1 00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:17.960 Alan Kurtz: Okay. My name is Alan Kurtz. On behalf of the Autism National Committee, or AutCom, I'd like to welcome you to our Webinar 2 00:00:18.230 --> 00:00:25.830 Alan Kurtz: "Is Work Working for Us: Autist's Own Experience in Seeking, Finding, and Continuing work" 3 00:00:25.990 --> 00:00:28.850 Alan Kurtz: We have a great group of panelists today. 4 00:00:29.415 --> 00:00:33.110 Alan Kurtz: with a wide range of experiences in the world of work. 5 00:00:33.480 --> 00:00:37.020 Alan Kurtz: If anyone has any questions or comments, 6 00:00:37.270 --> 00:00:39.294 Alan Kurtz: please put them 7 00:00:39.980 --> 00:00:42.980 Alan Kurtz: in questions and answers. 8 00:00:43.400 --> 00:00:46.709 Alan Kurtz: We might not see it if you put it in chat. 9 00:00:47.505 --> 00:00:52.910 Alan Kurtz: Without further ado, I would like to introduce the Moderator for today's webinar. 10 00:00:53.404 --> 00:01:01.650 Alan Kurtz: I think that's the right term, Max. Moderator. I would like to introduce the moderator for today's Webinar, Maxfield Sparrow. 11 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:04.760 Alan Kurtz: Maxfield Sparrow is an autistic writer, 12 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:11.190 Alan Kurtz: scholar, activist, peer, facilitator, and direct support professional assisting fellow 13 00:01:11.877 --> 00:01:21.429 Alan Kurtz: autistic clients with activities of daily living. Additionally, he, Sparrow, teaches astrologically inspired contemplative writing 14 00:01:22.068 --> 00:01:31.699 Alan Kurtz: through their business Mercury Muse. Max holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science and Applied Economics from Idaho State University. 15 00:01:32.315 --> 00:01:36.230 Alan Kurtz: And studied for 2 years in the Creative writing MFA program 16 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:41.640 Alan Kurtz: at Naropa--I think that pronouncing that right--University, Jack Kerouac 17 00:01:41.810 --> 00:01:42.760 Alan Kurtz: School. 18 00:01:43.120 --> 00:02:02.870 Alan Kurtz: That sounds really interesting. I have to talk to you about this sometime. They are the editor of the anthology Spectrums: Autistic Transgender People in Their Own Words from Jessica Kingsley, publishers. Sparrow lives in Silicon Valley with Mr. Kitty, also known as Fermat The Wonder Cat! 19 00:02:03.520 --> 00:02:05.120 Alan Kurtz: Take it away, Max. 20 00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:13.039 Maxfield: Thank you, Allen. And yeah, Fermat's on my lap right now. Hello, everybody, and welcome to our webinar "Is Work Working for Us." 21 00:02:13.130 --> 00:02:20.480 Maxfield: We have an exciting panel of 5 autistic people today who are going to tell you about their lived experiences with work. 22 00:02:20.850 --> 00:02:26.309 Maxfield: We hope that today's webinar will increase your understanding about this very important topic. 23 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:42.929 Maxfield: If you have attended past webinars with us, you might notice a slight difference. In previous webinars. We had all panel members take turns answering the same questions. That was easy with other topics. But the world of work can be so different from person to person. 24 00:02:43.390 --> 00:02:53.630 Maxfield: So we have individual questions for each panelist. We've gathered such a diverse group of people, each with their own journey into and through the world of work. 25 00:02:53.720 --> 00:03:01.030 Maxfield: and that diversity requires different questions to create a space where their individual thoughts and experiences can truly shine. 26 00:03:01.670 --> 00:03:12.339 Maxfield: During this present presentation you may find questions rising in your mind, and as Alan mentioned, there's a Q&A Space for you to type those questions so they don't get lost in the general chat. 27 00:03:12.550 --> 00:03:18.969 Maxfield: After the presentation, we will address as many of your questions as we are able to in the time we have left. 28 00:03:19.330 --> 00:03:23.639 Maxfield: With that, let's get started. Our first panelist is John Marble. 29 00:03:23.820 --> 00:03:27.310 Maxfield: John Marble is the co-author of neurodiversity for-- 30 00:03:27.310 --> 00:03:30.409 John Marble: I'm very sorry if if you could, it's-- 31 00:03:30.480 --> 00:03:35.549 John Marble: I'm not a morning person, and it's 8 am here, so maybe if you could start with somebody else. 32 00:03:35.650 --> 00:03:37.569 John Marble: Oh, absolutely sorry! 33 00:03:37.570 --> 00:03:44.119 Maxfield: Absolutely no problem. We will come back around to you. So in that case our first panelist is Sujit Kurup 34 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:54.480 Maxfield: Sujit Kurup is a friendly and active person who loves the outdoors. He communicates through typing, and advocates for others who do not have a voice and means to communicate. 35 00:03:54.870 --> 00:04:04.140 Maxfield: He advocates for them by spreading awareness through presentations at various colleges, schools, and agencies, providing services to disabled population. 36 00:04:04.420 --> 00:04:12.269 Maxfield: He has a degree in business administration from Suny College, New York. He is currently volunteering as treasurer of AutCom. 37 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:17.740 Maxfield: Sujit writes poetry, does abstract paintings, and is learning music. 38 00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:20.599 Maxfield: My first question for you, Sujit, 39 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:22.955 Maxfield: is: 40 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:31.230 Maxfield: How can autistic people use their talents and abilities to start their business and advocate for supportive 41 00:04:31.270 --> 00:04:33.461 Maxfield: government regulations on every level? 42 00:04:37.450 --> 00:04:39.080 Sujit Kurup: Hello, everyone! 43 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:44.060 Sujit Kurup: I am Sujit Kurup, volunteering as treasurer at AutCom. 44 00:04:44.690 --> 00:04:51.419 Sujit Kurup: My situation is unique because of the minimally speaking status and how I communicate. 45 00:04:51.920 --> 00:05:01.049 Sujit Kurup: I have some reliable speech, but I mostly communicate by typing on a device like an ipad text on the phone. 46 00:05:01.650 --> 00:05:12.760 Sujit Kurup: While in high school I always had a trained facilitator with me supporting me, one on one, and the team at school were trained to support me with my communication. 47 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:20.020 Sujit Kurup: There was a sensory diet in place, and I was given sensory breaks throughout the day. 48 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:32.949 Sujit Kurup: I had very support team, very dedicated administrators who sought innovative ideas to include me in our activities, and this boosted my confidence in my abilities. 49 00:05:33.630 --> 00:05:37.519 Sujit Kurup: My college experience was very challenging. 50 00:05:38.090 --> 00:05:47.710 Sujit Kurup: I was basically a pioneer. The staff at the college were venturing into a new educational era with me paving the way. 51 00:05:48.330 --> 00:05:53.090 Sujit Kurup: Most professors had not educated such a unique individual. 52 00:05:53.650 --> 00:05:58.699 Sujit Kurup: Gratefully, I was accepted by all my professors and peers. 53 00:05:59.150 --> 00:06:07.999 Sujit Kurup: The biggest challenges were my testing assessments, but I navigated through it all with supports and encouragements of my team. 54 00:06:08.370 --> 00:06:22.039 Sujit Kurup: While in college, I was enrolled in the access VR, and then YS program that provide counseling and guidance to access employment for the career of choice with qualifications. 55 00:06:22.790 --> 00:06:31.060 Sujit Kurup: On completion of my degree, I received their emails with job openings in accounting and office support. 56 00:06:31.390 --> 00:06:39.460 Sujit Kurup: These were all 9 to 5 jobs where I could not be productive with my sensory and motor planning challenges. 57 00:06:40.190 --> 00:06:51.199 Sujit Kurup: On inquiring whether they would support my idea of being an entrepreneur or be self-employed with my own business, they were not forthcoming, as mine was a novel idea. 58 00:06:51.950 --> 00:07:00.409 Sujit Kurup: I was always drawn to art, and my art teacher introduced me to painting in 2009 when I was in middle school. 59 00:07:00.910 --> 00:07:09.700 Sujit Kurup: Now it has become my passion and another medium to express my thoughts. It provides me with a level playing field. 60 00:07:10.260 --> 00:07:18.800 Sujit Kurup: I have been showcasing my art at various exhibitions/art shows facilitated by my art teacher and on my own. 61 00:07:19.440 --> 00:07:23.700 Sujit Kurup: When I hit the idea of entrepreneur. Hello, everyone! 62 00:07:23.960 --> 00:07:29.010 Sujit Kurup: I am Sujit Kurup volunteering as treasurer at AutCom. 63 00:07:29.410 --> 00:07:36.039 Sujit Kurup: My situation is unique because of the minimally speaking status and how I communicate. 64 00:07:36.490 --> 00:07:57.400 Sujit Kurup: I have some reliable speech, but I mostly communicate by typing on a device like an ipad text on the phone. While in high school, I always had a trained facilitator for me, supporting me one on one, and the team at school were trained to support me with my communication. 65 00:07:58.050 --> 00:08:04.640 Sujit Kurup: There was a sensory diet in place, and I was given sensory breaks. Throughout the day 66 00:08:05.309 --> 00:08:17.579 Sujit Kurup: I had varied support team, very dedicated administrators who sought innovative ideas to include me in all activities, and this boosted my confidence in my abilities. 67 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:22.099 Sujit Kurup: My college experience was very challenging. 68 00:08:22.710 --> 00:08:25.250 Sujit Kurup: I was basically a pioneer. 69 00:08:25.840 --> 00:08:32.329 Sujit Kurup: The staff at the college were venturing into a new educational era with me paving the way. 70 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:37.759 Sujit Kurup: Most professors had not educated such a unique individual. 71 00:08:38.300 --> 00:08:43.359 Sujit Kurup: Gratefully, I was accepted by all my professors and peers. 72 00:08:43.810 --> 00:08:52.469 Sujit Kurup: The biggest challenges were my testing assessments, but I navigated through it all with supports and encouragements of my team. 73 00:08:53.040 --> 00:09:06.690 Sujit Kurup: While in college I was enrolled in the access VR and then YS program that provide counseling and guidance to access employment for the career of choice with qualifications. 74 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:15.340 Sujit Kurup: On completion of my degree, I received their emails with job openings in accounting and office support. 75 00:09:16.060 --> 00:09:24.100 Sujit Kurup: These were all 9 to 5 jobs where I could not be productive with my sensory and motor planning challenges. 76 00:09:24.770 --> 00:09:35.840 Sujit Kurup: On inquiring whether they would support my idea of being an entrepreneur, or be self-employed with my own business, they were not forthcoming, as mine was a novel idea. 77 00:09:36.470 --> 00:09:44.880 Sujit Kurup: I was always drawn to art, and my art teacher introduced me to painting in 2009, when I was in middle school. 78 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:54.310 Sujit Kurup: Now it has become my passion, and another medium to express my thoughts. It provides me with a level playing field. 79 00:09:54.970 --> 00:10:03.569 Sujit Kurup: I have been showcasing my art at various exhibitions/art shows facilitated by my art teacher and on my own. 80 00:10:04.050 --> 00:10:09.590 Sujit Kurup: When I had the idea of entrepreneurship, the field of art is what I had in mind. 81 00:10:10.290 --> 00:10:21.759 Sujit Kurup: I have always been an advocate, spreading awareness on my method of communication which would provide means to communicate to many minimally speaking, individuals like me. 82 00:10:22.400 --> 00:10:32.339 Sujit Kurup: I continue to present at many schools, college classes, and agencies with my message, supporting individuals with disabilities. 83 00:10:33.110 --> 00:10:46.939 Sujit Kurup: For over a decade, I am volunteering as a trainer at inclusion and communication initiatives, Syracuse University, doing their workshops and conferences, helping train facilitators. 84 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:54.089 Sujit Kurup: Families and professionals from all parts of the country and world come to be trained as facilitators. 85 00:10:54.730 --> 00:11:02.990 Sujit Kurup: I am greatly thrilled to help open doors of communication for many others like me, transforming their lives forever. 86 00:11:03.640 --> 00:11:10.689 Sujit Kurup: For over a year now, I have been volunteering as a treasurer in AutCom, Autism National Committee. 87 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:18.399 Sujit Kurup: I enjoy doing my work at my own pace and time, and the team at AutCom has been very encouraging. 88 00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:27.940 Sujit Kurup: My degree in business administration has helped me in my job, and I am happy to be given the opportunity to apply what I learned. 89 00:11:28.580 --> 00:11:38.190 Sujit Kurup: I appreciate the fact that AutCom has been in the forefront employing individuals with disabilities, which other employers should emulate. 90 00:11:38.430 --> 00:11:50.230 Sujit Kurup: We all need to establish a strong support system that would help enhance our unique talents and abilities to become productive members of the society and be independent. 91 00:11:50.980 --> 00:12:02.759 Sujit Kurup: Social media platforms can be used to help advocate and build awareness on the unique needs of people with disabilities that will help in providing a level playing field. 92 00:12:03.350 --> 00:12:20.959 Sujit Kurup: involving local legislators who would like to advocate for the causes of people with disabilities is very important for the formulation of favourable state regulations addressing the need for their gainful employment, creating a win-win situation. 93 00:12:26.570 --> 00:12:27.450 Maxfield: Thank you. 94 00:12:27.560 --> 00:12:32.530 Maxfield: Thank you so much. That was that was very informative and wonderful. 95 00:12:35.680 --> 00:12:38.530 Maxfield: Our next panelist is Raesin Caine. 96 00:12:39.180 --> 00:12:45.240 Maxfield: Raesin Caine is pleased to have joined Autism National Committee as a board member in 2024. 97 00:12:45.670 --> 00:12:56.280 Maxfield: She has over 20 years of experience serving in scientific and analytical roles, and is currently employed as an overdose surveillance epidemiologist. 98 00:12:56.930 --> 00:13:08.900 Maxfield: Raesin's favorite things include the New York Times games package, knitting, microscopy, and learning. She lives in Massachusetts, with her wife, several plants, and miles of yarn. 99 00:13:09.890 --> 00:13:14.389 Maxfield: Raesin, our first question for you is: 100 00:13:14.630 --> 00:13:25.390 Maxfield: As you entered the world of work, were there any supports you didn't get, but wished you'd had? What about unhelpful supports (in air quotes) that you wish you didn't have. 101 00:13:26.820 --> 00:13:35.735 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thank you. I I wanna say, first of all, it's wonderful to be here and I appreciate that. I saw some friends in the in the chat. So thank you guys for coming. 102 00:13:36.411 --> 00:13:50.238 Raesin Caine (she/her): As for supports, I didn't have any. I was I. I'm a late diagnosis person. I'm in my forties. I'm 48, and I was diagnosed when I was 41, and I started working when I was 14, small jobs and then 103 00:13:50.670 --> 00:13:54.640 Raesin Caine (she/her): continued on, and so I didn't have any support. 104 00:13:55.152 --> 00:13:58.107 Raesin Caine (she/her): What I really could have used was 105 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:05.591 Raesin Caine (she/her): adequate career counseling because it took me a really long time to figure out that 106 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:10.940 Raesin Caine (she/her): interest does not always translate to a great experience at work. 107 00:14:11.060 --> 00:14:24.793 Raesin Caine (she/her): I'm somebody who likes a lot of different things. I can find a ton of things interesting. And I learned, kind of the hard and expensive way, that some stuff that I'm fascinated by is excruciating as a job experience for me. 108 00:14:25.290 --> 00:14:26.440 Raesin Caine (she/her): I 109 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:30.936 Raesin Caine (she/her): I've worked in mental health. I've worked, you know, as a scientist. 110 00:14:31.988 --> 00:14:35.971 Raesin Caine (she/her): a few different types of scientists and scientists and 111 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:48.150 Raesin Caine (she/her): I have 4 different degrees. And it's not so much that I wanted all 4 of those degrees. It's just that I tried, you know, this job and realized once I was working at it 'Oh, this is not a good fit', 112 00:14:48.716 --> 00:14:51.936 Raesin Caine (she/her): and you know, rinse and repeat. 113 00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:56.690 Raesin Caine (she/her): So I could have benefited from 114 00:14:57.210 --> 00:15:02.650 Raesin Caine (she/her): for one, and in some ways an earlier diagnosis, just to figure out how to how to help help myself. 