September 12, 2024 • 43 mins
On this episode of My Time with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo, we had the honor and privilege of interviewing autistic advocate James Williams.
James Williams is a speaker and does presentations around the country on autism. Also, he has consulted at schools around the United States, such as the Minnehaha Academy, Lionsgate Academy, P.A.T.H Academy for Autism, and the Autism O.A.S.I.S. for Kids. Currently, Jams services on the following advisory committees—the Advisory Committee for SPARK, a nationwide research study regarding DNA and autism (since 2017), as well as the steering committee for SafeMinds, an autism awareness organization (since 2015), and the steering committee for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center’s Community of Practice on Autism Spectrum Disorders (since 2015).
James is the co-author of The Self-Help Guide For Special Kids and Their Parents (with my mother Joan Matthews), the author of two novels on autism, Out To Get Jack, and The H.A.L. Experiment, the children’s book When Gary Comes to Play, and the co-author of the book West High Story (with autistic self-advocate Alex Phillip). In addition, he is also a professional recorder player.
We be learning about James’ story and his advocacy for autism. Don’t miss this special episode.
Tony's website: www.tonyhernandezpumarejo.com
Tony's social media links: https://linktr.ee/tonyhernandezpumarejo
James' resources: Website: www.jamesmw.com
E-mail: jmw820@comcast.net
PayPal: Piedpiper11030
Venmo: Piedpiper11030
Cell: 224-628-6629
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jameswilliamspiedpiper
YouTube: James as James (Recorder Channel)
https://www.youtube.com/@jamesasjames3740
https://www.youtube.com/@jameswilliamspresenteranda1096
CREDITS: Luis Capri Duprey and Brandon Duprey - Editing and Production Team Their website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VEXIbyLGKDe...
Contact: / luiscapriduprey Luis and Brandon are also VexiFusion Media The name of the Etsy store is Vexi by LogoKidd Designs.
That will eventually change to VexiFusion Media Email:vexifusion@gmail.com
Phone: 407-692-2240
Music by: Track Title: [KIT]
Bam Bam (Hip-Hop) Track
Author: Infraction Track ID: 170353
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Tony Hernandez Pumarejo, writer and author.professional and motivational speaker. TV presenter,
Life Coach. and International Ambassador forAutism and Mental Health. He's proud to invite
(00:28):
you to his podcast, My Time, with Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo.
Hi, and welcome to this new episode of My Timewith Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. And this is your
host, Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. And this is apodcast in which we bring inspirational and
(00:52):
unique stories, you know, from different individualsaround the world, you know, artists and mental
health and many other causes in our community.If you haven't done so yet, please subscribe
to my podcast, My Time. on all the platforms,Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Apple, Google.
(01:12):
There's so many of them that I don't know allthe platforms, but please follow my channels
under Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. Subscribe tothe podcast. Your support is crucial. So today
I had the honor and the privilege to be interviewinga person who I had the most respect for. especially
(01:34):
in our autism community. His name is Mr. JamesWilliams, born and raised, living in Northbrook,
Illinois. James Williams is an advocate forautism, being diagnosed with autism. And he
has done a lot of work for our community. Andwe're going to be learning about his story.
(01:57):
And as part of learning about his story fromJames, he brought a very special guest. His
name is Mr. Will Rogers, which is, which, youknow, Mr. Rogers is a crucial part of James
Williams life. So that's the reason why he'shere. So this is a very special, unique interview.
(02:17):
So James, it is my honor, pleasure to have youhere in my podcast, My Time with Tony Hernandez-Pereira.
Thank you so much for coming in. You're verywelcome, Tommy. Perfect. Well, James, I always
start with this question. I mean, I learnedabout your story. your work and definitely
your work for the art community speaks for itself.I always start with this very simple question.
(02:46):
Everything that you live in your life as anadvocate and your life story, I forgot to mention
in my introduction that you're also a, you playan instrument, right? What was the instrument
that you play? The recorder. That's right, thatyou're professional. James is also a professional
(03:06):
recorder player. He performs at different eventsand also written books and CDs as well, which
we're gonna talk about that in our interviewtoday. But James, I'm gonna start with this
very important question. How do you define thelife of James Williams in just a few words?
(03:30):
Well, the way I define it is I am someone wholives with a lot of struggles and difficulties
related to my autism, but I'm also someone whohas had a very unique and enjoyable life because
of my autism as well. One of the things I tellpeople is that autism awareness does not have
(03:56):
to equate autism denial. I am proud of beingautistic, but that doesn't mean that I'm not
unaware of all the challenges and strugglesthat I deal with on a daily basis because of
my autism. That's amazing to hear. And how didthis story start, James? If we can go from
the beginning, starting with your diagnosis.So the story began, I was diagnosed with autism
(04:24):
at the age of three for the first time. NowI didn't know that I had autism back then,
but I remember from as early as I can, knowingthat I was different from other people. And...
What eventually happened was that as I grewolder, I could see the differences. I could
(04:48):
see, hmm, I'm upset and things are causing mepain, but they're not causing other people
pain. And people are understanding things whenI'm not understanding. People are feeling things
differently. And why is it that adults are expectingme? to know things that I don't. And so...
(05:14):
I went through a phase of just thinking, hmm,there's got to be something different about
me. And I created this little mythology in myhead. Maybe just people are just cruel, and
that's just the way people are. But then whenI was eight years old, my mother finally sat
me down and said, you know what? James, I wantto tell you the truth. You have autism. And
(05:39):
that was very powerful because suddenly I hadan answer. as to what was going on, why I was
so different from other people. At the momentI learned I had autism, from that very moment
I wanted to help other people going throughwhat I was going through. I also always had
(05:59):
a dream of writing books. And it was actuallyaround that time, around that time that I was
having a lot of issues in school. And my mompulled me out of school. was a second grade
and she homeschooled me. And during that timeof home education, it was a whole journey of
(06:19):
self-discovery and exploration. Now I know what'sgoing on. Now I know what I'm going through
and how to deal with it. And my dad, he wasvery tech savvy, loved computers and technology.
And he just, when the internet came out, hewas like, I want to learn about the internet.
(06:43):
He built this website for our family. And thenmy mom and I started writing a book together
when I was a kid. And through whatever, we alsogot involved with various autism organizations.
And through that grapevine, I ended up meetingthis person sitting next to me, Mr. William
(07:07):
Rogers. He emailed me when I was a kid and introducedhimself. And at that time he was a young adult
and I was a young child, but he emailed me.We had a nice correspondence for quite some
time. And then he really helped inspire me tobecome an autism advocate. And then we saw
(07:31):
each other at a few conferences back in thelate 1990s and early 2000s. Back then there
was a conference that existed called MAP. AndMAP was an organization that stood for, it
might seem offensive now, but at the time itwas not seen as such. It stood for more advanced
autistic people. And while that might seem offensivenow, back at the time that organization was
(07:57):
created, of the community where most organizationswere focusing on severe autistic. individuals,
those who couldn't talk, those who could nottalk, couldn't get dressed, really couldn't
take care of themselves. At the time, therewasn't a lot of support for the higher functioning
(08:21):
individuals. People like myself were articulate.We still have social issues. We're articulate.
