May 3, 2025 • 42 mins
"Autistics don't travel." "It's too much for us "
"We're a disabled group ! " Well not always....
Nicola-Autistic-Radio.com
Shares with Jules in India different and similar takes on the Travel Experience.
Do you have a thought on Travel for Nicola to Share?
She looks forward to including you for her new series.
Episode ONE Link Episode TWO link Episode THREE Link Episode FOUR Link
Invitation to you ..........
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Jules
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Autistic-Radio.com (00:03):
We speak our words, we listen, we speak our words, we listen.
We speak our words.
We listen.
We speak our words.
We listen.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (00:18):
Hello, and welcome to Autistic Radio.
Autistics don't travel.
It's too much for us.
We're a disabled group,
but here I am, in India.
(00:42):
I left my room this morning, andthe first thing I saw was a child.
The dirt on a child who lives indirt is quite something to see.
And the feet and toes of a child thathas never put on shoes or sandals.
(01:10):
It is something that affects you.
But the child did not beg.
The child walked past meas though I did not exist.
I turned left along the dusty road.
Not many meters from my safetyhotel, the noise starts.
(01:36):
Well, it starts in earnest, because Inever feel the noise goes away here.
I walk to the place that Ihave already eaten at before.
There's a white board with beautifulshapes of Maharathi and Hindi.
(02:02):
And the only thing Iunderstand is 120 rupees.
But I've got a good guess atwhat I'm going to end up eating.
A vegetable thali.
A mixture of a few differentdishes in tiny portions.
(02:22):
I think some peopledescribe it as street food.
It's not.
It's basic.
It's basic.
But it's quite nice.
When you first arrive, it seemsexotic, but now, it's commonplace as
a fish finger is back in my house.
(02:44):
I imagine the first time you taste afish finger, that feels quite exotic too.
I'd been to the place before, and therewas a rather beautiful teenager, one
of those boys that looks as thoughhe's going to grow up to have the
(03:05):
same kind of face as a film star.
But it's not a Saturday job.
He was here on Wednesday and Thursday.
It's his job.
He looks at me now in thatsurly way that teenagers have.
It has a kind of resentment init, but it's not aggressive.
(03:31):
There's a flicker in there that tellsyou, Why do you get what I haven't got?
But today I made him laugh, and thatfeels like, it feels like a connection.
It feels like progress.
(03:53):
I concentrate on himbecause it's so unusual.
Everybody here has been trying to do thevery best to show India in the best light.
Sitting at my Formica table, havingwashed my hands and remembered to
(04:13):
only use my right hand, When I eatthe rice and I pick up the vegetable
with little pieces of really chewywhole bread, unleavened bread.
(04:36):
I've become less of a
novelty at that particularplace, so I return.
It's now possible todisappear into the background.
Even though I'm the onlywhite face for many miles.
(04:59):
Sitting quietly, my attention istaken to the other side of the
road, past the abandoned flipflop, past the constant movement
of scooties and motorized rickshawsand huge brightly colored trucks.
(05:20):
All of those wonderful images thatyou get from the National Geographic.
But covered in dirt.
Across the road, a tree.
Across the road, behind a broken fence.
There's a trunk of a tree.
(05:43):
I can't help but concentrate on the tree.
I found a tree.
Amongst all of this, I found a tree.
I'm just watching it.
It's almost entirely still and solid.
(06:06):
It has a texture that's ancient.
But it's probably only acouple of centuries old.
With brief shivers of the finestend leaflets, there's movement.
Movement that shows how still it is.
(06:28):
I tell somebody back home
that I'm watching a tree.
Is it ancient, they say.
No.
Two centuries, at most.
I felt sorry for it when I first saw it.
(06:49):
A survivor.
Of the long gone woods.
It seemed to me unfairly treated,
everything around it, pushing intoits space, but seeing it jave, gent,
(07:10):
oops, but seeing it gently wavingwith that stoical strong trunk and
muscular arms of rigid branches.
It has dignity.
(07:30):
It holds itself proud and itcan still play in the breeze.
Even at its age, right at thetips of its fingers, it dances.
And then, I'm crying.
(07:52):
The tears just roll.
Overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed by the experience of a tree.
Back home,
I'm told, I'm glad you met it.
(08:16):
It gave you a rest.
Yes, I say.
It's unaware of my presence.
It's a tree.
They say to me,
humans have been with trees a long time.
(08:37):
So I change the subject.
And now for the pollution index.
Today we're at medium, with aforecast of the same for Sunday.
However, we can expect a sharp risein dust and fumes from early morning
on Monday as the traffic starts again.
(09:03):
Autistics don't travel,but here I am in India.
If you are autistic, there's somethingyou have the advantage of, and that is
your sensitivity to the things around you.
(09:23):
So for me, travel is one ofthose things that really opens
up my experience of life.
Well, I'm joined now by oneof my colleagues, Nicola.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (09:35):
Hey Jules.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (09:38):
Hi, , Nicola?
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (09:39):
You know, the rest of getting to be around a tree that's
not watching you, but you can be with it.
Yeah,
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (09:49):
yeah, I know.
It just took me into a space, you know.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (09:54):
Well, I haven't traveled for a long time.
My memories of travel take meback a few decades, really.
I've got some questions for you somethoughts that I had over the week.
, are you traveling alone, Jules?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (10:10):
Yeah, I am.
I'm travelling alone.
It, it's actually quite nice.
Uh, the solitude of being able to beout in the world, , even away from the
person that you love most is, is a luxury.
It really is.
It's, um, it's a way of re energizingyourself and getting back in contact
(10:33):
with yourself again, I think.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (10:35):
Well, yeah, I understand that a lot.
When I was wondering about.
Asking you questions I was thinking, Iwonder if you're alone or if you're in
company because for a lot, of me feltthat being alone traveling in a difficult
place could be a lot easier in some ways.
, but I foresaw challenges there too.
(10:57):
, how's your experience, howwas your experience of, of
getting there by yourself?
Were there challenges on the way?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (11:07):
Well, um, it's, it's something I've done a lot.
So I'm, I'm probably not asdisabled by all of these things
that happen to you in airports.
, I'm quite happy to mask up toget through all the situations.
(11:31):
, I have various ways of compensating forthe, uh, the intenseness of, uh, everybody
else, everybody in that channeled space,that pressure cooker of an airport.
It is possible if, if you plan it.
(11:52):
And I think Alex Stratheek is,, the, , autism adventures abroad guy.
That's also on autistic radio.
