Aug. 20, 2025

#125 - Michelle Steiner - Navigating Life with Disabilities

#125 - Michelle Steiner - Navigating Life with Disabilities

Hello Friends

In this engaging conversation, Michelle shares her personal journey with dyscalculia and the challenges she faced throughout her life. She emphasizes the importance of empathy, advocacy, and support systems in education, as well as the power of writing as a therapeutic outlet.

Michelle encourages others to find their strength in adversity and to pursue their passions despite societal stigma. Her mission is to empower individuals with disabilities through her experiences and insights, inspiring them to advocate for themselves and seek out the resources they need to succeed.

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Ha ha ha ha.
What's up the boys and roses

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person like with our with our
guest Michelle, ladies and

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gentlemen.
So again, thank you for joining

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us.
We are Chris and Mike and she's

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Michelle.
This is Chris and Mike.

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So we are actually broadcasting
live on the YouTube as well as

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Twitch right now.
So I was talking to some of my

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son Jake earlier, Mike and I
told him, dude, we'll be on

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YouTube at 3:00, join in.
He's like, OK pops, I will even

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right on.
Even though he's doing Marine

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things, you know, he can still
he's in the office today.

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So that's kind of fun.
So we have, I'm in Arizona,

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Mike's in Illinois.
Where are you at, Michelle?

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Pennsylvania.
I see.

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I was going to say Pennsylvania
pre show 'cause I kind of, I

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kind of picked up the accent.
Yeah, right.

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And my wife's from Punxsutawney.
I'm sure you know where that is.

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Yes, I I do.
We're just an hour from

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Pittsburgh.
So yeah, yeah, definitely.

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You could always pick up the the
Pennsylvania.

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Accent, right?
Good old Punxsutawney Phil.

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So are you a Steelers fan?
Let's get the Let's get the

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serious stuff out of the way.
Since you're from Pennsylvania,

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you're a Steelers fan.
I'm not much into sports, but I

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of course, the Steelers,
definitely.

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Yeah.
I've always said a big one.

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Yep.
Cool.

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So you're super excited about
Aaron Rodgers being your

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quarterback.
Now say no.

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That answer would be no.
Much into sports.

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Why?
That's why you just say no.

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You just say no.
I will ask my husband.

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Yeah, your husband will agree.
It's I.

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Think he's probably going to say
no as well.

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You.
Know yeah, there's a meme out

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there where where he's on a it's
it's it's an old guy I don't

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know who he is but he's like,
you know just he was introducing

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their new quarterback and he's
like an old dude on a Walker

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and.
You know.

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Call it a career, man.
Call it a career.

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So, OK, so we can't talk sports
because she doesn't like sports.

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Wow.
OK, that's fine.

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You know, everybody's a sports.
Not like we are, but we're not

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really sports.
Not we just live in the world.

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So watch it for.
We do watch it for entertaining

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and fun, so let's chat a little
bit about you, Michelle.

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Where are you originally from?
Pennsylvania.

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Yes.
OK.

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And what is it that why are you
here today?

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Why did you want to come on our
show?

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Let's chat a little bit about
that.

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Give us your give us your
elevator speech.

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We're on an elevator with Mike
and I.

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We're going up 30th floor.
You got like a minute to tell us

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who you are and why you want to
come on this rapidly growing,

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fast-paced, energized podcast
that's taking over the world. 21

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countries, mind you.
That's good.

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That's good.
Well, my name is Michelle

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Steiner.
I live in Pennsylvania with my

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husband Ron or two cats, Jack
and Sparrow. 2 cats.

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Is it from from Pirates of the
Caribbean?

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Yes, when we adopted them that
the people that we got them from

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were huge Disney fans and we
thought the names were just so

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cute.
We didn't want to change them.

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Yeah.
And that's right.

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And I also, I work in a school
as a para educator or a

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teacher's aide with students who
have disabilities.

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And I also, I'm a writer, I'm a
speaker and I'm a photographer.

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And I have a blog called
Michelle's Mission where I write

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about my life with having a
learning disability.

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And my goal or the mission
statement of where I'm at is to

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encourage, empower and educate
people with and without

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disabilities.
That's.

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Awesome.
I'm Googling it right now.

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Michelle's mission, Where are
you?

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Oh, that was weird.
I went to AI mode.

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Wow, holy smoke.
So Google has this AI mode and

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there's and OK, there's, there's
lots of Michelle missions.

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So how do I find you?
I am ww.michellesmission.com.

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Yeah, that's what I did.
Weird hold.

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On I can.
Always get out of it.

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There you go, Michelle.
Oh, Michelle's mission.

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There's my dad.
I did, I did.

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I didn't pluralize that.
Got to pluralize it Got to.

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Pluralize it plural, Plural I.
Can always put the link in the

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chat too, no big deal.
You're all good, Michelle.

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Commission there.
It is a blog to encourage,

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empower and educate people with
and without the abilities.

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I like that.
Outstanding.

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And you have a podcast.
I don't have a podcast but I put

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where the links of where I
podcast up and.

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On I've been on a lot of
podcasts.

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Wow, this is going.
To be the most fun one you've

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ever been on, ever, in your
entire life.

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Of.
Course, we guarantee it.

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You're just going to be.
Like wow, where these guys been

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all my life.
Find your waves and sword.

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I like that.
I like that very cool.

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And and so the nice thing about
this, people watching and and

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tuning in on YouTube and Twitch
pluralize it.

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Michelle's mission.com on the
top, it has her, her Instagram,

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her Facebook, all the resources,
how to contact her.

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There's a press, there's there's
all the news articles and stuff.

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There's a store.
The podcast has been on our

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social feeds and her blog
itself.

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I'm a huge Blogger too, so I dig
the whole blog concept, so I

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love that.
And do you blog actually on the

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site or is it somewhere else?
You blog in the RSS feed it.

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I blog on the site.
OK, cool.

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Right on.
Outstanding.

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Wow, that's a lot of blogs man.
Yeah.

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How long have you been doing
that?

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I've done that for about 5 years
now.

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I started whenever the pandemic
began.

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I had a grant from Disability
Pride in Philadelphia, so that

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that encouraged me to start
that, but I wrote about having a

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disability a few years prior to
that.

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In fact, writing and reading has
always been really big in my

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life, especially when I was in
school and I was being bullied

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as a kid.
I really writing and reading

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became my world.
And I was really lucky as a

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teenager that I found an adult
writing group whenever I was 16

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or 17.
And I mean, these people really

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encouraged me to write about
having a a disability.

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And 20 some years later, we
still meet once a month to talk

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about her writing and we're in
each other.

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It's so cool.
Yeah, at the time, though, I

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decided, oh, I'm just going to
put that on the shelf.

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That's way too personal.
And I, I've read some really bad

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poetry and some other things I
don't, would not want to read

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today.
But when I finally.

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Everybody's got to start
somewhere.

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Yeah, exactly.
For the people that are

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listening at home, obviously you
know you're talking about having

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your own disabilities.
Reading and writing are not one

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of them.
So what are your disabilities?

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I have dyscalculia which is a
math disability I have.

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What is that for the Yeah,
explain I don't even know what.

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I don't know either so.
Treat us.

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Like we're five year olds and
give us the kindergarten.

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Right when you have this
calculia it it it means that I

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have trouble with math, but it
goes beyond just being bad at

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math.
This is something where I can

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understand very basic concepts,
but it it capped off at a very

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early stage of that.
And I also it it impacts me

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outside the classroom.
I will confuse my right for my

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left.
I cannot read the face of an

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analog clock, despite having
many interventions with that.

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Still to this day.
Yep, still to this day.

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That's crazy.
Yeah, I mean, if you give me a

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running start, I can usually
keep track of it.