We can get dressed and do a lot of basic thingsother autistic people can't. So MAP was created
to try to fill that gap. Let's have an organizationfor those that... are a little more higher
functioning. And they created a conference forthat group. And after Will and I corresponded,
(08:49):
we met for the first time in person at thatconference. Sadly, that organization went under
and those conferences are no more. But at thetime, that organization helps so many people
with autism who were higher functioning andhad skills other autistic people didn't. and
(09:09):
gave them a place that they so desperately neededback. That's amazing what you're sharing, James.
You know, not only, you know, what caught myattention was that at age eight, you were aware,
you became aware about autism. This is whatI have and that began your true journey. Similar
(09:32):
to my story, it took a couple years later, Ifound out I was diagnosed at age three, right?
But It wasn't to age 14 that I learned aboutautism for the first time. And it's interesting
and it's valuable what you're sharing in termsof what was the advocacy, let's put it this
(09:55):
way, the environment in regards to autism advocacyin the late 90s compared to what it is now.
Do you think that right now compared to whenyou started? Because you started when you became
You started advocacy very young, right? Yes,no. My mom and I started writing my first book
(10:18):
right after I found out I was autistic. Andthen I gave my first presentation when I was
11 in Wisconsin, answering questions after anotherpresenter. And then I gave some of my first
presentations at the MAP conferences that WillRogers here got to see. And Will... who is
(10:41):
currently now in middle adulthood, he's seena lot of changes too in how advocacy has changed.
And one of the things I wanna remind peopleis that it's very easy to look back at something
and think, oh my gosh, how could these peoplebe so offensive? How could these people, these
people say certain words and certain things?But what you have to realize is that what ultimately
(11:06):
matters is not necessarily is not necessarily.Sara Lee, what words are used, but how did
the people who were being spoken up for, howdid the marginalized people back then feel
about those words? I mean, truth be told, historyshows this. Even among, you know, civil rights
(11:29):
speeches back in the 1960s, civil rights activistswho were fighting for minorities were using
words that we would not use today. But clearlythese people were not using those words to
offend anybody. They were actually using themto fight for people. So I tell people, when
you hear about terminology in a historical era,the question is, was that terminology being
(11:50):
used to put people down? Or was that how peoplespoke up for one another? That's the reason
why I say, hey, okay, I've called myself advocate,right? But for me, I'm just like a student
today, learning from both of you. And I knowJames for several years now. I always say that
(12:13):
James in terms of autism, a lot of times I referto James because he's been in this for the
longest and not only the time but also the experiencesthat the evolution that you know James that
you have seen from the late 90s right the 90suntil now in terms of how it's evolved with
(12:35):
the languages the way we see autism and notonly autism but disability as well. because
we had to take into the account with the emergenceof neurodiversity, which right in the 90s wasn't
I don't know if the word neurodiversity existedat that time. Yeah, no, it didn't. And one
of the things that I like I said, I'm not tryingto repeat myself, but I think we have to remind
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ourselves that while it's definitely true that,you know, people use a lot of offensive language.
historically and many people still do, justbecause people have used words that offend
people with autism or other disabilities andjust because something is offensive now doesn't
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necessarily mean that everything people saidat one time was offensive. I mean we really
have to look into the context of okay... Howdid the people with disabilities feel? And
also, what are the people using that languagefor? Because many times, you know, you can
tell a story about bullies and intolerant people,and you can quote some offensive things they
(13:50):
said, but that doesn't mean you support thatlanguage. It means, you know what? You're just
trying to tell the truth about what bulliesdo. And there have been many misunderstood,
you know, about bullies and bad people. Andone thing I tell people is, you know, a movie
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about bad people saying bad words doesn't necessarilymean the filmmakers support what the bad people
are doing. I mean, it's not like, you know,we lock up filmmakers who make murder mysteries.
Just because if someone writes a murder mystery,it doesn't mean that they think people should
be murdering people. And so I think that's thelens we need to look at with advocacy. What
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are the words being used for? Are they reallytrying to put people down or A, is that just
how people help people back then? Because yes,people said a lot of offensive things historically,
but they also said things differently to helppeople. Absolutely, I mean, you have to look
at it from the context and also what was happeningin the world with the changes in society, the
(15:00):
events that were happening, the world. You know,it's not the same as it was 20 years ago, 25
years ago. You know, a lot of the world hasevolved and that has had an impact, right?
And plus two, the term neurodivergence, it wasn'twidely known because that was really a term
that was created as a response to new research.I mean, I think of the fact that since the
(15:22):
1990s, we now have all this research showingjust not only are there so many different types
of autism, but there's a large population. peoplewho have some symptoms of autism but aren't
necessarily fully autistic. There's also a lotof people who have autism but aren't able to
be diagnosed because of various obstacles andprejudice and so that term really in my opinion
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was yeah now that we know there's a whole populationof people that probably do have some form of
autism but they're not getting diagnosed neurodivergenceis a way of acknowledging their story. Okay,
no, and that's important to know. And I, andI want to ask you James and also Will as well.
(16:14):
Do you think that right now we're more to get,you know, right now there's also different
opinions about as well as you were talking aboutand only with the language in terms of how
to see it. Oh, it's not a disability. It's acondition, it's identity. A lot of times that
can create confusion to be honest, again. Anddo you think that we have really I want to
(16:35):
I want to ask a very serious question, do youguys both of you think and believe that we
have to are we are we truly involved in makingsure that we're helping more people with autism
or any other condition or what do you think?
(16:55):
Alright. I don't know if I made the questionclear. Do you want me to repeat it? Sure, sure.
OK, what I'm trying to say is there has beenan evolution. Things have evolved in regards
to autism, disability rights, the emergenceof neurodiversity, neurodivergent terms due
(17:17):
to the research, also of the impacts in oursociety, the changes in our society. Being
more open to talk about this maybe than yearspast. People that didn't have the tools back
then that say not only nice, but also 80s, 60s,70s. There are adults today and they're realizing
(17:37):
that I didn't got the support that I needed.But at the same time we have and I have to
you know, and you know, you guys both know aboutthis. We have more debates about the different
things in the community. But do you guys, bothof you think there are, we are truly involving?
(17:57):
towards helping more people with autism andthe families? Or do you think that we still
have a long ways to go even though, you know,they have to build? People definitely still
have a long way to go. Because for example,with the debates, right? Where there is the
use of the language, criticism of differentdebates. I had to say, ABA therapy, for example.
(18:21):
The debates about the parents being right, beingwrong. You listen to autistic voices, right?
