing your undergrad at a
school there.
So you used you said that youhad issues with self-esteem, for
very obvious reasons.
How do you feel about yourselfnow?
Shirin Yazdian (14:16):
Usually, most of the time, pretty good Not
always, but I'm reallypassionate about neurodiversity
and you know, as I said, with mytype of brain I can get super
excited about a topic and I canreally learn and enjoy, you know
, learning about that or doingan activity.
And for me, you know, speakerbeing a speaker, being an
(14:39):
advocate, is really excitingbecause I'm fighting for what I
didn't have, I'm fighting for anarrative that I didn't know
even existed.
So most of the time, I feelreally good to be neurodivergent
.
I feel really good to identifyas disabled, as neurodivergent,
as ADHD, because I feel likethat has really let me to be
(15:02):
where I am in life.
I'm really enjoying my master'sright now.
You know like I'm meetingreally cool researchers and
scientists in different fields.
So, yeah, I want to say usuallyvery confident, usually very
happy, but you know, we stilllive in a society that's not
built for us but you know, westill live in a society that's
(15:23):
not built for us, um, and that'swhy I think I'm disabled.
Fatima Bey (15:24):
I agree, we, we do live in a society that's not
built for people like you, um,and when I see people like you,
that's a very I'm reallygeneralizing it because you're
not all the same but, um, butfor people who are
neurodivergent, we, we reallyit's too new, for I think our
society is learning and startingto understand, but we're really
(15:44):
only built for one neurotypeand most of us don't fall under
it.
So we really should question alot of that.
So what are your future plans?
Shirin Yazdian (15:54):
So I'm really excited about that.
I want to become a clinicalpsychologist.
Fatima Bey (15:58):
Why.
Shirin Yazdian (15:59):
And in the UK that's a very long process.
So I you know, the first daythat I got my diagnosis, there
was a psychiatrist there and apsychologist and I found their
approach to be quite differentbut kind of the same, and that
was, I think, one of the firsttimes that I picked up the
difference between psychiatryand psychology.
But more than that, the reasonI want to be one is I really
(16:24):
believe in psychiatry, I reallybelieve in medication for mental
health, for, you know, likeADHD, but what I needed when I
was 10, when I was 11, was lotsof psychological input, was
psychoeducationation, was atherapy that keeps in mind my
(16:44):
type of brain, and that was notsomething that was available.
So I'm again super lucky.
My parents were very aware of,you know, different mental
health issues, um, and we didtry different therapists, but
they would all say are youtaking adhd medication, you just
need to up the dose.
And maybe I did.
(17:04):
You know, I'm not saying Ididn't, but at the same time I
needed to learn what adhd was,what it meant, how it was going
to impact you know, otheraspects of my life, for, you
know, nine years, I thought it'sgoing to be only education
related, um, and I was waitingto.
You know, get rid of it.
Um, like, I was told that it'llbe gone when I'm 18, right,
(17:28):
right, um, which you know.
Now, with science, we knowmajority of people are adhd for
their entire life.
Um, but yeah, so I think that'swhy I want to be a clinical
psychologist is I'm reallypassionate about inclusion and
accessibility and how we canadopt our approach for different
people and individualize it.
(17:48):
So, you know, like, yeah, Ifeel like I didn't have that and
that's what I need, needed, soI want to be that for someone
else.
Fatima Bey (17:58):
I love that.
What I what I hear you sayingis that you want to be the
change.
You're going to be the changeyou want to be that for someone
else.
I love that.
What I hear you saying is thatyou want to be the change.
You're going to be the changeyou want to see.
You're going to do what youdidn't have done for you, and I
have a lot of respect for peoplethat do that, because I think
it's very much needed.
We can take all of the thingsthat we've been through in your
case it's it's neurodivergenceand other people's cases
(18:21):
something else but anythingwe've been through and we've
dealt with and we've experienced, we can take that and turn it
around and use it as a gem tohelp others, and I love that
you're doing that Now.
With that being said, whatchanges do you want to see in
the world concerning people likeyou to see?
Shirin Yazdian (18:40):
in the world concerning people like you.
So I want us to start using theright language.
I think language that we use,vocabularies that we use, really
impact the way we think, reallyimpact the way we see people.
So you know, like, for me now,when I say I'm disabled, I see
it as a very neutral word, butother people don't.
(19:00):
A lot of people see it, as youknow, kind of like a negative
thing.
No, you're just differentlyabled.
You know, like we change it tomake it more palatable.
But we already have avocabulary, we already have a
word that is neutral.
So why don't we use that?
Why do we need to give it apositive twist?
(19:21):
Because we see it as a, youknow, as a negative thing.
That's why we're changing it.
And you know, like, I thinkthat's the same with ADHD,
that's the same with autism,saying that there is a
hierarchical kind of likeacceptance when it comes to
neurodiversity.
And I think in most Westernsocieties dyslexia is on top in
(19:42):
terms of like acceptance.
