WEBVTT - Summer series: in conversation with Em Rusciano 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.560 Hello, and welcome to Something to Talk About Ristella podcast. 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.960 I'm Sarah Lamarquin, your host, and this year I have 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:15.120 had the privilege of sitting down with some of the 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.720 biggest names in the country. Because when Estrala's celebrities are 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.360 ready to talk, they come to something to talk about. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.760 We're continuing to publish across the summer break, and we'll 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.840 be back with a brand new episode on January twelfth. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.560 In the meantime, each day for the next two weeks, 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.320 we'll be revisiting some of your favorite episodes from the 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:34.159 past year. 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.160 And I'm happy to report that there have been. 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.320 A lot of popular episodes, but out of the fifty 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.240 we released in twenty twenty four, we've narrowed it down 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:46.239 to ten conversations to revisit over the summer break, and 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.560 today we'll be revisiting our conversation with m Rasciano. It's 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:55.440 a characteristically lively chat from M about Adhd and how 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.720 she emerged from what she calls her quote scorched earth 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.000 years to M. 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:04.960 Thank you for having me and I just hurripe between 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.319 you and I will find something to talk about. 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.840 I think that we will. Have you ever not been 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:11.640 able to find something to talk about. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:18.160 Nah, isn't that the glory? Oh? Let me think. No, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:19.520 I've usually got an answer. 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:21.600 My dad always said that there's a smart ass answer 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.600 for everything, so there is indeed. 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.640 Well, I really want to talk to you about your 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:30.000 new podcast. You, of course are no stranger to podcasting. 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.200 You have topped the charts regularly with a variety of podcasts. 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.600 But this is almost like a new audio documentary. I'm 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.360 talking about anomalies, and you've described it EMM as a 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.240 love letter to the neurodivergent community and a roadmap for 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.960 neurotypical people. Can we go back to your diagnosis. You 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:52.960 were diagnosed with autism at the age of forty three 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.120 and diagnosed with ADHD a year earlier when you were 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:02.520 forty two, With those moments in hindsight respectively, three and 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.840 two years ago now the catalyst for this series, even 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.560 though presumably you didn't know it at the time. 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.680 Absolutely, that's an excellent question. Thank you for asking it. 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.440 I often when I'm going through things, I look around 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:23.560 to find information, solace community, and when I was diagnosed 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:28.720 with ADHD and previously ADHD, in my mind, the prototype 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.960 for that was the hyperactive ten year old white boy. 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:33.320 I was a chronically. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.799 Exhausted forty two year old mother of three, so when 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:41.120 I got the diagnosis, it was wild. So I began 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:46.360 looking for resources, and because I don't have great executive function, 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.080 I found it extremely overwhelming. It was like my brain 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:52.440 was fraying and I was desperately trying to grab all 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.720 the ends to tether them to something solid. And I 0:02:55.800 --> 0:03:00.240 couldn't find one resource that would explain it to me 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.160 in a way that wasn't terrifying or scientific or even make. 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:04.280 Me question myself. 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.919 And I wanted to when the idea for anomalist when 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:10.800 I had it, you know, fast forward to me giving 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.440 the National Press Club address about my ADHD. I know 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.280 a lot of women and afabs saw me and saw 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:19.800 themselves in me and started questioning do I need a diagnosis? 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.640 And I kind of left everyone hanging. So Anomalist is 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:25.880 my follow up to the Press Club. It's the what 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.520 Do I Do Now? Podcast? For people who do suspect 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.679 then you're a divergent, or who have been newly diagnosed 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.280 and aren't really sure what the next step is, or 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.440 for people who want to let them neurotypical people in 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.360 their life know what's going on for them? 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.800 You mentioned the National Press Club address there, which was 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.480 really the moment where you went public. That was August 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.920 twenty twenty two, and we'll actually put a link to 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:51.920 that address in full in our show notes, and because 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.600 it was a really powerful and emotional address and it 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.560 got a lot of pickup in that part of what 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.320 you talked about with the fearing when you were first diagnosed, 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.960 the feelings of grief as you described it, what would 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:11.320 you say was the dominant emotion? Because you and I 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.200 would both know when people get those diagnoses there can 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.920 be a raft of different things. For some people, it 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:21.200 is relief. Now everything suddenly makes sense. For other people, 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.360 it's like a validation. I always thought something was going on. 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:28.480 For some people, it's a real confusion and despair, and 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:32.400 then there's grief. What was the overarching feeling for you? 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:35.800 I made sense. 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.880 It put me into context for myself because I've always 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.080 felt out of place and I've always felt like an 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.440 alien amongst the human race, and it gave me a 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.320 reason for so many things in my life. That was 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:56.760 probably the most The strongest outcome was ah okay, But 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:59.760 I experienced all of those things you spoke about with 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:00.799 equal strength. 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.400 The grief took me out. The grief. 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.360 The grief was just free flowing, and I was shocked 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.240 at the veracity of it. I was shocked at how 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.719 much it took my breath away. And you know, I 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.080 would have little flashbacks to events or too happenings in 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.640 my career, at my even just you know, right back 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:20.640 to primary. 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.400 School, where I would be told to try. 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.080 Harder, or you're not putting in enough work, or why 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.440 are you so disorganized? Can you just remember your homework? 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:32.240 Why can't you be more like you are in English? 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:36.280 In maths, you know, and constantly looking at these grown 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.200 ups saying, I am busting my heart and soul. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:40.719 I'm staying up till one am. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.159 I'm putting glitter on my math's assignments to hope that 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.280 I distract you from how bad I am at maths. 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:48.719 I couldn't try any harder, like I will bust something 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.640 and just validation for that little ten year old girl, 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.720 and I'm able to spend some time with her and say, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.880 you know, you're incredible and magic and you would just 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.119 not so, you know, and I still get teary talking 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:06.440 about it, because, yeah, the grief was enormous, but it 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.640 was coupled with relief and a lot of joy because 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:14.520 I was able to reframe myself. So, you know, many 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.040 things can be true at once, and it's so complex, 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:21.120 and I still go through phases with my ADHD, especially 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.080 because sometimes it really helps me and a lot of 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:26.120 the time it hinders me. 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.440 I think that's such a beautiful description of the complexity 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.200 of that diagnosis, because, as you say, so many different 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:38.200 things at once, and I am not just echoing that 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.400 back to you. That's something I've experienced myself, and I 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.279 actually never spoken about this on something to talk about, 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.080 but this felt like the appropriate forum. Be really clear, 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:50.279 this podcast is absolutely not about me. I do actually 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:51.640 try to make myself a little bit. 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:53.800 Because it to be about you right now. 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.560 I just thought it might be helpful, because you're being 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.920 so generous with your followers and your audience and ignite 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.160 this conversation, that it was helpful to say that I, 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.760 like you, also navigated an ADHD diagnosis in my forties, 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.000 and as you were talking about even your first answer 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.880 just not that being the picture. It's not that ten 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:16.400 year old in attentive boy. 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:17.360 That's a bit naughty. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:21.080 In the front of the class in year four. I 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.040 wanted to get some of your thoughts about that because 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.600 we are, as you know, seeing a lot of women 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.280 in the spotlight. You've very much been at the forefront 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.800 of it. But obviously that's being replicated across all parts 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.600 of the community because you and I both know that's 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.200 what culture is. It's about what's happening in the limelight 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:44.160 is only replicating what's happening in households all around Australia. 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.640 That misdiagnosis. 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:48.560 For you, for yourself as. 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:50.840 A woman, coming to that diagnosis in your forties, for 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:55.120 you as a mother yourself, it is wild how far 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.960 we've come in terms of realizing that it's not just 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.440 about those quote unquote naughty attentive boys at school. 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:07.160 Yeah, the traditional focus has been hyperactivity in school settings. Right, 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:11.600 So if you're presenting most females a hygh percentage of 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.440 females and AFAB have the inattentive type of ADHD. So 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.840 they're the quiet girls in the corner of the daydreamers. 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:23.200 They might be accused of being lazy or disorganized. And 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.280 you know, the squeaky wheel gets the most grease. So 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.280 if the little boys are jumping up and down in 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:30.800 the classroom. Is what we call a symptom recognition. A 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:35.840 symptom recognition bias begins to manifest. And it is years 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.439 and years of this symptom recognition bias working against girls 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.600 and a fab who don't present in that manner. 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:46.000 And this just breaks my heart. 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:50.240 There's just a generation of us and our mothers who 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:54.959 were missed and as a result, unsupported, and as a result, 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:59.679 there's so many cooccurrences of anxiety and depression and OCD. 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:03.959 And if it's just caught early enough and you're given 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:07.320 the right support, amazing things can happen for you. But 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:12.520 you get to forty burnt out in total overwhelm, everything's 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.040 on top of you, and you look back at the 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.560 trail of just on your hormones going haywire because the 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.400 perimenopause has started, and you look back at the trail 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.120 of destruction behind you, and I couldn't help it think, God, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.200 if this had been caught, if I had have been recognized, 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:30.880 then so much of the destruction that did happen might 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:32.600 not have happened. But on the flip side of that, 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.079 I'm really brave with my career and I'm really brave 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:40.240 with myself because I have a lack of dopamine. So 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.800 it's that double edged sword, right. But up until very 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:48.200 recently that was thought, you know, that ADHD just really 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.600 didn't occur that much in girls, And now what we're 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.000 finding is that it's completely false, and there's been a 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:57.840 rise in this late diagnosis because there is a finally 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:03.400 a desperate correction of the chronic, previously underdiagnosed condition that 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:08.040 ADHD is. So you know, oftentimes apparently you know, I 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.640 invented ADHD, if you believe some of the commenters after 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.760 the Press Club, but you know, we're up against decades 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:19.360 of systemic symptom recognition bias, and to undo that. Now 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.360 that we can gather on mass online and compare notes 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:27.040 and realize the different variations of presentations, you know, TikTok 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.120 for one. I know it's given people the ability we 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:34.040 can finally get together and gather and understand it. Whereas 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.200 in the past, this is going to shock you. Female 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:39.839 health doesn't get a lot of coverage, It doesn't get 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:44.400 a lot of recent right, but now we're not relying 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.160 on mainstream media to tell our stories. We can tell 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.640 our stories and then we're able to see someone else's 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.280 story that's like ours and then we can talk about it. 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.480 So when people call it a fad, you know, or 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.560 a trend, I just think, God, there is just so 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.360 many other fads I would pick. If I was going 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.320 to get on board with a fad, I don't know. 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:09.800 Agreed like city jeans, oversized neutral jackets or whatever. 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.480 I don't know if it would be chronic executive function 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:15.280 disorder where I'm unable to answer emails that literally, you know, 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:16.960 it's my house is going to be going to foreclosure 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:18.120 if I don't answer the bank, you know. 