For example, my autism is, you know, I'm autistic,you're not, I mean, so many, you know, it's
not a disability, it's an identity. Those debates,those, and you guys both know about this, probably
(18:42):
you guys more about this than me, because youare, live in this community. I've been part
of this advocacy, I have, you know, almost,you know, only, right now this year, it's gonna
be 10 years, even though I was diagnosed witha condition at three. Right? Yeah. But you
guys have been doing you've been the advocacyfront in for decades. So based on what you
(19:05):
have seen and how we are going so far as community,are we truly involving towards fulfilling that
mission of a quality of life for everybody onthe autism spectrum and their families?
Maybe, but I think people still have a longway to go.
(19:27):
What do you think, James? I do think that wehave absolutely. And although I do think, yes,
like, well, we still have a long way to go,the reality is, is that we know scientifically
a lot more about autism than we did when I wasa kid 20 years ago. We are now also realizing
(19:50):
just how much autistic people have differentexperiences based on culture. We understand
that autistic voices are generally are validand need to be listened to, but at the same
time... I do think that we are making a mistakeby trying to argue that the validity of autistic
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voices necessitates invalidating the voicesof family members and others. Reality is, as
the old saying goes, two wrongs don't make aright. Silencing anyone who has something worth
saying is wrong. Doesn't matter who the personis. And one thing that does frustrate me is
when you have people on the autism spectrumwho complain about being silenced. So then
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turn around and make that same mistake and tryto silence those who are not autistic. My belief
is I don't care if you have autism or not. Ifyou're doing something to help the autism community,
then your voice is valid too. If you're a parentwho cares about your autistic child, who loves
(21:11):
your autistic child, and yet you struggled somuch raising your child, I will defend your
right to...
Exactly. Because this is a community. I mean,I mean, again, the way I see it, you know,
as well is the autism. Also, the families liveautism. That's the reality. The parents, the
(21:36):
moms that go ahead. Sorry. And we also haveto we also have to be more aware of how autism
is differently works, how autism impacts peopledifferently among cultures. I mean, I know
you well enough, Tony, Spanish speaking communityand you probably see many differences between
(21:57):
how autistic people experience autism in a Spanishspeaking community versus more mainstream English
American speaking community. You see that andI have to admire the fact that neurotypical
professionals who for a long time created socialskills curriculums and all these unspoken rule
(22:19):
curriculums solely based on... white EnglishAmerican communities and are realizing, yeah,
we have to realize that i was looking for alot of saying that every culture and even when
you have a lot of the person that doesn't understandthe unspoken rules in their culture those rules
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are not going to be the same in spanish-speakingcommunity french-speaking community american
english-speaking community in whatever communitythat person grows up and i have hope in seeing
but more people are realizing those things thetruth is of new information with autism. It
(23:03):
is such a complex disorder. But ultimately,silencing anyone who has a valuable viewpoint
and something to say isn't going to help anybody.Exactly. What do you think, Will? Well, I certainly
do agree that parents and family members ofpeople with autism should speak to, but I feel
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the same way about specialists who have neverlived with autism. giving presentations about
autism that Native Americans feel about whitepeople giving presentations about their culture.
No, definitely. And going along those lines,I mean, the professionals that work with the
(23:58):
population. Yeah, yeah. As well. I think thatin this world, I call it the art world because
there's different groups and the parents, professional,autistic human beings. And we need to get the
resources and the tools to achieve all of us.We want the same thing. If you guys, again,
(24:21):
if we look at it, OK. a quality of better qualityof life, right? It's how to get there. I think
that we can work with our differences, not meaningthat all of us are going to agree on the same
thing, or we're not saying that, but in an environmentof respect and understanding and listening,
I think we can make great strides. Again, alot of progress has been made, but so much
(24:45):
still needs to be done. And you're saying itright, James, for example. Each of us has a
different experience, you know, common and differentexperiences. Yeah. Back our cultural backgrounds,
where we come from, where we grew up, right?And that takes into consideration. I mean,
(25:07):
there's so much talking about from my end. Don'twant to talk about too much about myself. This
is you guys interview. The Hispanic communityhas its own challenges. The autism Hispanic
community has their own challenges. One thingthat also needs to be talked about more, the
immigrants. And I work with immigrant families.And how the difficulty that they're having
(25:29):
to access the supports that needs to be talkedabout more. I mean, the cultural backgrounds,
not only the US, but other parts of the world.How is the, how are other countries are doing
with services and supports with autism? or howthey view autism still in other countries.
It's very interesting. I mean, there's a lotof things that still need to be worked on.
(25:57):
But I think that having that environment withrespect and understanding is crucial. So that
way we can truly move ahead. You know, so andI know this is something that we cannot talk
about in an outward interview. There's no. Andif you guys are more than welcome to come back
later on, and to discuss several of these topics,that would be fantastic. Because again, this
(26:24):
is something that had to be taken care of differentconversations. So, and I appreciate both of
you sharing your experiences. And now, go ahead,James. And so what I tell people is I actually
don't really disagree with Will's statementabout specialists who don't understand autism.
But I really think the dividing line is, I asknot when I see someone talk about autism, are
(26:49):
you autistic? But what is your experience withautism? And there's a difference between a
specialist speaking about autism who's nevercome across an autistic person in their lives,
than someone who does have experience workingwith autistic people or a parent who is raising
autistic children. Exactly. There's a difference.There's a big difference between those two.
(27:14):
Definitely. And going along those lines, now,James, learn more about your story. So tell
us about what you do. We learned a little aboutyour story growing up. So tell us about what
you do as an adult with autism, about the workthat you do. Can you tell us a little bit?
(27:34):
Yeah, so I wear several hats throughout my life.I give presentations. throughout most of the
United States about autism and related subjects.But I don't just go to autism and disability
events. I go to a wide variety of events toshare my story. I have gone to hobo conventions,
(27:57):
anime conventions, gaming conventions. I'vealso gone to Native American events with full
support from... Native American leaders runningthose events to tell my story as well. And
what I tell people is, since autistic peoplehave to interact in all parts of society, if
(28:24):
you want me to come, and tell you about whatit's like to be autistic, I will. Autism outreach
shouldn't just be at autism events. In addition,I am the author of several books, fiction and
non-fiction, some I've wrote on my own, someI've written with other individuals. I'm also
(28:48):
a professional recorder player who has recordedseveral CDs. And finally, I am a very active
extracurricular volunteer at a public high schoolin Illinois known as Glenbrook North High School.
So when I'm not traveling and I'm back in myhometown of Northbrook, Illinois, I'll be at
(29:10):
Glenbrook North High School helping out withathletics and the choir and theater programs.
That's amazing. You do so many things. I mean,and I know for your career, your life story.