It's okay to be dyslexic.
Like you know, that issomething that we test a lot of
people for.
I think in UK majority ofstudents get tested for it, so
that's very accepted.
But then ADHD is the next step.
You know, yeah, you can be alittle bit bubbly, a little bit
fidgety, that's okay, but thenautism doesn't fall into that
(20:03):
category.
You know, autism is like, oh,you know, like, typically when
people think of autism, theythink of someone with higher
support needs which you know isautistic.
That person is still autistic.
I'm not saying it's not, butbecause for the longest time
we've only learned about onetype of, you know, one group of
autistic people we don't knowthe variety of like, how autism
(20:24):
can be in different people, inwomen and non-binary people,
because you know we did theresearch on white men.
We don't know how it can be, youknow, with brown people, with
black people.
Um, lots of medical racismcomes into that.
We don't really refer blackchildren to services because you
know there is a perception oflike, you know wrong sexist and
(20:44):
wrong racist perception when itcomes to you know who we refer
to a service for a diagnosis.
So I think the first thing islike, let's get their language
right is all of us, includingneurotypicals, including the
majority of people who have, youknow, they have the dominant
(21:06):
neurological background,neurological brain, but also
neurodivergent people.
But neurodivergent is the groupof people who diverge.
And these are all inclusivecategories, inclusive labels,
and they are neutral.
We as a society give them value.
You know, like, when we goaround and call a doctor who has
(21:32):
ADHD, a high functioning person, that's quite bad.
Like, are we taking away thefact that that person is ADHD?
They might identify as disabled, they might not by law.
Adhd is a disability in the UK.
I think it is in the US as well, and Australia.
But yeah, you know like, whenyou call someone high
functioning, you kind of takeaway the fact that they also
(21:54):
struggle with stuff.
You only focus on the fact thatthey're putting a mask for you
and they are, you know, kind ofconforming to um, our society
standards, without thechallenges that it's having for
them on their mental health, ontheir physical health, um.
So yeah, let's not usefunctioning labels.
That's, you know, not a verynice label to use, um, let's
(22:17):
also see what that person uses,what language they they use.
So if they say I have autism,then that's what I'm going to
refer to.
But majority of people have saidthat they are autistic and
multiple research across theworld they said they prefer
autistic than having autismbecause that's a part of their
identity.
They don't see it as somethingseparate that they can just
(22:40):
leave out.
So, going back to that, learnabout the language, learn what
people want to use and respectthat.
And you know, I've identifiedwith ADHD differently throughout
my life and I don't think therewas, you know, a right
narrative or a wrong narrative.
The one that I'm in right nowis a neutral one.
I struggle with lots of stuff,but there is also lots of
(23:01):
strength that comes with it.
So, for example, the hyperfocus example that I gave before
.
Yes, it can be super cool tofocus on something for hours and
hours and hours, but at thesame time, I will forget to eat,
I will forget to drink, I willforget to attend to my adult
responsibilities, and that isdisabling.
(23:21):
That is something that we don'ttalk about.
Fatima Bey (23:26):
It's out of balance, is what it is.
It can be having the hyperfocus hey, that can be good in a
lot of job positions.
Some people will pay you a lotof money to be focused on
certain things but it can be outof balance.
I get what you're saying, butwhat I also hear what you're
saying is that the changes thatyou want to see, they're not
going to happen just by systemsalone.
It seems like they're going tohappen by conversations like
(23:49):
this.
Shirin Yazdian (23:50):
Yes, that's why I really believe in
conversations like this, yes,and to have conversations with
people who don't think the waywe do.
It can be hard sometimes whenyou know people are telling you
your identity is not correct,but we should still engage in
different types of conversations.
Fatima Bey (24:09):
We all should, and I really kind of focus on that,
which is why I have people aboutit.
I've talked aboutneurodivergence on here before,
but this conversation is totallydifferent than the other ones,
and that's the way I want it tobe, because there's more than
one perspective on just abouteverything, and I think it's
important to listen to thoseperspectives.
But also, because of your age,you're speaking from yourself,
(24:32):
but I know for a fact thatyou're speaking for many, many,
many others who may not havethis microphone right now, and
so I'm glad that you came on andwe can listen to what you have
to say.
And I think that we shouldspend more time listening to
people that we categorize andtreat as projects instead of
(24:53):
people, and so if we listen topeople like you, I think it's
gives us the opportunity to gaina new perspective and maybe
listen instead of just going onlabels alone and I mean the
negative in a negative way,because when people use negative
labels in a negative way, asyou said, it can be very
damaging, and I think it'simportant to hear the humanness
(25:15):
from you instead.
So one last thing what advicedo you have for other people in
the world who are just like youright now?
Shirin Yazdian (25:29):
I think the first one is it's okay to feel
whatever you're feeling aboutthe fact that you're different,
about the fact that you'reneurodivergent.