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.360 That kind of stuff. I don't know if i'd pick that, 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:21.720 as muffat. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.319 TikTok has been so great for so many women, and 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.200 you can't get diagnosed on TikTok, like they don't send 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:31.839 you a certificate from the House of Talk that that's 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.080 not what happens. You have to go through a horrible 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:40.079 hoop jumping ablest variety of diagnostic appointments that is so 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.360 set up against us, as ADHD is. 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.439 That's a whole other topic. Don't get me started. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:48.920 But yeah, we're now realizing and catching up with all 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:52.520 those little girls and a fab community who were you 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:54.720 just were missed and fell below the radar. 0:11:55.600 --> 0:12:00.280 It's so important that you've called that out because he 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.120 did want to talk to you about that, because you 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.080 and I both know him that there will be people 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:05.479 listening thinking. 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.280 Oh, here we go. You know, a couple of. 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:12.559 Women talking about their ADHD diagnosis. So it's a fad, 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:14.800 it's a bandwagon, all of those sorts of things. 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.880 And I think speaking. 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.040 To that with some empathy as you just have, is 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.840 about saying, well, here is why it looks that way 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.600 to you, because we can see why it might look 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.440 that way because suddenly, as you said, you've had this 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:33.880 decades of systemic bias where people have gone undiagnosed. And 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:35.960 if we want to call out something as a trend, 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.400 I would argue that was the trend. We were missing 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.679 the signs and we were not diagnosing people. Now we're 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:46.160 seeing a correction, and I, like you, wouldn't call that 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:47.800 a trend. A trend is what you'll find in the 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:49.880 fashion pages of Stellar People. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:51.360 Not profound. 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:52.840 Look. 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.440 Please feel free to jump in with a few m 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.280 is photographed in today's Dell in fabulous fashion so we 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:01.160 can cross. 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.040 Promo this all the way. But that's right. 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:06.520 And because you must hear a lot about that, people saying, oh, 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.839 it's social media is making this a little bit contagious. 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.119 For one of a much better word, people are diagnosing themselves. 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.680 You've already shut it down so quickly. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.840 But as you say, it's a referral service, isn't it. 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.679 You have to go through very profound and rigorous there's 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:23.120 medical diagnosis. 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.560 Yeah, I have no problem with self diagnosis either. I mean, 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:31.720 you can't access the main idea around you know, people 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:36.280 saying they have ADHD? Is this really unfair and unfounded 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:40.040 attitude around the medication the stimulants, right, and our medication 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.920 is the most policed medication of all medications. I cannot 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.240 think of another medication where there it's such fear and 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:50.000 scarcity around stuff that actually helps me function and helps 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:50.840 my disability. 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.520 The anxiety that most. 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:57.360 Adhds I know have around their stimulants is wild. So 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.920 you take that aspect out if you want a self 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:04.719 diagnosed as ADHD and you that's that's great, how empowering. 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.400 Why would we want to discourage women or a fab 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.000 community from finding a better way of moving through the world. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.600 Thank god, this is happening, and I just think, to 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.920 anybody who wants to say, oh, it's bad, it's boring. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:19.720 I ask you and challenge you. 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.640 Why is your response not shit, we really let some 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:24.240 people down. 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:24.880 How awful. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.520 I can't believe we have done this to generations of women. 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.440 Why is your response not what can we do to 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:36.800 put in better supports for these undiagnosed and unsupported women 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:41.160 and AFAB Why is your initial response boredom, eye rolling 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.160 or accusing us of jumping on a fad. And so 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.600 that's the challenge I put to all of your listeners 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.880 is if you do find yourself feeling a bit challenged 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.720 and annoyed by the conversations around ADHD, ask yourself why 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.400 and then go on google internalized ableism. 0:14:57.400 --> 0:14:58.480 But that's another podcast. 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.960 But yeah, I really don't have a lot of patients 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.040 for people who roll their eyes at ADHD, because you 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:06.120 should try living with it. 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.760 I know that you've been an inspiration and a mentor 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:12.280 of sorts. 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:13.000 If that's my. 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.160 Word to use on your behalf to other women in 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:20.360 particular who have also been public with diagnosis. A specific 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.120 example of that m would be Abby Chatfield, who was 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.560 a guest on this podcast last year, and she called 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:30.760 you out as somebody who'd really helped her navigate some 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:36.520 of those battles that she had encountered, specifically speaking publicly 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:41.320 about her experiences being diagnosed with ADHD. Does that sort 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.200 of feedback from people and someone like Abby, who like herself, 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:50.360 very well known, no stranger to getting flack and causing 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:55.960 media storms. She's very outspoken. But obviously that is very difficult. 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.000 Whatever it looks like from the outside, it's never easy 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.360 to be in the set inter especially when it's something 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.240 so personal as your health and your mental health. 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:07.040 Having feedback from people. 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.680 Like Abby saying what a mentor you've been does that 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:11.280 help strengthen your results? 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:14.040 Yeah? 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:17.920 I mean, I think Abby's fantastic. I just am so 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.720 grateful that she exists in the media landscape. I'm a 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.040 big fan, and I always judge people if they have 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:25.840 an issue with Abby. That's always my litmus test. Do 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.120 you have an issue with Megan Marshall or Abby Chatfield? 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.480 And if you do, then let's talk about your problems. 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.600 And whenever anyone says you know something negative about Abby, 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.080 I jump on them so quickly and I get really 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:39.720 curious and I'm like, tell me about that. 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:40.320 Why? 