You as you mentioned, your words, differenthats. What helps you, James, as an autistic
(29:32):
human being, what helps you if somebody, a family,right, is watching our interview, what helps
you to work with the daily challenges, not onlyin your work, but in your life that helps you
to keep moving forward, what is that factor?Well, what I tell people is that it is very
(29:53):
easy to think because I travel on my own andbecause I'm often seen independent without
my family when I travel and when I attend eventsand do my work that I am solely managing things
on my own. But that is completely far from thetruth. Truth is, I rely very heavily on my
(30:17):
family and friends in the places I travel togive me the help and support I need. And the
truth is if it wasn't for... those people, Iwouldn't be able to do the work that I do.
I rely on people that I am friends with to opentheir doors to me, let me stay with them in
the cities I travel to, sometimes help me withtransportation, sometimes help me with meals
(30:41):
and other expenses. I also do rely on parentalsupport to help fund some of the work that
I do as well. And what I tell people is, isthat... Just because I travel independently
doesn't mean that I'm independent. And in fact,I admire family members who are out there helping
(31:05):
support their autistic children and autisticindividuals in their families. Because the
truth is, one reason why I'm such a promoterof those individuals speaking up is because
a lot of autistic people I know... Even thosewho live amazing, meaningful lives, even those
who are contributing to society, they aren'tdoing it on their own. They still depend on
(31:31):
their families. They still depend on a supportsystem. And I think that we and the autism
community need to be more realistic about ourexpectations of independence for autistic adults.
I have many friends in the Hispanic communitywho've helped me understand that there are
(31:54):
many Hispanic cultures who do not expect thesame independence that we do in our American
culture. I'm not speaking for every Hispanicculture. There's a lot of diversity among those
cultures. I'm also not trying to assume thatevery Hispanic person is Mexican. That's an
often misconception people have. But I thinkthere's a lot we can learn from the Hispanic
(32:20):
community by realizing that our expectationsof full independence are a uniquely American
expectation. Not all cultures expect independenceand a lot of autistic people. will never fully
become independent of their families and theirsupport systems, but that doesn't mean they
(32:42):
can't live meaningful lives. Just because Istill depend on my mom and my dad for some
of my needs doesn't mean I'm not living a meaningful,happy life.
And well said, I mean, all of us have a support.Some more than others, some more than others.
(33:07):
But you have to look things in terms of context.You know, all of us come from different backgrounds,
culture, where we come from, where we raisedthe circumstances that led us being part of
my life, of our lives, that got to this point.I mean, that's, you know, I believe that, you
know, basically, I always tell people. Sure,there's different levels of autism, right?
(33:31):
Level one, high functioning, right? Or leveltwo, moderate. Or they tell me about the level
three, the more profound. Right now, it's whythey talk about profound or more classic or
severe autism. But that doesn't mean they'reincapable of living a great life. Again, it's
about giving them the tools and the supportsto achieve the best quality of life that they
(33:53):
can. And I believe that every human being has...that potential to achieve a better life if
they need the supports. And there's nothingto be ashamed about that. We need to write
the supports and I think that's important. Weneed to talk about all of that more than ever
in our community. That's the reality. And Iappreciate you, James, for sharing that experience,
(34:19):
you know, and that's amazing that you're sharingall of this with us in this interview. I mean,
so. Very proud of you, very proud of you, Willas well. Yeah. And again, right now we're about
to be about to close our interview. But anymessage, I'm going to give you the floor for
(34:44):
you, James, if you also want to participateat this, Will, you're more than welcome to
do so. I want to give you the floor to say amessage to the autism community. whether you
have parents, families, autistic individuals,professionals, or maybe watching this interview
right now, what message do you have for ourcommunity?
(35:16):
Well, although it is often said that autisticpeople often struggle with understanding idioms,
there is one idiom that I am aware of that inmany ways actually reflects. how autistic people
(35:38):
often see the world and what they need fromothers. And that is that idiom that a person
is a person of their word. And truth be told,when you are autistic and you struggle with
picking up unspoken social rules and you strugglewith so many things that society doesn't want
you to speak openly about, you often have tobe a person of your word. And what I say to
(36:05):
people is, We can't always pick up things thatyou don't talk to us about. We sometimes need
to communicate about things that you might notalways communicate about. Because autistic
people, some of our biggest struggles are thingsthat are kept silent. Some of us may be dealing
(36:32):
with struggles related to puberty growing up.Some of us may be struggling with sensitive
issues, like some of us may have had issueswith toilet training as children. Some of us
might be struggling with menstruation. Someof us may be struggling with dating issues
(36:56):
or sexuality. But what we need is people whowill talk to us about our struggles, even if
society says that certain things need to bekept silent. You might be asking, James, why
are you bringing this up? Guess what? Some ofthe hardest struggles autistic people go through
(37:18):
are the things society keeps silent. In my highschool, we had a tradition sponsored by our
Gay Street Alliance called the Day of Silence,in which people chose to take an oath of silence
during the school day, mostly students, to supportLGBT people who were not able to come out.
(37:42):
And when I took part in that, I did so becauseI said to myself, there's so many things that
autistic people go through that are silencedtoo. And so a slogan for the Day of Silence
is, what will you do to end the silence? Andwhat I tell people is, the best way to be an
ally to an autistic person is fight to challengethe silence of so many struggles we face, no
(38:10):
matter what those struggles may be.
That's amazing. And you're an inspiration. Bothof you have a story of perseverance, persevering
through all the challenges. And again, James,I think our community, I know I think our community
(38:34):
should be grateful to your service, to youroutstanding work. As I said, every time I had
the honor and privilege to meet you, you'rea senior person, at least once or once per
year in Florida. I always try to learn more.And again, this for me was not an interview,
but for me was more like going to school andgoing to the class and learning from other
(38:58):
advocates. So I want to say thank you for participating,James. Will, it's a pleasure. Thank you for
participating as well. James, how can peoplereach out to you? How can people support your
work? Do you have a website? How they can buyyour books, CDs, how can they do so? Yes, so
(39:19):
I have a website, jamesmw.com. So J-A-M-E-S-M-W.com.On that website, there's links to an online
store where people can buy my books and my CDs.I also have archives of historic presentations
I've written on that website that anyone canread for free. I also have two YouTube channels,
(39:47):
a music channel called James as James, and aprofessional channel called James Williams
presenter and author with autism, where peoplecan view videos of presentations that I made
mostly during the COVID pandemic.
I also, that you can contact me by email atjmw820, that's the number 820 not water, H20,
(40:16):
it's jmw820.comcast.net or jamesasjames andthe number 820820.com.
Those who want to support my work can always...Give me donations via PayPal through the name
(40:39):
PiedPiper with a capital P 11030
or by way of Venmo under the alias PiedPiper11030 with a capital P. So that's my information
for contacting. And since you mentioned my music.I figured I'm going to close by playing a traditional
(41:07):
public domain folk song from both Ireland andScotland. It is a song that is known from both
places. In Ireland it is known as Red as theRose and in Scotland it is known as Loch Lomond.
This is amazing. Again, we're going to closeand then we'll finish with your song, James.
(41:27):
And then again, I wanted to take this opportunityto say thank you. Thank you for coming in.
