April 27, 2025 • 33 mins
Elijah is back after a spring break vacation and gets you caught up on what he's been up to, & his producer gives him a list of rapid fire questions to answer. Be sure to tune in!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Elijah Winfrey Show. Each week, Elijah gets
you caught up on his work in the community, talks
with guests about issues and causes that are important to them,
while also answering your email questions. So sit back, relax,
and enjoy the show. Here's your host, Elijah Winfrey.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hello, folks, and welcome to the Elijah Winfrey Show. I
am indeed your host, Elijah Winfrey, and it feels good
to be back in the saddle. It's been a while.
I've been away busy, of course, and I took a.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Bit of a.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Spring break vacation with the family. We went on the cruise,
and I'm going to talk all about that momentarily. First
and foremost, I hope that you've had a really good weekend.
The weather here is nice. I think we're gonna get
one more really decent day of weather before a little
(01:07):
bit of drizzle comes back tomorrow and Tuesday. But outside
of that, it's been beautiful. Now it's that time of
year here in the Pacific Northwest where you see things blooming,
and you know, you see summer right around the corner.
At least I know, at least that's what I see.
So I am excited about that. I love the sunshine.
(01:31):
Who doesn't. But I hope that your weekend was fine.
I hope that you took time or you're taking time
to recharge and reset as the upcoming week approaches. The
weekend is never ever, ever long enough, folks. It's never
long enough. There's so many things I wanted to do
(01:52):
this weekend. Unfortunately I'm gonna have to wait. But my
past week was pretty busy. I released, well, I'm not
going to say released, pre orders for my fourth children's book,
(02:12):
second in the Little E series is now available, so
if you could support your guy. The title of the
book is called Little E Celebrates Juneteenth. And I work
hard on all my books. This book really means a
lot to me because of you know, Juneteenth and and
(02:38):
everything centered around that. And I want to thank my
amazing illustrator Alas.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
For her work.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
She she she continues to bring these stories to life
for me, and you know, I am indebted to her forever.
Because we were going to be work here, we still
got things to do and more books to write. So
I'm excited about that process. So get out on Amazon,
Barnes and Noble Bookshop, dot Org Brick and mortar, and
(03:13):
right now I am. I am, you know, still in
talks of finding a place to host a book signing
on June. Team. I've reached out to some bookstores and
I haven't heard back, and you tell me, email me
and let me know. Is that the norm? Like how
(03:33):
long is it gonna take for for somebody to reach
reach out to me with a response. Our producer Greg Knights,
who does a great job on the show, you know,
just told me, like, you know, I have to keep
I have to keep pushing. And I am going to
do exactly that because I know one bookstore there there
will be a bookstore that will want me to come
(03:55):
in and sign copies of the book. So that was
fun too to announce that I went on the cruise
over spring break. And I gotta tell you I wasn't
a fan of cruises, just wasn't you know, I didn't
hate them, but I just wasn't a fan. But having
(04:17):
gone on a cruise, I gotta tell you, I am hooked.
If I could take a cruise every month, I would,
That's how That's how hooked I am about you know,
being out on the water and meeting nice people and
you know, really laying back and enjoying things. I didn't
(04:38):
have to worry about driving. You know, we didn't have
to really worry about food. You know, food was always there.
Great buffet. Shout out to the Princess Discovery Cruise ship.
Huge cruise ship. There was so much to do. We
didn't get to do everything we wanted, but you know,
(05:01):
Jordan got to play a little basketball, Lisa got to
maneuver around the ship. I think she got a manicure
and petticure done. And I definitely took advantage of the spa.
I was in that steam room every day, got a massage.
It was it was an experience. So I encourage you
(05:23):
all if you haven't, if you haven't taken a cruise,
put it on the list of things to do. It
is really worth it. I really enjoyed it. I really did.
What else is going on? Yesterday I hosted a golf clinic,
(05:47):
slash Q and A with the African American Rising Suns.
And I want to thank Gerald Donaldson, mister D for
this together. He and I talked about this for a
while now, and this is something that we wanted to
(06:08):
make happen for these kids of color. And yesterday was
just so moving on so many levels. You know, we
talked a bit about core values, dreams and goals and
and you know, I shared my my work experiences as
(06:29):
an advocate, as a para educator, and you know, the
kids were listening, they were attentive, they hit some golf shots,
and with golf all right, golf is a very fickle
game in my opinion, and some days you got it,
some days you don't. So it was a pretty quick
(06:53):
build for the kids, right. They didn't worry about whether
or not they hit a bad shot, right, They were
just making you know, contact, and that was enough for them,
and they got better throughout the session or the clinic,
and it just it makes me feel so good when
(07:14):
when you have that amount of children there, and shout
out to the parents too. All the parents that were
in attendance that asked questions really appreciate you, I really do.