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:44.240 What is it because if someone's brave enough to stick 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.560 with me, I generally turn them around. It doesn't happen 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.440 that often. She's beloved to be fair, I just want 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.840 to say it's very rare, but I think she's magnificent 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:53.640 and brave. 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.240 But I know the toll. I know the other side 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:57.640 of that. 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.880 Abby and I work for the same company and both 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.960 came from reality TV. And then when she started talking 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:10.480 about her diagnosis, I viscerally felt it because I know 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.399 what commercial radio demands of you, and I also know 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.919 what a new diagnosis of ADHD demands of you, and 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.280 those two things should be know any of each other. 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.600 So anytime she reached out to me or I would 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.040 reach out to her, I just wanted to be a 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:29.840 safe space for her because it's also an extremely unique 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:33.399 situation that she was in. That's pretty niche nearly diagnosed 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:38.320 in a high profile radio job. Me too, But yeah, 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.800 I not just for famous women, but I get contacted 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:47.320 by women everywhere saying, you know, you've emboldened me or 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:53.720 empowered me to advocate for myself, which is so incredibly 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.920 humbling but also the fuel that drives me. But the 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.479 main thing is I have three neurodivergent children. I have 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:05.640 an autistic son with high support needs, and I can 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.800 see how this world is set up against them, and 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:11.840 I want to be a part of changing attitudes and 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:17.840 changing the cultural discussions around neurodivergence. So that's what keeps 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:20.560 me going because every time I'm front facing with my 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:22.200 autism and ADHD. 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:22.720 I cop it. 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.960 It's brutal, but I have to keep doing it because 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:32.560 eventually people like me will stop copying it. Representation matters, 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.720 and currently there's not a lot of representation for neurodivergent women, 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:37.200 especially autistic women. 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:39.919 But every time I talk about it. 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.479 I get You're not autistic, you're not autistic enough, you're 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:45.879 not disabled enough, you're not disabled. She's faking it, she's 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.720 doing it for attention. I have to live through that, 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.960 and it's brutal. But if I don't keep fronting up, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.800 then the attitude's never changed. So it's this cycle that 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.240 I'm in. And you know, I've got anomalists, and I've 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.159 also got mine live show Outgrown, which is kind of 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.360 an extension on from Anomalies with songs and chokes and stories, 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.040 and I'm just bracing myself for what's going to come. 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.080 But if I don't put myself out there, then things 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.520 don't get better. So yeah, it starts with Abby, it 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:19.399 goes into women everywhere, but ultimately it ends with my kids. 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.920 On a selfish level, I want their lives to be 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.200 full and amazing and everything that and kids like them 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.119 and ten year old m I'm kind of doing the 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.480 thing I wish someone had done for her. 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.960 I don't want to give airtime to any of your 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:37.399 specific trolls, will spend too much time talking on about that, 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:41.240 because as you've just articulated, it is not easy. However 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:46.399 it looks from the outside, however robust and bulletproof you 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:50.480 would seem to so many of your followers. That's it 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:54.159 takes a massive toll, as you've just explained. But you 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.320 said there m for instance, that you do get accused 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:00.440 of faking things, and specifically because we've talked to about 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:04.920 the ADHD diagnosis, but the autism diagnosis, and that I mean, 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.280 I would argue is probably even a lot more work 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:10.800 to be done in the media space, which I think 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.800 that your podcast tackled so beautifully. But there was an 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.760 instance last year where a comedian did accuse you of 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:22.119 faking your autism diagnosis when you had spoken about about 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.720 the sensory space that's available at Marvel Stadium, and you 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:28.879 at the time were praised for being very gracious in 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:32.000 your response because you spoke about what you just touched 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.600 upon there. That it's really those sorts of ignorant comments 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.880 are a reflection of the bias that's existed and the 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:44.080 need for representation, because we are still struggling to understand 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:49.320 that you actually are representative the neurodivergent community. You are 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:57.199 representative of somebody with autism. It musting, though, And do 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.560 you think that that is getting any better for you, 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:04.040 because being accused of faking a diagnosis, surely it doesn't 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:05.080 get much worse than that. 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:07.800 Yeah. It was probably my worst fear, to be honest 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:11.560 about coming out. And it's just such a wild thing 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:16.960 to accuse someone off, especially I have and I took 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:20.400 to carrying around my diagnostic report in hard copy and digital. 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:25.120 That's how upsetting it was, just in case anybody challenged me, 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:30.760 and autistic people never challenged me. Autistic people were, yeah, 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:34.600 we know, it's only neurotypical people that seem to have 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:38.359 an issue with the idea that I'm autistic and it. 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:39.760 Was I didn't get out of bed for a month. 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:46.879 I think as a comedian, I'm pretty brave in covering 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:50.399 the hard stuff of life. I've done shows about losing 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:55.080 a baby, about my marriage, breaking down, about being called 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:59.880 a diva, but this one was really personal because those 0:21:59.880 --> 0:22:03.960 are other things were tangible, and this is an invisible disability. 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:07.359 And also, you know, I don't represent everyone's preconceived ideas 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:11.240 of what an autistic person is because the only examples 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:14.479 we've had are Dustin Hoffmann in rain Man, and you know, 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:16.720 the guy from the Good Doctor and the kid from 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:19.600 A Typical and the common theme is there they're all white, 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:24.080 straight dudes, and I'm not that. So every time I 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:29.840 front up and represent autistic women, people have no prior 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:32.840 knowledge or nothing to compare me to accept those examples 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:34.960 I just gave you, So yeah, naturally there's going to 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:42.919 be a not But yeah, it was brutal and my 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:47.600 worst fear, and it really took me out and down, 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:53.240 and it made me not want to continue talking about it. 