115 00:15:04.310 --> 00:15:15.440 Raesin Caine (she/her): and also just to figure out what kind of work environment and work responsibilities would have been the best fit for who I who I am. 116 00:15:16.165 --> 00:15:17.864 Raesin Caine (she/her): I also learned that, 117 00:15:18.550 --> 00:15:26.569 Raesin Caine (she/her): you know, supervision styles really mattered, so support can look like the kind of supervision that that I like. 118 00:15:27.009 --> 00:15:31.420 Raesin Caine (she/her): And so for me, what that looks like is having a supervisor that 119 00:15:32.430 --> 00:15:40.580 Raesin Caine (she/her): understands the job and pays attention to the workload that we have, and and can adequately assess demand on an employee. 120 00:15:41.232 --> 00:15:44.397 Raesin Caine (she/her): Cause I've had situations where 121 00:15:45.210 --> 00:15:56.560 Raesin Caine (she/her): my supervisor knows the job and does the job, and I've also had situations where the supervisor does not know the job doesn't understand the job. Doesn't understand what at what I'm being, what's being asked of me and doesn't 122 00:15:56.610 --> 00:16:01.370 Raesin Caine (she/her): can't recognize overload just through assignments and stuff like that. 123 00:16:02.930 --> 00:16:13.949 Raesin Caine (she/her): and you know, I've also realized that support can look like, you know, having a a reachable supervisor that listens and cares. 124 00:16:15.804 --> 00:16:31.819 Raesin Caine (she/her): So those are the kinds of things that I could have used. And I also, this is kind of not exactly, maybe, that what you were asking about with supports. But I feel like this is this is what what fits me. Just feedback that I can receive, because I 125 00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:53.129 Raesin Caine (she/her): I know that a lot of supervisors kind of like the the feedback sandwich where the bun is like something constructive. And then the middle is like, this is what's wrong or what you're doing wrong, and then, you know, they you close it with some constructive criticism, and I'm a person who just wants dump the bun and just tell me what you need me to do, directly. Just tell me what you need me to do. 126 00:16:53.580 --> 00:17:04.839 Raesin Caine (she/her): And another thing that I find that I have always appreciated in work is when when supervisors, or whoever, really thinks before they ask. 127 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:17.649 Raesin Caine (she/her): I I'm not somebody who does well with external processing where they're, you know, they're speaking in 15 paragraphs of 'Let's let me try to figure out what I'm asking', and I'm supposed to parse out what 128 00:17:18.290 --> 00:17:29.549 Raesin Caine (she/her): they want me to do, you know. If it can be like a 3 sentence email, I would like this by this. And this is what I kind of want. That is great I. Those are the kinds of things that I that work well for me. 129 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:34.080 Maxfield: Excellent. Thank you. 130 00:17:34.610 --> 00:17:35.110 Raesin Caine (she/her): You're welcome. 131 00:17:35.110 --> 00:17:35.910 Maxfield: And 132 00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:39.079 Maxfield: we will go 133 00:17:39.910 --> 00:17:42.150 Maxfield: back to John now that 134 00:17:42.170 --> 00:17:49.630 Maxfield: John has woken up a little bit, and a as a as a fellow Californian, I feel you. It's really early right now. 135 00:17:51.376 --> 00:18:18.170 Maxfield: John Marble is the co-author of Neurodiversity for Dummies by Wiley Publishing and the founder of Pivot Neurodiversity, an organization empowering companies to modernize recruitment, hiring, and culture to better support neurodivergent employees. Additionally, he also teaches neurodivergent adults who are transitioning into the workplace. A former White House aides specializing in employment policy, 136 00:18:18.170 --> 00:18:28.979 Maxfield: John credits his autism, ADHD, and discalcula with gifting him the curiosity and unique perspectives he's repeatedly utilized throughout his career. 137 00:18:30.150 --> 00:18:39.290 Maxfield: John, when you wanted to start your own business, did you have the support that you needed to explore alternatives to traditional employment? 138 00:18:39.820 --> 00:18:52.039 John Marble: No, but prior to that, thank you for that bit of cognitive flexibility for me as I as I woke up, I do much better working at night. However, 139 00:18:52.040 --> 00:19:13.129 John Marble: part of self advocacy is also realizing what you need, and communicating that to other people which I should have done earlier. So which is a wonderful lesson that I try to teach my students as well. So my apologies for that, and thank you very much. Honestly, I'm still looking for that. It's 140 00:19:13.510 --> 00:19:27.190 John Marble: kind of a a patchwork of trying to learn from other people who are self employed and autistic. I asked people like Haley Moss, who you might be familiar with in Florida, who's a lawyer. 141 00:19:27.553 --> 00:19:37.809 John Marble: He seems to just be a whiz at this. Nobody teaches us a lot of things. Nobody teaches us how we think as autistic people, and nobody really 142 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.350 John Marble: shows us the models out there. 143 00:19:42.030 --> 00:19:56.240 John Marble: I desperately wish that there was more of that out there. I wish I had a solution to that. And if other people have a solution about how we can educate each other on self businesses, I'd be more than happy to listen. 144 00:19:59.360 --> 00:20:00.230 Maxfield: Thank you. 145 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:09.510 Maxfield: Margaux Wosk is our next panelist, Margaux Wosk is an 146 00:20:09.620 --> 00:20:17.699 Maxfield: I hope. Am I pronouncing it? I should have asked you before. But okay, good. I I was for a moment I was like, I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. I'm glad I'm glad I am. 147 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:26.490 Maxfield: Margaux Wosk is an autistic advocate, activist, content creator, and small business owner under the pseudonym retrofiliac. 148 00:20:26.800 --> 00:20:34.200 Maxfield: They are an Autism Canada ambassador and the lower mainland West Regional Director for BC People First. 149 00:20:35.088 --> 00:20:45.270 Maxfield: Margaux, I have the same question that I asked John: When you wanted to start your own business, did you have the support you needed to explore alternatives to traditional employment? 150 00:20:46.530 --> 00:21:04.543 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I did not. This was something that I created for myself. I have had businesses on and off since I was 12 years old. At the age of 12 I was buying and reselling vintage on ebay before any of these other apps, like Depop and Posh mart existed. 151 00:21:06.120 --> 00:21:23.870 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): from there. I translated into creating very bright and vibrant digital, or, sorry visual art, which has actually recently been featured in Sugar Art for Autism. A bunch of my pieces were created by like 152 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:31.060 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): cake artists where they took my art and translated it for this project. It's absolutely beautiful. 153 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:55.889 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I've showed my art in different galleries. I've had my art made on cards and all kinds of stuff, and then from there it translated into what I'm currently doing. So I've had the name retrofiliac from vintage clothing to retro inspired art to what I'm doing, currently which is communication aids that are primarily enamel pins for all kinds of different disabilities 154 00:21:56.290 --> 00:21:59.109 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): and access needs and stuff like that. 155 00:21:59.250 --> 00:22:17.280 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): The support was non-existent. Nobody wanted to help me. There wasn't a single grant, there still continues to not be a single grant. I have been fighting very hard, and I have gone to different provincial budget meetings to beg basically for a grant. 156 00:22:17.789 --> 00:22:22.100 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): The one program that exists called Community Futures EDP 157 00:22:22.110 --> 00:22:32.139 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): to help disabled and neurodivergent people run their own businesses recently got their funding cut. So we are up against, you know, 158 00:22:32.230 --> 00:22:59.170 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): able-bodied, allistic, very profitable businesses that are worth, you know, around 38 billion dollars annually, who are getting, you know, 25 million dollars-ish of funding or a cut to hire disabled people when that is their legal obligation. And we should not be funding that when they can fund it themselves, so they are essentially pivoting funding away from disabled and neurodivergent entrepreneurs. 159 00:22:59.420 --> 00:23:11.892 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): And it is incredibly disheartening. I'm hoping to become the director for BC People First, so that that can be our mandate during my term. So it is something that I have been just 160 00:23:12.250 --> 00:23:33.770 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): really up against, but because I see the lack of support that I have received, my hope is to change it for others, and I ran a multi week free cohort with an organization here called Curiko, CURIKO. Where I was leading different people through the conception 161 00:23:33.810 --> 00:23:44.990 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): to all the way through marketing to having their creative product for sale and that was a free thing for all of our participants. 162 00:23:45.610 --> 00:24:09.179 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): And so I'm hoping that because I've developed this kind of very loosely based, loose curriculum, very basic that that could eventually get translated into a local organization, utilizing it for structuring their small business program for autistic youth. So it's been a lot of trial and error, and a lot of 163 00:24:09.190 --> 00:24:17.039 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): doors closed in my face. But I'm hoping that through my work I can change the landscape of what self employment looks like. 164 00:24:19.650 --> 00:24:26.336 Maxfield: Excellent. That is very important work you're doing. Thank you on behalf of everybody that you're helping. 165 00:24:26.850 --> 00:24:32.410 Maxfield: And the same to you, John, your your business is doing very important work helping people. 166 00:24:35.260 --> 00:24:36.450 Maxfield: our next panelist. 167 00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:37.710 John Marble: Then oh, sorry! 168 00:24:38.346 --> 00:24:38.919 Maxfield: Go ahead! 169 00:24:39.322 --> 00:24:46.570 John Marble: Really quick. I got in involved a little bit when there was the Autism Network Conference which 170 00:24:46.850 --> 00:25:01.379 John Marble: I have my own opinions on businesses that run Autism at Work programs. I think the last one that they were going to have right before Covid. I I was making a big push that we need to have this track for autistic business owners. 171 00:25:02.130 --> 00:25:03.309 John Marble: So it's just 172 00:25:04.080 --> 00:25:09.499 John Marble: I ramble. But that was a long way, me saying I really appreciate what Margaux just said. 173 00:25:10.530 --> 00:25:39.417 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Thank you. And with what you just said, I do run in a group on Facebook called made by autistics, marketplace and community. So we have 9.5 or 9,500 members ish right now. And we are hoping that we continue that, especially with it being autism acceptance month that people are putting their money into the hands of autistic creators this month. But every month. And so, yeah, it's an online marketplace and all. 174 00:25:39.770 --> 00:25:42.339 John Marble: I'm a member. I didn't know that was you. It feels like 175 00:25:42.340 --> 00:25:42.750 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): That was me. 176 00:25:42.750 --> 00:25:43.989 John Marble: meeting a celebrity. 177 00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:44.335 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Oh. 178 00:25:44.970 --> 00:25:54.440 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): well, thank you. Yeah. It's a you know. I think sometimes at the grass roots level, we have to do the best we can to help serve our our community and the communities that support us. 179 00:25:56.090 --> 00:25:57.210 Maxfield: Absolutely. 180 00:25:57.340 --> 00:26:00.519 Maxfield: absolutely. Thank you so much, both of you, for that. 181 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:08.699 Maxfield: for that that I I don't know the word I was gonna say for that side conversation. But it's not. That's that's at the heart of everything we're talking about today. 182 00:26:08.750 --> 00:26:10.780 Maxfield: And I appreciate that so much. 183 00:26:11.730 --> 00:26:14.490 Maxfield: Our next panelist is James Burke. 184 00:26:14.600 --> 00:26:20.670 Maxfield: Jamie Burke is 37 years old, and a graduate from Syracuse University with-- 185 00:26:21.280 --> 00:26:26.950 Maxfield: wait a minute. Are you 37? I think last time that I introduced you I said 37, and you're 27 186 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:29.999 Maxfield: sorry for the unprofessional 187 00:26:30.360 --> 00:26:31.130 Maxfield: but 188 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:36.240 Maxfield: I wanna make sure I get it right this time. 189 00:26:39.490 --> 00:26:41.000 James G. Burke: I'm 37, Max. 190 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:44.398 Maxfield: Okay, you you look so young. Congratulations. 191 00:26:44.990 --> 00:27:02.830 Maxfield: Jamie Burke is 37 years old, and is a graduate from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Arts and Science. Jamie has used supported typing since age 5, and has progressed from supported typing to independent typing and typing with 2 hands. 192 00:27:02.830 --> 00:27:31.690 Maxfield: At age 12 he became able to use his voice to read his typing, and continues to develop useful and reliable speech. He is a frequent presenter on behalf of the Syracuse University School of Education, and also at conferences throughout the United States. Jamie has been invited to England, Wales, and Germany to speak about inclusion and the process of typed communication and the life changing impact it can have for those who have difficulty speaking. 193 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:48.190 Maxfield: Jamie continues to advocate for typed communication as a gateway to speech, literacy, and connection, and continues to work with the ICI, the Initiative for Communication and Inclusion at Syracuse University as an assistant communication trainer. 194 00:27:48.320 --> 00:28:10.488 Maxfield: He is an active advocate, and has shared his journey at conferences and classrooms throughout the United States. He attributes much of his life, success to years of sensory, innovative therapies, and, most importantly, to full access of regular education classrooms. That is just wonderful to have you with us today, Jamie, you 195 00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:13.629 Maxfield: such a terrific scholar. 196 00:28:14.270 --> 00:28:17.110 Maxfield: and I have for you 197 00:28:17.320 --> 00:28:19.950 Maxfield: the question: As you entered the world of work, 198 00:28:19.950 --> 00:28:20.740 James G. Burke: Thanks. 199 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:29.690 Maxfield: were there any supports you didn't get, but wished you'd had? What about unhelpful (air quote) supports that you wish you didn't have? 200 00:28:51.810 --> 00:28:54.150 Maxfield: I can't hear you, Jamie, are you muted? 201 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:55.390 James G. Burke: It should 202 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:00.690 James G. Burke: that should be number 203 00:29:01.600 --> 00:29:02.780 James G. Burke: should be number 204 00:29:02.780 --> 00:29:04.400 Maxfield: Oh, did I ask you the wrong question? 205 00:29:04.683 --> 00:29:05.250 James G. Burke: Number one. 206 00:29:06.520 --> 00:29:07.280 Maxfield: Yes. 207 00:29:08.150 --> 00:29:08.830 Maxfield: that! 208 00:29:09.760 --> 00:29:10.680 Maxfield: Oh. 209 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:17.659 James G. Burke: Transitioning from school to adult life and work, do you think you had support necessary to explore careers that matched your interests? 210 00:29:19.400 --> 00:29:27.139 James G. Burke: Yes, thank you. My thought is that I was very stressed and focus about my university grades and doing well. 211 00:29:27.260 --> 00:29:32.279 James G. Burke: so that the ideas of talking about and thinking about working was yet more stress for me. 212 00:29:32.410 --> 00:29:38.329 James G. Burke: What was fundamentally different was the best reality. When I was traveling with the ICI, 213 00:29:38.370 --> 00:29:42.999 James G. Burke: Initiative for Communication and Inclusion, Center on disability and inclusion, 214 00:29:43.080 --> 00:29:44.550 James G. Burke: Syracuse University, 215 00:29:45.010 --> 00:29:55.549 James G. Burke: for Conference presentations about the experience of inclusion and education, and using an alternate method of communication to open life and have the ability to be a change for a full life experience. 