There's quite a lot of, youknow, different emotions.
That comes with it at differenttimes and I want to say you
know it does get easier, it does, but there are times that
things will remind you of allthe challenges again.
(25:50):
You know, like job interview, Idon't know, a conversation with
your manager, a conversationwith a teacher does make it
difficult but it's okay to feel.
You know like all the feelingsdoes make it difficult but it's
okay to feel.
You know, like all the feelingsand for me those were lots of
shame lots of you know feelingbroken, feeling different,
(26:12):
feeling that this world isunfair.
Why should I be the one, youknow, struggling with the things
that I'm struggling with?
Lots of joy, you know, like Ilove a fun new hyper-focus, like
hyper-fixating on a newactivity that can be so fun.
I can learn so much andespecially, you know it's very
helpful when it is related to myjob, it is related to what I
want to do.
The other ones can be a littlebit, you know, throw me off the
(26:34):
track and lose quite a bit ofhours, but usually it's really
fun and it's OK to feel you knowdifferently about it at
different times in life, um, andit's not, you know, going back
if you feel shame again, um, andthe other thing is you're not
alone.
There are lots of lots and lotsof amazing people who are
(26:55):
neurodivergent, who do amazingstuff, um, because they're
neurodivergent, but at the sametime, there are things that they
struggle with, and you knowlots of doctors, lots of
engineers, lots of athletes thatwe know, lots of actors, which
I'm sure you already know about.
All of them, or many of them,they are neurodivergent and
(27:17):
potentially one of the reasonsthat they're really good at it
is the fact that they'reneurodivergent.
You know, like we have lots ofautistic people who are doctors,
who are in health care, andthey do amazing stuff because of
the way their brain works.
Yes there is a lot of beauty.
Fatima Bey (27:35):
There's a lot of beauty in different thinking,
and you know, I always say whenGod made this world, he didn't
make us all the same for goodreason.
You don't get jambalaya withjust rice.
You got to put some beans andmeat in there.
You know, all of us beingdifferent is part of the beauty,
of what makes things work.
Well, shireen, I really, Ireally enjoyed speaking with you
(27:57):
, and even the off air very longconversation we had before even
recording this.
We probably should record someof that, but you've been really
a joy to talk to and I hope tosee you on bigger stages in the
future.
In fact, I'd be surprised if Idon't.
I think you are a fighter and Ithink there are a lot of
(28:20):
people's lives that are going tobe made better by you getting
on stage and talking.
So thank you for getting onthis stage and talking today.
Shirin Yazdian (28:28):
No, thank you.
This was a lot of fun for me.
Thanks for having me.
Fatima Bey (28:34):
And now for a mind shifting moment.
Shifting moment.
I want you to think about this.
Something she mentioned earlieris not just true for Shereen
there are lots and lots ofpeople walking around who are,
in fact, neurodivergent butundiagnosed.
(28:57):
Our society hasn't caught up.
Science has not caught up withreality yet.
It will.
People are working on it, butwe're not there yet.
I want you to think about thisthe next time you notice someone
who's weird, a little fidgety,kind of disconnected socially, a
(29:18):
little bit awkward or so manyother little ticks and things
that just seem a little off.
Perhaps, just perhaps, they'reneurodivergent and undiagnosed
or don't know it.
I want you to think about itthe next time you're around
someone who seems a littlequote-unquote weird, someone who
(29:41):
seems a little quote-unquoteweird.
Maybe they're not weird, maybeit's just undiagnosed.
I want you to consider how youview people who are different
than you.
You've been listening toMindShift Power Podcast For
complete show notes on thisepisode and to join our global
movement.
Find us at FatimaBaycom Untilnext time.
(30:03):
Always remember there's powerin shifting your thinking.
This is MindShift Power Podcast, the number one
critically acclaimed podcastwhere we have raw, unfiltered
conversations that shapetomorrow.
I'm your host, fatima Bey theMindShifter, and welcome
everyone.
Today we have with us ShereenYazdian, and she is out of
(00:27):
London, england, in the UK.
She is 24.
She is working on her master'sin psychology and she's an
award-winning speaker andadvocate, and she herself is
neurodivergent.
How are you doing today,shireen?
Shirin Yazdian (00:43):
Hello, I'm good, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Fatima Bey (00:47):
And thank you for coming on.
I'm looking forward to thisconversation.
So I, as in my usual Fatimaform, I like to dive right in.
So tell us for those out therelistening who don't really know.
This word is thrown around alot, but I'm not sure everybody
knows what it means.
What is a neurodivergent person?
Shirin Yazdian (01:05):
So anyone that diverges sorry, let me start
again.
Everyone has, you know,everyone works, everyone's.
Okay, let me do that again.
Everyone's brain worksdifferently and, based on an
average of majority of people,we've decided what is
(01:25):
neurotypical.
We've decided what is majorityof people's way of thinking and
way of being.