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But if I was just do a blind
read I I can't tell you what

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time it is and.
So now with the math, is it just

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something you cannot do?
Can you not put the numbers

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together?
Does it get scrambled in your

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brain or, you know, kind of
describe to myself and the

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people that are listening, what
are you experiencing when you're

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trying to do math?
Where the rest of us, I'll say

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we suck at it, but we can figure
it out, right?

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Right.
Well, for me, I have not

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memorized all my addition, all
my subtraction, multiplication,

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all those tables have not have
that memorized.

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But even if you would give me a
calculator, it's still really a

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struggle for me past a very
basic level.

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It's just really trying to
figure out how numbers will

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work.
So you might give me a formula

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and sometimes that working
memory doesn't, just doesn't do

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that.
We, we don't know for sure why

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certain people are just really
bad at it or really and why

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people have that.
But I'm not, I've always

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struggled with that.
I've get the worksheets and I

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could, I just couldn't do a lot
of that.

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And I really had a lot of
difficulty.

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And I mean, it can everything is
what we might even say goes to

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one source.
I mean I'm also not able to

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drive but that also is the
visual perception and it also

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goes to the index.
Everything just seems like it

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comes to a brain based SO.
Do you not have the proper depth

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perception?
Is that why you can't drive?

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Exactly.
OK, wow.

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So the first time I ever got
high, I felt like I was, this is

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like when I was in high school.
OK, so I'm not, I'm not the

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Stoner or anything, but we
talked about this on our Ozzy

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Osbourne tribute show, 'cause
you realize the first time I

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ever, it was not a bad thing,
but some people, you know, so I

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don't think Jake ever realizes
that I, I got stoned.

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So now if my son's watching,
he's really what dad?

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So, right, Why Mike?
So that was an accident.

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So, but, but I remember the
first time ever doing that

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because it was with my brother
and a couple of his friends and

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there's a whole peer pressure
thing, you know, you got to do

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this man, because, you know,
whatever Ozzy was playing and

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that was my first introduction
to Ozzy.

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So by the time he kicked in and
we went home to get money, go to

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711 munchies, I, I remembered I
felt like I was walking on the

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moon, right.
So, and so that in my head

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obviously was a depth perception
thing because I thought, I

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thought the ground was, was a
lot.

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I don't know if it was lower or
higher.

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So.
You felt like your feet were way

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off.
The ground so was, so was.

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So the reason I'm, I bring this
up because I want to, I want to

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compare is that, is that what
depth perception's like for you,

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the visual perception like you
just you don't, you don't know

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how to.
I don't want to sound stupid,

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but you don't like you put your
foot down, but in your brain

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like oh shit, is that actually
the ground?

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So is an easy way for you.
It does.

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OK.
An easier way for you to make

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sense of it, Chris, as a driver
is you can tell how quickly you

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have to slow down based on how
far the truck or the car in

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front of you is correct.
OK, OK.

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She would never be able to do.
That she would.

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Rear end people all the.
Time I would because I mean I

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she.
Can't tell how far that is in

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front.
Of her that's what your.

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Depth perception does.
Right where I am, like, in

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space.
I mean, gym class was a

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nightmare for me.
I'll clinch every time a ball

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comes in my direction.
I bet.

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Yeah.
So that was really hard for me

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00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,520
to be able to do a lot of that.
And my parents kind of knew

223
00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,480
whenever I turned 16 that this
was going to be an issue.

224
00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,600
We didn't know how big of an
issue it was going to be though.

225
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,760
So we waited a year and then
they have, we've lived out in

226
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the country and they had me do
little things before we even

227
00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,640
considered studying from a test
or anything.

228
00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,160
They, we have this field and
they said, well, why don't you

229
00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,920
go mow the field?
And instead of making these

230
00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:18,160
perfect straight lines, I ended
up making circles.

231
00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,280
So I always say that I know.
I now know where crop circles

232
00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,120
come from.
It's Michelle did it.

233
00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:26,640
Michelle did it.
You've heard it here 1st and the

234
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,000
Chris and Mike showed the crop
circle epidemic and solved

235
00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,160
mystery has been solved.
It's Michelle.

236
00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,640
Michelle did it Roof.
That's great.

237
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,320
I love.
It and then my parents had me

238
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,600
drive up.
We had a really long drive late.

239
00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:45,760
I was in the car with my mom and
she said, well, do you want to

240
00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:46,920
drive?
And I said, OK.

241
00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,240
So we drove up the driveway and
thank God my mom was in the car

242
00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,040
with me or else I would have
crashed into the family garage.

243
00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:58,600
And this is what my mom said.
This is beyond just somebody.

244
00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,080
It's not going to be the, the
next greatest athlete or

245
00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,120
something to that extreme.
We knew that this was going to

246
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,240
have to get looked at.
So I was really lucky.

247
00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:12,120
I got connected with an agency
called Office for Vocational

248
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,760
rehabilitation.
And they paid all for all of my

249
00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,520
years of college, but they also
paid for me to get a driver's

250
00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,760
license evaluation.
They, they don't do that now.

251
00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,160
They won't pay for it, but they
did in the past.

252
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,160
Thankfully they did.
And it was at a rehabilitation

253
00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,760
hospital.
And I can remember we went

254
00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:31,280
through a whole battery of
tests.

255
00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,960
I mean, I went, I passed I knew
what to do if the car broke

256
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,840
down.
I, I knew, you know what, what

257
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,080
perhaps I was the responsibility
of being a driver, the vision

258
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,720
test, perfect vision to be able
to pass that.

259
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,640
And then we got to the, the last
part, which was visual

260
00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:50,480
perception.
And she said, based upon your

261
00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,680
score, I don't think that it's
wise for you to get your license

262
00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:56,560
at this time.
And it just felt like 100 lbs

263
00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:59,160
was lifted off of me at that.
Point so So here's a question.

264
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,520
So you're 16.
When did when did this condition

265
00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,680
start presenting itself?
Were you younger and just didn't

266
00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,000
realize it?
It did when I was in

267
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,360
kindergarten.
They knew when I, when I was

268
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,360
very young that I had that I
went to the eye doctor and they

269
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,320
gave different things for me to
do to try to with my visual

270
00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,480
perception, with my, with my eye
hand coordination.

271
00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,600
I remember my dad, he had a
wiffle ball or a bat and then

272
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,280
like a wiffle ball and he tied
it to the ceiling and then that

273
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,800
I had to hit the ball.
That was one of my exercises and

274
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,160
I had to walk.
He made a balance beam for me

275
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,200
and I walked across that, but.
How hard?

276
00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,320
How hard was it to hit the
wiffle ball hanging from the

277
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,800
ceiling?
I mean, it was somewhat of a

278
00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,200
challenge, but I got better at
got better at doing that.

279
00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,520
You know, we tried to do
different things to try to see

280
00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:49,120
if that was going to work or not
and just, yeah, it, but it

281
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:50,920
really didn't work in that
thing.

282
00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:52,320
But I mean, I haven't let it
stop me.

283
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,240
I still go to the gym and I'll
still go to group exercise

284
00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,120
classes.
And I just have to realize, OK,

285
00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,960
yeah, these people are.
I just have to make enough space

286
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,680
and yeah, and just give myself
that grace and do stuff like

287
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:06,800
that.
But that was one of the big

288
00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:11,640
factors that they did with with,
yeah, just seeing about driving.

289
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,120
Do you feel like because you've
been disadvantaged in these

290
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,840
several ways, do you notice
things that you're better at

291
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,000
than other people?
Are you aware of those things?

292
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,320
Yes, one of the things is with
taking.

293
00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,200
I'm also a photographer and
people will tell me that I bring

294
00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,280
out the details in a flower that
they miss.