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.600 But it's who I am, and to shut that part 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:00.520 off would be doing again ten year old Emma service. 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:07.679 So I spent many months picking myself up and nonemallest 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:09.480 was put on the back burner because it was meant 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:13.240 to come out much sooner, and it took me probably 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:14.000 six months. 0:23:17.560 --> 0:23:21.160 Yeah, and then I got over myself. 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:25.960 And I realized that I don't need the validation of 0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:30.520 people are gonna people are going to choose to not 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:32.560 believe me or think badly of me, and that's out 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:37.679 of my control. And my greater purpose for making the 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:39.800 podcasts and doing the live stand ups and being so 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:43.119 front facing with my disabilities is so people don't have 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:45.480 to ever feel how I felt that day when I 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:48.280 read what that person said and how I was being 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:49.080 covered and. 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:51.639 Made fun of. And I don't know if you can imagine. 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:54.000 What it's like having a massive public discourse around your 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:57.520 disability and if in fact you I disabled enough. It 0:23:57.600 --> 0:24:00.040 was wild and I had a lot of win and 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:02.320 then reach out to me at the time saying they 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:04.600 felt a similar thing when they told their family they 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:08.480 were autistic ADHD. They were gas lit and I got 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:13.160 gas lit by a hyph percentage of Australian public very publicly. 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:18.760 But I'm grateful for that time now because I have 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:23.480 a much steally a resolve around it, and if people 0:24:23.560 --> 0:24:26.720 challenge me on it now. I'm rock steady crew. If 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.840 people want to say you're not autistic, I'm like, okay, cool, 0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:33.879 that's in your scientific opinion. Great, but it doesn't it 0:24:33.960 --> 0:24:37.240 doesn't rip my soul out through my nose. I'm okay now, 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:39.520 and I'm ready to make stuff about it to help 0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:41.679 other people, which is what anomalist is, which is what 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:47.320 our grown is. I'm okay. I'm in a good space 0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:49.440 to do it. But it did really take me some time. 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:53.560 It was my worst fear come true. 0:24:53.920 --> 0:24:56.359 And I'm really sorry that you were made to feel 0:24:56.359 --> 0:25:00.560 that way, and I'm really sorry to hear how awful 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:04.520 it was, although it does come as no surprise to me. 0:25:04.640 --> 0:25:08.840 It was absolutely horrifying, hurtful thing to watch unfold. And 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:12.320 I'm so glad that you found a way to channel 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:16.880 that and get this body of work that is anomalous 0:25:16.920 --> 0:25:20.200 out into the public space. And I'd love to talk 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:22.160 to you a little bit about it specifically. And you've 0:25:22.200 --> 0:25:25.240 mentioned a few times what you're doing for the ten 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.080 year old, am, and you are a mum of three 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:32.560 and as you said, three neurodivergent children. I'd love to 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:36.399 talk a little bit about you as a mum. Not 0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:39.240 in a reductive, sexist way, by the way, but like 0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:41.879 I say it, yes, this is a bit of a 0:25:41.880 --> 0:25:45.480 family project, isn't it. Your husband, Scott is also involved 0:25:45.680 --> 0:25:46.800 in Anomalis. 0:25:46.920 --> 0:25:47.080 Yes. 0:25:47.440 --> 0:25:49.520 Can you tell me a little bit about the role 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:53.000 that you and your family and what that has played 0:25:53.160 --> 0:25:57.600 in this new podcast and how they have driven this 0:25:57.640 --> 0:25:59.760 new chapter of your work. 0:26:00.600 --> 0:26:05.639 I think having them involved was really important because I 0:26:05.680 --> 0:26:09.159 wanted people to see that side of me, because oftentimes 0:26:09.160 --> 0:26:11.320 you'll just see me, you know, all guns blazing on 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:15.639 stage or with my other podcast, Emsolation, But this was 0:26:15.760 --> 0:26:19.800 just me unmasked at home. The press Club. You know 0:26:19.840 --> 0:26:21.399 that the first episode kicks off with a bit of 0:26:21.400 --> 0:26:22.960 the press club and the kind of you know, the 0:26:23.000 --> 0:26:27.320 what now? And I live in a household of very blind, 0:26:27.480 --> 0:26:31.080 very sensitive people, so it's always wild and fun to document. 0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:35.240 But we're all neurodivergent, and I've gone through the diagnostic 0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:38.800 journey with every single member of our family, and I 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:43.600 think that will be helpful for people to hear. But yeah, 0:26:43.640 --> 0:26:46.000 this project is I'm so proud of it. It's like 0:26:46.080 --> 0:26:49.880 nothing I've ever made before because it's so we've spent 0:26:49.920 --> 0:26:52.359 so much time with it, it is a doco, it's 0:26:52.720 --> 0:26:57.000 fact checked, there's experts. You know. It's something that I 0:26:57.080 --> 0:26:58.760 took a lot of time and care with, you know, 0:26:58.960 --> 0:27:01.560 over a year, because I wanted to have this neat, 0:27:01.560 --> 0:27:05.679 little legacy for when someone is newly diagnosed or someone 0:27:05.760 --> 0:27:11.040 is thinking about getting diagnosed, their doctor, their friend, their mum, 0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:13.240 their colleagues, and maybe you're listening right now, you can 0:27:13.320 --> 0:27:14.800 send anomalist to them as a. 0:27:14.760 --> 0:27:16.280 Little five episode gift. 0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:19.159 I've also broken the episodes down into two parts if 0:27:19.160 --> 0:27:21.640 they're a bit long, because it's tough. 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:23.680 Being you're a divergent taking all that in all at once. 0:27:24.160 --> 0:27:27.359 But I wanted it to be this standalone, self contained 0:27:27.480 --> 0:27:32.000 how to guide for neurodivergent people and neurotypical people and 0:27:32.000 --> 0:27:35.960 striking that balance of being neuroaffirming and accessible, so and 0:27:36.080 --> 0:27:41.200 funny and heartfelt and not too dense but enough facts just. 0:27:41.160 --> 0:27:43.680 The thing that I needed that I didn't have. 0:27:44.000 --> 0:27:47.960 I go and I make this shit I need when 0:27:47.960 --> 0:27:50.400 I go through stuff, you know, and I realized there's 0:27:50.400 --> 0:27:51.880 a bit of a gap there, or like no one's 0:27:51.920 --> 0:27:53.840 delivering it in a way that I need to hear it. 0:27:54.560 --> 0:27:56.320 Not to say, there's so many resources out there, and 0:27:56.359 --> 0:27:58.639 this isn't the only one, and so many wonderful people 0:27:58.640 --> 0:28:01.800 are doing stuff in this area. I just needed something, 0:28:02.000 --> 0:28:02.600 you know, a. 0:28:02.480 --> 0:28:06.399 Bit raw and weird and colorful and noisy. 0:28:06.080 --> 0:28:09.480 And you know, I've just made something essentially for me 0:28:10.040 --> 0:28:13.399 that I hope resonates with everyone else. I don't think 0:28:13.440 --> 0:28:16.320 there's anything out there like it, and I hope everyone 0:28:16.400 --> 0:28:16.840 loves it. 0:28:17.520 --> 0:28:19.639 But yeah, that's really once I let it go. 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:22.480 You know, when you make something, once you give it 0:28:22.520 --> 0:28:25.320 to the public, it's no longer yours. And I'm really 0:28:25.400 --> 0:28:26.240 ready for that to happen. 0:28:27.800 --> 0:28:29.680 And when we come back, em gives us a look 0:28:29.720 --> 0:28:33.119 at what an average day, whatever average means, looks like 0:28:33.200 --> 0:28:34.800 inside her household. 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:39.040 I wanted to ask a little bit about that. 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:42.560 Sentence that I touched upon the beginning of our conversation 0:28:42.840 --> 0:28:47.200 about anomalous also serving as a roadmap for neurotypical people. 0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:51.320 If someone listening doesn't have anyone in their family or 0:28:51.400 --> 0:28:54.880 circle as far as they know, who is neurodivergent, and 0:28:54.920 --> 0:28:58.560 they want to understand a little better what it is 0:28:59.040 --> 0:29:01.840 like living in the household like yours, AM's, or as 0:29:01.840 --> 0:29:05.680 you said, every single member of the family is neuro divergent. 0:29:06.400 --> 0:29:08.800 What would an average day? Can I even use the 0:29:08.800 --> 0:29:13.600 word average day? Laugh that loud moment, Yeah, what does 0:29:13.600 --> 0:29:17.640 an average day look like in your household? 0:29:17.800 --> 0:29:19.959 Do you know what I was? We met with Elio, 0:29:20.360 --> 0:29:20.800 my son. 0:29:20.920 --> 0:29:23.200 We met with his new occupational therapist at our house 0:29:23.240 --> 0:29:25.920 this morning, and she, after being with us for an hour, 0:29:26.040 --> 0:29:28.040 just looked around and she said, he's really lucky to 0:29:28.080 --> 0:29:28.960 be in this household. 