Whoever doesn't fit into thatnarrative is neurodivergent and
is diverging from aneuro-normativity, from
something that, as a society,we've decided that is our normal
normativity, from somethingthat, as a society, we've
(01:47):
decided that is our normal.
So that can be ADHD, autism,dyslexia, dyspraxia, tics,
tourette's.
Some people who are OCDidentify as neurodivergent.
It's a very inclusive word andyou know, essentially it comes
from neurodiversity party gamethat says, just like we don't
have a correct or normal culture, language, sexuality, we also
(02:11):
don't have a correct or normalneurotype.
Fatima Bey (02:15):
Okay.
So, and I ask that becauseneurodivergent, like I said, a
term that gets thrown around alot, but every time I ask it it
I get a different answer.
They do summarize down to thesame thing, but I like, uh, I
like for people to hear itdifferently.
So what?
What makes you neurodivergent?
Shirin Yazdian (02:36):
so I'm ADHD, dyslexic, and recently I've been
thinking that I'm also possiblyautistic, and that's something
I'm exploring for myself.
Fatima Bey (02:54):
Yeah, I think that I just want to comment on the
autism part.
The more I talk toneurodivergent people and those
who work with neurodivergence inthe field, the more I'm
recognizing, I think, that a lotof people are walking around
undiagnosed with differentneurodivergent diagnosis.
I have met people who found outlater in life that they're
actually autistic.
I've seen people who recognizeas adults that their parents are
(03:17):
autistic and just were neverdiagnosed.
I think that that's what do youthink about that?
Shirin Yazdian (03:27):
um, I think that that's.
What do you think about that?
So I think actually, um, weknow very little about autism,
adhd, dyslexia, um, because ofthe research, because of you
know the poor research that wedid beforehand.
You know that was, you know thecase for everything, not just
um neurodiversity, um, and also,you know medical racism, so we
mostly studied.
You know medical racism, so wemostly studied.
You know everything in boys andmen, typically white men, and
(03:49):
we excluded everyone else in ourexperiments, in our studies.
So you know, I do psychology, soI'm really also interested in
research aspects of stuff, and Ithink that's one of the main
reasons because now we'recatching up.
So our research is recognizingthat lots of autistic people are
also non-binary.
Lots of autistic people, a lotof more autistic people exist
(04:12):
than we originally knew.
But there's also something elseabout autism is that up until
very recently there were quite afew different diagnosis with
different names, different umcharacteria, but recently
they're all combined into anautism diagnosis.
So before you know, there wasasperger's, there was autism,
(04:33):
but now they both go under thesame category in dsm-5 yes, and
that's something that I'mfinding.
Fatima Bey (04:40):
the more I learn, the more I I recognized that
this landscape for I would callit the neurodivergent landscape
is rapidly changing, butprimarily changing because you
don't know until you know, andstudying neurodivergence is
something that's a little bitnewer in terms of human history.
So when did you first realizethat you were different?
Shirin Yazdian (05:03):
So I think it took me, it took me very long to
realize that, even after I hada diagnosis.
But so my parents firstrealized that, my mom first
realized that I'm ADHD, and Ithink I was around eight.
She's a doctor, so you know shepicked it up, yeah, so I was in
Iran in you know, 2009, a 2009,a time where, you know, girls
(05:27):
couldn't be autistic, couldn'tbe ADHD, um, and she really
fought for a diagnosis for me,oh, wow, um, but I didn't really
identify with it when I got it.
You know, like it was more likeI was just struggling at school
.
I was not good at maths, maybe,and that's what it what it was,
and yeah it was.
You know there was quite a lotof shame with that Quite.
(05:50):
You know, like I felt broken,you know, I remember.
I remember the day that I gotthe diagnosis and I remember,
you know, hearing the words.
You know, attention deficit,hyperactivity disorder.
That doesn't sound really funto a nine year old to be told
you're different and not in agood way, in a way that you know
you will need medication.
(06:11):
And there's also quite a lot ofshame with, you know, taking
medication, kind of needing tofix something you know, like we
take medication, that is ourperception that you take it, so
you get rid of stuff.
You know you get rid ofsickness by taking medication
and you know, unconsciously,that was the narrative that was
put on me.
I don't think that was you knowsomething that people chose to
(06:33):
you know give me, but that ishow I learned about it and it
was quite you know negative.
I actually never told anyone.
Fatima Bey (06:42):
I never told people I'm ADHD, until nine years after
wow, how did it affect you whenyou first find out?
Like did it affect yourfriendships?
How did it affect schooling?
Shirin Yazdian (06:57):
so I think the main thing was I realized there
was a reason and it wasn't myfault okay um.
So you know, like puttingputting stuff in perspective, um
, I was not doing as well as Iwas expected to do because, if
you know the way people thought,um, my iq is in school, um, but
I do think, you know, iranianstandards of education are quite
(07:20):
high.