Always the best for you. Always the best foryou, Will, and keep moving forward towards
making always making that difference for ourautism community. And I appreciate everybody
who will tune into this episode, share witheverybody that you know, especially in our
community. And this has been and again, thankyou so much, James. Thank you again so much,
(41:52):
Will. And this has been an episode, anotherepisode of My Time with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo,
and now we're going to close it with James.Thank you so much. And thank you for interviewing
us. Thank you.
(43:05):
Well, this is the end of another episode ofMy Time with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo. Tony
hopes you liked it. If you'd like to learn moreabout the work Tony does, subscribe to him
on his social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram,YouTube, Twitter, which is now X, and his LinkedIn
page. You can also follow Tony on his websiteat Tony Also, if you are interested in getting
(43:28):
a copy of his book, An Autism Unscripted Life,you can purchase it on Amazon or any book selling
platform. You can also obtain a copy throughhis website. So, until the next time you meet,
thank you and have a wonderful day. Blessings.
Tony Hernandez Pumarejo, writer and author.professional and motivational speaker. TV presenter,
Life Coach. and International Ambassador forAutism and Mental Health. He's proud to invite
(00:28):
you to his podcast, My Time, with Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo.
Hi, and welcome to this new episode of My Timewith Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. And this is your
host, Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. And this is apodcast in which we bring inspirational and
(00:52):
unique stories, you know, from different individualsaround the world, you know, artists and mental
health and many other causes in our community.If you haven't done so yet, please subscribe
to my podcast, My Time. on all the platforms,Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Apple, Google.
(01:12):
There's so many of them that I don't know allthe platforms, but please follow my channels
under Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. Subscribe tothe podcast. Your support is crucial. So today
I had the honor and the privilege to be interviewinga person who I had the most respect for. especially
(01:34):
in our autism community. His name is Mr. JamesWilliams, born and raised, living in Northbrook,
Illinois. James Williams is an advocate forautism, being diagnosed with autism. And he
has done a lot of work for our community. Andwe're going to be learning about his story.
(01:57):
And as part of learning about his story fromJames, he brought a very special guest. His
name is Mr. Will Rogers, which is, which, youknow, Mr. Rogers is a crucial part of James
Williams life. So that's the reason why he'shere. So this is a very special, unique interview.
(02:17):
So James, it is my honor, pleasure to have youhere in my podcast, My Time with Tony Hernandez-Pereira.
Thank you so much for coming in. You're verywelcome, Tommy. Perfect. Well, James, I always
start with this question. I mean, I learnedabout your story. your work and definitely
your work for the art community speaks for itself.I always start with this very simple question.
(02:46):
Everything that you live in your life as anadvocate and your life story, I forgot to mention
in my introduction that you're also a, you playan instrument, right? What was the instrument
that you play? The recorder. That's right, thatyou're professional. James is also a professional
(03:06):
recorder player. He performs at different eventsand also written books and CDs as well, which
we're gonna talk about that in our interviewtoday. But James, I'm gonna start with this
very important question. How do you define thelife of James Williams in just a few words?
(03:30):
Well, the way I define it is I am someone wholives with a lot of struggles and difficulties
related to my autism, but I'm also someone whohas had a very unique and enjoyable life because
of my autism as well. One of the things I tellpeople is that autism awareness does not have
(03:56):
to equate autism denial. I am proud of beingautistic, but that doesn't mean that I'm not
unaware of all the challenges and strugglesthat I deal with on a daily basis because of
my autism. That's amazing to hear. And how didthis story start, James? If we can go from
the beginning, starting with your diagnosis.So the story began, I was diagnosed with autism
(04:24):
at the age of three for the first time. NowI didn't know that I had autism back then,
but I remember from as early as I can, knowingthat I was different from other people. And...
What eventually happened was that as I grewolder, I could see the differences. I could
(04:48):
see, hmm, I'm upset and things are causing mepain, but they're not causing other people
pain. And people are understanding things whenI'm not understanding. People are feeling things
differently. And why is it that adults are expectingme? to know things that I don't. And so...
(05:14):
I went through a phase of just thinking, hmm,there's got to be something different about
me. And I created this little mythology in myhead. Maybe just people are just cruel, and
that's just the way people are. But then whenI was eight years old, my mother finally sat
me down and said, you know what? James, I wantto tell you the truth. You have autism. And
(05:39):
that was very powerful because suddenly I hadan answer. as to what was going on, why I was
so different from other people. At the momentI learned I had autism, from that very moment
I wanted to help other people going throughwhat I was going through. I also always had
(05:59):
a dream of writing books. And it was actuallyaround that time, around that time that I was
having a lot of issues in school. And my mompulled me out of school. was a second grade
and she homeschooled me. And during that timeof home education, it was a whole journey of
(06:19):
self-discovery and exploration. Now I know what'sgoing on. Now I know what I'm going through
and how to deal with it. And my dad, he wasvery tech savvy, loved computers and technology.
And he just, when the internet came out, hewas like, I want to learn about the internet.
(06:43):
He built this website for our family. And thenmy mom and I started writing a book together
when I was a kid. And through whatever, we alsogot involved with various autism organizations.
And through that grapevine, I ended up meetingthis person sitting next to me, Mr. William
(07:07):
Rogers. He emailed me when I was a kid and introducedhimself. And at that time he was a young adult
and I was a young child, but he emailed me.We had a nice correspondence for quite some
time. And then he really helped inspire me tobecome an autism advocate. And then we saw
(07:31):
each other at a few conferences back in thelate 1990s and early 2000s. Back then there
was a conference that existed called MAP. AndMAP was an organization that stood for, it
might seem offensive now, but at the time itwas not seen as such. It stood for more advanced
autistic people. And while that might seem offensivenow, back at the time that organization was
(07:57):
created, of the community where most organizationswere focusing on severe autistic. individuals,
those who couldn't talk, those who could nottalk, couldn't get dressed, really couldn't
take care of themselves. At the time, therewasn't a lot of support for the higher functioning
(08:21):
individuals. People like myself were articulate.We still have social issues. We're articulate.
We can get dressed and do a lot of basic thingsother autistic people can't. So MAP was created
to try to fill that gap. Let's have an organizationfor those that... are a little more higher
functioning. And they created a conference forthat group. And after Will and I corresponded,
(08:49):
we met for the first time in person at thatconference. Sadly, that organization went under
and those conferences are no more. But at thetime, that organization helps so many people
with autism who were higher functioning andhad skills other autistic people didn't. and
(09:09):
gave them a place that they so desperately neededback. That's amazing what you're sharing, James.
You know, not only, you know, what caught myattention was that at age eight, you were aware,
you became aware about autism. This is whatI have and that began your true journey. Similar
(09:32):
to my story, it took a couple years later, Ifound out I was diagnosed at age three, right?