He expresses this to that with a bit ofplanning and a bit of, , organization,
you can either make it clear witha sun sunflower lanyard and you can
take the route of, , please help me.
(12:15):
Or you can take the route I take,which is to do everything you can to.
To deal with it yourself and keepaway because I actually find having
other people helping you is moreof an imposition personally than
getting it on with it yourself.
So different autistic people will, deal with that in different ways.
(12:37):
If people are thinking of maybe,traveling to the next town or
even going away for a weekend ina big city in their own country.
The idea of the sunflower lanyard
, as a support, I think is, is a good one.
But I am fortunate enough to have kindof left that training wheel, , behind
(13:03):
now, and I'm quite confident to deal with
the difficulties of those intenseexperiences in airports, , but
from long, long years of practice.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (13:18):
Yeah, I wondered that in my experience dealing
with difficult sensory experiencescan be easier when I can shut out the
social aspect so that I imagined ifyou were traveling alone there might
be a way that you didn't have to tunein to see how anybody else is doing
and it almost can kind of, in myexperience, insulate you a bit from it.
(13:42):
, And
does that ring, doesthat ring a bell for you?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com: You're absolutely right. (13:49):
undefined
I think you've, managed toexplain it in fewer words.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (13:55):
Why, why are you in Pune, India?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (14:01):
I stuck a finger on the Google map and, oh, did I?
Yes, I pretty much did that.
I had tickets to Mumbai.
Mumbai at this moment in time is ina in a serious pollution situation
(14:27):
despite the fact it's winter.
So I wanted to quitequickly escape from Mumbai.
I got to the outskirts on the day Iarrived and The train that I could book
using my Indian railways app back inthe UK, the first one didn't have a
(14:52):
wait list, the one that actually wouldgive me a guaranteed ticket went from
this outskirts of Mumbai station outtPuneoPune on is a, it's a well known,
, ancient town that actually people goto, , , as tourists from inside India.
My experience at Pune was unusual.
(15:16):
But even before I
got there, my experience on theplane of the expectations and
what other people would suggestthat I did, um, led me to think
I'd made a mistake.
(15:38):
, The plane I took was a German plane.
German crew.
Very efficient.
, But almost everybody on the plane,a full plane, was from India, , they
were going home after Christmas.
Except a couple of, , a coupleof white people, , besides me.
(16:01):
And both of those white, whitepeople were, were going to India
for a very specific purpose.
They were going to India for acliché purpose in my, my feeling.
They were going for a visit to an ashramand a spiritual idea of, um, India that
(16:21):
they had created in their heads, I think.
It was their first timethat they were visiting.
What happened was we set off, andafter a couple of hours, because it
was the winter, It was important thatthe, the plane functioned perfectly.
(16:44):
And the captain came on and heexplained that the normal de icing
situation that works on the planehad not malfunctioned, but it was
working less than it should have done.
So a decision was made that insteadof continuing to Mumbai, Mumbai.
(17:08):
We returned back to Frankfurt on thebasis that they had to be certain that
if the plane arrived somewhere, thatit would arrive somewhere where all the
engineering would manage to repair it.
And they weren't happyabout Mumbai for that.
(17:31):
So there was this acceptanceon the plane that for safety
reasons, we were going to go back.
And that meant that we had thiskind of camaraderie on the ground.
Lots of people looking at each otherand, , raising their eyebrows and saying
(17:56):
the kind of things, you know, we'reall in it together, that kind of thing.
One of the white people, , A middleaged lady who had dressed herself
in preparation for India to, to fitthe, the model of, , somebody who is
(18:18):
a yoga person or a spiritual person.
The beads, the cotton,the, the sandals even.
So that when she arrived there,she would, she would feel as
though she was in the moment andin the mood for what she was doing.
(18:40):
I lent her a, , a charger so that shecould make sure her phone was working.
So there was a little bit of conversation.
And if anybody needed tode stress, it was her.
, She really needed to go somewherethat was going to give her
a way away from her world.
(19:03):
, I don't think she was quiteaware how prickly she was.
It was very interesting that we allgot back on another plane and that
plane then had to sit for a while.
, and it, it stayed on runwayfor quite a long time.
, a couple of hours.
And I noticed her again.
(19:25):
Because she wasn't sitting too far away.
And, unlike, Everybody else who waskind of getting on with it, enjoying
the films, , realizing that they weregoing to arrive at a more sensible
time in Mumbai instead of two o'clockin the morning, we were now going to
(19:46):
arrive, you know, when Mumbai was awake.
So actually for me, itwas more convenient.
, She was exuding all of this resentmentthat everything had changed for her
just before we managed to Resolveeverything she stood up from her
(20:09):
seat and walked down the corridor,
loudly exclaiming how we shouldall get together and create a group
complaining about the situationbecause we should have our money back.
(20:30):
And this was disgraceful.
Now, this amused me.
But, I felt for the crew, becausethe crew had been exemplary.
And I also felt slightly embarrassed infront of all of these people from India,
who were stoically getting on with things.
(20:55):
And so I loudly spoke out,and I said, Please sit down.
We don't want that.
Go back to your seat.
Just those words, because I'dthought them out before I said them.
And that's when I noticedthe other white people.
, a couple.
A youngish couple with dreadlocks.
(21:17):
And, and they supported her.
They said that I shouldn't be sorude because she's an old lady.
And I'm thinking to myself,I'm the same age, but, and
I think what that illustrates isA real difference in culture, a
(21:40):
real difference in expectations.
And I think also a bit of a fantasyabout what people think travel is for,
especially if they're looking for somekind of special spiritual experience.
Um, as I've traveled aroundand I've been here a couple of
(22:01):
weeks on trains and such like.
I have conversations with people andthey say, Oh, you're coming for ashram
or you're coming for this everywhere.
All the white people go there and Ilaugh and I say, no, I'm not going
there because it's full of white people.
And I don't want to be there.
I don't want to be in Europe, in India.
(22:22):
I want to be in India and India.
And that seems to gain a bit of respectaround there because there's a feeling
that, You want to see their livesrather than use this as a playground.
Does that make any kind of sense to you?
(22:43):
It
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (22:43):
does.
, My experience of travelwas working abroad.
Um, it changed for me.
I'd never been on holidays abroad before.
I'd just gone to, I went and I worked.
I didn't have money toholidays at the time.
Um, and I think that there, there is,I think when you're more integrated.
(23:07):
into somewhere where you're visiting.
Other people's,
oh, it's not, it's almost thoughtlessbehavior, just kind of like you
say, being there to kind of justhave this experience for themselves.