So, you know, if I was getting17, that was a bad grade, but 17
out of 20 is not a bad grade,um.
Or you know, if I was getting16 out of 20, that was like
really bad.
I would get lower than that aswell.
Not saying I wasn't, but youknow, that was quite
disappointing in the culture, um, and it did make me feel, you
(07:42):
know, broken.
It did make me feel like I'mnot good enough.
So at the time I only thoughtit's an education-related thing
and I didn't really reflect onit in kind of like context of
everything else.
It was definitely something Iwanted to get rid of.
I was told that I'll grow outof it and I really, you know, I
(08:04):
really hold on to that.
I was told that multiple'llgrow out of it and I really, you
know, I really hold on to that.
I was told that multiple timesby multiple psychiatrists and
multiple psychologists that thisis a childhood thing and you'll
grow out of it and I waswaiting for it.
I was excited to grow out of itbecause of all the challenges
that comes with it and you know,especially different
environments, different times.
(08:25):
You know we knew very littleabout ADHD in 2009 from like
research perspective, from likesociety perspective.
It was always, you know, thenarrative of young boys not
being able to sit down inclassroom.
But I was able to sit down inclassroom.
Was I paying attention?
Not, really Not.
You know again, not consciously, I was.
(08:45):
I was really trying, like Iremember getting headaches
because I wanted to, because Iwanted to listen.
And you know, like, yeah, likethat is quite distressing for a
10 year old to, you know, wantto do something because everyone
else is doing it, because it'sexpected of you, and not being
able to do it.
So, yeah, I went throughdifferent phases of identifying
(09:08):
with it.
In teenage years it kind ofchanged into a superhero
narrative How's that?
So, you know, only focusing oncool stuff that comes with ADHD,
because there are lots of coolthings that comes with ADHD.
You know, I can talk for hoursand I can get super excited
about a topic that is fun.
You know my brain does get lotsof dopamine by talking about
(09:31):
things I'm excited about.
And something else that Ireally hold on to at the time
was hyper focus, so the abilityto focus on one task, one thing,
for hours and hours withoutgetting tired task one thing for
hours and hours without gettingtired.
Uh, yeah, you guys can do thatand that was powerful.
You know like I could do a lotof stuff in that time, um, but
(09:54):
you know, there there are quitesome negative aspects of it that
I wasn't paying attention toback then.
But to stick with the nor tospeak, you know, to stick with
the superhero phase, I stilldidn't tell people.
I was very focused on positiveaspects of it, but I still
didn't tell people, becausesuperheroes don't tell people
that they're superheroes.
Fatima Bey (10:16):
So you grew up in Iran.
When did you leave?
Shirin Yazdian (10:20):
Yes, so I left in 2018.
I was 18.
My parents still live there.
Fatima Bey (10:26):
And where did you go ?
Shirin Yazdian (10:29):
So I went to a boarding school in Switzerland,
in the middle of nowhere, rightin the middle of Switzerland, on
a very cool ski slope and skiresort, with my brother, with my
younger brother.
He resorted with my brother,with my younger brother and,
yeah, it was, you know, aprogressive school alternative.
Definitely the way my brainworked was, you know, to be in
(10:51):
that school to get that type ofeducation.
How did you get there?
Um, um, so it was my mom again.
Um, so, funny story, I didn'tknow about the concept of gap
year.
I didn't know you can just takea year out, and that wasn't
something we knew.
And um, yeah, like I was doingentrance exam for universities
(11:13):
in iran, I was not doing reallywell emotionally.
Um, you know, like you don'tget any kind of accommodation in
iran and the exam is quite big.
It's a four-hour exam, or itused to be a four-hour exam,
hundred of multiple choicequestions um that covered four
years of education or threeyears of education.
Fatima Bey (11:35):
Yeah, that's a lot.
Shirin Yazdian (11:36):
That was, that was a lot, I know.
It's a lot for everyone, youknow, regardless of their
neurotype.
But to add in a little bit ofdyslexia, to add in a little bit
of adhd, um that just makes itharder.
Yeah, um, and I was reallystruggling with that, you know,
really struggling with, I wasfeeling quite depressed, very
anxious because of, you know,all the pressure of like wanting
(11:57):
to do well, getting into a goodschool, um, and, as I said
before, like in iraniancommunities, we do have like
very high standards foreducation for everyone,
regardless of gender.
Um, I think, even right now,majority of um university
students, like stem universitystudents, are women.
Um, but you know, there's quitea lot of pressure into getting
(12:18):
into a good course, um, my mom'sa doctor, so there was, you's,
quite a lot of pressure intogetting into a good course.
My mom's a doctor, so there was, you know, quite a lot of
societal expectation of mestudying medicine.
But, yeah, I sat down once withmy mom.
My mom sat me down and she waslike I don't think this is
working and we should dosomething else, we should find
something else.
And because I didn't know whatI wanted to do for university,
(12:41):
because, you know, my entireeducation was medicine, medicine
, medicine.