But It wasn't to age 14 that I learned aboutautism for the first time. And it's interesting
and it's valuable what you're sharing in termsof what was the advocacy, let's put it this
(09:55):
way, the environment in regards to autism advocacyin the late 90s compared to what it is now.
Do you think that right now compared to whenyou started? Because you started when you became
You started advocacy very young, right? Yes,no. My mom and I started writing my first book
(10:18):
right after I found out I was autistic. Andthen I gave my first presentation when I was
11 in Wisconsin, answering questions after anotherpresenter. And then I gave some of my first
presentations at the MAP conferences that WillRogers here got to see. And Will... who is
(10:41):
currently now in middle adulthood, he's seena lot of changes too in how advocacy has changed.
And one of the things I wanna remind peopleis that it's very easy to look back at something
and think, oh my gosh, how could these peoplebe so offensive? How could these people, these
people say certain words and certain things?But what you have to realize is that what ultimately
(11:06):
matters is not necessarily is not necessarily.Sara Lee, what words are used, but how did
the people who were being spoken up for, howdid the marginalized people back then feel
about those words? I mean, truth be told, historyshows this. Even among, you know, civil rights
(11:29):
speeches back in the 1960s, civil rights activistswho were fighting for minorities were using
words that we would not use today. But clearlythese people were not using those words to
offend anybody. They were actually using themto fight for people. So I tell people, when
you hear about terminology in a historical era,the question is, was that terminology being
(11:50):
used to put people down? Or was that how peoplespoke up for one another? That's the reason
why I say, hey, okay, I've called myself advocate,right? But for me, I'm just like a student
today, learning from both of you. And I knowJames for several years now. I always say that
(12:13):
James in terms of autism, a lot of times I referto James because he's been in this for the
longest and not only the time but also the experiencesthat the evolution that you know James that
you have seen from the late 90s right the 90suntil now in terms of how it's evolved with
(12:35):
the languages the way we see autism and notonly autism but disability as well. because
we had to take into the account with the emergenceof neurodiversity, which right in the 90s wasn't
I don't know if the word neurodiversity existedat that time. Yeah, no, it didn't. And one
of the things that I like I said, I'm not tryingto repeat myself, but I think we have to remind
(12:59):
ourselves that while it's definitely true that,you know, people use a lot of offensive language.
historically and many people still do, justbecause people have used words that offend
people with autism or other disabilities andjust because something is offensive now doesn't
(13:22):
necessarily mean that everything people saidat one time was offensive. I mean we really
have to look into the context of okay... Howdid the people with disabilities feel? And
also, what are the people using that languagefor? Because many times, you know, you can
tell a story about bullies and intolerant people,and you can quote some offensive things they
(13:50):
said, but that doesn't mean you support thatlanguage. It means, you know what? You're just
trying to tell the truth about what bulliesdo. And there have been many misunderstood,
you know, about bullies and bad people. Andone thing I tell people is, you know, a movie
(14:11):
about bad people saying bad words doesn't necessarilymean the filmmakers support what the bad people
are doing. I mean, it's not like, you know,we lock up filmmakers who make murder mysteries.
Just because if someone writes a murder mystery,it doesn't mean that they think people should
be murdering people. And so I think that's thelens we need to look at with advocacy. What
(14:34):
are the words being used for? Are they reallytrying to put people down or A, is that just
how people help people back then? Because yes,people said a lot of offensive things historically,
but they also said things differently to helppeople. Absolutely, I mean, you have to look
at it from the context and also what was happeningin the world with the changes in society, the
(15:00):
events that were happening, the world. You know,it's not the same as it was 20 years ago, 25
years ago. You know, a lot of the world hasevolved and that has had an impact, right?
And plus two, the term neurodivergence, it wasn'twidely known because that was really a term
that was created as a response to new research.I mean, I think of the fact that since the
(15:22):
1990s, we now have all this research showingjust not only are there so many different types
of autism, but there's a large population. peoplewho have some symptoms of autism but aren't
necessarily fully autistic. There's also a lotof people who have autism but aren't able to
be diagnosed because of various obstacles andprejudice and so that term really in my opinion
(15:51):
was yeah now that we know there's a whole populationof people that probably do have some form of
autism but they're not getting diagnosed neurodivergenceis a way of acknowledging their story. Okay,
no, and that's important to know. And I, andI want to ask you James and also Will as well.
(16:14):
Do you think that right now we're more to get,you know, right now there's also different
opinions about as well as you were talking aboutand only with the language in terms of how
to see it. Oh, it's not a disability. It's acondition, it's identity. A lot of times that
can create confusion to be honest, again. Anddo you think that we have really I want to
(16:35):
I want to ask a very serious question, do youguys both of you think and believe that we
have to are we are we truly involved in makingsure that we're helping more people with autism
or any other condition or what do you think?
(16:55):
Alright. I don't know if I made the questionclear. Do you want me to repeat it? Sure, sure.
OK, what I'm trying to say is there has beenan evolution. Things have evolved in regards
to autism, disability rights, the emergenceof neurodiversity, neurodivergent terms due
(17:17):
to the research, also of the impacts in oursociety, the changes in our society. Being
more open to talk about this maybe than yearspast. People that didn't have the tools back
then that say not only nice, but also 80s, 60s,70s. There are adults today and they're realizing
(17:37):
that I didn't got the support that I needed.But at the same time we have and I have to
you know, and you know, you guys both know aboutthis. We have more debates about the different
things in the community. But do you guys, bothof you think there are, we are truly involving?
(17:57):
towards helping more people with autism andthe families? Or do you think that we still
have a long ways to go even though, you know,they have to build? People definitely still
have a long way to go. Because for example,with the debates, right? Where there is the
use of the language, criticism of differentdebates. I had to say, ABA therapy, for example.
(18:21):
The debates about the parents being right, beingwrong. You listen to autistic voices, right?
For example, my autism is, you know, I'm autistic,you're not, I mean, so many, you know, it's
not a disability, it's an identity. Those debates,those, and you guys both know about this, probably
(18:42):
you guys more about this than me, because youare, live in this community. I've been part
of this advocacy, I have, you know, almost,you know, only, right now this year, it's gonna
be 10 years, even though I was diagnosed witha condition at three. Right? Yeah. But you
guys have been doing you've been the advocacyfront in for decades. So based on what you
(19:05):
have seen and how we are going so far as community,are we truly involving towards fulfilling that
mission of a quality of life for everybody onthe autism spectrum and their families?
Maybe, but I think people still have a longway to go.