216 00:29:55.860 --> 00:29:58.259 James G. Burke: I was very well prepared to talk about this 217 00:29:58.280 --> 00:30:01.170 James G. Burke: as it was, and is, my own life experience. 218 00:30:01.180 --> 00:30:12.510 James G. Burke: It was wonderful to travel to a great number of states and to experience travel to Germany, England, and Wales. I also did this separately, and did presentations supported in travel by family. 219 00:30:12.570 --> 00:30:17.400 James G. Burke: Of course this has been very reduced because of covid and changing financial eras. 220 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:23.266 Maxfield: Thank you. 221 00:30:25.180 --> 00:30:26.580 Maxfield: Thank you, Jamie. 222 00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:45.060 Maxfield: You all see me shuffling papers, it's because I'm I'm confused, but we're--everything's together. I've noticed a lot of people are asking: will there be a replay of this? And yes, there will. This I I don't have a timeline for it, but it will go up, I believe, on Youtube 223 00:30:45.090 --> 00:30:47.390 Maxfield: for people to watch 224 00:30:47.810 --> 00:30:49.469 Maxfield: all in the future. 225 00:30:56.390 --> 00:31:03.790 Maxfield: To to limit my confusion, I'm gonna come back to John because I, if that's okay, cause that that's fine. 226 00:31:03.790 --> 00:31:04.590 John Marble: I don't feel. 227 00:31:04.590 --> 00:31:04.960 Maxfield: Easy. 228 00:31:05.546 --> 00:31:06.133 John Marble: Yeah. 229 00:31:09.170 --> 00:31:10.300 Maxfield: John, 230 00:31:11.040 --> 00:31:22.360 Maxfield: as an autistic person working with people to help them find employment, do you find that being autistic makes it different for you versus non autistic colleagues doing similar work? 231 00:31:23.805 --> 00:31:30.364 John Marble: It does. I I've thought for a while about how to best answer this question. So 232 00:31:30.770 --> 00:31:34.120 John Marble: if you don't judge, don't me. Maybe I'll tell a story 233 00:31:34.150 --> 00:31:37.940 John Marble: from a previous job to to lead into this, and hopefully, by the end. 234 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.969 John Marble: I'm just confusing you. More sorry, but. 235 00:31:40.970 --> 00:31:42.230 Maxfield: You're fine. You're fine. 236 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:54.160 John Marble: So. And you know, a previous job. Years ago, when I was working for the White House when President Obama was in the White house, it was the first time that it had disclosed that I was autistic. 237 00:31:54.630 --> 00:31:56.480 John Marble: and I remember having 238 00:31:56.610 --> 00:32:18.930 John Marble: lunch with Dave Noble, who is in White House personnel at the time who kind of oversaw all the potential appointees, and we're in the White House mess. And at the end of it I said, "Dave, I have to tell you something that only my parents know, and my doctor and my best friend. But I have autism, and I need to ask my manager for accommodation and I don't know how to do that." 239 00:32:19.090 --> 00:32:25.379 John Marble: And then the way I tell the stories is that it felt like 2 hours of silence is probably like a quarter second. 240 00:32:25.450 --> 00:32:30.059 John Marble: But I thought I was gonna lose my job. I thought I was gonna lose my security clearance 241 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:35.169 John Marble: and his reaction as a neurotypical manager changed my life. 242 00:32:35.470 --> 00:32:46.959 John Marble: He said, "that's fantastic." And I just looked at him and he said, "John, you seem confused." I'm like, "yeah," he's like, "have you ever thought that your autism has helped you in your career?" 243 00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:57.650 John Marble: I said "no, I've overcome it. I've papered over it. I've kind of really good at hiding it from people, you know. But now I just it's something's happening." And he said, "No, no, no," he's like, 244 00:32:57.790 --> 00:33:14.699 John Marble: "I've known you for a long time," and we knew each other well enough that he could say this next thing, he said, "You're definitely an odd guy." He said that with love he's like, "But think about it. I've known you a long time. You look at things differently and you work differently than other people." 245 00:33:14.800 --> 00:33:22.770 John Marble: he said. "My job is to find Americans to come together to tackle some really big problems, and I can't have everybody who's the same." 246 00:33:22.980 --> 00:33:25.850 John Marble: So he said, "I will help you get your accommodation." 247 00:33:25.950 --> 00:33:33.360 John Marble: To this day, we can't remember what that was. That's how much we build up these requests in our head as disabled people. 248 00:33:33.560 --> 00:33:41.299 John Marble: he said "I will help you get your accommodation, but I need you to figure yourself out and be comfortable with that, and then bring back to work." 249 00:33:41.489 --> 00:33:54.880 John Marble: And it was a good year before I was able to get to that place of acceptance. And once I did, that changed everything because I started to realize, oh, yeah, I see things differently than my colleagues. 250 00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:17.689 John Marble: And maybe it's not the case that everybody else sees this the same way. but they've just decided there's a better strategy. Maybe I have input as well. So that was the start of a very long journey to get me to the question that you asked about. You know, teaching autistic students. I teach autistic adults who are transitioning to work and if that's different. 251 00:34:18.110 --> 00:34:19.770 John Marble: it is. 252 00:34:19.830 --> 00:34:30.240 John Marble: however, I'm fortunate that I found myself in the place that my other 2 teachers were not autistic, but were very much in this deep neurodiversity frame. 253 00:34:30.330 --> 00:34:39.069 John Marble: I teach with my colleague Ranga Jayaraman, who is in his sixties and the father of an autistic son. 254 00:34:39.430 --> 00:34:53.439 John Marble: and I teach with my colleague Khushboo Chabria, who's I don't know how old she is, but she's a Adhd woman who, she doesn't know how to tell the story, but I tell her it's such a good one to share. 255 00:34:53.680 --> 00:35:02.509 John Marble: She actually started out as an aba therapist, and made the journey into neuro inclusion, which I think is just such a powerful thing. 256 00:35:02.670 --> 00:35:11.469 John Marble: and the 3 of us are just so steeped in the fact that neurodiversity is normal and that disability is normal 257 00:35:11.580 --> 00:35:32.089 John Marble: that we are able to have different perspectives on things as we help our students, but not in a way that says, like, oh, neurotypical, better than autistic people. So it's kind of the that's a long winded model, a long winded way of saying that to me that's kind of the model that I really hope 258 00:35:32.100 --> 00:35:35.989 John Marble: for autistic people. And when I've seen 259 00:35:36.110 --> 00:35:42.709 John Marble: companies kind of best support their autistic and otherwise neurodivergent employees. 260 00:35:42.910 --> 00:35:56.210 John Marble: It's been when employees have started efforts themselves, like and neurodiversity employee resource groups, and maybe they partner with parents and friends, and they tend to drive the policy from there. 261 00:35:56.942 --> 00:35:58.930 John Marble: So that is 262 00:35:58.950 --> 00:36:03.259 John Marble: kind of my hope, for where we, where we go in the future. 263 00:36:06.110 --> 00:36:07.377 Maxfield: Excellent. Thank you. 264 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:09.819 Maxfield: That's a great answer. 265 00:36:11.090 --> 00:36:13.040 Maxfield: Back to Sujit. 266 00:36:15.016 --> 00:36:25.720 Maxfield: Sujit, we are hearing a lot about artificial intelligence lately. Undoubtedly, AI and assistive technologies are going to have a profound effect on the workplace for everyone. 267 00:36:25.910 --> 00:36:32.620 Maxfield: How do you think technological advances might affect employment and career opportunities for autistic individuals. 268 00:36:36.300 --> 00:36:46.320 Sujit Kurup: Artificial intelligence I could be a game changer, providing accessible and inclusive means to access information and connect with others. 269 00:36:47.010 --> 00:36:55.350 Sujit Kurup: High powered gadgets and programs can promote greater independence and happiness in the lives of people with disabilities. 270 00:36:56.050 --> 00:37:12.489 Sujit Kurup: CHAT GPT a Language model that may be utilized for communication and information retrieval could be used by people with communication disabilities and getting their messages across in an effective and efficient way. 271 00:37:13.070 --> 00:37:27.230 Sujit Kurup: in getting their messages across more efficiently and effectively, helping with learning, maintaining information problem solving, thinking quickly, organizing, etc. Which are very challenging for them. 272 00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:36.350 Sujit Kurup: It could remove communication barriers and provide level playing field, helping them to more employment opportunities. 273 00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:41.670 Maxfield: Thank you. 274 00:37:46.940 --> 00:37:48.890 Maxfield: back to Raesin. 275 00:37:58.100 --> 00:38:00.390 Maxfield: Are you working now? 276 00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:04.910 Maxfield: And if so, what does that work look like for you? 277 00:38:05.110 --> 00:38:09.119 Maxfield: What supports were available to help you get the kind of work that you do? 278 00:38:11.170 --> 00:38:17.320 Raesin Caine (she/her): I am working now. I work part time as a as an epidemiologist which I really love. 279 00:38:17.775 --> 00:38:20.384 Raesin Caine (she/her): My day to day looks like 280 00:38:21.780 --> 00:38:30.090 Raesin Caine (she/her): looking at medical records and police reports, and figuring out the circumstances behind people's overdose. 281 00:38:30.350 --> 00:38:33.797 Raesin Caine (she/her): fatal overdoses to to learn more about 282 00:38:34.380 --> 00:38:36.090 Raesin Caine (she/her): what their lives looked like. 283 00:38:36.574 --> 00:38:40.415 Raesin Caine (she/her): I write a lot of code using a software called 284 00:38:41.130 --> 00:38:54.209 Raesin Caine (she/her): it's called SAS. So it's statist for statistical analysis. And I really love that, and I also, on a rare occasion, work on on, on infographics, to 285 00:38:54.350 --> 00:38:58.707 Raesin Caine (she/her): relay the what we what we learn to the public. 286 00:38:59.932 --> 00:39:03.598 Raesin Caine (she/her): I'll there's another question where I'll where I'll talk a little bit about 287 00:39:04.446 --> 00:39:07.909 Raesin Caine (she/her): like getting in the door. But I I didn't have 288 00:39:08.180 --> 00:39:33.190 Raesin Caine (she/her): wouldn't say that I had supports to get in the door. I I started there with with an internship, an unpaid internship. Never thought I'd be an unpaid intern at like 40. However, I was how old I was when I started. And that led to like a temp job on the team that I'm on. And then, later on, after I finished my MPH, and my master and public health in 2022, I became a an epidemiologist. 289 00:39:33.450 --> 00:39:37.740 Raesin Caine (she/her): and that this is the job of all the jobs that I've had that feels like 290 00:39:37.820 --> 00:39:39.870 Raesin Caine (she/her): truly the best fit for me. 291 00:39:41.940 --> 00:39:42.990 Raesin Caine (she/her): it. 292 00:39:44.710 --> 00:39:51.133 Raesin Caine (she/her): It's a really supportive environment, like, you know, I work with a lot of kind of similarly minded nerds. 293 00:39:52.224 --> 00:39:55.325 Raesin Caine (she/her): like data nerds are a special type of nerd 294 00:39:55.940 --> 00:39:56.875 Raesin Caine (she/her): and 295 00:39:57.950 --> 00:40:00.572 Raesin Caine (she/her): I just really like everybody on the team. 296 00:40:01.270 --> 00:40:04.830 Raesin Caine (she/her): and I think that's that's probably everything I have to say 297 00:40:07.720 --> 00:40:08.850 Raesin Caine (she/her): about that. 298 00:40:09.930 --> 00:40:14.120 Maxfield: I'm I'm vibing with the data nerd. I used SAS in my social. 299 00:40:14.120 --> 00:40:15.120 Raesin Caine (she/her): Oh, you did! That's awesome 300 00:40:15.120 --> 00:40:26.930 Maxfield: Studies. Yeah. And and man, that sounds like a great job, because also so much meaning. What you're doing is so important and can save lives, and that would. 301 00:40:27.110 --> 00:40:27.650 Maxfield: That's. 302 00:40:27.650 --> 00:40:28.300 Raesin Caine (she/her): I hope so 303 00:40:28.550 --> 00:40:31.100 Maxfield: Having having meaningful work is so valuable. 304 00:40:31.870 --> 00:40:35.459 Raesin Caine (she/her): For me that's very, very important. I can. I can't do 305 00:40:36.056 --> 00:40:39.533 Raesin Caine (she/her): I can't use skills for something that does not 306 00:40:40.570 --> 00:40:49.502 Raesin Caine (she/her): So for something I don't really care about. I had a I had a graphic artist friend who used to design junk mail, and I felt so bad for him, cause he knew that everything that he was making would just 307 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:52.670 Raesin Caine (she/her): go in the trash, and he was so talented. And. 308 00:40:52.750 --> 00:40:55.041 Raesin Caine (she/her): you know, having a personal 309 00:40:55.530 --> 00:40:58.270 Raesin Caine (she/her): or caring about what you're doing is really important 310 00:40:58.380 --> 00:40:59.759 Raesin Caine (she/her): for for me, at least. 311 00:41:00.180 --> 00:41:02.360 Maxfield: Absolutely, absolutely. 312 00:41:04.700 --> 00:41:06.190 Maxfield: Margaux. 313 00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:30.549 Maxfield: And I'm shuffling some more papers. And yes, here we go. Did you have the support? I mean, you addressed this some in the first question, but this is expanding on it. Did you have the support that you needed to get your business started? And what helped and what did not? Is there anything you learned that might be useful to other autistic entrepreneurs, or would be entrepreneurs? 314 00:41:31.380 --> 00:41:37.141 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Yeah, so I'll expand a little bit on what I was saying before. I didn't really have any help. 315 00:41:38.189 --> 00:41:48.779 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): The only help that I did get was a British Columbia Arts Council grant, however, that grant wasn't specifically for 316 00:41:48.810 --> 00:41:50.989 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): what I got it for. So 317 00:41:51.000 --> 00:42:14.169 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): my first pin was the neurodiversity pride infinity, my interpretation of it where I separated all the colors, and it looks almost more like an infinite game board which played really nicely in opposition to a puzzle piece. So an infinite game board, with infinite possibilities versus feeling like broken or missing something. You know a puzzle is to be solved, 318 00:42:14.300 --> 00:42:35.763 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): But mine was more infinite and ongoing and and full of possibilities. So, generally speaking, when you're applying for like an Arts Council Grant, you're applying for something that you are not going to profit off of, but because I was able to donate, I think, a portion of the proceeds to an organization plus give some of the pins out, 319 00:42:36.560 --> 00:42:53.438 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I guess they saw the merit in the work that I was doing, and they funded that. And so from there that initial funding. I did receive a few more Arts Council grants. But again there was no grant pertaining to exactly the type of work that I'm doing, and there still continues to not be. 320 00:42:54.040 --> 00:43:06.150 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So I would say, you know, think outside the box in terms of funding, even if a grant may not seem completely applicable for the work you're doing, Try anyways, you never know 321 00:43:07.590 --> 00:43:19.729 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): And you know from there, having the few grants that I did receive I've had. I have over, I think, 250 products right now. And I have my items in 322 00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:36.770 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): lots of different stores and doing wholesale orders practically weekly at this point, and I have over, you know, 11,000 sales on Etsy. So I've been kind of able to like, grow and expand. But really the amount of help that's out there is is really 323 00:43:37.470 --> 00:43:42.140 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): not much. And I would say that 324 00:43:42.170 --> 00:43:45.799 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): again, like, Think outside the box when it comes to your funding. 325 00:43:46.020 --> 00:44:02.100 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Think of ways that you can get it out there, and if you have even a small amount of money, there are, you know, small tangible things that you can create that you may be able to have a decent profit margin on that you can then reinvest in your business. 