, Rather than realize that they'reon someone's homeland, they're,
(23:31):
this is somebody's place of work,somebody's home, somebody's like
path that they know like the backof their hands, you know, it's home.
There's a, there is a differentperspective there, and that's
what I hear when you say that.
I was thinking autistics andtraveling and coping with uncertainty.
And it sounds like you got to a placewhere you, , you expect uncertainty on
(23:56):
the plane and while you're travelingand that things all go wrong.
What did you take with you?
Did you have items, do you have,, distractions, tools that you use
to kinda get you through those?
Those uncertain times whereyou're , I don't know what's going
to happen in the next four hours.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (24:17):
Yeah, that, that, that's quite interesting.
Um,
I do have stims.
, but I don't have things to stim with,I bite my nails or I twitch or I repeat
things in my head, those kinds of things.
I don't carry around a fidgetspinner or something to play with.
(24:41):
, Modern technology is amazing.
And I had several podcasts downloadedonto my phone to listen to and.
I had made myself absolutely comfortable.
I have, , an old lady's, , blow upcushion that goes in a wheelchair.
(25:02):
We call it the, , cocoon ofcomfort because that's how it was
advertised on a Chinese website.
Essentially it's a very small blow up mat.
I can, I can put into the seat of, , arailway train or put down on a bed or,
or put into a place that just givesme that sense of cocooning up and,
and being in a more comfortable space.
(25:26):
The other thing is that I'm very selfcontained with things like water.
I make sure that I've got water beforeI go on the plane so that I don't
have to be asking people for stuff.
I usually have some work to do.
, a pen and paper, , somethingto write down.
So, an awful lot of the timeI'm actually in my own world.
(25:50):
What you said earlier I thought was reallyinteresting and I want to go with that
because It's the ability, when you're onyour own, to be not having to look after
somebody else, not consider somebodyelse's experience, that is very freeing.
Um, even if you're in a relationshipthat's very, you know, equal and
(26:17):
egalitarian, both of you do tend totry to look out for the other person.
You put, you know, a stress onyourself and you also put a stress
on them when they're receiving it.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (26:30):
Yeah, hyper independence has been my absolute go
to, um, solution for a lot of problems.
And like you said, preparing aheadof time, even without, you know, it
being a shame when you've got somebodyelse with you, it's just two, two
bladders that'll need to be emptiedat different times or two different
thirsts or Problems that come up as well.
It can, it can add a lot morechallenges, even though there's
(26:54):
times where it can be so much easierto have somebody alongside you.
It's a strange paradox andeach situation might be as
different.
, What you said there about , yourblow up cocoon, your, uh, cocoon.
Portable cocoon.
It reminded me of something I read a weewhile ago that helped me quite a lot.
(27:15):
, I'd got quite stuck in,stuck in my comfort zone.
, and had that feeling of when, you know,when things go wrong, you just need
to get back home and feel safe again.
I saw a Social media post orsomething, it said , sometimes you
just need to try and get a comfy seat.
I thought, yeah, that makes sense.
If you, if I could just findsomewhere where I'm like, right,
okay, there's my comfy seat.
I'm going to sit there.
(27:35):
I've got my drink.
I'm going to scroll on my phone fora minute, or I'm going to just, like,
clear my head, and then I'll move on.
It's like not feeling like you haveto retreat to the furthest point.
So, yeah, your cocoon, your cocoon kindof confirms to me the comfy seat idea.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (27:54):
There's another thing I can say, , and we've
laughed about this ever since we were16 in that I will prepare my wife
a cup of tea in any circumstance.
I will have a, like a little electricelement to put in a cup, or I will have
a, , a cooker, a methylated spirit stoveif we're, if we're going around the
(28:17):
north of Scotland, , on a railway trip,
I will have a flask ready.
We will always have access tothat sense and feeling of that
cup of tea, that few moments ofeverything best being normalized.
, I'm looking over to the side of meand I'm in a hotel that provides a
(28:38):
kettle, but I've always got this tinylittle kettle with me and it's metal
so that I can use it to cook food.
, and I've also got a, , A littleelectric stove, a tiny little
electric stove with, , little tiffinsthat they have here in, India.
Those, those kind of, , silver boxesthat attach to each other and clip
together that you see on the, on theMumbai railway and things like this.
(29:02):
, so that I, I can find myself comfort food.
Simple potatoes and steamed vegetables.
So that I don't have to have.
Curry every day or fish fromthe local market or whatever it
(29:22):
is in whichever culture I'm in.
I can get something that is almostbland but also gives me a sense
of health and comfort there.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (29:34):
Two things came up when you said that there, when you
were talking about, , that cup of tea andhow important it is to be able to kind
of get, that cup of tea can help so much.
I think it's lovely that you're inIndia, which is the home of tea.
, so how is the tea in India
Jules-AutisticRadio.com: it's bloody awful. (29:49):
undefined
It's, , it's not tea.
, it's heated milk with a slighttaste of tea and a lot of sugar.
It's everything I don't want.
, so I have to make myself, I boughttea from the local supermarket here.
(30:10):
I have to make myself some leaftea, , and just have it black.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (30:15):
That's, that's such a surprise that they
don't have a good sort of tea culture.
Really milky sweet tea.
That's awful.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (30:26):
Well, they do, they do, but they
have masala tea, you know.
And if you like, if you like milky drinks,masala tea, it's like chai, you know.
And all of these other, you know,Things that people have got into
back home, , milky drinks with spicesin, but that's not comfort for me
that that's trying something andenjoying something strange and new.
(30:47):
But when I need to have that comfort,I need things that are very familiar
and an amount of tea leaves is a verylight thing to carry around with you.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (30:59):
I would be very much the same.
I worked, , a lot with an occupationaltherapist earlier last, , last year,
and, , I learned so much about how toresource myself through my senses and
a lot of things like smells and tasteswhere they've become really important.
, having a, you know, flavor freetoothpaste and just not having that
(31:22):
extra stimulation sometimes can be thedifference between a day where I've,
I cope and I don't and how much energyI've got, , and working with an OT helped
me to take that a lot more seriously.
So I really, I really hear you whenyou're talking about needing that.
You need the bland food and your teato taste like, like you're used to.
, yeah, , I'd imagine eatingspice food could be really
(31:46):
overstimulating on an ongoing basis.
, Jules-AutisticRadio.com (31:54):
Back home in the UK, I used to make myself quite
strong, spicy, , curries and chilies.