It was a great day, beautiful weather. We made sure
(07:35):
the kids ate before they left, and we hope to
do it again, if not later this year, definitely next year.
But I did make connections with the kiddos and we
had a fun little competition at the end, which they
really enjoy. So that was that was great. It really was.
(07:58):
Shout out to Top Golf in Renton, Washington for hosting us.
It's a great facility. And that was my first time
at Top Golf, believe it or not. You know, I
haven't frequented Top Golf, and that was my first time.
And I may be back there to practice and work
on my game, you never know. So that was fun
(08:21):
yesterday physically and mentally.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, I.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Am now starting to really build my body up for
the charity event with the First Tier of Greater Seattle
that will be happening on Sunday, June twenty second. I'm
so excited about that event, and so now I have
to make sure that I am in the best shape
(08:47):
possible to be able to walk thirty six holes in
a day. And I haven't played golf in a long time, folks.
I hit some shots yesterday and I was pretty surprised that,
you know, I was pretty I was pretty sharp, but
again it was it was more short game clubs, you know.
(09:07):
But I am now, you know, in that mode of
really getting my body to a place where I can walk.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Fourteen miles.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I think that's what we calculated the steps or you know,
thirty six holes at Chambers Bay Golf Course. We'll recalculate
that again just to be accurate. But I know I'm
going to be walking a lot, so I am definitely
gonna put in the work. I'm gonna do some walking today.
(09:42):
But I'm excited, I really am. It's gonna be a
great event. My role is a pair educator. Nothing's changed, folks.
You know this is this is most likely it for
me in that role. I will meet with my teammates
(10:03):
and we'll sit down and talk about it. You know,
the door isn't shut. I just I think I have
a lot going on back home in Georgia. You know
that I'm really trying to get right, and you know
(10:28):
I'm not I'm trying to make sure I don't have
too many things on my plate at this point. I know,
coming from me saying that, I know that's that's a lot.
But I'm trying to enjoy every day I'm in the
building at this point, and we'll.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
See where that leads to.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I am going to be mentoring high school students, at
least that's what I call it in the school, in
the local school district, and my first experience went really well.
And it's a slow bill, right, you know, nothing happens overnight.
(11:09):
But I was able to meet some of these high
schoolers and chat about, you know, chat about the school
that they're currently attending, what's good, what's not so good,
you know, how can we make it better? And I'm
hoping that this week we can kind of put together
some ideas as to how we, you know, recruit more
(11:33):
boys and girls of color two come into our you know,
safe space and chat about, you know, their experiences and
find ways to make things better. So I'm really excited
about that. Shout out to Sharon Roy who put this together.
She's a phenomenal individual who works in the district that
(11:56):
I am currently in, and I am I'm grateful to
have met her. And you know, now we have to
continue to do the work. So a lot going on
with me. Family's good. My son's starting track here soon.
He is having track practices now and he comes home
(12:17):
cast every day. But he's excited and I can't wait
to attend those track meets. Okay, let's let's transition into
the to the show. Now, today's gonna be a bit
different because we've been away for a while. We're gonna
switch it up. My producer came up with an idea
(12:40):
of having rapid fire questions thrown at me today, and
these are questions that he put together himself. So we
won't go into the email back this week. What we'll
do is answer his questions next week. We'll get back
to that. Before we get started, though, I do want
to let you all know it is still Autism Awareness
(13:02):
Acceptance Month.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
All right.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
There's a lot there's a lot of things going on
in the autism community.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
We still need more voices, we still need more advocates,
We still need all of us to continue to educate ourselves.
I've heard a lot of misinformation on the news on
social media which are very disturbing to me. And you know,
I think we all have to be careful how we
(13:35):
how we're how we're quick to judge individuals on the spectrum.
I think a lot of us aren't doing the homework.
And I'm talking about, you know, the leaders of this
country specifically. There are some things said that I just,
(13:58):
you know, I shake my head at I just I
do understand. Yeah, I was gonna say I don't understand,
but I do. There are people that would rather do
more harm to the autism community than do good. So
you know, I'm going to continue to focus on the work.
(14:20):
I'm not going to get caught up in a back
and forth with people who refuse to educate themselves or
listen and understand the autism community. It is not something
Autism is not something that you saw. I hear that
a lot, and and you don't you you don't solve it.