326 00:44:03.310 --> 00:44:07.830 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): but yeah, I would just say like, if it things seem really tough, 327 00:44:08.120 --> 00:44:24.540 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): try to not give up. Sometimes it's all about, instead of thinking that there's one way of doing things, to find an alternate way around that, you know. Like, instead of going down the path, that seems obvious, you might have to go down more of a winding path to get to your goal. 328 00:44:26.740 --> 00:44:35.458 Maxfield: Excellent. I've experienced that myself launching my own business. It took me 3 years from getting the domain and saying, Now I'm ready to launch my business 329 00:44:35.860 --> 00:44:38.589 Maxfield: to actually launching it because of 330 00:44:38.860 --> 00:44:44.599 Maxfield: what you're describing, the the roadblocks that I had to find ways around. That's excellent advice. 331 00:44:46.980 --> 00:44:48.060 Maxfield: Jamie. 332 00:44:50.521 --> 00:44:54.098 Maxfield: The same question that I asked Raesin, 333 00:44:55.034 --> 00:44:59.749 Maxfield: are you working now? And if so, what does that work look like for you? 334 00:44:59.850 --> 00:45:03.719 Maxfield: And what supports were available to help you get that kind of work? 335 00:45:05.250 --> 00:45:09.200 James G. Burke: I would say I continue to do some conference presenting, 336 00:45:09.260 --> 00:45:11.730 James G. Burke: but is mostly accomplished through Zoom. 337 00:45:11.850 --> 00:45:22.550 James G. Burke: I am an assistant communication trainer for the ICI, and this has so much value for me. My friend called Sujit Kurup, offer our skills and everyday life experiences as assistant trainers. 338 00:45:22.580 --> 00:45:24.799 James G. Burke: I have worked in research projects for 339 00:45:24.810 --> 00:45:28.039 James G. Burke: Mexico analyst analysis projects. 340 00:45:28.540 --> 00:45:31.809 James G. Burke: And then the Message Passing research project. 341 00:45:32.020 --> 00:45:42.410 James G. Burke: I have contributed to wonderful authors' published writings. Authors Zach Rossetti, Carol Tashie, Alicia Broderick, Chris Anderson, Chris Cleaver Christopher Cleaver, 342 00:45:42.430 --> 00:45:44.560 James G. Burke: Doug Biklen, Chris Cleaver. 343 00:45:44.740 --> 00:45:48.920 James G. Burke: Doug Biklen, and Ralph Savarese have given me the opportunities that have been a work of joy. 344 00:45:49.510 --> 00:46:03.099 James G. Burke: I have a great self determination plan for my service agency here in Syracuse that has supported me since high school, and being able to make my own choices in my life for financial, for its financial supports for activities and for hiring community support staff. 345 00:46:03.370 --> 00:46:09.789 James G. Burke: I currently have a solid community communication support person who has been working with me for almost 10 years. 346 00:46:10.050 --> 00:46:13.380 James G. Burke: so support, as a respectful cohort is paramount for me. 347 00:46:13.400 --> 00:46:17.930 James G. Burke: unhelpful supports, perhaps, where, in my tender years when there was too much of it. 348 00:46:18.090 --> 00:46:24.659 James G. Burke: But I was struggling myself to understand why I could not use my voice to speak my thoughts and people trying to give helpful support 349 00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:28.049 James G. Burke: simply made too many choices for me of their own selection. 350 00:46:30.990 --> 00:46:31.819 Maxfield: Thank you. 351 00:46:33.990 --> 00:46:35.050 Maxfield: John. 352 00:46:35.700 --> 00:46:43.779 Maxfield: Were there things you struggled with as you got your business up and running? Were the resources for small businesses accessible to you? 353 00:46:47.600 --> 00:46:51.789 John Marble: Well, I mean no, and I think, as 354 00:46:51.950 --> 00:46:53.950 John Marble: someone who thinks like I 355 00:46:54.180 --> 00:47:10.989 John Marble: do. It was. It was hard to even know that there were resources without somebody modeling that for me. I think that's maybe a struggle that that a lot of people have in what they're doing. 356 00:47:11.306 --> 00:47:32.049 John Marble: It also happened at a point in life that I realized for the first time that I had always been pulled forward in my career, that you know I was just told, "oh, John, we need you to come work here," and I would go work at that place, and then somebody else would say, "Well, we need, you know, you should be doing this." And so I remember I 357 00:47:32.730 --> 00:47:43.810 John Marble: left the White House, because when the President's job ended, my job ended. And they're really good about preparing us for that transition, and I moved to California and 358 00:47:44.550 --> 00:47:57.629 John Marble: My autistic brain was just like, well, I did construction and worked in warehouses when I was in college, so I took a minimum wage job in a warehouse whereas my other White House colleagues were 359 00:47:57.660 --> 00:48:00.939 John Marble: going on to other things, and it took 360 00:48:02.020 --> 00:48:18.794 John Marble: A friend realizing that on my lunch breaks, on my 35 min lunch breaks that I got at my, not. I'm not knocking minimum wage jobs. But at the minimum wage job in the warehouse I was giving free advice to corporations on the phone who would call me. And 361 00:48:19.130 --> 00:48:32.039 John Marble: he said. "You know, I think you have some skills that maybe are beyond what you're doing now." And I'm like this is repetitive work that I can do over and over again. It's very stimmy. He said, "yeah, but I think you need to 362 00:48:32.620 --> 00:48:38.140 John Marble: share some of your insights with other people," and I look back. And I'm like, you know, I had 363 00:48:38.670 --> 00:48:42.670 John Marble: this neurotypical person help me with that. And 364 00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:44.090 John Marble: I 365 00:48:44.430 --> 00:48:55.969 John Marble: I just wonder how many other people are in in situations like that, who want to start businesses. But just don't know what's out there, because nobody models it for us. 366 00:48:58.190 --> 00:49:14.739 Maxfield: Absolutely. The only reason that I was able to start my writing business is seeing my writing teacher doing something similar with Tarot cards and thinking, I've been studying astrology since I was 12. I can help people write using that. 367 00:49:14.790 --> 00:49:18.830 Maxfield: modeling, having something modeled for us is so important. 368 00:49:19.230 --> 00:49:20.130 Maxfield: Thank you. 369 00:49:20.130 --> 00:49:49.789 John Marble: I I remember I also do like keynote speeches for companies. And after maybe like a year or so doing that, autistic friends said, "Oh, I think I saw autistic people really bad when we speak to corporations about asking for speaking fees." And I'm like "what's speaking fees?" And like it just hadn't occurred to me. And so like, that's something I do with a lot of autistic people. I'm like, if you're going to a company make sure 370 00:49:49.900 --> 00:49:53.220 John Marble: to ask them to pay you, cause it doesn't 371 00:49:53.380 --> 00:49:55.009 John Marble: occur to a lot of us. 372 00:49:56.080 --> 00:49:59.770 Maxfield: Absolutely. I've seen that time and again and in myself. 373 00:50:00.300 --> 00:50:04.469 Maxfield: It's hard to know how to ask for money and how to ask for enough money. 374 00:50:04.580 --> 00:50:05.620 Maxfield: I see 375 00:50:05.710 --> 00:50:13.279 Maxfield: so many, so many autistic entrepreneurs underselling what they're offering because it's so hard to ask for money. 376 00:50:15.820 --> 00:50:17.030 Maxfield: Raesin. 377 00:50:18.930 --> 00:50:29.109 Maxfield: Was there anything that you struggled with in actually getting hired, such as interviewing or onboarding? Were alternatives to traditional interviewing, provided? 378 00:50:31.160 --> 00:50:39.931 Raesin Caine (she/her): Well, yeah, interviewing is not my favorite thing. I think most people aren't that into interviews. I'm always always nervous. 379 00:50:41.010 --> 00:51:04.779 Raesin Caine (she/her): I? And and I've always I've typically worked in stem jobs. So I never know if it's gonna if I'm gonna walk in there, they're gonna have corny, you know, "name a time you had to face advert. You know you faced adversity," those kinds of questions. Or if somebody's gonna ask me a formula, you know, to repeat a formula and and calculate something. So I can. Never. I typically, never feel prepared enough. 380 00:51:04.910 --> 00:51:17.570 Raesin Caine (she/her): And for the the job that I have now, I knew there was gonna be an interview. I knew it was gonna be a panel of people and I knew that there was gonna be a a coding portion, which, of course I was. 381 00:51:18.050 --> 00:51:21.460 Raesin Caine (she/her): I was a wreck about a timed coding portion. 382 00:51:22.416 --> 00:51:25.074 Raesin Caine (she/her): And I needed 383 00:51:26.750 --> 00:51:33.839 Raesin Caine (she/her): So the version of SAS that I had to use did not have like a dark mode built in, and I need one of my accommodations that I 384 00:51:34.180 --> 00:51:42.339 Raesin Caine (she/her): one of the things I need because of a TBI is, I need to be able to view this thing in dark mode. And it it basically, I don't wanna get into the minutia of this, but 385 00:51:42.780 --> 00:51:45.709 Raesin Caine (she/her): regular SAS has is color coded. 386 00:51:46.030 --> 00:52:09.879 Raesin Caine (she/her): And when when I was using, like the version that I needed, it, stripped away all the color, so it you don't recognize as quickly, or at all, if you've made a mistake. All you know, if you made a mistake is that you? It's not running or something gets stuck, and you have to figure out where it is. So I needed. They gave me more time. But just my stress level around that was was absolutely through the roof. 387 00:52:10.290 --> 00:52:20.169 Raesin Caine (she/her): But I did get. I did get accommodations for more time on that all that to say like this is one of those things where I wish developers 388 00:52:20.900 --> 00:52:21.910 Raesin Caine (she/her): could 389 00:52:22.290 --> 00:52:37.134 Raesin Caine (she/her): think about accessibility and build it in more widely into their programs? I've spoken to the people at SAS, they. They're like, Oh, well, we have dark mode in these versions. It was like, Okay, well, you have it in these versions, but not all versions. 390 00:52:37.450 --> 00:52:53.020 Raesin Caine (she/her): and in order to get like a like a workaround, I had to basically have, like an act of Congress to get it, because, you know, there's security concerns, and that kind of thing. So just little stuff like that can be a tremendous obstacle for people. 391 00:52:54.730 --> 00:53:20.301 Raesin Caine (she/her): in other jobs, I've had difficulties just getting past the AI like, I know what people have there. There can be good things about AI, but there, it could also be bad where like, if your sent sentence structure is too complex in your cover letter or in your resume, the artificial intelligence screening the resumes might be, too, might not be sophisticated enough to parse out that you're actually very qualified for the for the position, and you might not get 392 00:53:20.610 --> 00:53:28.899 Raesin Caine (she/her): selected, which is something that I was thinking about with somebody put a con comment. Sandy was talking about her son and 393 00:53:29.885 --> 00:53:33.354 Raesin Caine (she/her): and his many job applications. So 394 00:53:35.480 --> 00:53:36.900 Raesin Caine (she/her): I 395 00:53:38.030 --> 00:53:46.969 Raesin Caine (she/her): wish it could be easier for all of us to get the kinds of jobs that that we want to get. I also think that in the environment of. 396 00:53:47.240 --> 00:54:14.329 Raesin Caine (she/her): you know, looking through jobs looking for jobs on in places like, Indeed. Those are also businesses, you know, and so they make money on, or I think they make money. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but they make money on views and advertising, and the number of times you visit, so you could be spinning your tires, putting in your best effort to get a job when in in reality you're never gonna get one, because it's not set up for that. It's set up to have visitors, you know. 397 00:54:14.330 --> 00:54:19.839 Raesin Caine (she/her): and it can be spirit crushing for a lot of people who are earnestly trying to look for work. 398 00:54:22.010 --> 00:54:29.503 Raesin Caine (she/her): So that's my! I'm that was a total rant. I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not sorry. Actually, I'm not sorry. 399 00:54:30.280 --> 00:54:31.520 Raesin Caine (she/her): I 400 00:54:31.720 --> 00:54:33.620 Raesin Caine (she/her): it shouldn't be so hard. 401 00:54:35.420 --> 00:54:47.590 Raesin Caine (she/her): other other thoughts about interviewing. I wish we could do away with I I have a hard time with phone interviews because especially paneled phone interviews, because I don't know when someone's done talking. 402 00:54:48.290 --> 00:54:57.520 Raesin Caine (she/her): I don't know if people are thinking, I don't know if they're taking notes, and if there's dead silence. It can be really, really awkward. And and challenging. 403 00:54:58.074 --> 00:55:04.870 Raesin Caine (she/her): I've had panel interviews. I'm okay with those sort of, like they're nerve wracking. But 404 00:55:07.140 --> 00:55:17.971 Raesin Caine (she/her): I, in a way, a panel is more comfortable because I don't make I can't really make eye contact. So if it's a panel, everybody might think that I'm looking at somebody else 405 00:55:18.520 --> 00:55:34.502 Raesin Caine (she/her): rather than if you're talking to one person there. Well, they know that I'm not looking at them like ever, or maybe, for you know, a split second, and some people really really care about that stuff. I I don't. But I know that people care about that it can, and it can be a reason why people don't select you. 406 00:55:35.286 --> 00:55:37.069 Raesin Caine (she/her): So those are my thoughts. 407 00:55:38.240 --> 00:55:39.649 Maxfield: Those are great thoughts. 408 00:55:39.780 --> 00:55:46.929 Maxfield: And oh, my gosh! When you said that that the SAS didn't have the color coding, I I felt the panic of. 409 00:55:46.930 --> 00:55:48.692 Raesin Caine (she/her): I saw you. 410 00:55:49.370 --> 00:55:51.219 Raesin Caine (she/her): It's so much harder. Yeah. 411 00:55:51.300 --> 00:56:03.920 Raesin Caine (she/her): And it took me over a year to get the to get ColorVeil, which is like a like a you know, it's an a a accessibility. Little 121 kB Kilobyte program. That just kind of puts a 412 00:56:04.260 --> 00:56:07.000 Raesin Caine (she/her): like it kind of puts a veil like a 413 00:56:07.110 --> 00:56:13.200 Raesin Caine (she/her): a color veil over the screen so I can still see the color. But it's not a blinding white background 414 00:56:13.390 --> 00:56:14.130 Raesin Caine (she/her): but. 415 00:56:14.300 --> 00:56:16.719 Raesin Caine (she/her): Yeah, small things can make a big difference. 416 00:56:17.690 --> 00:56:28.830 Maxfield: I have a friend who does she's autistic, and she works for one of the big streaming companies, and she wrote Code for the back end for the servers that would 417 00:56:28.950 --> 00:56:37.620 Maxfield: code things. And she showed me before and after. I'm like, I don't even see how you could have read before, because it's just this wall of text 418 00:56:37.820 --> 00:56:39.990 Maxfield: accommodations are so important. 419 00:56:40.270 --> 00:56:41.319 Raesin Caine (she/her): They really are. 420 00:56:45.230 --> 00:56:46.010 Maxfield: Margaux. 421 00:56:48.671 --> 00:56:56.549 Maxfield: I'm going to ask you the same thing? I asked John, which is: were there things you struggled with as you got your business up and running, 422 00:56:56.630 --> 00:57:00.450 Maxfield: and were the resources for small businesses accessible to you? 423 00:57:02.650 --> 00:57:03.810 Maxfield: you're muted. 424 00:57:05.600 --> 00:57:06.620 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So 425 00:57:08.030 --> 00:57:09.210 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): there. 426 00:57:09.340 --> 00:57:14.200 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): The resources that were available were not. 427 00:57:14.570 --> 00:57:22.159 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I don't know necessarily the lack of accessibility versus the fact that they didn't meet my needs. 428 00:57:22.290 --> 00:57:27.430 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So I had reached out to Small Business BC, 429 00:57:27.650 --> 00:57:41.817 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): and it was not a very good interaction that I had, so moving forward, it was kind of like me figuring out how to do everything on my own, like literally everything. 430 00:57:42.720 --> 00:57:44.459 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): you know, figuring out, 431 00:57:44.730 --> 00:57:48.879 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I don't know, like even like physical, logistical things like 432 00:57:49.340 --> 00:57:51.319 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): all the things that I needed. 