0:29:28.960 --> 0:29:30.800 Like she said, you are, so. 0:29:32.360 --> 0:29:35.320 You're already doing things naturally that an autistic kid with 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:37.600 his support needs. 0:29:36.840 --> 0:29:38.080 Needs to thrive in that. 0:29:39.440 --> 0:29:42.520 We each day wake up and we try not to 0:29:42.520 --> 0:29:44.960 put hard and fast rules on everything, and we do 0:29:45.000 --> 0:29:49.400 a lot of yes ending and you know, whatever, whatever 0:29:49.440 --> 0:29:51.360 each person in the family needs in that moment, we 0:29:51.440 --> 0:29:54.000 try to honor. You know, it's not always perfect, but 0:29:54.160 --> 0:29:55.920 I'm able to get up in the morning and say 0:29:56.080 --> 0:29:58.959 I am at two percent to my daughters who are 0:29:59.000 --> 0:30:01.040 twenty two and seventeen, I mean, can one of you 0:30:01.040 --> 0:30:03.000 please make Elio's breakfast. I just need to go and 0:30:03.000 --> 0:30:06.480 sit quietly for five minutes. I can say to my husband, 0:30:07.400 --> 0:30:09.880 the lights are drilling into my eyes, and I can 0:30:09.920 --> 0:30:11.680 hear sounds, and I can smell. 0:30:11.440 --> 0:30:12.800 That color red of that top. 0:30:12.880 --> 0:30:16.160 I just and he gets that because sometimes when I 0:30:16.200 --> 0:30:18.640 put clothes on of a certain color, the color. 0:30:18.360 --> 0:30:19.520 Always heavy on my skin. 0:30:19.640 --> 0:30:21.600 I know that sounds nuts, but it's just part of 0:30:21.600 --> 0:30:24.600 my synesthesia that I have. But I'm just in a 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:27.360 family where I can say I need nobody to ask 0:30:27.400 --> 0:30:31.240 me a question for one hundred minutes, no questions, and 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:34.560 everyone just gets it. So we're able to express our needs. 0:30:35.000 --> 0:30:37.040 So a day in our house, it just depends how 0:30:37.080 --> 0:30:38.800 we all wake up and where we are all waking 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:43.080 up in our neurodivergent journey, and how much stimulus we've 0:30:43.120 --> 0:30:46.360 all taken in. So every day is different in my house. 0:30:46.960 --> 0:30:49.800 But you know, I live in the paradoxical hell of 0:30:49.840 --> 0:30:54.560 having ADHD and autism, so I crave structure and routine, 0:30:54.680 --> 0:30:56.480 but I'm unable to maintain. 0:30:56.160 --> 0:30:57.160 Structure and routine. 0:30:57.480 --> 0:31:01.360 So it's really this light and dark battle between my adhdmoetism. 0:31:01.400 --> 0:31:05.240 So we do have routines in place, which we kind 0:31:05.240 --> 0:31:08.520 of swing off like monkeys, if that makes sense. But 0:31:08.640 --> 0:31:12.680 the best part about being in my family is just 0:31:12.720 --> 0:31:15.680 the grace and the space that we hold for each 0:31:15.720 --> 0:31:16.880 other and that we give each other. 0:31:17.480 --> 0:31:19.920 Oh, the grace and the space that's beautiful. 0:31:20.360 --> 0:31:25.200 That's every family that would have the luxury of creating 0:31:25.240 --> 0:31:28.640 that for themselves is really ahead of the curve. 0:31:28.760 --> 0:31:31.719 That that's a beautiful phrase. The grace and the space 0:31:31.800 --> 0:31:32.360 I love that. 0:31:32.680 --> 0:31:35.880 I will just say to any parents listening, don't should 0:31:35.920 --> 0:31:39.960 yourself to death. Don't put invisible rules upon yourself and 0:31:40.000 --> 0:31:42.360 your kids and your family. Just do what you need 0:31:42.400 --> 0:31:44.960 to do to get through in that moment. It's okay. 0:31:45.600 --> 0:31:47.760 I think a lot of the time we should ourselves 0:31:47.760 --> 0:31:49.600 to death, and we worry we're not doing the right 0:31:49.680 --> 0:31:52.360 thing exactly in that moment, or there's been too much 0:31:52.400 --> 0:31:55.360 screen time, or they haven't enough fritten vegetables, or they're 0:31:55.560 --> 0:31:58.280 wearing their pajamas to school or bathers as undies or 0:31:58.320 --> 0:32:02.320 whatever it is cereal for breakfast. And I think the 0:32:02.360 --> 0:32:05.280 moment you're able to you know, not only like I 0:32:05.320 --> 0:32:09.720 say this, grace and space, give it to yourself. Give 0:32:09.800 --> 0:32:13.640 yourself grace and give yourself space, because you need to 0:32:13.640 --> 0:32:17.280 get yourself right to be the best leader for your 0:32:17.360 --> 0:32:21.200 small humans. If you are suffering, they will suffer. So 0:32:21.440 --> 0:32:24.720 give yourself that first thing. Look after you. And I 0:32:24.800 --> 0:32:26.920 know we say this and it's been a whole thing 0:32:26.960 --> 0:32:29.920 that's been monetized with women, but especially you're the sunshine 0:32:30.200 --> 0:32:32.320 and the engine room of your family and probably the 0:32:32.400 --> 0:32:35.760 curator also, and if that's struggling, then the rest of 0:32:35.800 --> 0:32:39.440 the family that you're killing yourself for struggles from get go. 0:32:40.120 --> 0:32:41.880 So I think the thing I come. 0:32:41.800 --> 0:32:44.040 Across with mos, especially with women who have ADHD and 0:32:44.040 --> 0:32:45.880 who are mothers and struggle with executive function. 0:32:46.120 --> 0:32:48.800 It is usually our job also to do all the when. 0:32:48.720 --> 0:32:50.840 The kid's got the orthodontist or the sports or the 0:32:50.920 --> 0:32:52.720 drop off, and who's done the free chopping, and who's 0:32:52.720 --> 0:32:54.760 paid that bill, and you're juggling all of that, and 0:32:54.800 --> 0:32:57.360 then if you're in your late thirties, you're estrogen's chronically 0:32:57.400 --> 0:33:00.120 dropping and you're heading into perimenopause, so that exacerbates you're 0:33:00.120 --> 0:33:02.440 ADHD symptoms and it just feels like you're in a 0:33:02.480 --> 0:33:06.760 shit storm of life and there's no light. I've been there, 0:33:07.120 --> 0:33:10.840 my friend. That is the time where you just give 0:33:10.880 --> 0:33:15.280 yourself that that grace because in my experience, and I 0:33:15.280 --> 0:33:18.320 have hundreds of thousands of followers humble brag, sorry what 0:33:18.440 --> 0:33:22.200 a wonker, That's the number one feedback I get is 0:33:22.400 --> 0:33:26.920 I'm so tired and overwhelmed. We all are, we all are, 0:33:27.480 --> 0:33:31.320 and just keep talking about it and reaching out and yeah, 0:33:31.400 --> 0:33:34.880 it's the whole thing at the moment, my girls, I 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:35.320 see you. 0:33:36.440 --> 0:33:39.280 Yeah, yeah, And you know, I think it's a message 0:33:39.320 --> 0:33:41.840 that has cut through every single day of the year. 0:33:41.880 --> 0:33:45.760 But as this episode is being released into the wild, 0:33:45.880 --> 0:33:48.920 you and I talking today and the story being published 0:33:48.960 --> 0:33:50.760 in Stellar with those beautiful. 0:33:50.320 --> 0:33:52.480 Images of you with your two daughters, it's a. 0:33:52.440 --> 0:33:54.800 Week out from Mother's Day, so it's also a time 0:33:54.840 --> 0:33:57.520 of year where a lot of that sort of you know, 0:33:57.680 --> 0:34:02.080 quote unquote greeting card messages of what a mother should 0:34:02.640 --> 0:34:06.920 in inverted commas also look like. It's such a wonderful 0:34:07.120 --> 0:34:10.400 message I think that you are sharing with your followers, 0:34:10.440 --> 0:34:12.520 of whom there are many. So that is not a 0:34:12.640 --> 0:34:15.960 humble brag, by the way, and the final episode of 0:34:16.000 --> 0:34:19.520 the podcast focuses on where we need to see support 0:34:19.600 --> 0:34:23.200 and change on a policy level moving forward. I wanted 0:34:23.239 --> 0:34:27.239 to ask you, you know, obviously spoiler alert because we 0:34:27.320 --> 0:34:30.359 want people to listen to your full series, but if 0:34:30.400 --> 0:34:34.120 there's anything in particular you would single out in our 0:34:34.200 --> 0:34:38.200 chat today that you think really needs to be tackled, well. 0:34:38.040 --> 0:34:40.200 You mean, on a government level. 0:34:40.600 --> 0:34:44.959 I'll start with I've presented at the Senate inquiry last 0:34:45.000 --> 0:34:48.680 year and obviously address the press club, and I'm the 0:34:48.719 --> 0:34:51.160 most unseerious human on the planet right Like I'm a 0:34:51.160 --> 0:34:55.920 comedian who danced with Wolvers on Channel ten. Here I 0:34:55.960 --> 0:34:58.640 am in a political sphere, which is wild to me. 0:34:59.200 --> 0:35:01.880 But we need I mean, the biggest thing is we 0:35:01.920 --> 0:35:03.640 don't have a Minister for disability. 0:35:04.080 --> 0:35:06.480 We do not have a minister. 0:35:07.080 --> 0:35:10.920 Bill Shorten does some stuff for NDS, other ministers share it, 0:35:11.400 --> 0:35:17.120 but we do not have a dedicated minister for disability inclusion. 0:35:17.280 --> 0:35:20.280 That to me belows my tiny mind. 0:35:20.600 --> 0:35:23.480 We also just need to improve access to diagnosis and treatment, 0:35:23.600 --> 0:35:27.400 Increase the Medicare rebate, reduce weight times. We need support programs, 0:35:27.400 --> 0:35:29.240 we need to support our schools. There's just this bunch 0:35:29.280 --> 0:35:33.080 of stuff that is in the works. But I think 0:35:33.880 --> 0:35:36.880 the main takeaway from Anomaliest is I just want people 0:35:36.920 --> 0:35:41.640 to feel like they have a way forward. Because I 0:35:41.719 --> 0:35:46.880 remember getting that diagnosis and feeling overwhelmed and didn't know 0:35:46.920 --> 0:35:50.560 which tab to open first. I hope that this is 0:35:50.640 --> 0:35:53.759 just a neat, little easy step one, because there's so 0:35:53.800 --> 0:35:57.200 many steps to take, and often with ADHD the cruel 0:35:57.239 --> 0:36:00.120 thing is taking that first step is the hardest. So 0:36:00.200 --> 0:36:04.920 I want to almost body double my listeners and just 0:36:05.000 --> 0:36:08.319 also educate neurotypical people because that's what we need. We 0:36:08.400 --> 0:36:12.160 need better attitudes and better understanding and awareness so that 0:36:12.200 --> 0:36:14.920 people don't struggle in workplaces and people don't struggle at 0:36:14.920 --> 0:36:17.880 school or in UNI, and there's infrastructure around them because 0:36:17.880 --> 0:36:21.400 the neurotypical people around them get it, you know, we 0:36:21.520 --> 0:36:24.239 get depression, we get anxiety, we get what to do 0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:26.840 for people in those scenarios. We need that level of 0:36:26.920 --> 0:36:32.680 education around neurodivergence because then everything opens up. So yeah, 0:36:32.680 --> 0:36:34.799 that's the main takeaway is. 0:36:36.600 --> 0:36:39.880 Yeah, I hope, I don't know. 0:36:39.920 --> 0:36:44.200 I just hope it starts more thoughtful, meaningful and fruitful conversations. 