295
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,040
And when I don't get a, when I
don't have a ride, I mean, I'm

296
00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,000
really lucky my husband can take
me to work.

297
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,240
I have a great Co worker who
takes me home at the end of the

298
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,880
day.
But sometimes I don't have a

299
00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,480
ride to get places and I live in
a central location.

300
00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,360
So I get that's that literally
that chance to stop and smell

301
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,240
the roses.
And I get to notice these, these

302
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,480
details that other people don't
get to see.

303
00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,320
I get to see the flower.
I get to see other really neat

304
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:59,080
things and I can capture that
and I just think to myself,

305
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:03,320
rather than being sad, that's
something that I'm able to do

306
00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,120
that other people don't get that
chance because they're busy in

307
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,920
their lives.
So you find yourself literally

308
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,400
stopping to smell the roses.
You're paying attention to

309
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:15,840
detail in things that you notice
other people just whizz on by

310
00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:17,480
and don't even give it a second
thought.

311
00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:18,440
Nope, they don't.
That's.

312
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:19,880
Really cool.
That is cool.

313
00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:22,480
And another thing too, I think
is empathy.

314
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,600
When I work with my students,
I'm able to really understand

315
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:28,080
what a lot of them are going
through.

316
00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,440
Not every single one, but a lot
of times it's like hearing a

317
00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,760
recording of myself.
I hate my disability.

318
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,000
I wish I didn't have it.
I'm not smart.

319
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,880
And I get to tell them it's not
a bad thing to have a disability

320
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:40,840
and I get to show them how to
advocate.

321
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,600
And I think I would always be
geared towards helping people,

322
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,880
but I don't think I would know
how it it would honestly feel if

323
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,600
I didn't go through it myself.
I don't have, I don't have a

324
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,280
disability, but where I'm going
to be able to sympathize with

325
00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:01,440
you and I'm going to have gone
through the same thing is I had

326
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,920
allergies when I was a kid.
So obviously kids, I guess you

327
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,520
could say I was bullied, but you
know, I got tired of hearing

328
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,600
about it.
It's like you can't do this, you

329
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,360
can't do that.
You know, kids are mean.

330
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,120
But the other thing is I was
sick a lot.

331
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,680
So I was isolated.
I couldn't go out for recess.

332
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,360
I couldn't participate in gym
class.

333
00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,080
So I spent a lot of time
reading, you know, and by myself

334
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:30,520
with the teacher And the empathy
part, I really, I, I, that

335
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,480
really hits me hard because I
think a lot of my empathy came

336
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,440
from that.
You know you can see when other

337
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,160
people are different or
disadvantaged than you are.

338
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,640
You're not going to be the first
person to make fun of that

339
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,160
person, right?
You're going to try and pick

340
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,520
them up however you can.
Exactly.

341
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,520
And that is one of the things
you can.

342
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:52,480
Yeah.
You're not what you're going to

343
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,880
be able to uplift them.
And I also show them how to

344
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,120
advocate.
And I always just say this, that

345
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,280
for my students, one day will
end up leaving me.

346
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,560
And I hope that they're able to
graduate, achieve every single

347
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,400
dream that they went after.
But for a lot of them, their

348
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,760
disability is going to stay.
So they have to learn.

349
00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,119
Yeah.
And the power that you have

350
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,760
having those, those
disabilities, they have

351
00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,599
something to relate to, which is
cool because like, like, like my

352
00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:22,720
grandson, a little man, he has a
little bit of speech issue.

353
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,440
So he has to go to a speech
therapist to kind of work with,

354
00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:29,160
you know, certain annunciations
like the TH sound, you know,

355
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,040
what's the last one we did?
But I could see if we can't get

356
00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,120
that cured as he goes moves
along in school, he's going to

357
00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:38,760
get bullied in TS and things
like that.

358
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,520
And to me, it's it's always more
impactful when the person that

359
00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,360
in your case you're you're
you're helping the students

360
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:49,400
around you, but you've been
there, done that.

361
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,480
So they have somebody they can
they can attach themselves to.

362
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,840
You know what I mean is am I
making am I making sense?

363
00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:57,240
Absolutely.
Sometimes I don't feel like I'm

364
00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,800
making sense.
So but you have that experience,

365
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:01,040
you know, like been there, done
that.

366
00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:02,600
So you know, the struggle is
first hand.

367
00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,720
You know what it's like to go to
school and get, like Mike said,

368
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,880
picked on, maybe bullied, things
like that, because you're just a

369
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:09,360
little bit different than the
norm.

370
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,720
That I think is is really cool
that you do that because it is

371
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,400
it should give them, empower
them.

372
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,480
That's what I was looking for.
It should be able to empower

373
00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,400
them more because hey, Michelle,
Michelle overcame this and now

374
00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,120
look what she's doing.
She's helping others and she's

375
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,720
got a blog and she's got this,
you know, all these different

376
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,480
outlets that she's doing.
That's cool that I like that.

377
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,080
I like the fact that you're
using that as a vehicle to help

378
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,560
others and and you know, bring
light to their lives as opposed

379
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,520
to them just, you know,
everybody because when you have

380
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,120
those kind of things, right,
there's a depression that can

381
00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:39,800
set in, right?
What was me?

382
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,680
Why am I different than self
pity and all that especially?

383
00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:44,800
When you're getting picked on
constantly, right?

384
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:47,600
Yeah.
Exactly.

385
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:49,840
And that's one of the things, a
lot of them, I'm.

386
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,560
I'm also really good at with
kids that might be getting

387
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,240
bullied by somebody else.
Yeah.

388
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,520
What do you tell these?
Kids, I would be interested for

389
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,240
the people that are listening at
home, if they have family

390
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,880
members with special needs,
maybe this will be something

391
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,240
that'll help them.
What do you tell those kids that

392
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,320
come to you?
And they say, you know, Miss

393
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,120
Michelle, I'm getting bullied
all the time.

394
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,280
What do I do, you know?
Well, one of the things I do is

395
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,520
I always give them the option if
they want to report it, it's

396
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,440
always an option.
I say it's your choice.

397
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,720
But I said there are some things
you might be able to do that

398
00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:20,960
might help you belong.
Like for example, if it's the

399
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,040
lunch room and somebody's
sitting at your lunch table and

400
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,320
you're getting picked on, maybe
go try sit at somebody else's

401
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,120
table because and then if they
ask you about it, just be like,

402
00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:33,640
OK, just trying out a different
lunch table.

403
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,200
I mean, the little things like
that, I try to tell them to not

404
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:42,960
to not to give that ammo to, you
know, fueled with a fire either.

405
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,640
So if you know that somebody
that's going to make they know

406
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,280
that it's making you upset,
that's going to make it a lot

407
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,480
worse.
So sometimes just maybe ignoring

408
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,800
certain things.
I mean, obviously if it does

409
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:59,240
involve something that's abuse,
we do want that to be taken care

410
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,360
of and handled.
But I find that a lot of times

411
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:06,440
when kids just learn.
That, you know, it's, I'm not

412
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,040
going to show that it really
bothers me.

413
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,280
Don't move on to pick on to
somebody else.

414
00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,200
And that's what I try to deal
with a lot of them.

415
00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,960
And sometimes I'll even take
them out of the room.

416
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,600
I remember I had a couple of
students that I was working with

417
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,960
last year and it was like during
a study hall for people that had

418
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,480
disabilities for our students.
And the one girl was getting

419
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,160
picked on by a couple of boys.
And I'd have her sit beside me.

420
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:32,000
And then if they tried picking
on her, I would just kind of

421
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,120
deflect like, oh, Oh no, she
didn't do that.

422
00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:37,080
That was me.
And they didn't know what to

423
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,160
say.
And then sometimes we even went

424
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,680
to an Art Room where we would
make crafts during classes.