433 00:57:51.916 --> 00:57:58.300 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): A lot of it I already taught myself, because you know, the skills that I had selling on ebay. 434 00:57:58.640 --> 00:58:21.589 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Which, realistically, I learned a lot of how to sell an ebay from a website called Neopets, which is a kids gaming website because you would have to list items on the auction, and based that on the prices of the other items. So that, translated into how I used ebay with my vintage clothing. And because again I was 12, it was kind of all happening at the same time. 435 00:58:21.760 --> 00:58:42.065 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So I would take those skills of okay, if I find this dress, and it looks similar to another dress that's on ebay. Well, I can utilize the pricing structure for what I'm doing as a kind of one on one to one comparison, and even still, with my business today, my pricing came from comparing it to other 436 00:58:42.610 --> 00:58:44.600 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): other people doing similar things. 437 00:58:45.439 --> 00:58:55.330 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So I feel like a lot of the practical knowledge that I got was really like self taught. Or there was even a website as a child growing up called Head Bone Zone. 438 00:58:56.150 --> 00:59:08.079 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): And it had a lot of very amazing games that had to do with business or with like putting an input like inputting data, or even like playing roller coaster tycoon. 439 00:59:08.190 --> 00:59:34.609 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): you know, like those were. Those were the games that I enjoyed playing as a child. And I found that these challenges of like, okay, you're gonna you're gonna lower the entry fee for the park. But you're gonna make the fees for the each ride, you know, a little bit higher or whatever. And so playing around with that really translated into how I run my business today. It's pretty awesome that I enjoyed those games. 440 00:59:35.081 --> 00:59:42.048 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): But you know, like figuring out boxes for my shelves, figuring out what Ikea shelves to get, figuring out how I can 441 00:59:42.520 --> 00:59:53.999 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): fit the boxes on the shelves, and where I should source that from, and getting my scale and getting my envelopes and figuring out Canada post and all this kind of stuff. Nobody helped me. 442 00:59:54.590 --> 00:59:56.680 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I couldn't find the help I needed 443 00:59:57.511 --> 01:00:00.579 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): and really like, even with finances, 444 01:00:02.310 --> 01:00:06.359 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): figuring out my finances was a little bit challenging. 445 01:00:07.277 --> 01:00:16.212 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So you know, I've come to the plate point, where I'm doing so many transactions that I just hired a bookkeeper, and I hired an account. Who's also my accountant. 446 01:00:16.510 --> 01:00:39.569 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): but there was no subsidies, and there was no resources for that. Which is I have. I'm pretty sure I have, dyscalculia. That's not diagnosed, because I've always struggled with math to the point where I had mental breakdowns as a child, and I would start crying and feeling panicked, and there are no subsidies for finances. The the Community Futures Employment. E. EDP program 447 01:00:39.570 --> 01:00:44.349 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): gave me a business coach, but she was teaching me how to do all the financial stuff. And I 448 01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:58.089 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I'm so busy I don't have the time for that. So yeah, getting my needs met were really difficult. I see that Wendy in the chat has been asking for consulting. I do business consulting 449 01:00:58.613 --> 01:01:06.619 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): if anybody else does I'm sure they can answer and I will be starting my business consulting actually, this upcoming week. 450 01:01:06.850 --> 01:01:11.489 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So yeah, it's just been, you know, what? I couldn't get the resources that I needed. 451 01:01:11.860 --> 01:01:19.253 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): But it is my absolute goal in life to help people with everything that I have been able to teach myself. Because 452 01:01:19.950 --> 01:01:30.459 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): again, I'm neurodivergent as we are here. And so I can serve the neurodivergent community who would like to be small business owners just based on 453 01:01:30.800 --> 01:01:35.090 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): practical knowledge, really trial and error, and seeing what works for me. 454 01:01:37.090 --> 01:01:53.653 Maxfield: Absolutely, and that is so brilliant. How you learned pricing and supply and demand from games. I I played neo pets. I had a a blue cow on neopets and and what you learned. Cause I I was in the marketplace, too, and 455 01:01:54.040 --> 01:02:03.349 Maxfield: I took a microeconomics online class, and we used a lot of online models to learn supply and demand and pricing. 456 01:02:03.360 --> 01:02:11.460 Maxfield: And it's very much what you were doing. You were getting an economics education at age 12, and I just I applaud that so much. 457 01:02:11.960 --> 01:02:12.920 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Yeah, it's 458 01:02:13.380 --> 01:02:38.915 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): it's super fun, you know, and even like there was the stock market on neopets, too. And they've recently redone neopets. So yeah, I mean, I don't think that it is a bad thing for children who might be interested in business to play those games or to play tycoon games like. It is a fun way to learn pricing and inflation and loss, and everything like that. And 459 01:02:39.430 --> 01:02:47.019 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I always, ever since I was a very young child. I wanted to run my own business like that was my dream. So you know, and I'm doing it now. So it's 460 01:02:47.210 --> 01:02:48.630 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): it's pretty interesting. 461 01:02:49.480 --> 01:03:00.062 Maxfield: I. I'm very excited about what you're talking about helping other neurodivergent people, because we we need someone doing what exactly what you're talking about: helping us understand 462 01:03:00.450 --> 01:03:01.980 Maxfield: how to navigate 463 01:03:03.010 --> 01:03:06.104 Maxfield: starting a business and and and 464 01:03:07.090 --> 01:03:22.349 Maxfield: and also for those of us who are like, I'm just this year transitioning off of benefits. And that's a big thing for for entrepreneurs. If they're on benefits, it's re that's a whole nother maze to navigate absolutely. So 465 01:03:22.380 --> 01:03:24.439 Maxfield: kudos kudos. 466 01:03:25.540 --> 01:03:26.670 Maxfield: Jamie. 467 01:03:26.780 --> 01:03:39.899 Maxfield: I'm going to ask you the question I asked Raesin, which is: was there anything that you struggled with in actually getting hired, such as interviewing or onboarding? Were alternatives to traditional interviewing provided for you? 468 01:03:48.320 --> 01:03:51.349 James G. Burke: That question. Yeah, I don't have that question. 469 01:03:51.760 --> 01:03:53.420 Maxfield: Is there a question. 470 01:03:53.420 --> 01:03:57.460 James G. Burke: Are you satisfied with your current position and the support that you receive. Why, why not? 471 01:03:58.250 --> 01:04:03.109 James G. Burke: I? Are you satisfied with your current position and the support that you you receive. Why why not? 472 01:04:03.570 --> 01:04:05.479 Maxfield: Go ahead and answer that one then. 473 01:04:05.680 --> 01:04:08.889 Maxfield: Are you satisfied with the support you've received? Why or why not? 474 01:04:08.890 --> 01:04:11.109 James G. Burke: Am I satisfied with my current situation? 475 01:04:11.160 --> 01:04:13.820 James G. Burke: I would say, for the diverse things I am doing, 476 01:04:13.930 --> 01:04:17.460 James G. Burke: I am. I do know that what I do is unique to me. 477 01:04:17.530 --> 01:04:22.859 James G. Burke: I believe the difficulties of my sensory system and my anxiety can make a described normal job 478 01:04:23.040 --> 01:04:24.529 James G. Burke: more puzzling to me. 479 01:04:24.570 --> 01:04:26.039 James G. Burke: more puzzling for me. 480 01:04:26.170 --> 01:04:34.560 James G. Burke: I continued to do my enjoyable passions of painting, ceramic sculpture, wheel pottery formation, exercising, and much reading and visiting museums, 481 01:04:35.040 --> 01:04:38.199 James G. Burke: research on my interest topics, and attend social gatherings. 482 01:04:43.730 --> 01:04:45.230 Maxfield: Excellent. 483 01:04:47.270 --> 01:04:49.550 Maxfield: John, back to you. 484 01:04:50.510 --> 01:04:56.059 Maxfield: Did you have any problems navigating the social demands placed on you as an entrepreneur? 485 01:04:58.864 --> 01:05:04.775 John Marble: I might have been clueless to most of them. So I I I'm not sure. 486 01:05:05.860 --> 01:05:06.580 John Marble: I'm 487 01:05:07.070 --> 01:05:11.619 John Marble: this is not the Obama administration, but I took. I took 488 01:05:13.890 --> 01:05:18.810 John Marble: a contracted job between the Obama Administration and moving to California. 489 01:05:18.920 --> 01:05:24.740 John Marble: and I ended up getting penalized because I would not go 490 01:05:24.860 --> 01:05:43.630 John Marble: out socializing with my boss afterwards. Not that I didn't want to. I was just exhausted at the end of the day, and come to find out later, that was, it hadn't even occurred to me that that was something that was expected of your off time to go and do that. 491 01:05:43.760 --> 01:05:53.769 John Marble: Since then I've discovered that a lot of people kind of go through that exact sort of difficulty at work, but also the the 492 01:05:53.820 --> 01:06:01.629 John Marble: socialization part at work. I one of the things that we do with our students. 493 01:06:02.130 --> 01:06:24.599 John Marble: besides getting them to accept and understand and appreciate who they are as autistic people, including how they socialize as autistic people, is trying to just demystify more the neurotypical workplace socialization, and have them understand that not so that they could change who they are. But to say 494 01:06:24.780 --> 01:06:53.439 John Marble: this is often what is happening, this hidden curriculum of the workplace through socialization. We don't want you to change who you are, but we want you to at least understand where maybe neurotypical people are coming from. And if you want to explore a bit in that world, that's fine. But if you want to find other ways to communicate that you're doing the job, that is fine as well. It's kind of one of those deeper subjects that I think a lot about. 495 01:06:53.810 --> 01:06:55.490 John Marble: And I've actually 496 01:06:55.670 --> 01:07:16.269 John Marble: focused on when I also go in and train companies on how to support their neurodivergent employees is kind of focusing on that end of saying, let's talk about this socialization. Because maybe if it's a neurotypical audience might not be aware of actually how you're using socialization and the workplace. And maybe there's some other ways 497 01:07:16.607 --> 01:07:26.739 John Marble: that you can engage with autistic people. And I've actually found a pretty good reception to that when I talk to people that there's a lot of unawareness of like 498 01:07:26.740 --> 01:07:40.180 John Marble: "Oh, I didn't realize that I socialized differently than maybe somebody with Adhd or autism." So that's at least been a glimmer of hope for me in working with employees at companies. 499 01:07:42.570 --> 01:07:43.105 Maxfield: Excellent 500 01:07:45.670 --> 01:07:46.960 Maxfield: Sujit. 501 01:07:48.471 --> 01:07:56.650 Maxfield: Are you working now? And if so, what does that work look like for you? What supports were available to help you get the kind of work you do? 502 01:07:57.500 --> 01:08:13.210 Sujit Kurup: In the 2 jobs at ICI and AutCom, I work in the situation as favorable for me as there were conversations with issues I had, like motor planning and dyslexia, and to my method of communication I use. 503 01:08:13.810 --> 01:08:25.279 Sujit Kurup: such understanding and supports are so difficult to find, and few and far between, and maybe the reason to find jobs that welcomes people like me in their organization. 504 01:08:29.890 --> 01:08:31.829 Maxfield: Thank you. Thank you. 505 01:08:34.250 --> 01:08:35.979 Maxfield: Raesin. 506 01:08:38.260 --> 01:08:41.490 Maxfield: Every workplace has its own accepted culture. 507 01:08:41.600 --> 01:08:48.538 Maxfield: What has it been like for you, navigating the social demands and expectations? Is there anything that would make that easier for you? 508 01:08:51.740 --> 01:08:54.020 Raesin Caine (she/her): Oh, you know. 509 01:08:56.680 --> 01:08:57.947 Raesin Caine (she/her): I can hang. 510 01:08:58.479 --> 01:09:02.099 Raesin Caine (she/her): It's just that I don't always want to, or I don't always 511 01:09:02.470 --> 01:09:14.239 Raesin Caine (she/her): want to do it in the way that's being proposed. I don't want to go to Happy Hour. I don't ever want to go to Happy Hour. I don't. I don't like pub noise. It's it's it's intolerable for me. I don't like drunk. 512 01:09:14.300 --> 01:09:15.641 Raesin Caine (she/her): I don't. I don't like 513 01:09:15.979 --> 01:09:19.271 Raesin Caine (she/her): being around people who are intoxicated. 514 01:09:20.510 --> 01:09:33.190 Raesin Caine (she/her): And I don't understand the the emphasis on certain types of social interactions for team building. I don't think that's necessary. I I don't always think that's necessary. And 515 01:09:33.250 --> 01:09:35.650 Raesin Caine (she/her): I have found that 516 01:09:37.290 --> 01:10:01.130 Raesin Caine (she/her): it's it's almost. It's it's been kind of an offensive where people I've been invisible people to people for years until they find out something like, I remember, I told somebody I like journey, and all of a sudden I'm worth talking to, and I'm like, Are you kidding? That's what it took? Like you don't like my work products. But I like journey. And now we're now we're friends? Like that's that's kind of that's kind of ridiculous. But okay, whatever it takes, I guess. But 517 01:10:03.750 --> 01:10:10.220 Raesin Caine (she/her): I don't understand why, just being good at your job and being diligent and being reliable isn't 518 01:10:10.600 --> 01:10:18.720 Raesin Caine (she/her): enough for people to bother with you in a way that's be. That is beyond like, what what can you do for me? You know. 519 01:10:20.500 --> 01:10:24.709 Raesin Caine (she/her): I would love for it to be easier 520 01:10:24.750 --> 01:10:31.169 Raesin Caine (she/her): for people to decline politely, and that be respected like, if somebody doesn't want to go, don't keep asking them, 521 01:10:31.634 --> 01:10:39.325 Raesin Caine (she/her): don't pull them into the the relay race for team building. If they don't want to do it. 522 01:10:41.720 --> 01:10:42.600 Raesin Caine (she/her): I 523 01:10:43.190 --> 01:10:50.489 Raesin Caine (she/her): I don't know. Let's see. I've had trouble with work in in some in some work places where I'm just. I have 524 01:10:50.620 --> 01:10:51.280 Raesin Caine (she/her): oops. 525 01:10:51.480 --> 01:11:01.950 Raesin Caine (she/her): a a number of identities that people just aren't familiar with, like I might be the only black person on staff. I might be the only queer person on staff. I might be the only autistic person on staff, or like all 3 of them 526 01:11:02.428 --> 01:11:14.132 Raesin Caine (she/her): together. People really don't know what to do with me. And it's only through like something like forced travel. And they realize, like, Wow, I'm not that different from them that they can actually talk to me. 527 01:11:15.020 --> 01:11:23.792 Raesin Caine (she/her): it's just kinda sad. The barriers that people put in the way of getting to know somebody just because they present or seem different from them. 528 01:11:26.140 --> 01:11:47.950 Raesin Caine (she/her): my current job, I work from home, and they they do a really nice job of of making sure people get to know each other through optional hangouts, you know, and I like that like I could go if I feel like it. I don't have to go. It's sufficient where I feel like I know my coworkers, and I care about them like deeply, you know. And 529 01:11:48.412 --> 01:11:56.159 Raesin Caine (she/her): I I just like the way that it's structured. And it's also like the rule is, you can't talk about work. It's really just 530 01:11:56.410 --> 01:12:01.440 Raesin Caine (she/her): a little hangout, and you can learn about, you know, people's pets, or what they're into. And 531 01:12:01.950 --> 01:12:05.800 Raesin Caine (she/her): I do. I do like that. I think that works well. 532 01:12:06.420 --> 01:12:10.130 Raesin Caine (she/her): and is that everything? I'm looking down at the notes I took. 533 01:12:14.500 --> 01:12:17.320 Raesin Caine (she/her): I think. Let's see. 534 01:12:17.810 --> 01:12:18.910 Raesin Caine (she/her): Yeah. 535 01:12:19.180 --> 01:12:35.280 Raesin Caine (she/her): yeah, Sujit just put in the chat that he agrees with me. Why, why, drinking beer, other other drinks together are the only way of socializing and team building totally. I also think that that's not a great choice, because some people are trying to maintain their sobriety. And you know, if if 536 01:12:35.930 --> 01:12:39.690 Raesin Caine (she/her): they don't want to be around drinks, that shouldn't be a penalty against them. 537 01:12:42.680 --> 01:12:44.351 Raesin Caine (she/her): thanks, Nick, for coming 538 01:12:45.590 --> 01:12:46.869 Raesin Caine (she/her): I think that's 539 01:12:48.270 --> 01:12:49.950 Raesin Caine (she/her): I think that's everything. 