It is not a puzzle piece to solve, and we
(14:45):
have to find ways to quit looking at it that way, right,
So I hope that we can all band together and
and and truly make it beneficial and better for the
kids and adults on the spectrum who are trying to
live in the world. There are kids on the spectrum
(15:06):
who have jobs, have homes and are doing absolutely great,
and they're giving back to their community. They're educating us
about kids and adults on the spectrum. So it's our
job to continue to listen and understand. Sometimes that's all
(15:31):
you need. You don't need a response or rebuttal just listen, understand,
and educate, all right, So get out in your communities
and make sure you're doing the work. Okay, let's get
into some of these rapid fire questions from my amazing producer,
(15:51):
Greg Nice, who is an outstanding individual. You ready, Okay,
let's put the first one up on the board.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He says, what's one word that comes to mind when
you think of inclusion? Oh, one word that comes to mind.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Patience.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Gosh, there are a lot of words that I want
to say, but I would say patience.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I would say patience because.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I think I've seen people skip steps on the way
to inclusion. You can't force things, and I see it
a lot. I see I see things being forced that
really it bothers me and and I think they're well,
(16:51):
I don't think.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I know.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
There are steps to the process of inclusion. You have
to have a plan. You can't just throw a child
in a situation and say well, they're included when they're
not able to pick up the curriculum or the activity,
(17:15):
because they're still being left behind. So you you have
to be patient and you have to follow the steps.
And some are doing it. Some are I see some
of that and it's amazing, it is amazing. And look,
we don't always get it right. I've been guilty of that.
(17:37):
I've tried to force things and I had to pull
back and really think about it. And I think that's
the that's the first step too in an inclusion you
have to you have to look at yourself and make
sure that you're doing all you're doing and saying all
the right things. But patience is a word that I
(17:57):
would use because it really does takes. It takes, it
takes patience and time.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
That's a. That's a.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
It's a great start, Greg, all right, Next one, Next question,
favorite color to represent autism awareness? See this one? Everybody
always wears blue? Right, and I think I don't know
if autism speaks start at that or not. Maybe so
(18:30):
with their lighted up blue campaign, I've worn blue. I've
worn many colors, right, I think there are many colors.
I don't think there's one specific color. But I do
see blue a lot, so so I'll go with that,
(18:52):
all right. Next question, best way to show kindness in
one sentence? Best way to show hinness in one sentence?
Best way to show kindness in one sentence. There's so
many things going off in my head right now pertaining
(19:15):
to this question. Be don't be selfish with your compliments
(19:38):
when you're surrounded by good people and you see them
working hard.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
That's one.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Off the top of my head that I can think of, Okay,
Next one, social media post or in person conversation. Best
way to sp bread awareness in person conversation because sometimes
sometimes people are posting things they're.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Not really being genuine.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
You can't really read their body language, right, you can't
really feel it. Anybody can post a quote and just
move on with their day.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
But I think.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
In person is more powerful, It's more impactful, and you
get a lot out of it yourself, right. You get
a read on whether or not the individuals really listening
and understanding right or or they're not. So I prefer
the best. I prefer in person conversation. Next question, biggest
(20:50):
lesson you've learned from working with individuals on the spectrum Again,
you know, the biggest lessons that I've learned is to
listen and be patient and understanding. Because I don't know
everything there is to know about autism.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I'm still learning, and I've been an advocate for a
long time, a long time, so I think.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
We have to we have to really listen.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
And that's been one of the biggest lessons that I've
learned and it's helped me it's open doors for me
to be able to do more things and to create
more things for the autism community. When I started my
(21:55):
journey as an advocate, that's all I did. I would listen,
write things down, research, try to understand if I didn't understand.
But it takes time. So that's one of the biggest
lessons that I've learned, and being you know, and and
(22:17):
raising awareness and interacting with individuals on the spectrum, and
I think I've benefited from that tremendously. Next question, what's
one thing about being a para that would surprise people? Ah? Geez,
(22:45):
one thing about being a parent that would surprise people?
I don't know, outside of it being really really hard work,
I don't know if there's one thing that would surprise anyone,
(23:07):
you know. And I'm trying to think. I I don't
think there's anything at least that comes to mind. Right now,
Nothing comes to mind, all right? Next question, If you
had to describe your typical school day in three words,
(23:29):
what would they be? Okay, my typical school day in
three words. Okay, I'm gonna be honest now, loving, caring, frustrated.
(23:57):
I think I would I would use those three words
loving because I try to. I love people extremely hard. Right,
I try to go at it really hard. I try
to leave nothing on the table pertaining to love, right,
you know it, you feel it. I don't hide it.