425
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,000
She had her work done and we
would talk about what was going

426
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:47,840
on.
And that got her out of the room

427
00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,800
away from them.
And but we, I just really

428
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,680
encourage them not to make a big
deal out of that.

429
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,480
That's a good, that's a really
good approach.

430
00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,160
Right.
That's solid advice.

431
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,000
And that's one thing that I've
always done my whole life.

432
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,320
But I always joke with Chris,
I'm not big enough to be picking

433
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,200
on people, right?
So I always got to think of ways

434
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,200
to defuse the situation.
A lot of times it is just to

435
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,320
remove yourself from that
situation.

436
00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:17,640
You know, just say I'm not going
to entertain you picking on me.

437
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,200
It's as long as it's like you
said, as long as it's not

438
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,840
abusive.
If somebody's abusing somebody

439
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,120
physically, then we have a whole
different conversation.

440
00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:29,600
But I was alluding to more what
you were saying as you know, how

441
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,920
do we talk people down off the
ledge and just make them

442
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,400
uninterested in what's going on?
And a lot of times it is

443
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,400
ignoring them.
Yeah, exactly.

444
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,640
They feed off that they think
you're going to, they think

445
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,520
they're going to make you cry or
they're going to ruin your day

446
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,120
or, you know, whatever you can
think of that you know, bullies

447
00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:50,560
do.
And I had that experience

448
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,600
growing up.
I can remember being really

449
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,120
emotional about that or just
getting really upset.

450
00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,040
I have one girl in particular.
It was, you know, even back to

451
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,920
the point of threats.
And luckily I was I was seeing a

452
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,080
guy that was a couple years
older than I was and I was

453
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,960
telling him about and he goes,
you know, I think she's just

454
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:07,920
blowing smoke.
Next time she says something,

455
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,640
just be real casual about it.
And I'll never forget this is

456
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,640
when we had pay phones and I was
walking through the hall and she

457
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,880
told me I'm I'm going to kill
you and I hate you.

458
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,240
And I said, oh, that's nice,
have a great day.

459
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:24,360
And that incredulous look on her
face was just priceless.

460
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,800
And I was really lucky though
that that's all it was, was just

461
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,720
smoke and mirrors.
Right.

462
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:31,960
What would have what would have
been great because you the pay

463
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,720
phones, if you had a quarter,
you could have Travis trittered.

464
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,960
Oh, here's a quarter call
someone who cares that's.

465
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,480
True.
Talk about an irrelevant song

466
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,160
now, because people like what
quarters?

467
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:45,040
What do you need a quarter to
call somebody for?

468
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,400
I have a cell phone, right?
Exactly.

469
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:52,320
What's 1/4?
These kids don't even know what

470
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:53,600
money is.
No.

471
00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,200
They and see there's something
to be said too, ignoring it

472
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,880
because you have to be a very
strong willed person to ignore

473
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,240
somebody that's constantly
berating you or not physical but

474
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,080
but vocal and verbally and and
digging.

475
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,120
It hardly to do as a kid.
Yeah, it really is it.

476
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:13,760
Really is because it's hard
enough to be a kid and then you

477
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,400
got to go be a teenager.
You're going to go through

478
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,000
puberty, you know, and so then
you're dealing with this on top

479
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,320
of all of that.
That's a drag.

480
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:23,920
That would be.
That would be a drag.

481
00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:25,560
Yeah.
Terrible.

482
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,720
But look at you now.
That's awesome.

483
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:30,480
That's awesome.
So married.

484
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:31,800
Oh, sorry.
Go ahead, Mike.

485
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,320
Oh yeah, I am.
I've been married for 10 years

486
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,160
now.
Right on any kids.

487
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,480
No kids, 2 cats.
As I said, those are our kids.

488
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:43,960
Jack and Sparrow.
OK, cool, cool.

489
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,200
And then what do you do?
What do you do for fun?

490
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,040
Because obviously you're not
living in the classroom and

491
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,800
stuff like that.
I have a lot of friends where we

492
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,880
do like a lot of reading, like a
lot of writing and things we we

493
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,360
like to do that.
I also, my husband and I love to

494
00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:02,200
travel.
We love to go and visit museums

495
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,440
and gardens.
We were at State College over

496
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,280
the weekend celebrating his
birthday and we went to a museum

497
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:09,800
and.
Is that where Penn State is?

498
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,840
That is, I spoke at a conference
last year and he really liked

499
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,080
going to the museum.
Second largest outdoor football

500
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,000
stadium in the world.
Wow.

501
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:25,160
University of Michigan.
So what's your husband do?

502
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:30,040
He works for a call Center for
cable and Internet so.

503
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:32,480
So he's the he's the guy that
you yell at.

504
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,080
My internet's not working.
Yeah, and he gets to fix it at

505
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,240
the house.
Well, Sir, did you did you turn

506
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:39,600
it off?
I don't want to turn it off.

507
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,840
I want it to work, man.
Come on, you should know the

508
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,240
problem.
And I need it to work right now.

509
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:47,680
I'm sure he always hears that,
yeah.

510
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:49,400
And.
I'm the one that does have the

511
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,240
patients sometimes.
Yeah, that would that's, I think

512
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,920
that'd be a stressful job, like
right next to, you know, maybe

513
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,880
one lots below the 9/11 operator
because you're always dealing

514
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,440
with people who are frustrated
and angry and and mad.

515
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,800
And you know, like so you, you
referenced on your on your

516
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,040
website here, because I have
your website up boys and girls,

517
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,640
if you want to go there to
michellesmission.com and that's

518
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,840
pluralized.
There's there's a massive blog

519
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,720
in there.
You have social feeds, podcast.

520
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,240
That's all podcast she's been
on.

521
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:19,680
She has some press releases in
there.

522
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:21,800
You have a store.
What's in the store?

523
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,600
I saw my Prince, that.
Oh, your photography.

524
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,400
Of my photography, yeah.
I'm going to have to go look at

525
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,880
that.
There's a There's a what is you

526
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,280
got a pink flower.
What is that?

527
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:35,760
That is a pink Lily, that is.
Oh, there it is.

528
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:36,680
Yellow.
See.

529
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:38,520
Rating is fundamental.
If I would have just looked to

530
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,000
the right, I would have saw a
photo of Pink Lily.

531
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,880
Wow.
Oh, I like the Rose, the Rose in

532
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,520
the middle with the the.
I don't know what kind of rose

533
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,840
that is, but it's it's gorgeous.
Yeah.

534
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:53,360
Very nice.
Thank you.

535
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:55,280
Oh, there's Jack and Sparrow
real.

536
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:56,680
Yeah.
They are.

537
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,240
Oh yeah.
Chris has a love hate

538
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:02,480
relationship.
I can't.

539
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,960
I don't like cats, but it you
know, when we're on a computer

540
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:06,680
it's fine because they're not
bothering me.

541
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,760
I was referring to the one that
kept destroying your backyard.

542
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:10,840
Right.
Oh, I know I don't.

543
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:14,080
Know I hate that.
I mean, yeah.

544
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,280
Yeah, they were his neighbors.
Neglectful owners.

545
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:19,840
Yeah, yeah.
Nobody told us there was 40

546
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,520
feral cats all around us when we
moved in because who owned our

547
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,320
house was an entity, not an
individual.

548
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,600
So there's nothing to disclose.
Oh, no, it's yeah.

549
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:31,960
The short version of the long
story is my neighbor crossed the

550
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:36,040
street, thought I was skinning,
killing skinning and burying

551
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,680
them in my backyard.
So much so, she called the

552
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,880
police.
Oh my gosh, the.

553
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,560
Police sized this up for about 5
minutes, realizable.