At the time I couldn't decide ifI wanted to do it or if society
wanted me to do it.
And I'm super lucky to have,you know, parents like I do.
They're very understanding,very open minded and they were
like, yeah, why let's trycollege, college, let's look
into college, and you don't needto go to university right now.
(13:02):
And when she was doing someresearch, um, she remembered
that when we were in switzerlandtogether a year before, it was
a very safe environment to be inand she was like let's look
into switzerland.
And when we're looking intocolleges in switzerland, we were
like, oh, we can do, um, highschool if you don't need to do
college and you have more timeto figure out what you want to
(13:23):
do.
So, yeah, without knowing thatyou know the concept of gap year
, we kind of created a gap yearthat later turned into two gap
years, two years and yeah, afterthat I came to London, to
Brighton, actually to do myundergrad in psychology.
Fatima Bey (13:39):
That's very interesting.
Well, first of all, it soundslike you had really good parents
.
I wish everybody had parentswho were like yours and really
tried to go out of their way anddo the difficult thing, and
there are parents that do, but Isee parents that don't.
So I'm glad that you hadparents that do, and so so now
(14:01):
you're in London and now you aredoing your undergrad at a
school there.
So you used you said that youhad issues with self-esteem, for
very obvious reasons.
How do you feel about yourselfnow?
Shirin Yazdian (14:16):
Usually, most of the time, pretty good Not
always, but I'm reallypassionate about neurodiversity
and you know, as I said, with mytype of brain I can get super
excited about a topic and I canreally learn and enjoy, you know
, learning about that or doingan activity.
And for me, you know, speakerbeing a speaker, being an
(14:39):
advocate, is really excitingbecause I'm fighting for what I
didn't have, I'm fighting for anarrative that I didn't know
even existed.
So most of the time, I feelreally good to be neurodivergent
.
I feel really good to identifyas disabled, as neurodivergent,
as ADHD, because I feel likethat has really let me to be
(15:02):
where I am in life.
I'm really enjoying my master'sright now.
You know like I'm meetingreally cool researchers and
scientists in different fields.
So, yeah, I want to say usuallyvery confident, usually very
happy, but you know, we stilllive in a society that's not
built for us but you know, westill live in a society that's
(15:23):
not built for us, um, and that'swhy I think I'm disabled.
Fatima Bey (15:24):
I agree, we, we do live in a society that's not
built for people like you, um,and when I see people like you,
that's a very I'm reallygeneralizing it because you're
not all the same but, um, butfor people who are
neurodivergent, we, we reallyit's too new, for I think our
society is learning and startingto understand, but we're really
(15:44):
only built for one neurotypeand most of us don't fall under
it.
So we really should question alot of that.
So what are your future plans?
Shirin Yazdian (15:54):
So I'm really excited about that.
I want to become a clinicalpsychologist.
Fatima Bey (15:58):
Why.
Shirin Yazdian (15:59):
And in the UK that's a very long process.
So I you know, the first daythat I got my diagnosis, there
was a psychiatrist there and apsychologist and I found their
approach to be quite differentbut kind of the same, and that
was, I think, one of the firsttimes that I picked up the
difference between psychiatryand psychology.
But more than that, the reasonI want to be one is I really
(16:24):
believe in psychiatry, I reallybelieve in medication for mental
health, for, you know, likeADHD, but what I needed when I
was 10, when I was 11, was lotsof psychological input, was
psychoeducationation, was atherapy that keeps in mind my
(16:44):
type of brain, and that was notsomething that was available.
So I'm again super lucky.
My parents were very aware of,you know, different mental
health issues, um, and we didtry different therapists, but
they would all say are youtaking adhd medication, you just
need to up the dose.
And maybe I did.
(17:04):
You know, I'm not saying Ididn't, but at the same time I
needed to learn what adhd was,what it meant, how it was going
to impact you know, otheraspects of my life, for, you
know, nine years, I thought it'sgoing to be only education
related, um, and I was waitingto.
You know, get rid of it.
Um, like, I was told that it'llbe gone when I'm 18, right,
(17:28):
right, um, which you know.
Now, with science, we knowmajority of people are adhd for
their entire life.
Um, but yeah, so I think that'swhy I want to be a clinical
psychologist is I'm reallypassionate about inclusion and
accessibility and how we canadopt our approach for different
people and individualize it.
(17:48):
So, you know, like, yeah, Ifeel like I didn't have that and
that's what I need, needed, soI want to be that for someone
else.
Fatima Bey (17:58):
I love that.
What I what I hear you sayingis that you want to be the
change.
You're going to be the changeyou want to be that for someone
else.
I love that.
What I hear you saying is thatyou want to be the change.
You're going to be the changeyou want to see.
You're going to do what youdidn't have done for you, and I
have a lot of respect for peoplethat do that, because I think
it's very much needed.