But since I visited India last year,I rarely made, , a curry or a chili
because I felt as I'd had enough.
And
it's fortunate sometimes I'vecome across places that have
(32:18):
produced something that is quitesimple and it's It might be salty.
It might be a little bit of too much onthe chili side of things, but Not this
celebration food that we often have.
When you're traveling, you end upeating in restaurants and places.
If you're not careful, you're eatingthe food that people only eat once
(32:39):
a month, or they only eat once at abirthday, but you're eating it every day
because that's what's available to you.
For me, finding the opposite of wildexperiences, so that when I do have
the wild experiences, it's okay, seemsto be the, the background for me.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (33:01):
Yeah.
, What about the heat?
How are you, how isthe temperatures there?
I had a wee look and it didn'tlook too extreme just now, but how
are you coping with the climate?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com: It's not that hot. (33:14):
undefined
, The first few days, it wasabsolutely essential to have
air conditioning in your room.
And if you spend 20 quid on a decentroom instead of being in a hostel for
possibly 20 quid as well, , you're goingto get air conditioning in your room.
, I only book places that haveaccess to air conditioning.
(33:39):
In fact, I turned up at a placerecently and it didn't have the air
conditioning that was advertised.
I was in Pune at that time, , andit was not going to be comfortable.
It wasn't a comfortable night, butthe trick of the trade for me is
that when I book a place that I'mgoing to stay in for a few days,
I book the first day, , separatelyfrom maybe the rest of the days.
(34:03):
So, I have the opportunity ofcancelling the extra days without
any problems, , moving somewhere.
If it doesn't turn up to be exactlyas advertised and very often, , the
places you turn up do not, , haveexactly what's advertised.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com: That sounds like good advice. (34:20):
undefined
, you shared some pictures withme and during the week and had
a good time looking at them.
Was that a loom that you were showingus I saw what I thought was a loom.
I wasn't sure if it wasto do with printing.
There was a lot of open market spaces.
I saw some train stations.
And a lot of cows as well.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (34:44):
Yeah, I took
those photos in a periodof about four hours.
, All of those images werein short succession.
All of the ones off the camera.
They, they weren't edited whathappened as I explored this town.
I
(35:05):
saw a group of cows walking alongthe streets and they were following
each other like you see in thecountryside, , one after another.
And it amused me that they, that theyturned left in front of me, , and
started to walk along a tiny alleyway.
(35:25):
, . I was tall enough to be able totake a photograph of them looking
down so that they were in aline going along the alleyway.
There was that perspective thingthat was happening, you know.
Then I switched on my camera onto videoand I followed them and I followed
this procession of cows they moved mefrom the street where everything was
(35:51):
commerce, everything was for sale.
Into the backyards and the rougher areasas they walked through and it worked
out quite nicely for me when I showed itto somebody else who's autistic, they,
they understood it and they got it.
(36:12):
, They took us on a journeythat was very different.
It was a cow's eye viewfor, for where you lived.
, and then there were the birdscame across and you could
hear people in the background.
, And then one cow just stops rightin front of me and poos directly
onto the ground in front of me.
(36:35):
, Which made a nice fittingend to the little sequence.
As I walked back, I kept looking aroundbecause I hadn't noticed where I'd walked
as much because I'd concentrated on them.
And on the ground, there's an imagethere that's quite telling of India.
(36:56):
, and it's the corpse ofa rat that has degraded.
And then on top of the rat,it's been shat on by a cow pat.
So you can just see the two together.
And then they merge into the same color.
So that you have to look at itto, to realize what you're seeing.
(37:16):
And I thought that image wasvery telling of where I am.
, and then, being aware of my surroundingsagain, , I see a fella and he's
standing outside , his workshop.
So I go over to speak to him andhe's interested in where I'm coming
from and he sees my eyes when Ilook at his ancient machinery.
(37:38):
The first thing I see is a guillotine,a cast iron, old fashioned guillotine.
Looks as though it comes from the 1930s or40s, , but maybe it's younger than that,
, for cutting paper in large amounts.
And behind it is a printing press,and it's a printing press that comes
(37:59):
out of Steampunk or Willy Wonka.
, cast iron, big, big wheels, bigcogs, big things happening on it.
He shows me what he's making, andhe's printing school books for kids.
Just conventional lined school books.
(38:21):
, the cheapest version for the localkids you can go into a stationers and
you can buy a more expensive version.
, but he's making the ones that people use.
I really loved beingamongst that machinery.
And I also love that he was proud of it.
And he was using it.
The workshop itself was smallerthan some people's kitchens.
(38:44):
And in that workshop, he wasdoing everything, storage,
production, everything.
He was smartly dressedand had a good feeling.
And we took photos of each other.
And there was a good sense that.
He respected himself, and he wasrespected by me being interested
(39:06):
in these old pieces of machinery.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (39:10):
It's so rare for us to, to see somebody who
owns the means of production andis able to just maintain and care
for that and be supported by that.
That, yeah, and the oldmechanical aspect of it as well.
He knows how to repair the thing.
(39:33):
, when you said about the, the cowpat andthe rat, it made me think of, , like
things that I've read about, aboutmonks doing death meditations as well,
just being so much more close to,
, life and death.
How is it having, , animalsbeing so much more kind of
(39:55):
integrated around
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (39:57):
I think I'll answer that question in a moment because
I want to pick up on what you just said.
Autistic radio is about us,it's for us, and it's from us.
Autistic radio is about you, it'sfor you, and it can be from you.
(40:19):
We have, every single Sunday, drop in, 4.
44pm every Sunday.
That's not live, that's us gettingtogether, us talking, community.
Every Sunday, Harry leads a 5 5 5 p.
(40:40):
m.
A discussion around theFacebook page that he creates.
Involve yourself by suggestingwhat we should talk about next.
Share it with Harry.
And then, the bigger picture.
(41:00):
Advocate.
Use us.
Speak to the world.
Your project, your idea, your enthusiasm.
We have a whole range of differentprograms that will fit what you want.
As far as listening goes, there'ssome challenging stuff out there.
(41:22):
Because amongst the identity, theentertainment, and the community,
we also make serious programs withautism professionals, challenging
their ideas, and bringing whatyou say in other spaces to them.
(41:43):
A lot of those are difficult listens,but it's a holistic gathering.
It comes all together.
Autistic radio is very varied.
We need a favour.
To encourage us, we need you to share us.
(42:05):
When you share us, yougive autistic people power.
When you share us, you makeus impossible to ignore.