(19:27):
What do you think, James? I do think that wehave absolutely. And although I do think, yes,
like, well, we still have a long way to go,the reality is, is that we know scientifically
a lot more about autism than we did when I wasa kid 20 years ago. We are now also realizing
(19:50):
just how much autistic people have differentexperiences based on culture. We understand
that autistic voices are generally are validand need to be listened to, but at the same
time... I do think that we are making a mistakeby trying to argue that the validity of autistic
(20:21):
voices necessitates invalidating the voicesof family members and others. Reality is, as
the old saying goes, two wrongs don't make aright. Silencing anyone who has something worth
saying is wrong. Doesn't matter who the personis. And one thing that does frustrate me is
when you have people on the autism spectrumwho complain about being silenced. So then
(20:48):
turn around and make that same mistake and tryto silence those who are not autistic. My belief
is I don't care if you have autism or not. Ifyou're doing something to help the autism community,
then your voice is valid too. If you're a parentwho cares about your autistic child, who loves
(21:11):
your autistic child, and yet you struggled somuch raising your child, I will defend your
right to...
Exactly. Because this is a community. I mean,I mean, again, the way I see it, you know,
as well is the autism. Also, the families liveautism. That's the reality. The parents, the
(21:36):
moms that go ahead. Sorry. And we also haveto we also have to be more aware of how autism
is differently works, how autism impacts peopledifferently among cultures. I mean, I know
you well enough, Tony, Spanish speaking communityand you probably see many differences between
(21:57):
how autistic people experience autism in a Spanishspeaking community versus more mainstream English
American speaking community. You see that andI have to admire the fact that neurotypical
professionals who for a long time created socialskills curriculums and all these unspoken rule
(22:19):
curriculums solely based on... white EnglishAmerican communities and are realizing, yeah,
we have to realize that i was looking for alot of saying that every culture and even when
you have a lot of the person that doesn't understandthe unspoken rules in their culture those rules
(22:41):
are not going to be the same in spanish-speakingcommunity french-speaking community american
english-speaking community in whatever communitythat person grows up and i have hope in seeing
but more people are realizing those things thetruth is of new information with autism. It
(23:03):
is such a complex disorder. But ultimately,silencing anyone who has a valuable viewpoint
and something to say isn't going to help anybody.Exactly. What do you think, Will? Well, I certainly
do agree that parents and family members ofpeople with autism should speak to, but I feel
(23:35):
the same way about specialists who have neverlived with autism. giving presentations about
autism that Native Americans feel about whitepeople giving presentations about their culture.
No, definitely. And going along those lines,I mean, the professionals that work with the
(23:58):
population. Yeah, yeah. As well. I think thatin this world, I call it the art world because
there's different groups and the parents, professional,autistic human beings. And we need to get the
resources and the tools to achieve all of us.We want the same thing. If you guys, again,
(24:21):
if we look at it, OK. a quality of better qualityof life, right? It's how to get there. I think
that we can work with our differences, not meaningthat all of us are going to agree on the same
thing, or we're not saying that, but in an environmentof respect and understanding and listening,
I think we can make great strides. Again, alot of progress has been made, but so much
(24:45):
still needs to be done. And you're saying itright, James, for example. Each of us has a
different experience, you know, common and differentexperiences. Yeah. Back our cultural backgrounds,
where we come from, where we grew up, right?And that takes into consideration. I mean,
(25:07):
there's so much talking about from my end. Don'twant to talk about too much about myself. This
is you guys interview. The Hispanic communityhas its own challenges. The autism Hispanic
community has their own challenges. One thingthat also needs to be talked about more, the
immigrants. And I work with immigrant families.And how the difficulty that they're having
(25:29):
to access the supports that needs to be talkedabout more. I mean, the cultural backgrounds,
not only the US, but other parts of the world.How is the, how are other countries are doing
with services and supports with autism? or howthey view autism still in other countries.
It's very interesting. I mean, there's a lotof things that still need to be worked on.
(25:57):
But I think that having that environment withrespect and understanding is crucial. So that
way we can truly move ahead. You know, so andI know this is something that we cannot talk
about in an outward interview. There's no. Andif you guys are more than welcome to come back
later on, and to discuss several of these topics,that would be fantastic. Because again, this
(26:24):
is something that had to be taken care of differentconversations. So, and I appreciate both of
you sharing your experiences. And now, go ahead,James. And so what I tell people is I actually
don't really disagree with Will's statementabout specialists who don't understand autism.
But I really think the dividing line is, I asknot when I see someone talk about autism, are
(26:49):
you autistic? But what is your experience withautism? And there's a difference between a
specialist speaking about autism who's nevercome across an autistic person in their lives,
than someone who does have experience workingwith autistic people or a parent who is raising
autistic children. Exactly. There's a difference.There's a big difference between those two.
(27:14):
Definitely. And going along those lines, now,James, learn more about your story. So tell
us about what you do. We learned a little aboutyour story growing up. So tell us about what
you do as an adult with autism, about the workthat you do. Can you tell us a little bit?
(27:34):
Yeah, so I wear several hats throughout my life.I give presentations. throughout most of the
United States about autism and related subjects.But I don't just go to autism and disability
events. I go to a wide variety of events toshare my story. I have gone to hobo conventions,
(27:57):
anime conventions, gaming conventions. I'vealso gone to Native American events with full
support from... Native American leaders runningthose events to tell my story as well. And
what I tell people is, since autistic peoplehave to interact in all parts of society, if
(28:24):
you want me to come, and tell you about whatit's like to be autistic, I will. Autism outreach
shouldn't just be at autism events. In addition,I am the author of several books, fiction and
non-fiction, some I've wrote on my own, someI've written with other individuals. I'm also
(28:48):
a professional recorder player who has recordedseveral CDs. And finally, I am a very active
extracurricular volunteer at a public high schoolin Illinois known as Glenbrook North High School.
So when I'm not traveling and I'm back in myhometown of Northbrook, Illinois, I'll be at
(29:10):
Glenbrook North High School helping out withathletics and the choir and theater programs.
That's amazing. You do so many things. I mean,and I know for your career, your life story.
You as you mentioned, your words, differenthats. What helps you, James, as an autistic
(29:32):
human being, what helps you if somebody, a family,right, is watching our interview, what helps
you to work with the daily challenges, not onlyin your work, but in your life that helps you
to keep moving forward, what is that factor?Well, what I tell people is that it is very
(29:53):
easy to think because I travel on my own andbecause I'm often seen independent without
my family when I travel and when I attend eventsand do my work that I am solely managing things
on my own. But that is completely far from thetruth. Truth is, I rely very heavily on my
(30:17):
family and friends in the places I travel togive me the help and support I need. And the
truth is if it wasn't for... those people, Iwouldn't be able to do the work that I do.
I rely on people that I am friends with to opentheir doors to me, let me stay with them in
the cities I travel to, sometimes help me withtransportation, sometimes help me with meals
(30:41):
and other expenses. I also do rely on parentalsupport to help fund some of the work that
I do as well. And what I tell people is, isthat... Just because I travel independently
doesn't mean that I'm independent. And in fact,I admire family members who are out there helping
(31:05):
support their autistic children and autisticindividuals in their families. Because the
truth is, one reason why I'm such a promoterof those individuals speaking up is because
a lot of autistic people I know... Even thosewho live amazing, meaningful lives, even those
who are contributing to society, they aren'tdoing it on their own. They still depend on
(31:31):
their families. They still depend on a supportsystem. And I think that we and the autism
community need to be more realistic about ourexpectations of independence for autistic adults.