540 01:12:50.270 --> 01:12:51.660 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thanks for the question. 541 01:12:52.020 --> 01:12:53.020 Maxfield: Thank you. 542 01:12:53.260 --> 01:13:00.250 Maxfield: And yeah, it's it's ironic that you talk about team building activities. To me, I always feel the most like 543 01:13:00.870 --> 01:13:07.290 Maxfield: like a team is being built when we're solving problems together, like actually working as a team is what builds a team. 544 01:13:07.920 --> 01:13:08.680 Raesin Caine (she/her): Yeah. 545 01:13:09.400 --> 01:13:10.270 Raesin Caine (she/her): yeah, and. 546 01:13:10.890 --> 01:13:22.210 Maxfield: And happy hour. The only good thing about happy hour is the free food. There was a time when I would go to Happy hour with headphones on. Get the food and some juice, and sit in the corner doing crossword puzzles with the free food. 547 01:13:22.850 --> 01:13:26.220 Maxfield: That's what happy hour's for is free little tacos. 548 01:13:27.450 --> 01:13:28.250 Maxfield: Okay, so. 549 01:13:28.250 --> 01:13:35.349 Raesin Caine (she/her): One more thing actually since you brought that up. I I had a job where I worked for a chem lab, and everybody was 550 01:13:35.390 --> 01:13:57.999 Raesin Caine (she/her): kind of the stereotypical nerdy scientist, and we would get together, maybe for the holidays at work we'd have like a potluck. We'd all have our food. Everybody would take up, make a plate and then go go back to their cube. But you know, and it was fine, you know, you know, there might be just like an agreement about wow. This this sauce is really good or something like that. And and nobody was trying to make sure 551 01:13:58.000 --> 01:14:06.899 Raesin Caine (she/her): anything in particular happened. It was free form we cared about each other. There were, there were rivalries and stuff, and that was all part of the workplace. And it was okay. 552 01:14:07.220 --> 01:14:13.509 Raesin Caine (she/her): and just being nerdy and problem solving on on actual work tasks like you, said Max. Like that. That would that. 553 01:14:13.660 --> 01:14:15.399 Raesin Caine (she/her): That's how we got to know each other. 554 01:14:18.940 --> 01:14:19.850 Maxfield: Thank you. 555 01:14:21.320 --> 01:14:22.370 Maxfield: Margaux. 556 01:14:24.000 --> 01:14:31.980 Maxfield: Same question as I asked, John, do you have any problems navigating the social demands placed on you as an entrepreneur? 557 01:14:33.810 --> 01:14:35.000 Maxfield: You're muted. 558 01:14:35.350 --> 01:14:37.579 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I do. I get a lot of 559 01:14:37.950 --> 01:14:56.234 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): questions and interactions, and I do my best to dedicate my time to that, however, I would say that the most socially demanding is, when a video goes viral, and all the trolls come out and say the worst possible things you could imagine 560 01:14:56.720 --> 01:14:58.760 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): about my business. 561 01:14:59.367 --> 01:15:10.489 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): So that is unfortunate, which means I have to a lot of the time turn off the comments I have to ban words. I have to ban people. 562 01:15:11.155 --> 01:15:25.939 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): There was one day where I swear I went, and I blocked like 50 people because my video went so my reels go very viral on Instagram and Facebook. And one time I had something go viral on TikTok that got like 1.2 million views. And so 563 01:15:27.686 --> 01:15:35.140 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): it's very demanding. A lot of people say just ignore it, but it's kind of hard to ignore it when it's a literal barrage of like 564 01:15:35.970 --> 01:15:39.570 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): all these comments of people that 565 01:15:39.740 --> 01:15:46.069 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): just don't understand why somebody would wear a PIN that 566 01:15:46.370 --> 01:15:57.239 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): talks about, you know, their pronouns or their pride flags or their access needs or their various identities. And I always say to people, you know, when I have the chance, 567 01:15:58.790 --> 01:16:17.719 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): If if you don't understand the purpose of something, then chances are it's probably not for you. Like I say, I use this analogy that you know when we walk into a grocery store I'm a vegetarian, but I don't go in the meat section and get mad at it. I just avoid that section right? Like I will go 568 01:16:17.860 --> 01:16:29.079 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): find the stuff I like, but they people are not gonna stand in front of a product and start complaining like to the product, basically, you know. And so 569 01:16:29.380 --> 01:16:32.040 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I think the social demands become 570 01:16:32.200 --> 01:16:41.069 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): a lot when it starts to lead to Burnout, and, fortunately enough, I do have a counselor who I meet with weekly, and it helps me to kind of 571 01:16:41.914 --> 01:16:45.635 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): debrief my week. And I 572 01:16:46.670 --> 01:16:53.149 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I think it's really important, especially as neurodivergent people that we have an outlet for, 573 01:16:53.210 --> 01:17:00.820 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): you know, venting our frustrations because it can be a lot to have to kind of harbor all of this. 574 01:17:01.220 --> 01:17:18.760 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Well, basically, I become a sponge, right? So I start to absorb all that negativity. And it's just really unhealthy for me. So I try really hard to focus on people who do benefit from my products. And I think, having people be very positive, especially on my Facebook page, 575 01:17:18.760 --> 01:17:43.269 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): has been really nice. I think it's also important to make sure that you're setting up rules. So I have a list of essentially rules for my page, and if somebody, you know, tells me to just ignore it, I'll send them to the rules and say, you know, like telling somebody to ignore something can come off is very dismissive, and I think it's important for us to acknowledge what is bothering us. Get that feedback and allow ourselves to move on from it, and whatever 576 01:17:43.270 --> 01:17:57.599 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): time works for us, you know, I don't think it's fair to determine how somebody is going to process negativity or process that, because I'm sure we've all faced that where we know that we're helping people through our work, 577 01:17:57.600 --> 01:18:09.358 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): but that just a few of those naysayers can really kind of like put us back, especially somebody like me who has negativity bias just due to my upbringing and stuff like that. It can be really hard. But 578 01:18:09.870 --> 01:18:35.090 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): at the end of the day, when somebody tells me that they have worn like one of my "please be patient with me," or autistic pins, or "please communicate directly" pins, etc, through the airport, or something like that, or at a convention, or at a con, or they wore a pronoun pin and help them have better interactions with people. Then at the end of the day, you know, that's what I need to focus on 579 01:18:35.507 --> 01:18:44.870 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): moving forward. But you know it can. It can be hard when you get that feedback that's not nice. And to kind of 580 01:18:45.320 --> 01:18:48.019 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): not allow ourselves to be 581 01:18:48.380 --> 01:18:53.420 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): taken down by that, especially when we're doing work that helps to serve our communities. 582 01:18:54.900 --> 01:18:59.299 Maxfield: Absolutely. And I have seen those attacks. There are some people that just 583 01:18:59.390 --> 01:19:03.509 Maxfield: want to go around tearing things down. I think they just feel so bad about 584 01:19:03.580 --> 01:19:05.140 Maxfield: their own lives. That 585 01:19:05.410 --> 01:19:06.190 Maxfield: but 586 01:19:06.360 --> 01:19:20.150 Maxfield: the effect is is is horrifying, and I know that I've had to deal with a lot of those similar attacks. And there's a Winston Churchill quote that I turned to. He said "Do you have enemies? 587 01:19:20.230 --> 01:19:24.540 Maxfield: Good? That means you've stood up for something sometime in your life." 588 01:19:25.070 --> 01:19:28.570 Maxfield: and and I carry that that quote close to my heart, because. 589 01:19:28.570 --> 01:19:33.260 James G. Burke: I deal with anxiety that causes dizziness, not a complete nightmare. 590 01:19:33.820 --> 01:19:47.469 Maxfield: Yeah. Yeah. And when people start tearing me down, I remind myself they're doing that because I'm doing good things in the world. And the same goes for you. You are. You are doing good things. I wear your patches and pins. I love them. 591 01:19:47.780 --> 01:19:49.930 Maxfield: So. Yeah, just 592 01:19:49.960 --> 01:19:51.420 Maxfield: remember that that 593 01:19:53.500 --> 01:19:59.769 Maxfield: while I wish those people didn't act that way. That's a sign that you're actually, that's a sign you're on the right path. 594 01:19:59.920 --> 01:20:00.490 Maxfield: It really. 595 01:20:00.490 --> 01:20:12.660 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Thank you. I appreciate that. It's especially it's really funny when they're like I don't care. And I'm thinking. But you took the time to literally leave me a comment that says you don't care. So you must care. So yeah, I that's a great quote. 596 01:20:16.210 --> 01:20:18.662 Maxfield: Jamie. I have 597 01:20:20.740 --> 01:20:23.790 Maxfield: the question that I asked Raesin. Every workplace has its own 598 01:20:23.790 --> 01:20:26.590 James G. Burke: I think something about navigating the social demands of a job. 599 01:20:26.990 --> 01:20:27.550 Maxfield: Yes. 600 01:20:27.550 --> 01:20:29.999 James G. Burke: And he's talking about navigating the social demands of a job. 601 01:20:30.930 --> 01:20:31.620 Maxfield: Yes. 602 01:20:31.740 --> 01:20:32.580 Maxfield: absolutely. 603 01:20:32.580 --> 01:20:34.410 James G. Burke: Navigating the social demands for myself 604 01:20:34.970 --> 01:20:39.910 James G. Burke: means that I have learned subdue head movement and vocalizing and needing to have books with me. 605 01:20:40.110 --> 01:20:48.370 James G. Burke: Those were some of the stims I did. It was a hard thing to know that I was simply realizing success at what I was doing that helped my anxiety to quiet. 606 01:20:48.640 --> 01:20:59.729 James G. Burke: however, people find it was a curious and strange thing to do. I do not need to do those much now at all, but it is helpful to now have the ability to do presentations in the online era. 607 01:21:03.090 --> 01:21:04.190 Maxfield: Excellent. 608 01:21:06.200 --> 01:21:10.599 Maxfield: We are cycling back around to John. 609 01:21:11.010 --> 01:21:21.050 Maxfield: How can autistic people use their talents and abilities to start their business and advocate for supportive government regulations on any level? 610 01:21:22.326 --> 01:21:23.280 John Marble: I'm having 611 01:21:24.100 --> 01:21:25.800 John Marble: a a bit of 612 01:21:26.620 --> 01:21:29.470 John Marble: sorry I wasn't prepared for that question. Have a bit of a hard. 613 01:21:29.470 --> 01:21:30.270 Maxfield: That's it. 614 01:21:30.780 --> 01:21:32.153 Maxfield: That's okay. 615 01:21:32.920 --> 01:21:46.410 Maxfield: how about how about the the question about AI. How do you think advances in AI and other assistive technologies will affect the ability of autistic individuals to succeed in their own businesses? 616 01:21:47.980 --> 01:21:48.920 Maxfield: And if you're not prepared. 617 01:21:49.210 --> 01:21:50.660 John Marble: Yeah. Well, first of all. 618 01:21:51.580 --> 01:21:52.270 Maxfield: Ok go ahead. 619 01:21:52.270 --> 01:21:54.059 John Marble: Glad that that 620 01:21:54.380 --> 01:21:57.390 John Marble: Raesin raised the 621 01:21:57.500 --> 01:22:15.699 John Marble: frustration that a lot of people have, including my students, with the application tracking systems. I wish that we could spend all the time that we use with our students on those to talk about other things. So definitely detrimental parts of AI. But 622 01:22:16.940 --> 01:22:23.239 John Marble: I think that there is something there for the autistic brain that 623 01:22:24.060 --> 01:22:45.800 John Marble: there's a potential with AI for us to really start using it to figure out the accommodations that we need. Whether it's things such as you know, I use chat GPT figuring out how to use chat GPT as an accommodation. I'm I'm ha gonna have a hard time vocalizing that right now, but I've used it as such an accommodation cognitively for myself. 624 01:22:45.920 --> 01:22:57.519 John Marble: I also think that there is a bit of a curiosity in the AI space that's a little bit different than the tech space that I've seen in that 625 01:22:57.520 --> 01:23:16.790 John Marble: traditionally, people who build tech for us build it on a lot of assumptions about us, and they waste a lot of money building products without actually asking us whether or not it's helpful. I think, because of the way that large language models operate in the AI operates, 626 01:23:16.790 --> 01:23:43.289 John Marble: I've started to see people who work on AI products, especially startups be very concerned about how well it's functioning. And so I think it's coming that I don't know what it looks like just yet, but I do see larger autistic as well as disability, participation and hopefully profit and building these things that can actually benefit us. 627 01:23:48.260 --> 01:23:49.090 Maxfield: That's. 628 01:23:49.210 --> 01:23:50.790 Maxfield: Excellent! 629 01:23:52.760 --> 01:23:57.069 Maxfield: we're we are down to the last couple of questions. So 630 01:23:58.000 --> 01:23:58.950 Maxfield: um 631 01:24:01.770 --> 01:24:12.404 Maxfield: Rae Raesin, since you already talked about AI, you can say more if you want to, but I think for your last question: 632 01:24:13.470 --> 01:24:32.569 Maxfield: sometimes workplaces have unacceptable interactions. Have you ever experienced bullying, sexual harassment, exploitation, or other unfair treatment in the workplace that you can talk about today? And if so, do you think being autistic was a factor in how people treated you? And also, 633 01:24:32.990 --> 01:24:41.030 Maxfield: you probably don't want to name any company names, because this is being recorded, and and protect your your career. 634 01:24:41.160 --> 01:24:44.269 Maxfield: When you, when you think about how you respond to this. 635 01:24:44.900 --> 01:24:51.755 Raesin Caine (she/her): I appreciate your consideration with that, cause yes, that's true. I I I'm trying to be careful with how I answer all these questions. 636 01:24:52.600 --> 01:24:55.619 Raesin Caine (she/her): definitely have. I mean, I'm a black, queer, 637 01:24:56.310 --> 01:24:58.880 Raesin Caine (she/her): autistic female, so I've dealt with 638 01:24:59.380 --> 01:25:01.316 Raesin Caine (she/her): oh, so many things. 639 01:25:02.610 --> 01:25:03.730 Raesin Caine (she/her): I the 640 01:25:05.220 --> 01:25:07.786 Raesin Caine (she/her): I don't even know where to start with that. I I 641 01:25:09.180 --> 01:25:14.767 Raesin Caine (she/her): you know I had a I had a whole answer for this, and I think just thinking about it like scrambled, scrambled everything. 