When you repost on LinkedIn and Facebookand anywhere else, you're advocating
for everybody in the autistic community.
(42:28):
So pick the things that you'rehappy with and get them out there.
So thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you, from all of us.
We speak our words, we listen, we speak our words, we listen.
We speak our words.
We listen.
We speak our words.
We listen.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (00:18):
Hello, and welcome to Autistic Radio.
Autistics don't travel.
It's too much for us.
We're a disabled group,
but here I am, in India.
(00:42):
I left my room this morning, andthe first thing I saw was a child.
The dirt on a child who lives indirt is quite something to see.
And the feet and toes of a child thathas never put on shoes or sandals.
(01:10):
It is something that affects you.
But the child did not beg.
The child walked past meas though I did not exist.
I turned left along the dusty road.
Not many meters from my safetyhotel, the noise starts.
(01:36):
Well, it starts in earnest, because Inever feel the noise goes away here.
I walk to the place that Ihave already eaten at before.
There's a white board with beautifulshapes of Maharathi and Hindi.
(02:02):
And the only thing Iunderstand is 120 rupees.
But I've got a good guess atwhat I'm going to end up eating.
A vegetable thali.
A mixture of a few differentdishes in tiny portions.
(02:22):
I think some peopledescribe it as street food.
It's not.
It's basic.
It's basic.
But it's quite nice.
When you first arrive, it seemsexotic, but now, it's commonplace as
a fish finger is back in my house.
(02:44):
I imagine the first time you taste afish finger, that feels quite exotic too.
I'd been to the place before, and therewas a rather beautiful teenager, one
of those boys that looks as thoughhe's going to grow up to have the
(03:05):
same kind of face as a film star.
But it's not a Saturday job.
He was here on Wednesday and Thursday.
It's his job.
He looks at me now in thatsurly way that teenagers have.
It has a kind of resentment init, but it's not aggressive.
(03:31):
There's a flicker in there that tellsyou, Why do you get what I haven't got?
But today I made him laugh, and thatfeels like, it feels like a connection.
It feels like progress.
(03:53):
I concentrate on himbecause it's so unusual.
Everybody here has been trying to do thevery best to show India in the best light.
Sitting at my Formica table, havingwashed my hands and remembered to
(04:13):
only use my right hand, When I eatthe rice and I pick up the vegetable
with little pieces of really chewywhole bread, unleavened bread.
(04:36):
I've become less of a
novelty at that particularplace, so I return.
It's now possible todisappear into the background.
Even though I'm the onlywhite face for many miles.
(04:59):
Sitting quietly, my attention istaken to the other side of the
road, past the abandoned flipflop, past the constant movement
of scooties and motorized rickshawsand huge brightly colored trucks.
(05:20):
All of those wonderful images thatyou get from the National Geographic.
But covered in dirt.
Across the road, a tree.
Across the road, behind a broken fence.
There's a trunk of a tree.
(05:43):
I can't help but concentrate on the tree.
I found a tree.
Amongst all of this, I found a tree.
I'm just watching it.
It's almost entirely still and solid.
(06:06):
It has a texture that's ancient.
But it's probably only acouple of centuries old.
With brief shivers of the finestend leaflets, there's movement.
Movement that shows how still it is.
(06:28):
I tell somebody back home
that I'm watching a tree.
Is it ancient, they say.
No.
Two centuries, at most.
I felt sorry for it when I first saw it.
(06:49):
A survivor.
Of the long gone woods.
It seemed to me unfairly treated,
everything around it, pushing intoits space, but seeing it jave, gent,
(07:10):
oops, but seeing it gently wavingwith that stoical strong trunk and
muscular arms of rigid branches.
It has dignity.
(07:30):
It holds itself proud and itcan still play in the breeze.
Even at its age, right at thetips of its fingers, it dances.
And then, I'm crying.
(07:52):
The tears just roll.
Overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed by the experience of a tree.
Back home,
I'm told, I'm glad you met it.
(08:16):
It gave you a rest.
Yes, I say.
It's unaware of my presence.
It's a tree.
They say to me,
humans have been with trees a long time.
(08:37):
So I change the subject.
And now for the pollution index.
Today we're at medium, with aforecast of the same for Sunday.
However, we can expect a sharp risein dust and fumes from early morning
on Monday as the traffic starts again.
(09:03):
Autistics don't travel,but here I am in India.
If you are autistic, there's somethingyou have the advantage of, and that is
your sensitivity to the things around you.
(09:23):
So for me, travel is one ofthose things that really opens
up my experience of life.
Well, I'm joined now by oneof my colleagues, Nicola.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (09:35):
Hey Jules.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (09:38):
Hi, , Nicola?
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (09:39):
You know, the rest of getting to be around a tree that's
not watching you, but you can be with it.
Yeah,
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (09:49):
yeah, I know.
It just took me into a space, you know.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (09:54):
Well, I haven't traveled for a long time.
My memories of travel take meback a few decades, really.
I've got some questions for you somethoughts that I had over the week.
, are you traveling alone, Jules?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (10:10):
Yeah, I am.
I'm travelling alone.
It, it's actually quite nice.
Uh, the solitude of being able to beout in the world, , even away from the
person that you love most is, is a luxury.
It really is.
It's, um, it's a way of re energizingyourself and getting back in contact
(10:33):
with yourself again, I think.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (10:35):
Well, yeah, I understand that a lot.
When I was wondering about.
Asking you questions I was thinking, Iwonder if you're alone or if you're in
company because for a lot, of me feltthat being alone traveling in a difficult
place could be a lot easier in some ways.
, but I foresaw challenges there too.
(10:57):
, how's your experience, howwas your experience of, of
getting there by yourself?
Were there challenges on the way?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (11:07):
Well, um, it's, it's something I've done a lot.
So I'm, I'm probably not asdisabled by all of these things
that happen to you in airports.
, I'm quite happy to mask up toget through all the situations.
(11:31):
, I have various ways of compensating forthe, uh, the intenseness of, uh, everybody
else, everybody in that channeled space,that pressure cooker of an airport.
It is possible if, if you plan it.
(11:52):
And I think Alex Stratheek is,, the, , autism adventures abroad guy.
That's also on autistic radio.
He expresses this to that with a bit ofplanning and a bit of, , organization,
you can either make it clear witha sun sunflower lanyard and you can
take the route of, , please help me.
(12:15):
Or you can take the route I take,which is to do everything you can to.
To deal with it yourself and keepaway because I actually find having
other people helping you is moreof an imposition personally than
getting it on with it yourself.