We can take all of the thingsthat we've been through in your
case it's it's neurodivergenceand other people's cases
(18:21):
something else but anythingwe've been through and we've
dealt with and we've experienced, we can take that and turn it
around and use it as a gem tohelp others, and I love that
you're doing that Now.
With that being said, whatchanges do you want to see in
the world concerning people likeyou to see?
Shirin Yazdian (18:40):
in the world concerning people like you.
So I want us to start using theright language.
I think language that we use,vocabularies that we use, really
impact the way we think, reallyimpact the way we see people.
So you know, like, for me now,when I say I'm disabled, I see
it as a very neutral word, butother people don't.
(19:00):
A lot of people see it, as youknow, kind of like a negative
thing.
No, you're just differentlyabled.
You know, like we change it tomake it more palatable.
But we already have avocabulary, we already have a
word that is neutral.
So why don't we use that?
Why do we need to give it apositive twist?
(19:21):
Because we see it as a, youknow, as a negative thing.
That's why we're changing it.
And you know, like, I thinkthat's the same with ADHD,
that's the same with autism,saying that there is a
hierarchical kind of likeacceptance when it comes to
neurodiversity.
And I think in most Westernsocieties dyslexia is on top in
(19:42):
terms of like acceptance.
It's okay to be dyslexic.
Like you know, that issomething that we test a lot of
people for.
I think in UK majority ofstudents get tested for it, so
that's very accepted.
But then ADHD is the next step.
You know, yeah, you can be alittle bit bubbly, a little bit
fidgety, that's okay, but thenautism doesn't fall into that
(20:03):
category.
You know, autism is like, oh,you know, like, typically when
people think of autism, theythink of someone with higher
support needs which you know isautistic.
That person is still autistic.
I'm not saying it's not, butbecause for the longest time
we've only learned about onetype of, you know, one group of
autistic people we don't knowthe variety of like, how autism
(20:24):
can be in different people, inwomen and non-binary people,
because you know we did theresearch on white men.
We don't know how it can be, youknow, with brown people, with
black people.
Um, lots of medical racismcomes into that.
We don't really refer blackchildren to services because you
know there is a perception oflike, you know wrong sexist and
(20:44):
wrong racist perception when itcomes to you know who we refer
to a service for a diagnosis.
So I think the first thing islike, let's get their language
right is all of us, includingneurotypicals, including the
majority of people who have, youknow, they have the dominant
(21:06):
neurological background,neurological brain, but also
neurodivergent people.
But neurodivergent is the groupof people who diverge.
And these are all inclusivecategories, inclusive labels,
and they are neutral.
We as a society give them value.
You know, like, when we goaround and call a doctor who has
(21:32):
ADHD, a high functioning person, that's quite bad.
Like, are we taking away thefact that that person is ADHD?
They might identify as disabled, they might not by law.
Adhd is a disability in the UK.
I think it is in the US as well, and Australia.
But yeah, you know like, whenyou call someone high
functioning, you kind of takeaway the fact that they also
(21:54):
struggle with stuff.
You only focus on the fact thatthey're putting a mask for you
and they are, you know, kind ofconforming to um, our society
standards, without thechallenges that it's having for
them on their mental health, ontheir physical health, um.
So yeah, let's not usefunctioning labels.
That's, you know, not a verynice label to use, um, let's
(22:17):
also see what that person uses,what language they they use.
So if they say I have autism,then that's what I'm going to
refer to.
But majority of people have saidthat they are autistic and
multiple research across theworld they said they prefer
autistic than having autismbecause that's a part of their
identity.
They don't see it as somethingseparate that they can just
(22:40):
leave out.
So, going back to that, learnabout the language, learn what
people want to use and respectthat.
And you know, I've identifiedwith ADHD differently throughout
my life and I don't think therewas, you know, a right
narrative or a wrong narrative.
The one that I'm in right nowis a neutral one.
I struggle with lots of stuff,but there is also lots of
(23:01):
strength that comes with it.
So, for example, the hyperfocus example that I gave before
.
Yes, it can be super cool tofocus on something for hours and
hours and hours, but at thesame time, I will forget to eat,
I will forget to drink, I willforget to attend to my adult
responsibilities, and that isdisabling.
(23:21):
That is something that we don'ttalk about.
Fatima Bey (23:26):
It's out of balance, is what it is.
It can be having the hyperfocus hey, that can be good in a
lot of job positions.
Some people will pay you a lotof money to be focused on
certain things but it can be outof balance.
I get what you're saying, butwhat I also hear what you're
saying is that the changes thatyou want to see, they're not
going to happen just by systemsalone.
It seems like they're going tohappen by conversations like
(23:49):
this.
Shirin Yazdian (23:50):
Yes, that's why I really believe in
conversations like this, yes,and to have conversations with
people who don't think the waywe do.
It can be hard sometimes whenyou know people are telling you
your identity is not correct,but we should still engage in
different types of conversations.