642 01:25:15.690 --> 01:25:17.120 Raesin Caine (she/her): I 643 01:25:17.500 --> 01:25:22.880 Raesin Caine (she/her): I'll talk about just being autistic on the job and and what that that can mean. And for me it it 644 01:25:23.860 --> 01:25:50.630 Raesin Caine (she/her): has meant it has turned into exploitation a little bit. You know these are paid. Most of them are paid gigs, but what it can look like is somebody comes to me and says, "Hey, we have this new thing. Do you? Do you wanna learn that we think you'd be good at learning this?" Okay, great. I learned it. I I get good at it. Now I'm suddenly this, the subject matter expert on it. Nobody else can do it. I get all the tasks related to that, 645 01:25:52.180 --> 01:26:05.130 Raesin Caine (she/her): and no reduction of other tasks. And then there's a like a mountain of stuff that I'm being asked to do, and that's where, when I was talking earlier about familiarity with the workload and what's being asked of me. It can be 646 01:26:06.960 --> 01:26:11.680 Raesin Caine (she/her): just a lot for one person, and it's gotten in in the past for me, 647 01:26:12.030 --> 01:26:16.220 Raesin Caine (she/her): Oh, positions have been eliminated because it's like, "Oh, well, you've you've got it! 648 01:26:16.740 --> 01:26:26.810 Raesin Caine (she/her): you know, these other people like we, we're we've. We've reallocated the money from these positions and we're gonna use it for this. Now, just just take on the workload." Okay, great. Well, now, I'm getting burned out. 649 01:26:27.600 --> 01:26:42.879 Raesin Caine (she/her): and I'm letting people know like, "Hey, this is, this is a lot." And they're like, "Yeah, we're sorry we're we're we're sorry. But you know you're doing great." Okay. Great. Well, I'm I. I'm doing good work. But this is 650 01:26:43.220 --> 01:26:55.240 Raesin Caine (she/her): a lot for me, and it seems like you're not listening. And people, I think, because I'm not a huge complainer. I don't throw fits like, I'm not even talk. I'm just talking about like seeing bad behavior in the workplace 651 01:26:55.480 --> 01:26:57.370 Raesin Caine (she/her): by everybody. Just 652 01:26:57.400 --> 01:27:09.699 Raesin Caine (she/her): I'm not. I'm not particularly vocal, you know, and I'm I'm I'm so responsible that I'm not gonna let things go down in flames while I'm there, cause I don't want to see that happen, and that's how 653 01:27:10.330 --> 01:27:12.746 Raesin Caine (she/her): I end up in this 654 01:27:13.320 --> 01:27:16.339 Raesin Caine (she/her): situation where I'm trying to keep 655 01:27:16.820 --> 01:27:21.550 Raesin Caine (she/her): an unreasonable amount of stuff afloat at the expense of my 656 01:27:23.470 --> 01:27:27.060 Raesin Caine (she/her): my wellbeing, you know, and 657 01:27:28.140 --> 01:27:29.800 Raesin Caine (she/her): days off are 658 01:27:30.040 --> 01:27:35.490 Raesin Caine (she/her): don't feel like an option, because then, you know, now you're even more behind, and then, rather than 659 01:27:36.620 --> 01:27:40.083 Raesin Caine (she/her): sorry. This is. This is a hard topic for me to talk about. 660 01:27:40.500 --> 01:27:55.909 Raesin Caine (she/her): rather than adjustments be made for me. It's just like, well, you're behind now. It's like, what? Unrealistic expectations. I'm not even speaking coherent sentence any sentences anymore. I'm I'm sorry. Yeah, thanks, Sujit. 661 01:27:57.280 --> 01:27:59.890 Raesin Caine (she/her): So that's what it can look like. And it's happened 662 01:27:59.930 --> 01:28:21.079 Raesin Caine (she/her): in multiple places. And it's happened even in volunteer work, where somebody wants to try something out. I do a great job with it, and then they decide that they want me to do it 100 more times. It's like, okay, well, why is this research assistant getting paid? And I'm not getting paid? Like at this point this is gone beyond, like what a volunteer should do. And this should be 663 01:28:21.452 --> 01:28:31.689 Raesin Caine (she/her): like a research position or something like, can you even kick me minimum wage? Like I could make, you know, like chicken tenders or something for for more than what you're trying to give me. 664 01:28:31.870 --> 01:28:34.237 Raesin Caine (she/her): And it's just 665 01:28:35.250 --> 01:28:41.969 Raesin Caine (she/her): It's not good. And I I I feel like this is something that can happen to a lot of us. So 666 01:28:42.200 --> 01:28:45.989 Raesin Caine (she/her): and saying, no doesn't always work. And sometimes you gotta just get up out of there. 667 01:28:46.420 --> 01:28:48.620 Raesin Caine (she/her): Sorry, there was my rambling answer. 668 01:28:48.670 --> 01:28:49.809 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thanks for listening. 669 01:28:50.800 --> 01:29:03.079 Maxfield: No apologies, and if you saw what looked like laughing, that was me going. "Oh, my God! That sounds like a manager I had, and what they did!" I I understand that getting piled on and not listen to I I 670 01:29:03.640 --> 01:29:13.180 Maxfield: I I started telling people when I'd say, You know, this, this is more work than I can do, and they're like. "But you're doing it!" I would say "But this is not sustainable," and. 671 01:29:13.180 --> 01:29:15.209 Raesin Caine (she/her): Right? Exactly. That's yeah. 672 01:29:15.820 --> 01:29:19.689 Maxfield: And if they won't listen to that, then then you're right. You kinda you you gotta 673 01:29:20.070 --> 01:29:24.019 Maxfield: pull out the the the ads and look for another job. Then. 674 01:29:24.200 --> 01:29:24.850 Raesin Caine (she/her): Yeah. 675 01:29:25.060 --> 01:29:28.504 Maxfield: And yeah, thank you. I know that is a hard thing to talk about. 676 01:29:29.450 --> 01:29:31.220 Maxfield: I appreciate that. Thanks. 677 01:29:31.220 --> 01:29:36.000 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thanks and thanks for all the support in the chat. I haven't even read at all. But I I I appreciate it. 678 01:29:36.400 --> 01:29:42.789 Maxfield: Oh, yeah, I I like to the person who said, reallocate. They should reallocate that money to you. And I agree. I agree. 679 01:29:42.900 --> 01:29:46.629 Maxfield: Yeah, you've you've freed up this money. Well, then, you're the one that should get it. 680 01:29:46.630 --> 01:29:47.810 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thanks a lot. 681 01:29:50.750 --> 01:29:51.400 Maxfield: Margaux. 682 01:29:52.780 --> 01:30:00.779 Maxfield: I, since we're on our last round of questions, there's 2 questions left, and I will let you choose. 683 01:30:01.470 --> 01:30:12.780 Maxfield: You've heard them both. But I'll repeat them both. One is, how can autistic people use their talents and abilities to start their business and advocate for supportive government regulations on any level? 684 01:30:12.860 --> 01:30:25.129 Maxfield: and the other one is: how do you think advances in AI and other assistive technologies will affect the ability of autistic individuals to succeed in their own business? You can answer whichever. 685 01:30:25.800 --> 01:30:48.359 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Yeah, speak to the first one. So I would highly recommend finding a nonprofit in your area that may align with the values that you have. So, for instance, like BC People First, has given me the opportunity to go to like provincial budget meetings with our provincial government. I've been able to speak at rallies. 686 01:30:49.126 --> 01:31:12.703 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I was able to speak at Ottawa for the Disability Without Poverty rally for something called Bill C. 22 here where we're. It's the Disability Benefits Bill, where we're actively trying to get the Government to give additional funding to anybody receiving disability, whether it's provincial or Federal. I would definitely say, that's a great place to start. 687 01:31:13.140 --> 01:31:26.051 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): you know, I'm somebody that's very comfortable with public speaking and getting up in front of a crowd, and, you know, commanding my audience, I absolutely love public speaking like sometimes more than breathing. I swear. 688 01:31:26.480 --> 01:31:46.040 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): And I think that you know, maybe be becoming more comfortable with that. If you're able to find ways like, I know, there's toastmasters even just making content online is a really great way to kind of get your voice out there. And utilizing any audience that you may have already 689 01:31:46.958 --> 01:31:56.130 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): been able to establish. For your own, for you know, for actively getting people to come together and fight for different causes. 690 01:31:56.200 --> 01:31:57.280 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I 691 01:31:57.540 --> 01:32:01.110 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): will continue to do the work with the nonprofit that I'm part of 692 01:32:01.130 --> 01:32:18.369 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): you know, I've applied for other nonprofits, but I also think it's really important that you don't burn the candle at both from the both ends and that you ensure that the work that you're doing is really hyper focused. So instead of joining a bunch of nonprofits, which I was part of another one at 1 point, 693 01:32:18.410 --> 01:32:27.450 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): focus on something that really speaks to you. And I know there's People First of Canada. I know that there's other People First, organizations as well. 694 01:32:27.510 --> 01:32:30.179 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): and I don't necessarily agree with you know, 695 01:32:30.220 --> 01:32:38.720 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): people like person first versus identity first, I prefer identity first, but we've really come to respect 696 01:32:38.920 --> 01:32:54.900 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): the way that anybody wants to refer to themselves. So definitely doing that because reaching out to the government and trying to get any legislative change is really hard as an individual, but if you have a nonprofit behind you, then 697 01:32:54.990 --> 01:33:03.554 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): it gives you a little bit more credibility, especially having a title. So if you're able to run for a board position and put in those volunteer hours. 698 01:33:04.220 --> 01:33:18.299 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): It is so rewarding, and not only that, but you will find a community of people who are like minded. And if it wasn't for all the people there that I I work with and do amazing events with, you know. 699 01:33:18.300 --> 01:33:40.360 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I would probably feel pretty lonely, and I would probably feel a little bit defeated in fighting for these causes, and not having people who are aligned with my values. So definitely look for a nonprofit, definitely get involved if you're able to. And you know, even if you're not involved with them immediately, you know, joining as a member, going to events, and volunteering your time. 700 01:33:40.640 --> 01:33:43.640 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Then you can see if it's really something that's for you. But 701 01:33:44.000 --> 01:33:55.800 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): it's been really the only volunteer work where it for me, where I really wanted to do it. And it doesn't feel like I'm volunteering. So I think that's also the key is to really find something you're passionate about. 702 01:33:55.890 --> 01:34:06.853 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): and putting your time, because you know that helping other people will also help you. And it just it's given my life a very 703 01:34:07.940 --> 01:34:11.120 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): It's given me additional value as a person, for sure. 704 01:34:16.400 --> 01:34:18.449 Maxfield: That is an excellent answer. 705 01:34:19.340 --> 01:34:30.110 Maxfield: And yeah, as as a member of the AutCom board, I've experienced exactly what you're talking about, I I put in the time at to help AutCom succeed, and that 706 01:34:30.620 --> 01:34:35.310 Maxfield: gives me a little that little extra credibility that I'm a board member 707 01:34:35.610 --> 01:34:37.080 Maxfield: at AutCom it. 708 01:34:38.410 --> 01:34:47.289 Maxfield: Yeah, that volunt I think you called it laser focus on on the the volunteer work. That is, that can really help a career, 709 01:34:47.740 --> 01:34:52.330 Maxfield: absolutely as well as as well as helping an organization that you believe in. 710 01:34:52.800 --> 01:34:53.910 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Absolutely. 711 01:34:55.670 --> 01:34:57.199 Maxfield: And, Jamie. 712 01:34:57.780 --> 01:35:09.450 Maxfield: you get to choose between the question that Sujit answered earlier about AI, or the question that Raesin answered about unacceptable workplace 713 01:35:09.530 --> 01:35:11.050 Maxfield: experiences. 714 01:35:11.080 --> 01:35:13.280 Maxfield: which would you like to address? 715 01:35:13.280 --> 01:35:21.340 James G. Burke: Based on your experience. What would you tell other autistics and those who may support them about how best to approach employment and career development. 716 01:35:22.240 --> 01:35:24.220 Maxfield: That's a good question. Do that one. 717 01:35:25.540 --> 01:35:34.580 James G. Burke: A somewhat difficult question from my perspective. For people who communicate with typing the typing, the issue of finding and keeping a good support communication person is paramount. 718 01:35:35.730 --> 01:35:37.919 James G. Burke: Knowledge of autism is extremely important 719 01:35:38.050 --> 01:35:41.090 James G. Burke: as well as sensory regulation, movement and motor planning. 720 01:35:41.150 --> 01:35:45.379 James G. Burke: That is the scaffold that everything builds and moves forward on for my success. 721 01:35:45.530 --> 01:35:48.500 James G. Burke: People who are in the roles of support must recognize this: 722 01:35:48.730 --> 01:35:50.419 James G. Burke: Their knowledge is my power. 723 01:35:50.930 --> 01:35:53.420 James G. Burke: I feel planning is important in the earlier years, 724 01:35:53.550 --> 01:35:56.919 James G. Burke: but I feel so different now from when I was in college. 725 01:35:57.150 --> 01:36:02.370 James G. Burke: It's a personal choice of observing when the conversation can have passionate, passionate planning, 726 01:36:02.500 --> 01:36:08.340 James G. Burke: and it seems difficult to ascertain the most excellent time to do this because of the anxiety it riles up. 727 01:36:09.180 --> 01:36:10.779 James G. Burke: and thinking about AI, 728 01:36:11.450 --> 01:36:20.160 James G. Burke: Perhaps the passion of developing a language reality of transfer from thoughts to a device that can move around the complicated and difficult muscle patterns for speech 729 01:36:20.930 --> 01:36:25.170 James G. Burke: would be important and exciting for people who do not have reliable speaking. 730 01:36:28.400 --> 01:36:29.250 Maxfield: Thank you. 731 01:36:29.650 --> 01:36:31.125 Maxfield: Thank you. That was excellent. 732 01:36:32.420 --> 01:36:35.030 Maxfield: It is now time for the Q&A. 733 01:36:35.750 --> 01:36:39.739 Maxfield: We have a few great questions, and 734 01:36:40.760 --> 01:36:47.039 Maxfield: I will present them one at a time to the panel, and anyone who feels moved to address 735 01:36:47.220 --> 01:36:48.899 Maxfield: answering that question 736 01:36:49.210 --> 01:36:55.050 Maxfield: can do so. And if nobody feels moved to answer it, then we will move on to the next question. 737 01:36:58.510 --> 01:37:04.850 Lisa Keller: Alright, Matt. Max! The first question is from I don't know. How does I? Is it Mei Kat? 738 01:37:05.898 --> 01:37:07.530 Lisa Keller: How can you improve 739 01:37:07.660 --> 01:37:18.459 Lisa Keller: your interroception. I love it. To judge your energy level? I struggle to tell when I am running low while being productive, and end up, really shut down the next day. 740 01:37:18.830 --> 01:37:24.320 Lisa Keller: Or is it actually actually okay and sustainable to work like that in bursts? 741 01:37:25.850 --> 01:37:34.470 Maxfield: Excellent question, and for people who might not know the word interoception, it's just a fancy way of saying, feeling how you feel inside. 742 01:37:35.170 --> 01:37:38.670 Maxfield: Would would anyone like to address this question. 743 01:37:49.960 --> 01:37:51.587 Raesin Caine (she/her): Yes, I can. 744 01:37:52.410 --> 01:38:00.939 Raesin Caine (she/her): I just have to check in with myself a lot throughout the day. It can. It can be seeing how you're doing mindfulness, practice 745 01:38:02.490 --> 01:38:04.530 Raesin Caine (she/her): or just even building in 746 01:38:05.010 --> 01:38:08.489 Raesin Caine (she/her): breaks to make sure that you 747 01:38:09.210 --> 01:38:16.689 Raesin Caine (she/her): get to recharge a little bit. To me, if if you have a flexible schedule that allows you to 748 01:38:17.045 --> 01:38:27.424 Raesin Caine (she/her): work in bursts, if that's what works best with best for you, I think that's what works best for you. And there's that that there's nothing wrong with that. 749 01:38:28.140 --> 01:38:33.680 Raesin Caine (she/her): I I learned a lot about what I need to do for myself after 750 01:38:33.810 --> 01:38:36.829 Raesin Caine (she/her): I have a brain injury from a car accident and 751 01:38:37.147 --> 01:39:05.979 Raesin Caine (she/her): I work from home. But my, you know, cause I have this brain injury, I have to really make sure that I don't fry all my circuits from coding too long, or whatever, and I have to make sure, because if I'm in a work groove. I can stay in that groove because I wanna finish, and I have to make sure that I snap out of it. Find a good place to stop and snap out of it before you fry every circuit you have. And it's not easy. And it can be. 752 01:39:06.090 --> 01:39:18.430 Raesin Caine (she/her): It might be a habit you have to build in, or even if you set up alarms or kick, you know, slots on your calendar, your your work calendar to make sure that you build that in whatever you need for yourself. 