0:36:44.760 --> 0:36:46.200 And I hope it entertains you too. 0:36:47.280 --> 0:36:49.239 You do have a lot on your plate, so you 0:36:49.360 --> 0:36:53.080 probably not looking for another career pivot to add to 0:36:53.160 --> 0:36:56.919 your resume. And as you said, politics not necessarily your 0:36:57.040 --> 0:37:02.600 natural habitatancingvolvers optional, but would you ever consider it, would 0:37:02.800 --> 0:37:06.359 for instance, could we start lobbying for you to potentially 0:37:06.440 --> 0:37:09.839 become Australia's inaugural Minister for Disability. 0:37:11.360 --> 0:37:13.839 I want no part of that business. Absolutely not. 0:37:14.160 --> 0:37:16.360 You have to listen to other people's opinions, you have 0:37:16.400 --> 0:37:19.160 to be somewhat measured, you have to appear in control 0:37:19.239 --> 0:37:20.200 of your emotions. 0:37:20.280 --> 0:37:21.799 I have none of those qualities. 0:37:22.360 --> 0:37:26.680 No. I also think being a politician it makes you impotent. 0:37:26.880 --> 0:37:30.080 I think you can be powerful. 0:37:29.560 --> 0:37:33.480 And flourish without fear of, you know, keeping people wanting 0:37:33.520 --> 0:37:35.080 to vote for you. You know, an aspect of my 0:37:35.200 --> 0:37:37.279 job is I have to be liked. There is an 0:37:37.280 --> 0:37:41.839 aspect of political gameplay in that, you know, my job 0:37:41.920 --> 0:37:44.840 depends on people downloading my podcast, buying tickets to my shows, 0:37:44.920 --> 0:37:47.120 following me on social media. So there is an aspect 0:37:47.160 --> 0:37:49.920 of me being conscious of the public liking me. But 0:37:50.800 --> 0:37:54.759 there's another level of policing on politicians, and especially in 0:37:54.840 --> 0:37:57.560 this country, we are obsessed with electing politicians that are 0:37:57.840 --> 0:38:00.600 really relatable, and you know. 0:38:00.520 --> 0:38:02.080 We don't think about if they're best for the job. 0:38:02.120 --> 0:38:03.800 We just think about if we could skull a schooner 0:38:03.840 --> 0:38:05.319 of beer with them, or if they can sing, you know, 0:38:05.600 --> 0:38:08.799 powder fingers, my happiness word perfect. We don't think about 0:38:08.880 --> 0:38:10.960 the best person for the job. And I am not relatable. 0:38:11.040 --> 0:38:14.120 I get called that a lot, but I'm adhd autistic 0:38:14.239 --> 0:38:17.160 type a personality, eldest child of an Italian immigrant. 0:38:17.239 --> 0:38:22.759 You know, I'm not relatable in many ways, so but 0:38:22.800 --> 0:38:25.520 I do try to get I. 0:38:25.520 --> 0:38:29.360 Just think politically, I just think about the poor pr 0:38:29.520 --> 0:38:32.000 person who would have to try and control my narrative. 0:38:32.480 --> 0:38:35.600 I just wouldn't wish that upon anyone. 0:38:36.360 --> 0:38:38.720 So no, and I think I'm more powerful. 0:38:38.719 --> 0:38:41.319 And I think the biggest punk rock act that I 0:38:41.400 --> 0:38:44.360 can perform is to keep showing up as myself and 0:38:44.480 --> 0:38:49.600 keep making things that challenge everyone, and you know, just 0:38:49.640 --> 0:38:52.200 trying to push that needle fullard on the way conversations 0:38:52.200 --> 0:38:55.600 are happening around eurodivergence. I think I've got my own 0:38:55.680 --> 0:38:59.080 form of rebellion kind of happening in that it is sad, 0:38:59.120 --> 0:39:02.799 but me turning as a forty five year old disabled 0:39:02.800 --> 0:39:07.319 woman loudly and proudly is a renegade act, and so 0:39:07.440 --> 0:39:09.279 I will continue to do that, and that I think 0:39:09.400 --> 0:39:12.320 has far more reaching power than me trying. 0:39:12.120 --> 0:39:14.680 To get elected in that would be a mess. 0:39:15.120 --> 0:39:17.600 Well, look, give me a call if you change your mind, 0:39:17.600 --> 0:39:20.240 because I think there are a lot of spin doctors 0:39:20.239 --> 0:39:23.319 in Canberra that have worked with people that are a 0:39:23.320 --> 0:39:26.880 lot less representative of the Australian electorate. In my opinion, 0:39:26.920 --> 0:39:29.000 I'm just saying vote one em ROSSI I know, give 0:39:29.000 --> 0:39:30.680 me a ring if you change your mind. But like 0:39:30.719 --> 0:39:33.360 I said, you do have a pretty full slate ahead 0:39:33.400 --> 0:39:33.640 of you. 0:39:33.640 --> 0:39:34.160 You've talked a. 0:39:34.160 --> 0:39:37.520 Little bit about your upcoming comedy tour, Outgrow, and I 0:39:37.520 --> 0:39:40.319 think this is your first national tour in a while. Limb. 0:39:40.760 --> 0:39:43.600 You've had a bit on I think we've touched upon that. 0:39:44.600 --> 0:39:47.719 You mentioned menopause as well. I wanted to ask you 0:39:47.760 --> 0:39:50.080 a little bit. I think sometimes menopause is one of 0:39:50.080 --> 0:39:53.759 the last taboos that a current generation of women are 0:39:53.960 --> 0:39:58.400 taking two and smashing to smithereens. I know, breaking taboos, 0:39:58.480 --> 0:40:02.480 calling this stuff outs always been a part of your 0:40:02.600 --> 0:40:03.840 comedy tours. 0:40:04.080 --> 0:40:06.160 Can we expect a little bit. 0:40:06.040 --> 0:40:09.160 Of all of what we've talked about menopause included when 0:40:09.440 --> 0:40:11.719 Outgrown hits the stage later this year. 0:40:12.160 --> 0:40:12.359 Yeah. 0:40:12.600 --> 0:40:15.160 Last five years have been scorched earth for me. It's 0:40:15.200 --> 0:40:17.880 been as a live performer, lockdowns. I was in Melbourne, 0:40:17.920 --> 0:40:22.040 the home of lockdowns, so that completely decimated my career. 0:40:22.560 --> 0:40:25.640 So we had that, then I had the ADHD diagnosis, 0:40:26.000 --> 0:40:28.239 I gave birth, then we had the lockdowns, then the 0:40:28.320 --> 0:40:32.279 ADHD diagnosis, then the autism diagnosis, and then I found 0:40:32.320 --> 0:40:35.279 out I was in hardcore menopause very early, like the 0:40:35.280 --> 0:40:37.520 plane had crashed into the cliff. I had no warning, 0:40:38.200 --> 0:40:43.239 and I remember like looking around, going what what, and 0:40:44.400 --> 0:40:47.640 headfirst into research around perimenopause and how estrogen starts to do. 0:40:48.040 --> 0:40:50.400 Thirty five is when we need to be talking about this, 0:40:50.640 --> 0:40:53.560 thirty five years of age. But in my mind, when 0:40:53.600 --> 0:40:56.000 you were sixty or so, maybe overs gave one last 0:40:56.000 --> 0:40:59.240 cough and that was it. Oh, I didn't know about 0:40:59.280 --> 0:41:02.560 all the other stuff, which also exacerbates my ADHD in autism. 0:41:02.880 --> 0:41:07.040 So it's just this whole cycle, and I've learned so much. 0:41:07.080 --> 0:41:10.520 So outgrown is I've had to be very comfortable without 0:41:10.600 --> 0:41:13.799 growing myself, and every year it felt like, you know, 0:41:14.440 --> 0:41:16.160 then there's a bush fire and the forest has to 0:41:16.160 --> 0:41:18.080 be burnt to the ground for the new growth to come. 0:41:18.480 --> 0:41:21.560 I've really had to be okay with just everything burning 0:41:21.600 --> 0:41:26.880 to the ground. But what has emerged is, yeah, a better, 0:41:27.040 --> 0:41:30.719 stronger regrowth, if you will. And I'm still going to 0:41:30.760 --> 0:41:32.360 be on that path and I hope that I continue 0:41:32.360 --> 0:41:34.959 out growing myself till I take my last breath, because 0:41:34.960 --> 0:41:36.560 that's how we get better as humans. That's how the 0:41:36.560 --> 0:41:39.080 world gets better. That's how things improve is we're not 0:41:39.200 --> 0:41:43.520 in love with our ideals and opinions. We allow growth. 0:41:43.880 --> 0:41:47.400 So this show is a celebration of that. And there's songs, 0:41:47.480 --> 0:41:52.000 it's multisensory, there's puppets, there's my dad on stage with me. 0:41:53.360 --> 0:41:57.080 It's just this whole multisensory experience I'm bringing to everybody. 0:41:57.160 --> 0:42:01.720 There's going to be smells, original songs, so if you don't. 0:42:01.560 --> 0:42:02.239 Laugh, you'll cry. 0:42:02.840 --> 0:42:05.560 And I wanted to make because there's been some real funny, 0:42:05.680 --> 0:42:08.240 dark humor within what I've gone through. And the universal 0:42:08.280 --> 0:42:11.360 experience of being a woman of a certain age is 0:42:11.400 --> 0:42:15.120 one that you know, you know, it needs to be 0:42:15.160 --> 0:42:17.280 spoken about and made. 0:42:17.120 --> 0:42:19.040 Fun of and given reverence too. 0:42:19.200 --> 0:42:22.439 But I really, you know, I've had press Clubs Act one, 0:42:22.640 --> 0:42:26.759 not that I'm Beyonce, but press Clubs Act one, Anomalists, 0:42:26.800 --> 0:42:30.120 Act two, an Outgrown is Act three, and they all 0:42:30.160 --> 0:42:34.400 go together beautiful, and that's hopefully my nice little packaged 0:42:34.440 --> 0:42:39.000 and the legacy around this time of my life. They're 0:42:39.000 --> 0:42:42.640 all to be consumed. And yeah, I'm really looking forward 0:42:42.680 --> 0:42:45.680 to seeing everyone. I'm doing regionals. I haven't been out 0:42:45.719 --> 0:42:48.120 in five years, I've been a caged peacock, so I'm 0:42:48.200 --> 0:42:48.920 really ready. 0:42:49.680 --> 0:42:53.480 After the break, EM tackles another taboo, menopause, and gives 0:42:53.560 --> 0:42:55.600 us a preview of what role it might play in 0:42:55.640 --> 0:42:59.399 her upcoming national tour. My final question to you, then, 0:42:59.760 --> 0:43:02.680 I think just to not tie things up in a bow, 0:43:02.760 --> 0:43:05.400 because look, I can't even tie a bow, and I 0:43:05.400 --> 0:43:08.280 don't think that anyone could tie all of the different 0:43:08.360 --> 0:43:11.240 threads of your lived experience and even what we've talked 0:43:11.680 --> 0:43:14.400 about here today, M, which has just been a snapshot 0:43:14.520 --> 0:43:18.880 of all of that. We spoke this conversation about talking 0:43:18.880 --> 0:43:22.440 about the twin diagnosis that you've been navigating in the 0:43:22.480 --> 0:43:27.480 last few years, and about also the grief and wanting 0:43:27.520 --> 0:43:30.200 to go back to ten year old M, and then 0:43:30.239 --> 0:43:33.520 listening to you just talking about the tour, and it's 0:43:33.560 --> 0:43:37.280 so obvious that so many different threads of who this 0:43:37.680 --> 0:43:42.759 person before me is has come from the resilience and 0:43:42.920 --> 0:43:47.160 the outspokenness and the funniess and the creativity and all 0:43:47.200 --> 0:43:50.040 of these different things that have created this very unique 0:43:50.040 --> 0:43:53.840 platform that you have cultivated. 0:43:53.200 --> 0:43:54.280 As a public figure. 0:43:56.760 --> 0:43:59.759 I don't know if it isn't either or, but don't 0:43:59.800 --> 0:44:02.520 you love somebody with ADHD trying to ask a question. 0:44:02.640 --> 0:44:05.359 Sometimes I get notes from people saying, Okay, I love 0:44:05.400 --> 0:44:07.879 the podcast, but sometimes you talk for ten minutes. So yes, 0:44:07.960 --> 0:44:10.520 I hear you, audience, So sorry, Am, I will get 0:44:10.560 --> 0:44:11.080 to the point. 0:44:11.600 --> 0:44:15.399 Feedback you aren't asked for. Let the woman go so vodka. 