So different autistic people will, deal with that in different ways.
(12:37):
If people are thinking of maybe,traveling to the next town or
even going away for a weekend ina big city in their own country.
The idea of the sunflower lanyard
, as a support, I think is, is a good one.
But I am fortunate enough to have kindof left that training wheel, , behind
(13:03):
now, and I'm quite confident to deal with
the difficulties of those intenseexperiences in airports, , but
from long, long years of practice.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (13:18):
Yeah, I wondered that in my experience dealing
with difficult sensory experiencescan be easier when I can shut out the
social aspect so that I imagined ifyou were traveling alone there might
be a way that you didn't have to tunein to see how anybody else is doing
and it almost can kind of, in myexperience, insulate you a bit from it.
(13:42):
, And
does that ring, doesthat ring a bell for you?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com: You're absolutely right. (13:49):
undefined
I think you've, managed toexplain it in fewer words.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (13:55):
Why, why are you in Pune, India?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (14:01):
I stuck a finger on the Google map and, oh, did I?
Yes, I pretty much did that.
I had tickets to Mumbai.
Mumbai at this moment in time is ina in a serious pollution situation
(14:27):
despite the fact it's winter.
So I wanted to quitequickly escape from Mumbai.
I got to the outskirts on the day Iarrived and The train that I could book
using my Indian railways app back inthe UK, the first one didn't have a
(14:52):
wait list, the one that actually wouldgive me a guaranteed ticket went from
this outskirts of Mumbai station outtPuneoPune on is a, it's a well known,
, ancient town that actually people goto, , , as tourists from inside India.
My experience at Pune was unusual.
(15:16):
But even before I
got there, my experience on theplane of the expectations and
what other people would suggestthat I did, um, led me to think
I'd made a mistake.
(15:38):
, The plane I took was a German plane.
German crew.
Very efficient.
, But almost everybody on the plane,a full plane, was from India, , they
were going home after Christmas.
Except a couple of, , a coupleof white people, , besides me.
(16:01):
And both of those white, whitepeople were, were going to India
for a very specific purpose.
They were going to India for acliché purpose in my, my feeling.
They were going for a visit to an ashramand a spiritual idea of, um, India that
(16:21):
they had created in their heads, I think.
It was their first timethat they were visiting.
What happened was we set off, andafter a couple of hours, because it
was the winter, It was important thatthe, the plane functioned perfectly.
(16:44):
And the captain came on and heexplained that the normal de icing
situation that works on the planehad not malfunctioned, but it was
working less than it should have done.
So a decision was made that insteadof continuing to Mumbai, Mumbai.
(17:08):
We returned back to Frankfurt on thebasis that they had to be certain that
if the plane arrived somewhere, thatit would arrive somewhere where all the
engineering would manage to repair it.
And they weren't happyabout Mumbai for that.
(17:31):
So there was this acceptanceon the plane that for safety
reasons, we were going to go back.
And that meant that we had thiskind of camaraderie on the ground.
Lots of people looking at each otherand, , raising their eyebrows and saying
(17:56):
the kind of things, you know, we'reall in it together, that kind of thing.
One of the white people, , A middleaged lady who had dressed herself
in preparation for India to, to fitthe, the model of, , somebody who is
(18:18):
a yoga person or a spiritual person.
The beads, the cotton,the, the sandals even.
So that when she arrived there,she would, she would feel as
though she was in the moment andin the mood for what she was doing.
(18:40):
I lent her a, , a charger so that shecould make sure her phone was working.
So there was a little bit of conversation.
And if anybody needed tode stress, it was her.
, She really needed to go somewherethat was going to give her
a way away from her world.
(19:03):
, I don't think she was quiteaware how prickly she was.
It was very interesting that we allgot back on another plane and that
plane then had to sit for a while.
, and it, it stayed on runwayfor quite a long time.
, a couple of hours.
And I noticed her again.
(19:25):
Because she wasn't sitting too far away.
And, unlike, Everybody else who waskind of getting on with it, enjoying
the films, , realizing that they weregoing to arrive at a more sensible
time in Mumbai instead of two o'clockin the morning, we were now going to
(19:46):
arrive, you know, when Mumbai was awake.
So actually for me, itwas more convenient.
, She was exuding all of this resentmentthat everything had changed for her
just before we managed to Resolveeverything she stood up from her
(20:09):
seat and walked down the corridor,
loudly exclaiming how we shouldall get together and create a group
complaining about the situationbecause we should have our money back.
(20:30):
And this was disgraceful.
Now, this amused me.
But, I felt for the crew, becausethe crew had been exemplary.
And I also felt slightly embarrassed infront of all of these people from India,
who were stoically getting on with things.
(20:55):
And so I loudly spoke out,and I said, Please sit down.
We don't want that.
Go back to your seat.
Just those words, because I'dthought them out before I said them.
And that's when I noticedthe other white people.
, a couple.
A youngish couple with dreadlocks.
(21:17):
And, and they supported her.
They said that I shouldn't be sorude because she's an old lady.
And I'm thinking to myself,I'm the same age, but, and
I think what that illustrates isA real difference in culture, a
(21:40):
real difference in expectations.
And I think also a bit of a fantasyabout what people think travel is for,
especially if they're looking for somekind of special spiritual experience.
Um, as I've traveled aroundand I've been here a couple of
(22:01):
weeks on trains and such like.
I have conversations with people andthey say, Oh, you're coming for ashram
or you're coming for this everywhere.
All the white people go there and Ilaugh and I say, no, I'm not going
there because it's full of white people.
And I don't want to be there.
I don't want to be in Europe, in India.
(22:22):
I want to be in India and India.
And that seems to gain a bit of respectaround there because there's a feeling
that, You want to see their livesrather than use this as a playground.
Does that make any kind of sense to you?
(22:43):
It
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (22:43):
does.
, My experience of travelwas working abroad.
Um, it changed for me.
I'd never been on holidays abroad before.
I'd just gone to, I went and I worked.
I didn't have money toholidays at the time.
Um, and I think that there, there is,I think when you're more integrated.
(23:07):
into somewhere where you're visiting.
Other people's,
oh, it's not, it's almost thoughtlessbehavior, just kind of like you
say, being there to kind of justhave this experience for themselves.
, Rather than realize that they'reon someone's homeland, they're,
(23:31):
this is somebody's place of work,somebody's home, somebody's like
path that they know like the backof their hands, you know, it's home.
There's a, there is a differentperspective there, and that's
what I hear when you say that.