753 01:39:19.550 --> 01:39:27.449 Raesin Caine (she/her): But I think you know what works for you is what works for you, and if you talk to your employers, hopefully, you can figure out something that everybody's happy with. 754 01:39:31.360 --> 01:39:34.809 Lisa Keller: And the next one is: I'm autistic, 755 01:39:35.610 --> 01:39:40.133 Lisa Keller: And after 20 plus years in corporate and nonprofit jobs of increasingly 756 01:39:40.690 --> 01:39:43.860 Lisa Keller: increasing responsibility without the right knowledge, 757 01:39:43.940 --> 01:39:50.339 Lisa Keller: supports, and self-care around autism, I utterly burned out in a scary way and quit my job. 758 01:39:50.820 --> 01:39:58.620 Lisa Keller: As I try to get back into the workforce. I'm not sure I can live up to my resume anymore. I'm in a better position to self advocate now. 759 01:39:58.930 --> 01:40:07.559 Lisa Keller: But still, how can I differentiate between what I can try to do, and what may be an unfair or dangerous self expectation for work. 760 01:40:18.740 --> 01:40:22.730 Maxfield: I'd like to address that one a little bit myself. 761 01:40:23.900 --> 01:40:29.580 Maxfield: I find writing lists of things help me like a list of 762 01:40:32.930 --> 01:40:34.599 Maxfield: things that that 763 01:40:34.860 --> 01:40:37.590 Maxfield: that made everything fall apart 764 01:40:37.780 --> 01:40:41.279 Maxfield: like what? What are, what are the things that? 765 01:40:41.800 --> 01:40:47.589 Maxfield: And sometimes I have to be a detective, I'll say, Oh, well, on this day I just couldn't get out of bed. 766 01:40:47.620 --> 01:41:09.840 Maxfield: And so I'll just start listing all the reasons why I think I I didn't have that energy, and that helps me shape what I can't do. And then I write a list of the things that I love that give me energy, and some of them are work things, and some of them are not work things. And the work things tell me what kind of work I should be doing 767 01:41:09.880 --> 01:41:14.130 Maxfield: and the not work things tell me what kinds of things I should be doing 768 01:41:14.540 --> 01:41:15.590 Maxfield: to feed 769 01:41:15.730 --> 01:41:30.769 Maxfield: my energy levels, to be able to do the kind of work I like. And so just the act of making those lists a lot of times helps me sort out what's going on. It's not like there's more information at the end than there was at the beginning, but it's 770 01:41:31.150 --> 01:41:36.580 Maxfield: in a in a way that I can see it and think about it more clearly when I write it out. 771 01:41:37.490 --> 01:41:40.020 Maxfield: Anybody else wanna talk about this? 772 01:41:43.930 --> 01:41:45.459 Maxfield: or type about this? 773 01:41:47.540 --> 01:41:53.463 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): I think utilizing a calendar is a really great thing as well, along with the list that you were suggesting. 774 01:41:54.231 --> 01:42:16.099 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): You know, I think scheduling time for yourself or allocating specific amounts of time to your work. It's something that I need to do more of, and I just haven't been doing that, and I'm getting to the point of being burnt out. So it's kind of finding a really good balance. And again, for me, you know, having the work balance with, 775 01:42:16.100 --> 01:42:32.080 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): you know, trying to get myself to doing some fitness and also having counseling. I think it's really important to just find that balance where you're looking after, you know, not only your employment situation, but your body and your mind as well. 776 01:42:39.520 --> 01:42:42.159 Lisa Keller: Okay? And then we had one from Olga. 777 01:42:42.220 --> 01:42:46.140 Lisa Keller: Solomon. Is anyone aware of programs that support nonprofit 778 01:42:46.300 --> 01:42:54.240 Lisa Keller: organizations founded and led by autistic individuals, including getting started launching a nonprofit? And Ogla you don't. 779 01:42:54.380 --> 01:42:59.149 Lisa Keller: You don't indicate whether you're in Canada or the United States. So I 780 01:42:59.330 --> 01:43:00.170 Lisa Keller: I think 781 01:43:01.280 --> 01:43:03.599 Lisa Keller: we have to assume it's United States. But 782 01:43:03.720 --> 01:43:05.229 Lisa Keller: maybe that's not the wrong 783 01:43:05.380 --> 01:43:06.360 Lisa Keller: assumption. 784 01:43:06.860 --> 01:43:14.100 Maxfield: Well, and also even in the United States it will vary from state to state. I. I helped someone in Maryland 785 01:43:14.230 --> 01:43:19.482 Maxfield: put together a nonprofit. And the rules were very specific to Maryland. 786 01:43:20.190 --> 01:43:25.649 Maxfield: So that's that's gonna be something that people can only address generally. 787 01:43:26.650 --> 01:43:28.039 Maxfield: In the first place. 788 01:43:30.280 --> 01:43:31.520 Lisa Keller: John, do you think you're 789 01:43:31.600 --> 01:43:34.420 Lisa Keller: up for that? No, okay, that's fine. Thank you. 790 01:43:34.420 --> 01:43:35.900 Maxfield: Quite alright, quite alright. 791 01:43:35.900 --> 01:43:36.570 Lisa Keller: Yeah. 792 01:43:37.300 --> 01:43:37.860 Lisa Keller: Q&A. 793 01:43:37.860 --> 01:43:48.729 Maxfield: Q&A I just want to take a moment to validate that Q&A is hard, and not everybody has the skills for questions on the fly like this, and it's 794 01:43:48.900 --> 01:43:51.309 Maxfield: totally fine if if 795 01:43:51.560 --> 01:44:03.840 Maxfield: you know if you if you don't and and some people have the skills. But a certain question comes in, or just, yeah, there's no shame if you, if we can't answer some of these questions. 796 01:44:06.550 --> 01:44:07.560 Maxfield: that's fine. 797 01:44:08.560 --> 01:44:13.699 Lisa Keller: Alright! Then an anonymous attendee. What ideas do you have to assist individuals 798 01:44:14.080 --> 01:44:23.320 Lisa Keller: who don't speak, but work at supported typing, who have very severe motor planning, and who require great support for activities of daily living? 799 01:44:33.140 --> 01:44:35.930 Lisa Keller: It might be something for Jamie or Sujit. 800 01:44:37.800 --> 01:44:39.730 Maxfield: Also, and it. 801 01:44:40.080 --> 01:44:49.249 Maxfield: if one of them is, is typing, I want to jump back to the last question and point out that Margaux said, a good thing to do is reach out to other nonprofits in your area 802 01:44:49.260 --> 01:44:51.859 Maxfield: and ask them for advice 803 01:44:52.240 --> 01:44:53.930 Maxfield: on on how they did it. 804 01:44:55.160 --> 01:44:55.810 Lisa Keller: Hey! 805 01:44:58.900 --> 01:45:04.329 Maxfield: Jamie or Sujit. Did did you want to type anything in response to 806 01:45:05.880 --> 01:45:08.320 Maxfield: the question about motor planning and? 807 01:45:09.420 --> 01:45:14.440 Lisa Keller: And I I just want to say Todd Woodward, who asked who asked several questions here, 808 01:45:16.830 --> 01:45:18.809 Lisa Keller: suggested that AutCom 809 01:45:18.930 --> 01:45:20.649 Lisa Keller: could post them 810 01:45:21.110 --> 01:45:26.150 Lisa Keller: both the questions and answers on the website, which we could do definitely. 811 01:45:28.490 --> 01:45:32.649 Maxfield: And also I'd like to suggest, if we share those lists with 812 01:45:32.750 --> 01:45:36.620 Maxfield: the panelists and me, then we might have a chance to write. 813 01:45:37.720 --> 01:45:38.900 Maxfield: More answers. 814 01:45:39.060 --> 01:45:41.130 Maxfield: Jamie says he's trying to scroll. 815 01:45:43.860 --> 01:45:46.190 Maxfield: so let's give a little space for. 816 01:45:46.940 --> 01:45:47.490 Lisa Keller: Yeah. 817 01:45:55.380 --> 01:45:57.600 Maxfield: You're muted, Jamie. If you're trying to talk. 818 01:45:58.180 --> 01:45:59.280 James G. Burke: As a person 819 01:45:59.290 --> 01:46:02.250 James G. Burke: who was typing to communicate in college, I always. 820 01:46:07.230 --> 01:46:09.079 James G. Burke: I was always feeling 821 01:46:22.070 --> 01:46:26.430 James G. Burke: in college. I was always feeling under observation, and had a hard time to relax. 822 01:46:45.720 --> 01:46:46.470 Lisa Keller: Okay. 823 01:46:54.970 --> 01:46:55.660 James G. Burke: Sorry. 824 01:46:56.830 --> 01:46:57.730 Maxfield: You're fine. 825 01:46:58.740 --> 01:46:59.750 James G. Burke: I met. 826 01:47:00.720 --> 01:47:02.469 James G. Burke: can't find 827 01:47:03.960 --> 01:47:05.020 James G. Burke: find the 828 01:47:07.300 --> 01:47:08.570 James G. Burke: I can't find. 829 01:47:08.710 --> 01:47:10.130 James G. Burke: Find the message. 830 01:47:10.430 --> 01:47:12.379 James G. Burke: Sorry, I cannot find the message. 831 01:47:15.130 --> 01:47:16.180 Maxfield: And Sujit. 832 01:47:17.080 --> 01:47:27.049 Margaux Wosk (They/Them): Sorry. I just wanted you know that in the Q&A tab at the bottom, I'm answering a few questions that are going into the answered tab. So just letting you know. 833 01:47:28.570 --> 01:47:38.949 Maxfield: Excellent, and I wanted to read out loud what Sujit said, so difficult to answer that question, as that is a tough question. As we are struggling with our situation. 834 01:47:41.460 --> 01:47:43.740 Maxfield: Absolutely. That's fair. 835 01:47:52.630 --> 01:47:54.089 Lisa Keller: So then we have. 836 01:47:55.740 --> 01:47:58.609 Lisa Keller: We have Todd Woodward 837 01:47:59.260 --> 01:48:00.090 Lisa Keller: who 838 01:48:00.420 --> 01:48:18.099 Lisa Keller: has several questions which are great. Many corporations are pushing return to office initiatives, which means it's disproportionately affecting our disability community. How do we fight against RTO initiatives that aren't based on data, performance, productivity and more? 839 01:48:20.440 --> 01:48:21.730 Maxfield: Such a good question. 840 01:48:21.730 --> 01:48:22.340 Lisa Keller: Yeah. 841 01:48:24.490 --> 01:48:35.219 Maxfield: I I know that I share the complaint I've heard from so many people who said for years they asked to be able to work from home, and we're told that was impossible. 842 01:48:35.230 --> 01:48:37.250 Maxfield: And then the pandemic happened, 843 01:48:37.280 --> 01:48:41.040 Maxfield: and suddenly the impossible was ubiquitous. 844 01:48:41.490 --> 01:48:47.460 Maxfield: And now they're trying to take that away, saying that it's it's not effective. 845 01:48:48.100 --> 01:48:49.150 Maxfield: I think. 846 01:48:49.370 --> 01:48:51.349 Maxfield: I think, pointing that out 847 01:48:51.540 --> 01:48:53.070 Maxfield: when when 848 01:48:53.160 --> 01:48:57.670 Maxfield: companies are pushing to go back to the office pointing out, "Hey. 849 01:48:59.060 --> 01:49:05.039 Maxfield: I needed to work from home, and when the pandemic came we all did it, and it worked, and 850 01:49:05.110 --> 01:49:14.110 Maxfield: I know you have the mechanisms in place. Could you please let me continue to work from home, because I will be more efficient and productive." 851 01:49:14.240 --> 01:49:22.213 Maxfield: and present it to them as their bottom line: You will get better work from me. You will get better productivity from me. 852 01:49:22.600 --> 01:49:24.020 Maxfield: because 853 01:49:24.680 --> 01:49:32.080 Maxfield: profit is what speaks to a business, and and so the more you can put it in terms of how it will benefit them 854 01:49:32.090 --> 01:49:35.449 Maxfield: as opposed to how it will benefit you, because 855 01:49:35.540 --> 01:49:38.310 Maxfield: they know it will benefit you. You're asking for it. 856 01:49:38.370 --> 01:49:39.610 Maxfield: and that 857 01:49:40.080 --> 01:49:45.470 Maxfield: companies aren't in the business, most companies aren't in the business of helping people. 858 01:49:45.480 --> 01:49:47.280 Maxfield: so putting it in terms of 859 01:49:47.380 --> 01:49:49.249 Maxfield: why it's better for them 860 01:49:49.390 --> 01:49:51.259 Maxfield: is going to have more impact. 861 01:49:53.480 --> 01:49:58.519 Lisa Keller: And what do we think of 4 day work weeks instead of 5 day work weeks? Anybody? 862 01:50:07.060 --> 01:50:12.909 Maxfield: I think it's great, but I work 7 days a week, and I probably would, even if we had 4 day work weeks. 863 01:50:15.160 --> 01:50:16.030 Lisa Keller: Yeah. 864 01:50:21.470 --> 01:50:22.540 Lisa Keller: okay. 865 01:50:22.990 --> 01:50:29.406 Lisa Keller: well, I think what we should do is save these questions and 866 01:50:30.240 --> 01:50:31.629 Lisa Keller: and answer them. 867 01:50:31.720 --> 01:50:35.559 Lisa Keller: I think we have something called The Communicator. 868 01:50:36.530 --> 01:50:39.430 Lisa Keller: publishes. It's a newsletter that we publish. 869 01:50:40.872 --> 01:50:44.480 Lisa Keller: Quarterly, supposedly. And 870 01:50:44.590 --> 01:50:47.229 Lisa Keller: I think that that might be a good place 871 01:50:47.380 --> 01:50:49.820 Lisa Keller: to put the answers to these questions. 872 01:50:50.688 --> 01:50:55.220 Lisa Keller: But, Max, I'll I'll bow out now, and leave it to you to 873 01:50:56.130 --> 01:50:57.249 Lisa Keller: to do the rest. 874 01:50:59.840 --> 01:51:07.473 Maxfield: First, I would like to to catch up on a couple of other things that were typed in response to these questions. 875 01:51:09.590 --> 01:51:11.139 Maxfield: Sujit said 876 01:51:12.722 --> 01:51:20.779 Maxfield: "About the struggle, our struggles of not finding suitable jobs, giving validity and great understanding to our abilities and possibilities." 877 01:51:22.160 --> 01:51:36.299 Maxfield: and Raisin said, "for the person who asked about interception. This timer can provide a visual queue, though there is a jarring audio alarm option," and you may have to scroll for it, but that should be in the chat everyone can see. 878 01:51:37.020 --> 01:51:44.930 Maxfield: and other than that, I I think it would be awesome if, as many of us as feel moved to 879 01:51:45.070 --> 01:51:48.250 Maxfield: address some of the questions and and it 880 01:51:48.500 --> 01:51:51.160 Maxfield: and it gets put in the communicator 881 01:51:51.270 --> 01:51:53.250 Maxfield: whenever the next one comes out. 882 01:51:53.903 --> 01:52:17.926 Maxfield: That would be wonderful. And also it's absolutely fine if nobody wants to address those questions because you all did a great job here. You helped a lot of people by sharing your experiences and your thoughts, and I am so grateful for the 5 of you, and grateful to AutCom, and grateful to the audience now and in future replays. 883 01:52:18.700 --> 01:52:22.379 Maxfield: Thank you, everybody for coming and being part of this, and 884 01:52:22.470 --> 01:52:25.590 Maxfield: I hope you all have a wonderful day. 885 01:52:27.030 --> 01:52:29.850 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thank you. Thanks for coming. Everybody. 886 01:52:36.650 --> 01:52:38.960 James G. Burke: Thanks everyone. It's always so engaging. 887 01:52:43.840 --> 01:52:45.540 Sujit Kurup: Say thank you. I do. 888 01:52:49.400 --> 01:52:50.860 Alan Kurtz: This was amazing! 889 01:52:51.780 --> 01:52:52.190 Raesin Caine (she/her): Yay! 890 01:52:52.600 --> 01:52:54.379 Alan Kurtz: You guys did an amazing job. 891 01:52:55.750 --> 01:52:57.130 Raesin Caine (she/her): I really enjoyed it. 892 01:53:01.280 --> 01:53:06.709 Raesin Caine (she/her): We had some good questions and good participation in the chat that was awesome. 893 01:53:07.530 --> 01:53:08.690 Raesin Caine (she/her): Put it in here. 894 01:53:10.890 --> 01:53:11.800 Maxfield: Yes. 895 01:53:15.430 --> 01:53:17.769 Alan Kurtz: Very nice job, moderating Max. 896 01:53:18.320 --> 01:53:28.879 Maxfield: Thank you. Thank you to everyone who assisted in me being able to do that, instead of just blowing off to all 4 corners and scattered frustration 897 01:53:29.380 --> 01:53:32.370 Maxfield: that that was much appreciated. Your support. 898 01:53:33.720 --> 01:53:34.500 James G. Burke: We are. 899 01:53:35.920 --> 01:53:37.039 James G. Burke: we are so 900 01:53:37.990 --> 01:53:38.989 James G. Burke: we are. So 901 01:53:41.160 --> 01:53:42.220 James G. Burke: we are so 902 01:53:42.560 --> 01:53:44.319 James G. Burke: we are so interesting. 903 01:53:45.870 --> 01:53:47.240 James G. Burke: interesting in 904 01:53:48.070 --> 01:53:49.590 James G. Burke: interesting in our 905 01:53:51.000 --> 01:53:51.920 James G. Burke: in our 906 01:53:53.380 --> 01:53:54.710 James G. Burke: in our diverse. 907 01:53:56.340 --> 01:53:58.740 James G. Burke: in our diverse paths 908 01:54:02.420 --> 01:54:03.859 James G. Burke: great to share 909 01:54:04.050 --> 01:54:04.870 James G. Burke: our. 910 01:54:11.570 --> 01:54:15.139 Maxfield: I agree. This was this was such a diverse panel. 911 01:54:16.300 --> 01:54:18.569 Maxfield: and that that is one of the strengths 912 01:54:19.170 --> 01:54:21.059 Maxfield: that everyone was coming from 913 01:54:21.080 --> 01:54:22.199 Maxfield: very different 914 01:54:22.620 --> 01:54:25.100 Maxfield: backgrounds and experiences. 915 01:54:37.360 --> 01:54:40.151 Maxfield: So I guess we turn this off now? 916 01:54:41.310 --> 01:54:42.330 Maxfield: I'm not. 917 01:54:42.550 --> 01:54:45.604 Maxfield: I don't have the button, so whoever has the button. 918 01:54:47.180 --> 01:54:48.529 Judy Bailey: I can do that. 919 01:54:50.240 --> 01:54:51.140 Alan Kurtz: Bye everyone! 920 01:54:51.630 --> 01:54:52.990 Maxfield: Button who's got the button 921 01:54:52.990 --> 01:54:55.150 Judy Bailey: It's been great. Yeah, this has been great. 922 01:54:55.720 --> 01:54:56.570 Judy Bailey: wonderful. 923 01:54:56.570 --> 01:54:57.810 James G. Burke: great day folks 924 01:54:58.010 --> 01:54:59.800 James G. Burke: have a great day. Folks. 925 01:55:00.090 --> 01:55:01.447 Judy Bailey: Get your rest. 926 01:55:01.900 --> 01:55:03.050 Raesin Caine (she/her): Thank you. 927 01:55:03.290 --> 01:55:05.599 Sujit Kurup: Thank you. Say thank you. Bye. 928 01:55:05.600 --> 01:55:07.219 Raesin Caine (she/her): I'm totally lingering. I don't want to go. 929 01:55:07.220 --> 01:55:08.600 Sujit Kurup: Oh. 930 01:55:08.600 --> 01:55:09.309 Judy Bailey: I can leave it on if anyone wants to chat 931 01:55:09.310 --> 01:55:10.720 Sujit Kurup: Mm