(24:18):
I'm not selfish with it, caring. You know, I care
about everybody in the elementary school that I am at,
and I try to make sure that they know that
and they feel that every day, whether it's something funny
I say or something serious. You know, they know that
(24:40):
I see them, and I mean when I say them,
I mean the teacher's staff, my pair of teammates.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
The frustration part, you know, there's some days that just.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Aren't very good, and you know I have to own
those days and you know, do my best to be
better the following day. But there's some days where I'm
extremely frustrated with a lot of things, and.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
You know, I know.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Ultimately things start with me and my attitude, and I
have to address that when I'm there in the in
the building, and I do that as as hard as
I can. But you know, sometimes we fall short and
the frustration overtakes us for a bit. You know, I
(25:28):
always say to people, you know you feel the emotion,
but you don't become it right, So sometimes it catches
me and I become it and I have to really
do work to get out of that way of thinking.
But yeah, there are some days that are great. There
are some days that are definitely frustrated frustrated. So I
would say loving, caring, and frustration. That would be the
(25:50):
best way to describe. Okay, next one, Next question, what's
the funniest or sweetest thing a student has ever said
to you? The funniest thing is there's so many funny
things that the funniest thing. And I don't know if you
(26:14):
say it's funny, I think it's I laughed. I have
a student come up to me and say, are you
Martin Luther King Jr? And I thought that was pretty funny, right.
I appreciated that, right, But in the moment, I'm kind
of like, huh, what the sweetest thing that someone has
(26:35):
ever said is thank you for your service and thank
you for being in our school. That makes you feel good?
It does? Next question, what's your go to snack or
(26:55):
ritual after a long day working at school?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Okay, So I don't really have a go to snack
a ritual.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Like when I'm done with school, I normally come home
and transition into my duties as my nonprofit as president. Right,
I jump into those duties and catch up on things
I may snack wise, I like cheese. It's I like tidbits.
(27:32):
I don't know if people know or remember those. I
love those. I don't even know if they have those anymore,
at least I haven't seen them up here in the
Pacific Northwest. But yeah, I don't really have a ritual
or a go to snack. If I'm just craving something,
I'll just get It might be a TwixT or could
(27:54):
be popcorn, so you never know. All right, Let's let's
take a couple of more greg and then we'll wrap
the show. Coffee, your tea? Can I say both? Okay,
Then I'll say coffee. He's like, nope, we want favorite
golf course snack, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Love that
(28:18):
early bird or night out. I'm an early bird. I've
stayed up late, but you know, because I don't sleep
really well. I'm normally up around one, two, maybe three
in the morning, and it just starts my day. So
best pump best pump up song before a golf match
or big event, anything by epic score I like instrumental
(28:46):
music when I'm when I'm getting ready for an event,
you know, very little words. I like the beat up
the music or the anticipation of the build up. So
I love anything done by epic score. Favorite subject to
help students with definitely not math. I'm not I know
(29:10):
basic math. The other stuff, you know, I really struggle with.
Shout out to the teachers who helped me push through
that though. But favorite subject to help students with, I
would say probably history. You know, I consider myself pretty
knowledgeable on history, you know, in the world that I
(29:32):
see and have seen throughout my life. One word to
describe your golf swing retired. I just don't play anymore.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
You know. My body just won't allow me.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
To to go at it the way I once did.
Dream vacation spot Hawaii. That's it. I want to get there,
and I'm going to get there somedays. Favorite children's book
besides your own, that's not fair. I don't have one.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I don't. I don't have one.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I don't. I really don't. I don't. I gotta work
on that. Sneakers or dress shoes. I'm gonna say dress shoes.
I love dress shoes. I mean I like sneakers too,
but dress shoes.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I love dressing up. I really would, I really do.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
All right, that is it for wait what Okay, we're
gonna do Okay, let's do that at the close the show.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
So that's it.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Pertaining two questions from from my producer. Shout out to
Greg Nice. I really appreciate him kind of putting this together.
You know, from time to time we do this with
with Greg and he's always knocked it out of the box.
All Right, we have come to the end of the show, folks,
(31:15):
and I hope that you've enjoyed it. It's always good
being back and chatting with you. And although we didn't
get to your email questions today, we will definitely get
to them next week. And again, you know, get out
in your communities and educate yourself about autism. Become an advocate,
(31:40):
become a voice. There are a lot of families that
are in need of that. And you know, remember you
have to be patient and understanding, and you have to
have the intent of listening right not responding. Sometimes it's
just listening. So get out and.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Do the work.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
We're gonna close with this question that Greg polls to
me and says if you could leave the world with
one simple message written on a giant billboard, what would
it say? I would have it say. Let's continue to
(32:27):
make someone or something better. Love hard, and as you
make progress, take someone with you. All right, do me
(32:49):
this favor. Get out in your communities this week and
check in on your family and friends. Put a smile
on someone's face. Remember it doesn't take a lot of
energy to do that at all. Thank you for listening
to the Elijah Winfrey Show. Please be sure to download
this show wherever you download your favorite podcast. Till next week,
(33:10):
Take care, God bless Bye bye.