I was thinking autistics andtraveling and coping with uncertainty.
And it sounds like you got to a placewhere you, , you expect uncertainty on
(23:56):
the plane and while you're travelingand that things all go wrong.
What did you take with you?
Did you have items, do you have,, distractions, tools that you use
to kinda get you through those?
Those uncertain times whereyou're , I don't know what's going
to happen in the next four hours.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (24:17):
Yeah, that, that, that's quite interesting.
Um,
I do have stims.
, but I don't have things to stim with,I bite my nails or I twitch or I repeat
things in my head, those kinds of things.
I don't carry around a fidgetspinner or something to play with.
(24:41):
, Modern technology is amazing.
And I had several podcasts downloadedonto my phone to listen to and.
I had made myself absolutely comfortable.
I have, , an old lady's, , blow upcushion that goes in a wheelchair.
(25:02):
We call it the, , cocoon ofcomfort because that's how it was
advertised on a Chinese website.
Essentially it's a very small blow up mat.
I can, I can put into the seat of, , arailway train or put down on a bed or,
or put into a place that just givesme that sense of cocooning up and,
and being in a more comfortable space.
(25:26):
The other thing is that I'm very selfcontained with things like water.
I make sure that I've got water beforeI go on the plane so that I don't
have to be asking people for stuff.
I usually have some work to do.
, a pen and paper, , somethingto write down.
So, an awful lot of the timeI'm actually in my own world.
(25:50):
What you said earlier I thought was reallyinteresting and I want to go with that
because It's the ability, when you're onyour own, to be not having to look after
somebody else, not consider somebodyelse's experience, that is very freeing.
Um, even if you're in a relationshipthat's very, you know, equal and
(26:17):
egalitarian, both of you do tend totry to look out for the other person.
You put, you know, a stress onyourself and you also put a stress
on them when they're receiving it.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (26:30):
Yeah, hyper independence has been my absolute go
to, um, solution for a lot of problems.
And like you said, preparing aheadof time, even without, you know, it
being a shame when you've got somebodyelse with you, it's just two, two
bladders that'll need to be emptiedat different times or two different
thirsts or Problems that come up as well.
It can, it can add a lot morechallenges, even though there's
(26:54):
times where it can be so much easierto have somebody alongside you.
It's a strange paradox andeach situation might be as
different.
, What you said there about , yourblow up cocoon, your, uh, cocoon.
Portable cocoon.
It reminded me of something I read a weewhile ago that helped me quite a lot.
(27:15):
, I'd got quite stuck in,stuck in my comfort zone.
, and had that feeling of when, you know,when things go wrong, you just need
to get back home and feel safe again.
I saw a Social media post orsomething, it said , sometimes you
just need to try and get a comfy seat.
I thought, yeah, that makes sense.
If you, if I could just findsomewhere where I'm like, right,
okay, there's my comfy seat.
I'm going to sit there.
(27:35):
I've got my drink.
I'm going to scroll on my phone fora minute, or I'm going to just, like,
clear my head, and then I'll move on.
It's like not feeling like you haveto retreat to the furthest point.
So, yeah, your cocoon, your cocoon kindof confirms to me the comfy seat idea.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (27:54):
There's another thing I can say, , and we've
laughed about this ever since we were16 in that I will prepare my wife
a cup of tea in any circumstance.
I will have a, like a little electricelement to put in a cup, or I will have
a, , a cooker, a methylated spirit stoveif we're, if we're going around the
(28:17):
north of Scotland, , on a railway trip,
I will have a flask ready.
We will always have access tothat sense and feeling of that
cup of tea, that few moments ofeverything best being normalized.
, I'm looking over to the side of meand I'm in a hotel that provides a
(28:38):
kettle, but I've always got this tinylittle kettle with me and it's metal
so that I can use it to cook food.
, and I've also got a, , A littleelectric stove, a tiny little
electric stove with, , little tiffinsthat they have here in, India.
Those, those kind of, , silver boxesthat attach to each other and clip
together that you see on the, on theMumbai railway and things like this.
(29:02):
, so that I, I can find myself comfort food.
Simple potatoes and steamed vegetables.
So that I don't have to have.
Curry every day or fish fromthe local market or whatever it
(29:22):
is in whichever culture I'm in.
I can get something that is almostbland but also gives me a sense
of health and comfort there.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (29:34):
Two things came up when you said that there, when you
were talking about, , that cup of tea andhow important it is to be able to kind
of get, that cup of tea can help so much.
I think it's lovely that you're inIndia, which is the home of tea.
, so how is the tea in India
Jules-AutisticRadio.com: it's bloody awful. (29:49):
undefined
It's, , it's not tea.
, it's heated milk with a slighttaste of tea and a lot of sugar.
It's everything I don't want.
, so I have to make myself, I boughttea from the local supermarket here.
(30:10):
I have to make myself some leaftea, , and just have it black.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (30:15):
That's, that's such a surprise that they
don't have a good sort of tea culture.
Really milky sweet tea.
That's awful.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (30:26):
Well, they do, they do, but they
have masala tea, you know.
And if you like, if you like milky drinks,masala tea, it's like chai, you know.
And all of these other, you know,Things that people have got into
back home, , milky drinks with spicesin, but that's not comfort for me
that that's trying something andenjoying something strange and new.
(30:47):
But when I need to have that comfort,I need things that are very familiar
and an amount of tea leaves is a verylight thing to carry around with you.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (30:59):
I would be very much the same.
I worked, , a lot with an occupationaltherapist earlier last, , last year,
and, , I learned so much about how toresource myself through my senses and
a lot of things like smells and tasteswhere they've become really important.
, having a, you know, flavor freetoothpaste and just not having that
(31:22):
extra stimulation sometimes can be thedifference between a day where I've,
I cope and I don't and how much energyI've got, , and working with an OT helped
me to take that a lot more seriously.
So I really, I really hear you whenyou're talking about needing that.
You need the bland food and your teato taste like, like you're used to.
, yeah, , I'd imagine eatingspice food could be really
(31:46):
overstimulating on an ongoing basis.
, Jules-AutisticRadio.com (31:54):
Back home in the UK, I used to make myself quite
strong, spicy, , curries and chilies.
But since I visited India last year,I rarely made, , a curry or a chili
because I felt as I'd had enough.
And
it's fortunate sometimes I'vecome across places that have
(32:18):
produced something that is quitesimple and it's It might be salty.
It might be a little bit of too much onthe chili side of things, but Not this
celebration food that we often have.