554
00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,760
She's a whack A mole.
And then so we let them in the

555
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,160
house.
When they walked into our

556
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,160
entryway, they saw the family
portrait of which at the time

557
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,600
that family portrait was my wife
and I, our daughter, who was I

558
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,720
think probably seven months
pregnant, and our son who just

559
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,400
graduated boot camp as a Marine.
So they look right at that like,

560
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,280
oh, military family.
I'm like, yeah.

561
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,520
So then all of a sudden the, the
the tension went away.

562
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,520
And then so we took him out
back, turn on all the all the

563
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,160
pasture lights and they saw
there was no fresh holes and no

564
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,840
dead cats.
And then so as you're leaving,

565
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:17,920
I'm like, I know who called me,
who called you on me.

566
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,560
So you can just go across the
street to them.

567
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,400
Tell him I said hi, I know it's
you.

568
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,280
And then as soon as the police
left, he went.

569
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,280
Yep.
They're in the base, yeah.

570
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,760
Yeah, so that's fine.
And then and then and right,

571
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:34,920
they didn't catch it.
And then the neighbor next to

572
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,160
us, he decided that he was going
to put a camera up on the peak

573
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,520
of his house, in his words, to
watch the chicken Hawks.

574
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,000
Yet he'd been there for four
years.

575
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,720
So they bought into their
bullshit that we're killing

576
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,920
cats.
Nobody's paying attention to the

577
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,280
fact that 4/4 houses down was
this 14 acre parcel that was

578
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,560
being turned over from farm to
subdivision.

579
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:00,440
Nobody took into account that
there's like 3 of the people

580
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,800
that moved in the neighborhood
north of me.

581
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,240
I'd been here since August.
This was February, and all of a

582
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,360
sudden I'm the one that's making
cats disappear.

583
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,920
Well, coyotes are really didn't.
Yeah.

584
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,040
No.
Well, they did and then that

585
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:17,320
that for some.
Well, the problem is we came and

586
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,120
we cleaned up the house.
The house was a mess.

587
00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,880
The yard was a mess.
So, you know, we weren't

588
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,760
gentrificationing the the
street, but we came into a house

589
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,600
that was in disarray.
We bought it for a specific

590
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,840
reason, to help build something
for my daughter and grandson to

591
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:33,000
live.
So it.

592
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,040
Was one of those things where we
had, you know, we were lucky

593
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,600
enough to be able to buy it with
extra money from our house

594
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,640
selling and clean things up and
like we had 87 tons of crap

595
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:45,720
taken out of a front yard,
Michelle, that's how bad this

596
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:47,640
front yard was.
It's an acre.

597
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,720
So just imagine an overgrown
acre of grass, right?

598
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:55,480
So as as that whole kind of
thing fell into our lap, then

599
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,280
the neighbors like, oh, I'm
looking for chicken hawk.

600
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,360
So be me, me being me, because I
work out daily.

601
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,320
I would go out back and after I
got done working out, strip,

602
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,480
bite ass naked and and wave to
their camera because I can see

603
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,040
right in our backyard.
And I did that until finally my

604
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,360
hop seed was tall enough that
they could no longer see me.

605
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:17,360
So every day they had a a free
show if they wanted one because

606
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:18,720
he claimed he couldn't see my
backyard.

607
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,240
But I would walk in the middle
of the backyard and I could see

608
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:22,720
the little red dots of the
camera.

609
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:24,960
And if you can see the red dots
of the camera, it can see you.

610
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:26,080
Yeah.
Exactly.

611
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,360
You know, they're those people,
disrespectful assholes who feel

612
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:32,240
like they're entitled.
The mayor of the street, even

613
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,600
though, you know, he's only
lived here like what we've been

614
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,080
for four years.
So they've lived here 8 years.

615
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,680
But you know, there's that.
We don't talk to them.

616
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,400
We just, you know, it is what it
is.

617
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,920
So, you know, that's my life in
a nutshell.

618
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,720
So let's talk about your writing
because Michelle's mission.com

619
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:49,840
is where you can find her.
And you referenced before the

620
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:51,240
show that you have some stuff
published.

621
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,640
So let's talk about that.
What have you have published?

622
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:58,040
Sure, I write a lot about my
life with a disability on my

623
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,680
blog.
I do a lot of metaphors to

624
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,600
explain that nature metaphors.
I might talk about the process

625
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:09,160
of my disability, you know, just
accepting that might be like a

626
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,680
flower blooming, but a lot of
the other stuff that I have

627
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,000
published is also just about
different things that I've

628
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,200
experienced.
I can't remember my very first

629
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,920
article that got published on
the Mighty was whenever I'm we

630
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:27,320
moved into our house and I could
not unlock the door because I

631
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,520
had a limited hand dexterity in
both of my hands.

632
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,520
And I finally, I was so
frustrated that just gave me

633
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,680
that courage to write about it
because there was a call.

634
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,000
What's a seemingly easy task for
other people, but it's hard for

635
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,600
you with yours.
And I got a great response with

636
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:44,680
that.
People were like, well, that's

637
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,000
my story.
And I thought I was the only one

638
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,360
that struggled with that.
And that encouraged me to write

639
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,240
more articles for the Mighty.
I also expanded to write

640
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,560
different articles for other
places as well.

641
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,280
Sometimes there might be a
prompt that I might follow and

642
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:04,040
it it'll get published.
I also have stories published in

643
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,760
two anthologies and a third one
coming out in the in November,

644
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,640
hopefully.
And thank you.

645
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,200
My first anthology I got
published in was it was a

646
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,400
workshop that I went to and it
was called Rediscovering Your

647
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:22,200
Story.
And Anami group had this and I

648
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,480
was the only one that had a
learning disability.

649
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,240
Other people had some mental
health issues.

650
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,960
We had some other ones that had
addiction issues in the past and

651
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,320
we're working on being sober
with their lives.

652
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:35,920
And we had different stories
that we wrote.

653
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,440
Some of them were about our hair
and some of them was about

654
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,000
what's your favorite place to go
to.

655
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,520
And I also had the chance to
write about what is the most

656
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,440
important lesson that I've
learned in my life.

657
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:52,640
And it's for purchase on Amazon.
And the second anthology is the

658
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,680
baggage we carry.
And that was the prompt and I

659
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,880
wrote about the baggage of
having a learning disability and

660
00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:01,840
some just some of that that has
happened.

661
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,400
And that is also that's
available for purchase as well.

662
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:10,160
And the third one will be
through our lens and it is the

663
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,680
stories of people that have
different kinds of disabilities.

664
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,760
A lot of people there are no
diverse, like I'm going to talk

665
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:19,840
about having a learning
disability, but other people in

666
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:25,360
the in the book they have autism
or other disabilities as well.

667
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,440
That's that's and see the cool
thing about writing about what

668
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,720
you struggle with, like you
said, then other people read it

669
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,440
were like, oh, I, I, that's me.
We had we had a family who went

670
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,600
through the perils of heroin and
meth addiction.

671
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:39,880
And I was very vocal about it
and I was out there about how

672
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,680
easy it was to get it.
This is well before it was, you

673
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:44,760
know, public billboards and
stuff.

674
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:48,160
This is where if you looked at
my family from the outside and

675
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,520
you would think there's no way
on God's green earth this is

676
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,080
going to affect Chris's family.
So when I dropped my original

677
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:58,000
back then was a Facebook live
about it last time I found it

678
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,120
because now it's just kind of
lost somewhere in the in the in

679
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:04,040
the World Wide Web with 67,000
views for this 15 minute

680
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,680
discussion about how easy it was
to get heroin if he got 20

681
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:07,720
bucks.
Doesn't matter who you are,

682
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:09,920
doesn't matter where you live,
it doesn't matter what your

683
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,200
economic status is.
And I, I would have people

684
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,880
randomly walk up to me because
they recognize me from that

685
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,560
thanking me because then that
that empowered them to have a

686
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,440
conversation with their son or
with their daughter.