Welcome to the Elijah Winfrey Show. Each week, Elijah gets
you caught up on his work in the community, talks
with guests about issues and causes that are important to them,
while also answering your email questions. So sit back, relax,
and enjoy the show. Here's your host, Elijah Winfrey.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hello, folks, and welcome to the Elijah Winfrey Show. I
am indeed your host, Elijah Winfrey, and it feels good
to be back in the saddle. It's been a while.
I've been away busy, of course, and I took a.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Bit of a.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Spring break vacation with the family. We went on the cruise,
and I'm going to talk all about that momentarily. First
and foremost, I hope that you've had a really good weekend.
The weather here is nice. I think we're gonna get
one more really decent day of weather before a little
(01:07):
bit of drizzle comes back tomorrow and Tuesday. But outside
of that, it's been beautiful. Now it's that time of
year here in the Pacific Northwest where you see things blooming,
and you know, you see summer right around the corner.
At least I know, at least that's what I see.
So I am excited about that. I love the sunshine.
(01:31):
Who doesn't. But I hope that your weekend was fine.
I hope that you took time or you're taking time
to recharge and reset as the upcoming week approaches. The
weekend is never ever, ever long enough, folks. It's never
long enough. There's so many things I wanted to do
(01:52):
this weekend. Unfortunately I'm gonna have to wait. But my
past week was pretty busy. I released, well, I'm not
going to say released, pre orders for my fourth children's book,
(02:12):
second in the Little E series is now available, so
if you could support your guy. The title of the
book is called Little E Celebrates Juneteenth. And I work
hard on all my books. This book really means a
lot to me because of you know, Juneteenth and and
(02:38):
everything centered around that. And I want to thank my
amazing illustrator Alas.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
For her work.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
She she she continues to bring these stories to life
for me, and you know, I am indebted to her forever.
Because we were going to be work here, we still
got things to do and more books to write. So
I'm excited about that process. So get out on Amazon,
Barnes and Noble Bookshop, dot Org Brick and mortar, and
(03:13):
right now I am. I am, you know, still in
talks of finding a place to host a book signing
on June. Team. I've reached out to some bookstores and
I haven't heard back, and you tell me, email me
and let me know. Is that the norm? Like how
(03:33):
long is it gonna take for for somebody to reach
reach out to me with a response. Our producer Greg Knights,
who does a great job on the show, you know,
just told me, like, you know, I have to keep
I have to keep pushing. And I am going to
do exactly that because I know one bookstore there there
will be a bookstore that will want me to come
(03:55):
in and sign copies of the book. So that was
fun too to announce that I went on the cruise
over spring break. And I gotta tell you I wasn't
a fan of cruises, just wasn't you know, I didn't
hate them, but I just wasn't a fan. But having
(04:17):
gone on a cruise, I gotta tell you, I am hooked.
If I could take a cruise every month, I would,
That's how That's how hooked I am about you know,
being out on the water and meeting nice people and
you know, really laying back and enjoying things. I didn't
(04:38):
have to worry about driving. You know, we didn't have
to really worry about food. You know, food was always there.
Great buffet. Shout out to the Princess Discovery Cruise ship.
Huge cruise ship. There was so much to do. We
didn't get to do everything we wanted, but you know,
(05:01):
Jordan got to play a little basketball, Lisa got to
maneuver around the ship. I think she got a manicure
and petticure done. And I definitely took advantage of the spa.
I was in that steam room every day, got a massage.
It was it was an experience. So I encourage you
(05:23):
all if you haven't, if you haven't taken a cruise,
put it on the list of things to do. It
is really worth it. I really enjoyed it. I really did.
What else is going on? Yesterday I hosted a golf clinic,
(05:47):
slash Q and A with the African American Rising Suns.
And I want to thank Gerald Donaldson, mister D for
this together. He and I talked about this for a
while now, and this is something that we wanted to
(06:08):
make happen for these kids of color. And yesterday was
just so moving on so many levels. You know, we
talked a bit about core values, dreams and goals and
and you know, I shared my my work experiences as
(06:29):
an advocate, as a para educator, and you know, the
kids were listening, they were attentive, they hit some golf shots,
and with golf all right, golf is a very fickle
game in my opinion, and some days you got it,
some days you don't. So it was a pretty quick
(06:53):
build for the kids, right. They didn't worry about whether
or not they hit a bad shot, right, They were
just making you know, contact, and that was enough for them,
and they got better throughout the session or the clinic,
and it just it makes me feel so good when
(07:14):
when you have that amount of children there, and shout
out to the parents too. All the parents that were
in attendance that asked questions really appreciate you, I really do.
