Chris welcomes Brenna, an autistic 28-year-old math teacher for middle schoolers in Boulder, CO, and one of his clients. Brenna shares her story of receiving her ASD diagnosis late in life, what the diagnosis meant for how she now understands and loves herself, how she navigates the beauty and complexity of relationships, and how she engages with the children she teaches. This is a beautiful interview of Brenna’s journey to self-discovery.


Links:

Autism Learning Lab Website: https://www.autismlearninglab.com/

Email: info@autismlearninglab.com

Quotes:

[4:25 - 5:16] Brenna: I felt like I was finally able to stop wondering what to do with all the other things in my head and all the guesses, and I was able to start focusing more so on, now that I have this information, what can I do with it? How can I learn some social skills, figure out how to do something like small talk, getting off of my couch and going and seeing the world because I know how to talk to people now, and maybe it doesn’t have to be so scary. So I, I know that for sure I was stuck for a long, long time and I think this diagnosis helped me embrace myself more, love myself more, and be able to learn more, to be able to interact with others.

[10:04 - 10:56] Brenna: I think the big thing is, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Schools and working in the classroom and working with young people in general can get overwhelming and it can get really loud and when I learned that some of my overwhelm and overstimulated symptoms from ASD, were, well, when I learned they were from ASD, that was when I was able to feel more comfortable asking for help. And sometimes that looks like having another person just step in for a minute so I’m not the only adult in the room, sometimes that looks like me being able to, like take a step out, just take a breath for a second, and also knowing that I feel more comfortable in my own skin to know what’s going on for me helps me to be able to get through the day…

[24:45 - 25:10] Brenna: I would say that it’s okay to be yourself. Don't be afraid to be yourself with the diagnosis or without the diagnosis. I spent so much of my life not knowing how to be me, and if I could get any of those years back, I’d definitely spend it accepting who I was and who I am - so don’t be afraid to be yourself.