687
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,240
My wife and I would walk into
stores and people were like, oh,

688
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:27,560
there's the queen because I
reference her as the queen based

689
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:31,280
on that and the connections of
that made alone just in opening

690
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,320
other people's eyes and having
those conversations that they

691
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:38,680
never thought they had to have
because nobody realized for 20

692
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,240
bucks you can get black tower
heroin.

693
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:45,160
And this was a very normal
suburban community in the East

694
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,320
Valley of Arizona that you just
never would have thought this

695
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,400
was relevant.
So what you're doing is great

696
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,200
because then it it makes people
realize that other people are

697
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,600
going through those same
struggles, which then sheds

698
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:00,040
light on it, which then sparks
conversation, which then helps

699
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,480
things get turned around to the
positive instead of the

700
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:04,800
negative.
So kudos to you for doing that.

701
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,880
Absolutely.
Able to talk about it.

702
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,600
So many people just won't talk
about it, right?

703
00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:13,520
They bury their head in the sand
and act like it's not supposed

704
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:15,520
to have happened.
If it happens, it happens.

705
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,600
You have to be able to know what
to do and how to deal with it,

706
00:34:19,639 --> 00:34:22,760
right?
You can't just say it'll rectify

707
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,280
itself because addiction doesn't
rectify itself.

708
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,480
Disabilities don't rectify
themselves.

709
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:29,679
You know, you have to learn how
to live with them.

710
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,560
And in an addicts case, you can
overcome it, right?

711
00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,159
In your case, you're not going
to overcome your disability.

712
00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:39,040
So it's really cool that you're
showing people that not only

713
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:41,920
they're not alone.
I agree with Chris and a lot of

714
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:45,639
things that were wrong with me.
Just knowing that I wasn't the

715
00:34:45,639 --> 00:34:48,520
only one, you know, was very
helpful.

716
00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,719
I agree 100% because when I was
growing up, I mean, I didn't

717
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,520
know a whole lot of people that
had learning disabilities that

718
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:02,280
were successful adults that went
to college and female and

719
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:06,000
struggled with meth because most
of everything that was out

720
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:11,400
there, sorry guys, it was mainly
white men that were the struggle

721
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,320
with reading or paying
attention.

722
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,440
And I didn't know anybody with
that.

723
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:22,520
And one of the things too is
whenever we started with the

724
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:24,680
Internet, there's a lot of
people out there.

725
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,080
I got to meet other people that
have my disability and are girls

726
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,160
and some are guys too.
I mean, it definitely effects

727
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,840
everybody, buddy, you know, it
doesn't discriminate.

728
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,200
But it was just really amazing
though to meet other people that

729
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:39,760
okay, that's what I struggle
with.

730
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,080
I'm not the only person that
does that and coming and talking

731
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,280
about it because.
That parts huge, yeah.

732
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:47,720
Yeah, because I wouldn't have
hide.

733
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,640
Yeah, Common denominator.
It's like if you like the

734
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:51,760
Steelers, right?
Yeah.

735
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:53,480
When you were wearing a Steelers
jersey, it's.

736
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,800
You don't have to know the
person wearing a football

737
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:57,280
jersey.
When you run into the store, you

738
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,040
can just make a comment about
their team and you have an

739
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:00,720
instant dialogue for 20 minutes.
Yep.

740
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,760
You know, exactly.
I mean, right.

741
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:03,880
So it's the same kind of
concept.

742
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,280
Now, one of the things you
reference something with your

743
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:07,440
hands.
What is that?

744
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,000
That is with being having
limited hand dexterity.

745
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,280
We didn't, I didn't know that
until I was an adult.

746
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,720
When I was a kid, things would
drop out of my hands and I'd

747
00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:19,120
have terrible, I have terrible
handwriting and people would

748
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:24,800
just think, oh, she's clumsy or
the people would really put it

749
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,800
as a character flaw with my
handwriting and I learned how to

750
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:29,480
type and that was a game
changer.

751
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,280
But we just thought, OK, she's
clumsy and that just OK.

752
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:37,160
Maybe it's learning disability
related what whatever, but I was

753
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,840
in for an evaluation because I
wanted to.

754
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:44,360
I was thinking about going back
to grad school and I remember

755
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,720
they they never tested me for
that, but they did it this one

756
00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:50,320
and it's a it's actually a funny
story.

757
00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:55,080
I was the the whole evaluation
is 8 hours long and so they tell

758
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,160
you, OK, order food and just you
get a lunch break.

759
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,640
So I ordered food and then they
took me up to get evaluated for

760
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:06,480
having with my hands and I sat
up there and I, they blindfolded

761
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,280
me and I had to put shapes in a
shape sorter.

762
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,960
And right as I'm putting, I'm
blindfolded and putting shapes

763
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,640
in a shape sorter, my food comes
and I had the delivery driver

764
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,680
brought it over and I had to
sign a paper blindfolded.

765
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,800
And I just wonder what that
delivery I thought was going on

766
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:30,680
in that office.
But, and it all made sense after

767
00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,120
they told me I had limited hand
dexterity in both of my hands,

768
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,160
that I wasn't just a klutz.
I wasn't.

769
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,920
I just didn't have the the
handwriting of a serial killer.

770
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:43,520
I mean, it was there.
There was a reason behind.

771
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,440
But you didn't find that out
till you were an adult.

772
00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:47,960
Yeah, in my 30s.
Wow, Wow.

773
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,560
Yeah, because wow.
Because earlier you mentioned

774
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,960
the opening a door was hard.
So then so so I didn't I and

775
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,280
being a writer too and and type
typing, high school class typing

776
00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,400
was the only thing that's
carried me with me my entire

777
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,640
life.
But it's I didn't, I didn't, I

778
00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:04,320
didn't honestly, for, for
whatever reason, I didn't go

779
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,200
there when you referenced the
the hand issues and I was like,

780
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,000
well, I wonder how she writes?
I was thinking it was, you know,

781
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,120
like talk to text or something
because I thought your hands

782
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,800
were like, you know, I couldn't,
you know, like just weren't

783
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,280
functional.
Right.

784
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:20,640
I'm, no, they are functional.
I can move them.

785
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:25,200
But if you look at the scores
that when they compare my my

786
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:29,960
testing with, I'm on the level
of somebody that has brain

787
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:32,760
damage with hands just with how
they move.

788
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,560
Yeah.
Is that what they attribute it

789
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,120
to?
Is the wiring in your brain is

790
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,920
just not?
In some ways, yes, it's the

791
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:42,080
wiring.
And I always think, I mean I

792
00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,840
had, I was not given a clear
answer on that, but I think that

793
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,280
it all goes back to one source.
It's just my brain is wired and

794
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,640
those signals that it sends out
to my hands like it does with

795
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,400
visual perception and
everything, it's just it's not

796
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:59,160
working that way.
So I'm like at the negative,

797
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,400
like one one hand, I think my
right, my dominant hand has

798
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:07,720
more, but my other one, it's
like you're, you're in like -0

799
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:13,240
almost with that and there.
But thankfully I came across a

800
00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:17,120
diagnosis at a really good time.
And, and where we're at, there's

801
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,640
a lot more than when I was a kid
growing up.

802
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:23,160
For people that that have that,
there are key helpers.

803
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:28,680
If you want to be able to unlock
the door and lock it, there's

804
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:34,000
jar openers that work, bottle
openers, an electric can opener.

805
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,640
We figured that out when I was
in my 20s and I could not use a

806
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,240
manual one.
It looked like trying to operate

807
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:41,880
it was like trying to operate a
spaceship.