Fatima Bey (24:09):
We all should, and I really kind of focus on that,
which is why I have people aboutit.
I've talked aboutneurodivergence on here before,
but this conversation is totallydifferent than the other ones,
and that's the way I want it tobe, because there's more than
one perspective on just abouteverything, and I think it's
important to listen to thoseperspectives.
But also, because of your age,you're speaking from yourself,
(24:32):
but I know for a fact thatyou're speaking for many, many,
many others who may not havethis microphone right now, and
so I'm glad that you came on andwe can listen to what you have
to say.
And I think that we shouldspend more time listening to
people that we categorize andtreat as projects instead of
(24:53):
people, and so if we listen topeople like you, I think it's
gives us the opportunity to gaina new perspective and maybe
listen instead of just going onlabels alone and I mean the
negative in a negative way,because when people use negative
labels in a negative way, asyou said, it can be very
damaging, and I think it'simportant to hear the humanness
(25:15):
from you instead.
So one last thing what advicedo you have for other people in
the world who are just like youright now?
Shirin Yazdian (25:29):
I think the first one is it's okay to feel
whatever you're feeling aboutthe fact that you're different,
about the fact that you'reneurodivergent.
There's quite a lot of, youknow, different emotions.
That comes with it at differenttimes and I want to say you
know it does get easier, it does, but there are times that
things will remind you of allthe challenges again.
(25:50):
You know, like job interview, Idon't know, a conversation with
your manager, a conversationwith a teacher does make it
difficult but it's okay to feel.
You know like all the feelingsdoes make it difficult but it's
okay to feel.
You know, like all the feelingsand for me those were lots of
shame lots of you know feelingbroken, feeling different,
(26:12):
feeling that this world isunfair.
Why should I be the one, youknow, struggling with the things
that I'm struggling with?
Lots of joy, you know, like Ilove a fun new hyper-focus, like
hyper-fixating on a newactivity that can be so fun.
I can learn so much andespecially, you know it's very
helpful when it is related to myjob, it is related to what I
want to do.
The other ones can be a littlebit, you know, throw me off the
(26:34):
track and lose quite a bit ofhours, but usually it's really
fun and it's OK to feel you knowdifferently about it at
different times in life, um, andit's not, you know, going back
if you feel shame again, um, andthe other thing is you're not
alone.
There are lots of lots and lotsof amazing people who are
(26:55):
neurodivergent, who do amazingstuff, um, because they're
neurodivergent, but at the sametime, there are things that they
struggle with, and you knowlots of doctors, lots of
engineers, lots of athletes thatwe know, lots of actors, which
I'm sure you already know about.
All of them, or many of them,they are neurodivergent and
(27:17):
potentially one of the reasonsthat they're really good at it
is the fact that they'reneurodivergent.
You know, like we have lots ofautistic people who are doctors,
who are in health care, andthey do amazing stuff because of
the way their brain works.
Yes there is a lot of beauty.
Fatima Bey (27:35):
There's a lot of beauty in different thinking,
and you know, I always say whenGod made this world, he didn't
make us all the same for goodreason.
You don't get jambalaya withjust rice.
You got to put some beans andmeat in there.
You know, all of us beingdifferent is part of the beauty,
of what makes things work.
Well, shireen, I really, Ireally enjoyed speaking with you
(27:57):
, and even the off air very longconversation we had before even
recording this.
We probably should record someof that, but you've been really
a joy to talk to and I hope tosee you on bigger stages in the
future.
In fact, I'd be surprised if Idon't.
I think you are a fighter and Ithink there are a lot of
(28:20):
people's lives that are going tobe made better by you getting
on stage and talking.
So thank you for getting onthis stage and talking today.
Shirin Yazdian (28:28):
No, thank you.
This was a lot of fun for me.
Thanks for having me.
Fatima Bey (28:34):
And now for a mind shifting moment.
Shifting moment.
I want you to think about this.
Something she mentioned earlieris not just true for Shereen
there are lots and lots ofpeople walking around who are,
in fact, neurodivergent butundiagnosed.
(28:57):
Our society hasn't caught up.
Science has not caught up withreality yet.
It will.
People are working on it, butwe're not there yet.
I want you to think about thisthe next time you notice someone
who's weird, a little fidgety,kind of disconnected socially, a
(29:18):
little bit awkward or so manyother little ticks and things
that just seem a little off.
Perhaps, just perhaps, they'reneurodivergent and undiagnosed
or don't know it.
I want you to think about itthe next time you're around
someone who seems a littlequote-unquote weird, someone who
(29:41):
seems a little quote-unquoteweird.
Maybe they're not weird, maybeit's just undiagnosed.
I want you to consider how youview people who are different
than you.
You've been listening toMindShift Power Podcast For
complete show notes on thisepisode and to join our global
movement.
Find us at FatimaBaycom Untilnext time.
(30:03):
Always remember there's powerin shifting your thinking.
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