It was a great day, beautiful weather. We made sure
(07:35):
the kids ate before they left, and we hope to
do it again, if not later this year, definitely next year.
But I did make connections with the kiddos and we
had a fun little competition at the end, which they
really enjoy. So that was that was great. It really was.
(07:58):
Shout out to Top Golf in Renton, Washington for hosting us.
It's a great facility. And that was my first time
at Top Golf, believe it or not. You know, I
haven't frequented Top Golf, and that was my first time.
And I may be back there to practice and work
on my game, you never know. So that was fun
(08:21):
yesterday physically and mentally.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, I.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Am now starting to really build my body up for
the charity event with the First Tier of Greater Seattle
that will be happening on Sunday, June twenty second. I'm
so excited about that event, and so now I have
to make sure that I am in the best shape
(08:47):
possible to be able to walk thirty six holes in
a day. And I haven't played golf in a long time, folks.
I hit some shots yesterday and I was pretty surprised that,
you know, I was pretty I was pretty sharp, but
again it was it was more short game clubs, you know.
(09:07):
But I am now, you know, in that mode of
really getting my body to a place where I can walk.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Fourteen miles.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I think that's what we calculated the steps or you know,
thirty six holes at Chambers Bay Golf Course. We'll recalculate
that again just to be accurate. But I know I'm
going to be walking a lot, so I am definitely
gonna put in the work. I'm gonna do some walking today.
(09:42):
But I'm excited, I really am. It's gonna be a
great event. My role is a pair educator. Nothing's changed, folks.
You know this is this is most likely it for
me in that role. I will meet with my teammates
(10:03):
and we'll sit down and talk about it. You know,
the door isn't shut. I just I think I have
a lot going on back home in Georgia. You know
that I'm really trying to get right, and you know
(10:28):
I'm not I'm trying to make sure I don't have
too many things on my plate at this point. I know,
coming from me saying that, I know that's that's a lot.
But I'm trying to enjoy every day I'm in the
building at this point, and we'll.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
See where that leads to.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I am going to be mentoring high school students, at
least that's what I call it in the school, in
the local school district, and my first experience went really well.
And it's a slow bill, right, you know, nothing happens overnight.
(11:09):
But I was able to meet some of these high
schoolers and chat about, you know, chat about the school
that they're currently attending, what's good, what's not so good,
you know, how can we make it better? And I'm
hoping that this week we can kind of put together
some ideas as to how we, you know, recruit more
(11:33):
boys and girls of color two come into our you know,
safe space and chat about, you know, their experiences and
find ways to make things better. So I'm really excited
about that. Shout out to Sharon Roy who put this together.
She's a phenomenal individual who works in the district that
(11:56):
I am currently in, and I am I'm grateful to
have met her. And you know, now we have to
continue to do the work. So a lot going on
with me. Family's good. My son's starting track here soon.
He is having track practices now and he comes home
(12:17):
cast every day. But he's excited and I can't wait
to attend those track meets. Okay, let's let's transition into
the to the show. Now, today's gonna be a bit
different because we've been away for a while. We're gonna
switch it up. My producer came up with an idea
(12:40):
of having rapid fire questions thrown at me today, and
these are questions that he put together himself. So we
won't go into the email back this week. What we'll
do is answer his questions next week. We'll get back
to that. Before we get started, though, I do want
to let you all know it is still Autism Awareness
(13:02):
Acceptance Month.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
All right.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
There's a lot there's a lot of things going on
in the autism community.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
We still need more voices, we still need more advocates,
We still need all of us to continue to educate ourselves.
I've heard a lot of misinformation on the news on
social media which are very disturbing to me. And you know,
I think we all have to be careful how we
(13:35):
how we're how we're quick to judge individuals on the spectrum.
I think a lot of us aren't doing the homework.
And I'm talking about, you know, the leaders of this
country specifically. There are some things said that I just,
(13:58):
you know, I shake my head at I just I
do understand. Yeah, I was gonna say I don't understand,
but I do. There are people that would rather do
more harm to the autism community than do good. So
you know, I'm going to continue to focus on the work.
(14:20):
I'm not going to get caught up in a back
and forth with people who refuse to educate themselves or
listen and understand the autism community. It is not something
Autism is not something that you saw. I hear that
a lot, and and you don't you you don't solve it.