I have many friends in the Hispanic communitywho've helped me understand that there are
(31:54):
many Hispanic cultures who do not expect thesame independence that we do in our American
culture. I'm not speaking for every Hispanicculture. There's a lot of diversity among those
cultures. I'm also not trying to assume thatevery Hispanic person is Mexican. That's an
often misconception people have. But I thinkthere's a lot we can learn from the Hispanic
(32:20):
community by realizing that our expectationsof full independence are a uniquely American
expectation. Not all cultures expect independenceand a lot of autistic people. will never fully
become independent of their families and theirsupport systems, but that doesn't mean they
(32:42):
can't live meaningful lives. Just because Istill depend on my mom and my dad for some
of my needs doesn't mean I'm not living a meaningful,happy life.
And well said, I mean, all of us have a support.Some more than others, some more than others.
(33:07):
But you have to look things in terms of context.You know, all of us come from different backgrounds,
culture, where we come from, where we raisedthe circumstances that led us being part of
my life, of our lives, that got to this point.I mean, that's, you know, I believe that, you
know, basically, I always tell people. Sure,there's different levels of autism, right?
(33:31):
Level one, high functioning, right? Or leveltwo, moderate. Or they tell me about the level
three, the more profound. Right now, it's whythey talk about profound or more classic or
severe autism. But that doesn't mean they'reincapable of living a great life. Again, it's
about giving them the tools and the supportsto achieve the best quality of life that they
(33:53):
can. And I believe that every human being has...that potential to achieve a better life if
they need the supports. And there's nothingto be ashamed about that. We need to write
the supports and I think that's important. Weneed to talk about all of that more than ever
in our community. That's the reality. And Iappreciate you, James, for sharing that experience,
(34:19):
you know, and that's amazing that you're sharingall of this with us in this interview. I mean,
so. Very proud of you, very proud of you, Willas well. Yeah. And again, right now we're about
to be about to close our interview. But anymessage, I'm going to give you the floor for
(34:44):
you, James, if you also want to participateat this, Will, you're more than welcome to
do so. I want to give you the floor to say amessage to the autism community. whether you
have parents, families, autistic individuals,professionals, or maybe watching this interview
right now, what message do you have for ourcommunity?
(35:16):
Well, although it is often said that autisticpeople often struggle with understanding idioms,
there is one idiom that I am aware of that inmany ways actually reflects. how autistic people
(35:38):
often see the world and what they need fromothers. And that is that idiom that a person
is a person of their word. And truth be told,when you are autistic and you struggle with
picking up unspoken social rules and you strugglewith so many things that society doesn't want
you to speak openly about, you often have tobe a person of your word. And what I say to
(36:05):
people is, We can't always pick up things thatyou don't talk to us about. We sometimes need
to communicate about things that you might notalways communicate about. Because autistic
people, some of our biggest struggles are thingsthat are kept silent. Some of us may be dealing
(36:32):
with struggles related to puberty growing up.Some of us may be struggling with sensitive
issues, like some of us may have had issueswith toilet training as children. Some of us
might be struggling with menstruation. Someof us may be struggling with dating issues
(36:56):
or sexuality. But what we need is people whowill talk to us about our struggles, even if
society says that certain things need to bekept silent. You might be asking, James, why
are you bringing this up? Guess what? Some ofthe hardest struggles autistic people go through
(37:18):
are the things society keeps silent. In my highschool, we had a tradition sponsored by our
Gay Street Alliance called the Day of Silence,in which people chose to take an oath of silence
during the school day, mostly students, to supportLGBT people who were not able to come out.
(37:42):
And when I took part in that, I did so becauseI said to myself, there's so many things that
autistic people go through that are silencedtoo. And so a slogan for the Day of Silence
is, what will you do to end the silence? Andwhat I tell people is, the best way to be an
ally to an autistic person is fight to challengethe silence of so many struggles we face, no
(38:10):
matter what those struggles may be.
That's amazing. And you're an inspiration. Bothof you have a story of perseverance, persevering
through all the challenges. And again, James,I think our community, I know I think our community
(38:34):
should be grateful to your service, to youroutstanding work. As I said, every time I had
the honor and privilege to meet you, you'rea senior person, at least once or once per
year in Florida. I always try to learn more.And again, this for me was not an interview,
but for me was more like going to school andgoing to the class and learning from other
(38:58):
advocates. So I want to say thank you for participating,James. Will, it's a pleasure. Thank you for
participating as well. James, how can peoplereach out to you? How can people support your
work? Do you have a website? How they can buyyour books, CDs, how can they do so? Yes, so
(39:19):
I have a website, jamesmw.com. So J-A-M-E-S-M-W.com.On that website, there's links to an online
store where people can buy my books and my CDs.I also have archives of historic presentations
I've written on that website that anyone canread for free. I also have two YouTube channels,
(39:47):
a music channel called James as James, and aprofessional channel called James Williams
presenter and author with autism, where peoplecan view videos of presentations that I made
mostly during the COVID pandemic.
I also, that you can contact me by email atjmw820, that's the number 820 not water, H20,
(40:16):
it's jmw820.comcast.net or jamesasjames andthe number 820820.com.
Those who want to support my work can always...Give me donations via PayPal through the name
(40:39):
PiedPiper with a capital P 11030
or by way of Venmo under the alias PiedPiper11030 with a capital P. So that's my information
for contacting. And since you mentioned my music.I figured I'm going to close by playing a traditional
(41:07):
public domain folk song from both Ireland andScotland. It is a song that is known from both
places. In Ireland it is known as Red as theRose and in Scotland it is known as Loch Lomond.
This is amazing. Again, we're going to closeand then we'll finish with your song, James.
(41:27):
And then again, I wanted to take this opportunityto say thank you. Thank you for coming in.
Always the best for you. Always the best foryou, Will, and keep moving forward towards
making always making that difference for ourautism community. And I appreciate everybody
who will tune into this episode, share witheverybody that you know, especially in our
community. And this has been and again, thankyou so much, James. Thank you again so much,
(41:52):
Will. And this has been an episode, anotherepisode of My Time with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo,
and now we're going to close it with James.Thank you so much. And thank you for interviewing
us. Thank you.
(43:05):
Well, this is the end of another episode ofMy Time with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo. Tony
hopes you liked it. If you'd like to learn moreabout the work Tony does, subscribe to him
on his social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram,YouTube, Twitter, which is now X, and his LinkedIn
page. You can also follow Tony on his websiteat Tony Also, if you are interested in getting
(43:28):
a copy of his book, An Autism Unscripted Life,you can purchase it on Amazon or any book selling
platform. You can also obtain a copy throughhis website. So, until the next time you meet,
thank you and have a wonderful day. Blessings.
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