When you're traveling, you end upeating in restaurants and places.
If you're not careful, you're eatingthe food that people only eat once
(32:39):
a month, or they only eat once at abirthday, but you're eating it every day
because that's what's available to you.
For me, finding the opposite of wildexperiences, so that when I do have
the wild experiences, it's okay, seemsto be the, the background for me.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (33:01):
Yeah.
, What about the heat?
How are you, how isthe temperatures there?
I had a wee look and it didn'tlook too extreme just now, but how
are you coping with the climate?
Jules-AutisticRadio.com: It's not that hot. (33:14):
undefined
, The first few days, it wasabsolutely essential to have
air conditioning in your room.
And if you spend 20 quid on a decentroom instead of being in a hostel for
possibly 20 quid as well, , you're goingto get air conditioning in your room.
, I only book places that haveaccess to air conditioning.
(33:39):
In fact, I turned up at a placerecently and it didn't have the air
conditioning that was advertised.
I was in Pune at that time, , andit was not going to be comfortable.
It wasn't a comfortable night, butthe trick of the trade for me is
that when I book a place that I'mgoing to stay in for a few days,
I book the first day, , separatelyfrom maybe the rest of the days.
(34:03):
So, I have the opportunity ofcancelling the extra days without
any problems, , moving somewhere.
If it doesn't turn up to be exactlyas advertised and very often, , the
places you turn up do not, , haveexactly what's advertised.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com: That sounds like good advice. (34:20):
undefined
, you shared some pictures withme and during the week and had
a good time looking at them.
Was that a loom that you were showingus I saw what I thought was a loom.
I wasn't sure if it wasto do with printing.
There was a lot of open market spaces.
I saw some train stations.
And a lot of cows as well.
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (34:44):
Yeah, I took
those photos in a periodof about four hours.
, All of those images werein short succession.
All of the ones off the camera.
They, they weren't edited whathappened as I explored this town.
I
(35:05):
saw a group of cows walking alongthe streets and they were following
each other like you see in thecountryside, , one after another.
And it amused me that they, that theyturned left in front of me, , and
started to walk along a tiny alleyway.
(35:25):
, . I was tall enough to be able totake a photograph of them looking
down so that they were in aline going along the alleyway.
There was that perspective thingthat was happening, you know.
Then I switched on my camera onto videoand I followed them and I followed
this procession of cows they moved mefrom the street where everything was
(35:51):
commerce, everything was for sale.
Into the backyards and the rougher areasas they walked through and it worked
out quite nicely for me when I showed itto somebody else who's autistic, they,
they understood it and they got it.
(36:12):
, They took us on a journeythat was very different.
It was a cow's eye viewfor, for where you lived.
, and then there were the birdscame across and you could
hear people in the background.
, And then one cow just stops rightin front of me and poos directly
onto the ground in front of me.
(36:35):
, Which made a nice fittingend to the little sequence.
As I walked back, I kept looking aroundbecause I hadn't noticed where I'd walked
as much because I'd concentrated on them.
And on the ground, there's an imagethere that's quite telling of India.
(36:56):
, and it's the corpse ofa rat that has degraded.
And then on top of the rat,it's been shat on by a cow pat.
So you can just see the two together.
And then they merge into the same color.
So that you have to look at itto, to realize what you're seeing.
(37:16):
And I thought that image wasvery telling of where I am.
, and then, being aware of my surroundingsagain, , I see a fella and he's
standing outside , his workshop.
So I go over to speak to him andhe's interested in where I'm coming
from and he sees my eyes when Ilook at his ancient machinery.
(37:38):
The first thing I see is a guillotine,a cast iron, old fashioned guillotine.
Looks as though it comes from the 1930s or40s, , but maybe it's younger than that,
, for cutting paper in large amounts.
And behind it is a printing press,and it's a printing press that comes
(37:59):
out of Steampunk or Willy Wonka.
, cast iron, big, big wheels, bigcogs, big things happening on it.
He shows me what he's making, andhe's printing school books for kids.
Just conventional lined school books.
(38:21):
, the cheapest version for the localkids you can go into a stationers and
you can buy a more expensive version.
, but he's making the ones that people use.
I really loved beingamongst that machinery.
And I also love that he was proud of it.
And he was using it.
The workshop itself was smallerthan some people's kitchens.
(38:44):
And in that workshop, he wasdoing everything, storage,
production, everything.
He was smartly dressedand had a good feeling.
And we took photos of each other.
And there was a good sense that.
He respected himself, and he wasrespected by me being interested
(39:06):
in these old pieces of machinery.
Nicola-AutisticRadio.com (39:10):
It's so rare for us to, to see somebody who
owns the means of production andis able to just maintain and care
for that and be supported by that.
That, yeah, and the oldmechanical aspect of it as well.
He knows how to repair the thing.
(39:33):
, when you said about the, the cowpat andthe rat, it made me think of, , like
things that I've read about, aboutmonks doing death meditations as well,
just being so much more close to,
, life and death.
How is it having, , animalsbeing so much more kind of
(39:55):
integrated around
Jules-AutisticRadio.com (39:57):
I think I'll answer that question in a moment because
I want to pick up on what you just said.
Autistic radio is about us,it's for us, and it's from us.
Autistic radio is about you, it'sfor you, and it can be from you.
(40:19):
We have, every single Sunday, drop in, 4.
44pm every Sunday.
That's not live, that's us gettingtogether, us talking, community.
Every Sunday, Harry leads a 5 5 5 p.
(40:40):
m.
A discussion around theFacebook page that he creates.
Involve yourself by suggestingwhat we should talk about next.
Share it with Harry.
And then, the bigger picture.
(41:00):
Advocate.
Use us.
Speak to the world.
Your project, your idea, your enthusiasm.
We have a whole range of differentprograms that will fit what you want.
As far as listening goes, there'ssome challenging stuff out there.
(41:22):
Because amongst the identity, theentertainment, and the community,
we also make serious programs withautism professionals, challenging
their ideas, and bringing whatyou say in other spaces to them.
(41:43):
A lot of those are difficult listens,but it's a holistic gathering.
It comes all together.
Autistic radio is very varied.
We need a favour.
To encourage us, we need you to share us.
(42:05):
When you share us, yougive autistic people power.
When you share us, you makeus impossible to ignore.
When you repost on LinkedIn and Facebookand anywhere else, you're advocating
for everybody in the autistic community.
(42:28):
So pick the things that you'rehappy with and get them out there.
So thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you, from all of us.
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