0:44:15.520 --> 0:44:19.960 You chose to be here. I'll defend this. People choose you. 0:44:20.000 --> 0:44:23.080 They don't get to give you feedback. Okay, thank you, Am. 0:44:23.120 --> 0:44:26.560 I really appresent you having my back there, but I 0:44:26.600 --> 0:44:30.120 suppose yes. So my question inverted commas, if I ever 0:44:30.200 --> 0:44:32.920 get to it, is when you talked a little bit 0:44:32.920 --> 0:44:35.319 about that grief, is there still a part where you 0:44:35.360 --> 0:44:38.520 look back and think, I wish that I could have 0:44:38.600 --> 0:44:42.640 done this if I'd had the diagnosis in childhood, if 0:44:42.680 --> 0:44:45.480 these things had been properly picked up when they should have, 0:44:46.080 --> 0:44:48.239 and the awareness work that you are doing now to 0:44:48.360 --> 0:44:52.880 create that generation for your children and the subsequent generations, 0:44:53.440 --> 0:44:55.600 is there a party think I would have been doing that, 0:44:55.680 --> 0:44:57.680 I would have achieved that if I'd had. 0:44:57.560 --> 0:44:59.000 That diagnosis early on. 0:44:59.560 --> 0:45:01.719 Or do you also look back, as you talked about 0:45:01.760 --> 0:45:05.759 that acceptance and things making sense, think, now I know 0:45:06.280 --> 0:45:10.359 that this wide ranging toolkit that I have created from 0:45:10.400 --> 0:45:13.960 Australian Idol all the way through to podcasts, radio, TV shows, 0:45:14.000 --> 0:45:18.120 comedy tours, all probably would not have happened if it 0:45:18.280 --> 0:45:21.960 wasn't for all of these different parts that make up 0:45:22.080 --> 0:45:23.560 the woman I'm talking to today. 0:45:24.160 --> 0:45:26.799 For sure, I think about that a lot, and I've 0:45:26.800 --> 0:45:29.440 been asked that a couple times, and it's just it's 0:45:29.480 --> 0:45:32.480 an impossible thing to answer. I mean, I can, with 0:45:32.600 --> 0:45:36.120 hindsight certainly join the dots on my career and see, 0:45:36.200 --> 0:45:39.919 you know, going auditioning for Australian Idol, having never sung 0:45:39.960 --> 0:45:43.320 in public before doing my round of interviews at the 0:45:43.400 --> 0:45:45.600 end when I got rejected by the Nation in ninth 0:45:46.280 --> 0:45:48.720 and having the radio bosses hear me in my interviews 0:45:48.760 --> 0:45:51.359 and offer me a job in radio, having never even 0:45:51.400 --> 0:45:52.120 thought about that. 0:45:52.800 --> 0:45:56.480 Similarly, with stand up, never done told. 0:45:56.239 --> 0:45:58.000 A joke or written a joke, but I just wrote 0:45:58.000 --> 0:45:59.640 a stand up show one day and performed it at 0:45:59.640 --> 0:46:01.440 the Mail International Comedy Festival. 0:46:01.840 --> 0:46:03.640 My career is a series. 0:46:03.360 --> 0:46:07.800 Of events, you know, and instances of me doing something 0:46:07.880 --> 0:46:12.400 I have no business or qualifications in but still giving 0:46:12.440 --> 0:46:15.480 it a crack. And I know that is because of 0:46:15.560 --> 0:46:18.799 my lack of dopamine. And when you're seeking dopamine. It's 0:46:18.800 --> 0:46:21.800 thrill seeking activities. For some people, it's driving fast cars, 0:46:21.960 --> 0:46:25.640 jumping off cliffs. For me, it was auditioning for a 0:46:25.680 --> 0:46:28.600 singing show, having never sung in public, and I know 0:46:29.560 --> 0:46:34.080 my nature in I moved toward experiences and opportunities that 0:46:34.120 --> 0:46:34.600 frighten me. 0:46:34.800 --> 0:46:37.040 I always have and I know why now. 0:46:38.080 --> 0:46:43.160 So I don't think I would be as good as 0:46:43.200 --> 0:46:46.800 I am as many different things. Sorry tall Poppy coming 0:46:46.840 --> 0:46:47.960 in here, Sorry for saying that. 0:46:47.920 --> 0:46:51.880 No, you are very good at very many different things 0:46:51.960 --> 0:46:52.319 you are. 0:46:52.800 --> 0:46:56.080 But I started out I was a world junior herd lass. 0:46:56.120 --> 0:46:58.600 So I started out as an athlete. I thought I 0:46:58.640 --> 0:47:00.880 was going to be an Olympian, and I was in 0:47:00.920 --> 0:47:03.400 every development squad I was. I won the national championships 0:47:03.360 --> 0:47:05.720 and I was ten. You know, my whole life revolved 0:47:05.719 --> 0:47:08.640 around athletics. And then when I got really severely injured 0:47:08.640 --> 0:47:11.800 when I was seventeen, that was when I was first 0:47:11.840 --> 0:47:13.719 faced with what the hell are you going to do 0:47:13.760 --> 0:47:15.440 with your life? Because you thought you were going to 0:47:15.480 --> 0:47:18.040 be a famous Olympian. I trained every day, you know, 0:47:18.280 --> 0:47:20.359 it was all my personality, it was all I did. 0:47:20.880 --> 0:47:22.960 So at seventeen, the world really opened up for me. 0:47:23.280 --> 0:47:28.200 And I dove in to everything so and I don't 0:47:28.239 --> 0:47:29.680 know that I would have been that brave if I 0:47:29.800 --> 0:47:33.080 was diagnosed and medicated, But the way that medication works 0:47:33.160 --> 0:47:35.040 me with ADHD. It's a great analogy, and I wish 0:47:35.040 --> 0:47:37.200 I could remember if he said it. I you know, 0:47:37.280 --> 0:47:39.600 you live in a dark house when you have ADHD, 0:47:39.680 --> 0:47:41.480 and when you take the medication, you get a torch 0:47:41.640 --> 0:47:43.279 and you can shine the torch on the thing you 0:47:43.280 --> 0:47:43.560 want to. 0:47:43.560 --> 0:47:45.160 Do, but you still live in a dark house. 0:47:45.719 --> 0:47:48.440 So perhaps I would have been even better because my 0:47:48.480 --> 0:47:51.440 efforts would have been a bit more organized, and I 0:47:51.440 --> 0:47:54.520 would have pissed less people off. So we'll never know, 0:47:55.360 --> 0:47:57.640 but I'm just so glad. You know that the Australian 0:47:57.640 --> 0:48:00.520 media landscape has tried to pigeonhole me for many, many years, 0:48:00.560 --> 0:48:02.399 and I've been told so many times over You've got 0:48:02.440 --> 0:48:04.759 to pick a lane, you got to pick you know, 0:48:04.800 --> 0:48:07.759 you can't be a comedian and a cabaret and a 0:48:07.840 --> 0:48:10.319 singer and the writer and the radio. 0:48:10.320 --> 0:48:13.040 And you can't. You can't, you can't. And in the end, 0:48:13.080 --> 0:48:14.920 I was just like, well, why why not? 0:48:15.840 --> 0:48:18.280 So I have gone out and created my own corner 0:48:18.320 --> 0:48:20.399 of the universe where no one bats and elid if. 0:48:20.400 --> 0:48:22.120 One week on the pot I'm singing with a band, 0:48:22.239 --> 0:48:26.080 the next we're talking about ADHD Senate inquiry, and then 0:48:26.120 --> 0:48:28.120 I'm going to do a live show here. But I'm 0:48:28.120 --> 0:48:31.239 also going to I also have almost a degree in 0:48:31.239 --> 0:48:34.040 interior design, so sometimes I work that in with my staff. 0:48:34.080 --> 0:48:36.000 You know, I make stuff. 0:48:36.480 --> 0:48:40.120 I create lots of different things, and I think now 0:48:40.200 --> 0:48:42.839 I have this ability to not especially with this live show. 0:48:42.920 --> 0:48:44.240 I'm bringing the full toolkit. 0:48:44.320 --> 0:48:48.000 You are getting all of it because I don't want 0:48:48.040 --> 0:48:51.040 to be boxed in. And I've worked really hard for 0:48:51.040 --> 0:48:54.440 the last twenty years to build my community because I 0:48:54.520 --> 0:48:55.759 wasn't getting jobs. 0:48:55.480 --> 0:48:56.279 Mainstream jobs. 0:48:56.320 --> 0:48:58.800 I was always the quirky option, or she's too impossible 0:48:58.800 --> 0:49:00.239 to work with because I said noel a lot of 0:49:00.239 --> 0:49:00.520 the time. 0:49:00.520 --> 0:49:01.640 I asked a lot of questions. 0:49:02.080 --> 0:49:06.759 So I think I'm it was very painful. But I 0:49:06.800 --> 0:49:09.879 look back on everything now and I guess it's all 0:49:09.920 --> 0:49:12.600 happened as it should because here I sit opposite you 0:49:12.760 --> 0:49:17.239 talking about two projects that I love and I'm proud of, 0:49:17.400 --> 0:49:19.399 and I don't think I would have got to make 0:49:19.480 --> 0:49:21.600 ten years ago if I hadn't gone through what I've 0:49:21.640 --> 0:49:24.239 gone through. And it is such a privilege to be 0:49:24.239 --> 0:49:27.239 able to sit and promote something you genuinely believe in. 0:49:27.400 --> 0:49:34.000 I've invested in financially myself in my studio with my team. Yeah, 0:49:34.239 --> 0:49:37.920 I think I've arrived finally to where I was supposed 0:49:37.960 --> 0:49:41.279 to get to. So what's what's the idea of time travel? 0:49:41.280 --> 0:49:44.520 You shouldn't stuff anything up because sorry, I wouldn't write back. 0:49:45.400 --> 0:49:48.239 To the future analogy, isn't it you change one thing, 0:49:48.600 --> 0:49:51.600 you change at all. Well, I'm very glad that all 0:49:51.640 --> 0:49:56.960 of those colorful and diverse and create your own adventure 0:49:57.200 --> 0:50:00.239 lanes that you wouldn't conform to have led you to 0:50:00.280 --> 0:50:02.880 this moment in time and specifically to this second in 0:50:02.920 --> 0:50:05.640 time being on the episode of Something to talk About 0:50:05.680 --> 0:50:08.000 with Me? Can I just say em I think you're 0:50:08.040 --> 0:50:11.520 probably the only potential Olympian and I did know that 0:50:11.719 --> 0:50:14.760 about your hurdling because we've talked about that before in Stellar. 0:50:15.480 --> 0:50:19.520 You're probably the only potential Olympian that's been instellar and 0:50:19.560 --> 0:50:22.279 on Something to talk about, especially in the Olympics year 0:50:22.840 --> 0:50:25.400 that we haven't had time to talk about, which I 0:50:25.440 --> 0:50:28.920 think is probably testament to all of your achievements and 0:50:28.960 --> 0:50:31.200 the work you've done and maybe I should apologize for 0:50:31.320 --> 0:50:33.799 also trying to force you to run for politics and 0:50:33.840 --> 0:50:37.080 become a straight as first Minister for Disability. That might 0:50:37.080 --> 0:50:39.640 be something for twenty twenty five, I think about it. 0:50:39.680 --> 0:50:42.560 Let's put it on the solend terrifying, let's give it 0:50:42.560 --> 0:50:42.719 a go. 0:50:43.360 --> 0:50:43.800 M ROSSI. 0:50:43.880 --> 0:50:46.520 I know it has been an absolute genuine pleasure to 0:50:46.680 --> 0:50:50.000 have you in the studio today where we're actually talking remotely, 0:50:50.040 --> 0:50:51.919 so that's a lie, but to talk to you via 0:50:52.040 --> 0:50:56.600 zoom has been an absolute pleasure. And you can listen 0:50:56.680 --> 0:50:59.919 to Anomalis m's new podcast wherever you get your popc 0:51:00.239 --> 0:51:02.000 and we will have a link in the show notes 0:51:02.000 --> 0:51:04.839 and also some details for Outgrown, which is m's first 0:51:04.880 --> 0:51:08.399 big national tour coming up later this year. And thank 0:51:08.480 --> 0:51:12.400 you again for being so generous and candid with our audience. 0:51:14.920 --> 0:51:17.400 I hope you enjoyed that episode of the summer series 0:51:17.480 --> 0:51:19.759 or something to talk about. Make sure you're following us 0:51:19.840 --> 0:51:22.719 if you're not already, because we'll be revisiting some of 0:51:22.760 --> 0:51:25.600 your favorite episodes of the past year until we're back 0:51:25.640 --> 0:51:28.360 with a brand new episode on January twelfth.