It is not a puzzle piece to solve, and we
(14:45):
have to find ways to quit looking at it that way, right,
So I hope that we can all band together and
and and truly make it beneficial and better for the
kids and adults on the spectrum who are trying to
live in the world. There are kids on the spectrum
(15:06):
who have jobs, have homes and are doing absolutely great,
and they're giving back to their community. They're educating us
about kids and adults on the spectrum. So it's our
job to continue to listen and understand. Sometimes that's all
(15:31):
you need. You don't need a response or rebuttal just listen, understand,
and educate, all right, So get out in your communities
and make sure you're doing the work. Okay, let's get
into some of these rapid fire questions from my amazing producer,
(15:51):
Greg Nice, who is an outstanding individual. You ready, Okay,
let's put the first one up on the board.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He says, what's one word that comes to mind when
you think of inclusion? Oh, one word that comes to mind.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Patience.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Gosh, there are a lot of words that I want
to say, but I would say patience.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I would say patience because.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I think I've seen people skip steps on the way
to inclusion. You can't force things, and I see it
a lot. I see I see things being forced that
really it bothers me and and I think they're well,
(16:51):
I don't think.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I know.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
There are steps to the process of inclusion. You have
to have a plan. You can't just throw a child
in a situation and say well, they're included when they're
not able to pick up the curriculum or the activity,
(17:15):
because they're still being left behind. So you you have
to be patient and you have to follow the steps.
And some are doing it. Some are I see some
of that and it's amazing, it is amazing. And look,
we don't always get it right. I've been guilty of that.
(17:37):
I've tried to force things and I had to pull
back and really think about it. And I think that's
the that's the first step too in an inclusion you
have to you have to look at yourself and make
sure that you're doing all you're doing and saying all
the right things. But patience is a word that I
(17:57):
would use because it really does takes. It takes, it
takes patience and time.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
That's a. That's a.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
It's a great start, Greg, all right, Next one, Next question,
favorite color to represent autism awareness? See this one? Everybody
always wears blue? Right, and I think I don't know
if autism speaks start at that or not. Maybe so
(18:30):
with their lighted up blue campaign, I've worn blue. I've
worn many colors, right, I think there are many colors.
I don't think there's one specific color. But I do
see blue a lot, so so I'll go with that,
(18:52):
all right. Next question, best way to show kindness in
one sentence? Best way to show hinness in one sentence?
Best way to show kindness in one sentence. There's so
many things going off in my head right now pertaining
(19:15):
to this question. Be don't be selfish with your compliments
(19:38):
when you're surrounded by good people and you see them
working hard.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
That's one.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Off the top of my head that I can think of, Okay,
Next one, social media post or in person conversation. Best
way to sp bread awareness in person conversation because sometimes
sometimes people are posting things they're.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Not really being genuine.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
You can't really read their body language, right, you can't
really feel it. Anybody can post a quote and just
move on with their day.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
But I think.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
In person is more powerful, It's more impactful, and you
get a lot out of it yourself, right. You get
a read on whether or not the individuals really listening
and understanding right or or they're not. So I prefer
the best. I prefer in person conversation. Next question, biggest
(20:50):
lesson you've learned from working with individuals on the spectrum Again,
you know, the biggest lessons that I've learned is to
listen and be patient and understanding. Because I don't know
everything there is to know about autism.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I'm still learning, and I've been an advocate for a
long time, a long time, so I think.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
We have to we have to really listen.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
And that's been one of the biggest lessons that I've
learned and it's helped me it's open doors for me
to be able to do more things and to create
more things for the autism community. When I started my
(21:55):
journey as an advocate, that's all I did. I would listen,
write things down, research, try to understand if I didn't understand.
But it takes time. So that's one of the biggest
lessons that I've learned, and being you know, and and
(22:17):
raising awareness and interacting with individuals on the spectrum, and
I think I've benefited from that tremendously. Next question, what's
one thing about being a para that would surprise people? Ah? Geez,
(22:45):
one thing about being a parent that would surprise people?
I don't know, outside of it being really really hard work,
I don't know if there's one thing that would surprise anyone,
(23:07):
you know. And I'm trying to think. I I don't
think there's anything at least that comes to mind. Right now,
Nothing comes to mind, all right? Next question, If you
had to describe your typical school day in three words,
(23:29):
what would they be? Okay, my typical school day in
three words. Okay, I'm gonna be honest now, loving, caring, frustrated.
(23:57):
I think I would I would use those three words
loving because I try to. I love people extremely hard. Right,
I try to go at it really hard. I try
to leave nothing on the table pertaining to love, right,
you know it, you feel it. I don't hide it.