808
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:47,800
So I mean, there, there's a lot
that that has come out and of

809
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:51,600
course, if we go out in public
and I there's a door and it's an

810
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,200
automatic door.
I always like those.

811
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:55,920
And that's the the beauty of
that.

812
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,400
It's, it's universal design.
So and everybody can do that,

813
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:02,960
whether it's a mom that has a
stroller and she's trying to

814
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:08,200
wrangle that and her kids and
trying to have grocery bags that

815
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:10,040
automatic door help somebody
out.

816
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:12,680
People movers.
If you go to the airport

817
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:17,280
elevators they can help and
ramps and rails.

818
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:20,520
Those are all things that can
help anybody, not just a person

819
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:25,320
with a disability.
Sure, I love the walkways, the

820
00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:27,280
moving walkway, sidewalks and
airports.

821
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:28,920
Those are game changers, you
know.

822
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,520
Yeah.
Yeah, especially when you have

823
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:35,000
to go in Arizona airports.
So spread out it's it's yeah.

824
00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:38,560
But yeah, those are those are
definitely game changers for

825
00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:42,120
sure right now.
What else you want to talk

826
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,720
about, Michelle?
I don't.

827
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,560
Know so you have a booking So
what So what is it that you want

828
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:51,840
to get booked for Is this just
for people you you you like

829
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:55,360
events like what do you do you
you speak to people I obviously

830
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:57,400
podcasts.
I do on podcasts.

831
00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,440
I also have conferences that I,
I do as well.

832
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,560
I'm going to be speaking at a
conference, PA conference for

833
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:09,280
the blind and I'm going to be
talking about resources when

834
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:12,560
somebody graduates on what are
some of those resources that are

835
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:16,720
available.
I also speak on transitioning

836
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:19,560
when somebody is done with
school.

837
00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:23,040
I've, I got to speak in Penn
State last year about that.

838
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:28,920
And I also had the opportunity
to talk about that at another

839
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:32,080
conference.
Well, actually it was a women's

840
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,400
empowerment breakfast a number
of years ago and I got to speak

841
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:40,200
at a disability symposium.
So I really just try to go out

842
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,040
and to be able to share my story
and to be able to help other

843
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,200
people.
That's fantastic.

844
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:48,520
Yeah, that's awesome.
Yeah.

845
00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,840
And so the the about me shit,
it's an invisible disability,

846
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,800
which like we talked about you,
you wouldn't know because of

847
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,960
what it is.
You have a bachelor's degree in

848
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:01,360
community programming for
Americans with Disabilities.

849
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:04,800
Yes, you've been published in
The Mighty Non the Mighty, The

850
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:10,240
Non Verbal Learning Project, Dis
Kalula Blog.

851
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:14,840
Dis Calculia blog, Yeah.
OK, they were elected Spoony.

852
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:19,400
That's a that's a fun name, The
Calopine Collective.

853
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,120
Imagine the world as one
magazine, a world gathering

854
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,600
that's amazing all and all the
like.

855
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,840
Legit, I love the fact that
you're out there sharing your

856
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:33,000
story, sharing your journey,
empowering others, giving them

857
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:36,680
resources to better their lives
with just the experience and the

858
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,080
knowledge that you've gained by
by going through your struggles,

859
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:41,520
which is just amazing.
We love that on the show.

860
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:43,880
That's why we do this.
We like to talk to people and

861
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,280
learn things and expand our
knowledge and understanding of I

862
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:50,800
call it life resume.
That's fantastic.

863
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,040
Yeah.
So like when you go out and you

864
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,360
talk to these people, what are
things that they're not

865
00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:00,040
expecting that you encountered,
that you, you know, what kind of

866
00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:02,880
advice do you give them?
Here's what you're not

867
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,240
expecting.
You're going from high school

868
00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:09,040
life, college life, whatever, to
now, you're going to be expected

869
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,200
to take care of yourself as an
adult, right?

870
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,480
Right.
What I tell a lot of people is I

871
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:18,480
can give you the names of the
resources that that are out

872
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:23,280
there, but it's really up to you
to be the one that you seek out

873
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,680
those services.
Like when I was in college, it

874
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:30,360
was up to me.
I had definitely register with

875
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:33,560
the Office for Students with
Disabilities, but I had to go up

876
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:37,440
to professors and I had to tell
them I have a disability and

877
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:39,400
these are the services that I
need and to have that

878
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,360
confidence.
And I did not have that

879
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:43,440
confidence when I went to
Community College.

880
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,400
And a lot of that was because of
what other people told me.

881
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:51,040
I was told by a learning support
teacher that you're most you

882
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,400
can't go to college.
You, you, you have, you're bad

883
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:55,200
at math.
Why don't you go to a trade

884
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,080
school?
Well, nothing you're interested

885
00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,280
in me.
I had a psychiatrist in an

886
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,120
evaluation that told me, well,
you're most based on these

887
00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:05,600
scores, you're not going to be
able to go beyond Community

888
00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:09,800
College.
And I I've also find it funny

889
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:14,000
whenever I told them that I
wanted to write and wanted to do

890
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,240
newscast that they told me that
that would be beyond my

891
00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:20,720
capabilities and.
I hate when adults do that to

892
00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:22,040
kids.
I just do.

893
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:27,640
But question though, did that
motivate you to be like, I'm

894
00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:30,040
going to do this and it'll be
like, ha ha, look at me now,

895
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:32,160
bitches.
Yeah, but do you know how many?

896
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:34,400
Not to interrupt you, Michelle,
I'll let you answer the

897
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:35,720
question.
That's a great question.

898
00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:38,400
But do you know how many not
Michelle's there are out there?

899
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,680
She's so 99.
Dreams were shattered by that

900
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,160
attitude, and Michelle
persevered through.

901
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:46,920
So, you know, thank goodness
she's out there.

902
00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:52,160
But is that why you persevered?
You know, in the very beginning

903
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:55,880
I did not think I could do it
and I wasn't there like, ha ha,

904
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:58,520
I'm going to do it anyways.
I've went forward scared.

905
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:00,720
I didn't know if this was going
to work.

906
00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:01,920
Out.
So you kind of believed what

907
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:05,680
they were telling?
You, I, I did and I took that

908
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:08,760
into call and that was probably
my hardest years.

909
00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:12,680
I think we're Community College
as an adult, one of those.

910
00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:15,240
To talk to you now you're super
confident, you know you're

911
00:45:15,240 --> 00:45:17,840
smiling all time, you know what
you're talking about.

912
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:19,560
That's awesome.
Right, I haven't.

913
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,080
I've really had a support from
friends.

914
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:26,440
Definitely they were, they
couldn't fix my disability.

915
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:28,560
They couldn't go in there and do
that.

916
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:30,560
And that's something I tell my
students all the time.

917
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:32,840
Some of them will say, oh, I
have this mental health

918
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:34,040
disorder.
I take medication.

919
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:35,760
I don't need this, I don't need
this class.

920
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:39,200
And I say, you know what, you
you can take the medicine, but

921
00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:40,640
it's only going to get you so
far.

922
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:44,280
You have to be the one that does
all the work, all the hard work

923
00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,480
on on that.
So that's, that's another thing

924
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,200
I tell them is you have to do a
lot of that work.

925
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:53,240
I'll tell people that.
And I was afraid, especially

926
00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:56,280
whenever I went to Community
College face more stigma.

927
00:45:57,000 --> 00:45:59,560
Had a professor that told me I
was going to have limited job

928
00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:03,080
choices if I asked for a
calculator.

929
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:06,520
I was told we use our brains in
this class but I just push

930
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:09,920
forward and I was a.
Yeah.