(24:18):
I'm not selfish with it, caring. You know, I care
about everybody in the elementary school that I am at,
and I try to make sure that they know that
and they feel that every day, whether it's something funny
I say or something serious. You know, they know that
(24:40):
I see them, and I mean when I say them,
I mean the teacher's staff, my pair of teammates.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
The frustration part, you know, there's some days that just.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Aren't very good, and you know I have to own
those days and you know, do my best to be
better the following day. But there's some days where I'm
extremely frustrated with a lot of things, and.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
You know, I know.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Ultimately things start with me and my attitude, and I
have to address that when I'm there in the in
the building, and I do that as as hard as
I can. But you know, sometimes we fall short and
the frustration overtakes us for a bit. You know, I
(25:28):
always say to people, you know you feel the emotion,
but you don't become it right, So sometimes it catches
me and I become it and I have to really
do work to get out of that way of thinking.
But yeah, there are some days that are great. There
are some days that are definitely frustrated frustrated. So I
would say loving, caring, and frustration. That would be the
(25:50):
best way to describe. Okay, next one, Next question, what's
the funniest or sweetest thing a student has ever said
to you? The funniest thing is there's so many funny
things that the funniest thing. And I don't know if you
(26:14):
say it's funny, I think it's I laughed. I have
a student come up to me and say, are you
Martin Luther King Jr? And I thought that was pretty funny, right.
I appreciated that, right, But in the moment, I'm kind
of like, huh, what the sweetest thing that someone has
(26:35):
ever said is thank you for your service and thank
you for being in our school. That makes you feel good?
It does? Next question, what's your go to snack or
(26:55):
ritual after a long day working at school?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Okay, So I don't really have a go to snack
a ritual.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Like when I'm done with school, I normally come home
and transition into my duties as my nonprofit as president. Right,
I jump into those duties and catch up on things
I may snack wise, I like cheese. It's I like tidbits.
(27:32):
I don't know if people know or remember those. I
love those. I don't even know if they have those anymore,
at least I haven't seen them up here in the
Pacific Northwest. But yeah, I don't really have a ritual
or a go to snack. If I'm just craving something,
I'll just get It might be a TwixT or could
(27:54):
be popcorn, so you never know. All right, Let's let's
take a couple of more greg and then we'll wrap
the show. Coffee, your tea? Can I say both? Okay,
Then I'll say coffee. He's like, nope, we want favorite
golf course snack, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Love that
(28:18):
early bird or night out. I'm an early bird. I've
stayed up late, but you know, because I don't sleep
really well. I'm normally up around one, two, maybe three
in the morning, and it just starts my day. So
best pump best pump up song before a golf match
or big event, anything by epic score I like instrumental
(28:46):
music when I'm when I'm getting ready for an event,
you know, very little words. I like the beat up
the music or the anticipation of the build up. So
I love anything done by epic score. Favorite subject to
help students with definitely not math. I'm not I know
(29:10):
basic math. The other stuff, you know, I really struggle with.
Shout out to the teachers who helped me push through
that though. But favorite subject to help students with, I
would say probably history. You know, I consider myself pretty
knowledgeable on history, you know, in the world that I
(29:32):
see and have seen throughout my life. One word to
describe your golf swing retired. I just don't play anymore.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
You know. My body just won't allow me.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
To to go at it the way I once did.
Dream vacation spot Hawaii. That's it. I want to get there,
and I'm going to get there somedays. Favorite children's book
besides your own, that's not fair. I don't have one.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I don't. I don't have one.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I don't. I really don't. I don't. I gotta work
on that. Sneakers or dress shoes. I'm gonna say dress shoes.
I love dress shoes. I mean I like sneakers too,
but dress shoes.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I love dressing up. I really would, I really do.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
All right, that is it for wait what Okay, we're
gonna do Okay, let's do that at the close the show.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
So that's it.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Pertaining two questions from from my producer. Shout out to
Greg Nice. I really appreciate him kind of putting this together.
You know, from time to time we do this with
with Greg and he's always knocked it out of the box.
All Right, we have come to the end of the show, folks,
(31:15):
and I hope that you've enjoyed it. It's always good
being back and chatting with you. And although we didn't
get to your email questions today, we will definitely get
to them next week. And again, you know, get out
in your communities and educate yourself about autism. Become an advocate,
(31:40):
become a voice. There are a lot of families that
are in need of that. And you know, remember you
have to be patient and understanding, and you have to
have the intent of listening right not responding. Sometimes it's
just listening. So get out and.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Do the work.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
We're gonna close with this question that Greg polls to
me and says if you could leave the world with
one simple message written on a giant billboard, what would
it say? I would have it say. Let's continue to
(32:27):
make someone or something better. Love hard, and as you
make progress, take someone with you. All right, do me
(32:49):
this favor. Get out in your communities this week and
check in on your family and friends. Put a smile
on someone's face. Remember it doesn't take a lot of
energy to do that at all. Thank you for listening
to the Elijah Winfrey Show. Please be sure to download
this show wherever you download your favorite podcast. Till next week,
(33:10):
Take care, God bless Bye bye.
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