931
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:14,080
And one of your, one of your
advantages given to you to be in

932
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,560
school with your disability was
you were able to use a

933
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:20,120
calculator, I'm sure, right.
They couldn't deny you that.

934
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:21,840
Right.
And I had specialized

935
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:24,560
instruction and I never got out
of that for math.

936
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:28,120
I got out of it for reading.
I got out of it for a lot of

937
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,120
different things.
So you ended up in general

938
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:33,960
classes for like with.
Academics Yep.

939
00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:37,760
And with except for math, except
for math and I had a resource

940
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:42,320
room and yeah, thank you.
But I mean, it was academic.

941
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:44,680
We a lot of people thought,
well, why don't, why don't you

942
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:50,320
put her in AP biology or science
class?

943
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:52,960
And my parents were like, no,
we're we're setting rough for

944
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:55,000
success.
We know what she can handle.

945
00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:58,800
And I was able to make honor
roll and I was in with academic

946
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:00,800
kids for for a lot of my
classes.

947
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:02,960
And I had those supports, but I
still was pulled out.

948
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:07,400
Yeah, it it really was.
I I had a test read aloud to me.

949
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:11,760
I had extra time on my tests.
And then when I went to college,

950
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:15,480
once I went to university,
that's when I got really serious

951
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:20,400
about using all the services and
advocacy I would, I had.

952
00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:22,560
I didn't have the test read
allowed to me, but I had

953
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,880
extended test time on my test.
I had tutoring.

954
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:29,560
I actually got a note taker and
that was a game changer too

955
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:32,920
because I could focus on in on
my Class A lot more.

956
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:36,840
And I had tutoring and I also
had professors that understood.

957
00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:40,880
And I was really lucky in both
areas to have that in Community

958
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:45,040
College and at university.
At Community College, I was

959
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:49,080
really fortunate to get a math
waiver because of having the

960
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,200
disability.
And I was able to substitute

961
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:54,360
another class.
I, the professor could see I was

962
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:56,880
really trying.
I was going to class after class

963
00:47:56,880 --> 00:47:59,920
and was not able to pass any of
the tests except for one of

964
00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:02,720
them.
And I was doing tutoring and the

965
00:48:02,720 --> 00:48:05,280
tutoring team didn't understand
what was going on.

966
00:48:05,720 --> 00:48:09,680
But luckily we, the office for
students with disabilities,

967
00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:12,960
said, OK, why don't we at least
try to submit a waiver, put all

968
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:16,280
your documentation together.
And I was granted that.

969
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:20,480
And then when I got to
university, I wasn't as

970
00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:24,600
fortunate with that.
I had to take the class.

971
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,520
And I can remember.
I took a philosophy based math

972
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:32,320
course and I can remember I was
in this determination of, well,

973
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:35,160
do I take this or do I just take
an algebra class?

974
00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:39,800
And I, I was sitting around and
there was a chess game and I had

975
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:41,920
someone, I said, hey, you want
to play chess with me?

976
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:44,360
And we played the shortest chess
game in history.

977
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:47,040
And it's no surprise that I
lost.

978
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:50,640
And I told the person, I said, I
don't think that.

979
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:53,880
Yeah, I'm not good.
I'm not good at math.

980
00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:56,280
We're trying to figure out what
kind of math class to take.

981
00:48:56,680 --> 00:49:00,680
And I said I might, I'm thinking
about doing the philosophy based

982
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:02,000
math.
And he looked at me and goes,

983
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,800
well, actually I'm in that
department.

984
00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:07,560
And I'd really suggest that you
take the philosophy based math

985
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:09,520
class because guys in my
department aren't that nice

986
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:12,480
about it.
And I had the most wonderful

987
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:16,520
professor that knew I was
trying, I was going to tutoring,

988
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:19,520
I was going to class, I had
office hours and I, I couldn't

989
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:24,840
pass one class, one test.
And he knew I was really doing

990
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:25,920
that.
And he passed me along.

991
00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:30,960
I got AD and that was my only DI
go to university and that's all

992
00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,880
I needed.
And but the support though, I

993
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:36,080
mean, a lot of people didn't
understand what I was going

994
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:36,840
through.
People were.

995
00:49:36,880 --> 00:49:40,800
So cool that they recognized it
and yeah, no matter what they

996
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,360
did, they were never going to be
able to help you, and they

997
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:45,480
didn't want to be the people to
stand in your way.

998
00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:47,360
That's really cool.
Yeah, that is cool.

999
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:51,640
So they were the opposite of the
assholes that told you that you

1000
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,200
were never going to make it past
Community College if you were

1001
00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:55,680
even lucky to get that far,
right?

1002
00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:59,160
What a horrible thing to say to
a a young mind you know exactly

1003
00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:00,600
they wanted.
To be a They wanted to be a

1004
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:04,200
welder man.
Yeah, well, I think the one,

1005
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,320
this was a learning support
teacher before that you I

1006
00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:09,760
couldn't, I couldn't try.
I thought I should do Protective

1007
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:13,400
Services.
Now how was I supposed to drive

1008
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:14,960
a police car?
Well.

1009
00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:18,200
And then I guess in their
defense, you hadn't been

1010
00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:22,120
diagnosed yet, but the trades
were actually the worst advice

1011
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:25,040
for you because you have the
problem with your hands as well.

1012
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:27,320
If I were.
Never going to be a Carpenter.

1013
00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:28,880
No, it wasn't going to be a
Carpenter.

1014
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:33,640
I, I have great respect for the
person who does my hair, but I

1015
00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:39,240
certainly cannot cut my own hair
or you color or things like

1016
00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:41,120
that.
I, I, I would get a lot of

1017
00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:43,520
complaints.
I could probably do the culinary

1018
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:47,200
arts program, but it just isn't
really what I feel like I was

1019
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:49,000
cut out to do.
So it would have been a lot

1020
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:52,280
harder for me to do a lot of
those things, especially.

1021
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:53,880
With the hands.
What?

1022
00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:56,000
Especially with the hand.
The hand thing.

1023
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:59,200
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, Cutting things, you know

1024
00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:03,640
that that would be really hard.
Is that the hardest thing to do

1025
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:07,680
as a teacher, especially of, you
know, kids with special needs,

1026
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:11,280
is that the hardest thing is to
get them to come to terms with

1027
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:14,880
they're not going to be able to
do certain things that they see

1028
00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:18,080
what we would consider.
I hate this word but normal

1029
00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:21,680
kids, right?
It, it, it really is it.

1030
00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:24,480
It's hard whenever maybe they
can't, they can't do something.

1031
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:28,960
Or a lot of our students are in
regular Ed classes and basic

1032
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:30,160
classes.
Right.

1033
00:51:30,160 --> 00:51:31,640
And I guess that's what I was
alluding to.

1034
00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:33,920
Yeah.
See those kids on a daily basis,

1035
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:35,640
they go play kickball or
whatever.

1036
00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:39,040
And like you were saying, when
you were a young girl, you

1037
00:51:39,040 --> 00:51:41,440
couldn't tell that the ball was
coming at you, right?

1038
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:43,080
So what?
You were scared every time.

1039
00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:45,040
Right, right.
Things like that, they're never.

1040
00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:49,040
You were never going to get over
that because you had a visual.

1041
00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:52,200
Yeah, you.
Know negative that was keeping

1042
00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:54,800
you from being able to see that
ball coming at you.

1043
00:51:55,120 --> 00:51:59,480
And a lot of times too, yeah,
excuse me, that's a factor.

1044
00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:04,240
And then I also get our
students, they, they can't hide.

1045
00:52:04,600 --> 00:52:07,440
They know, everybody knows they
go to learning support or they

1046
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:09,560
go to resource to get a test
read.

1047
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:11,960
They know they have a class with
the study hall there.

1048
00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:14,840
And that carries a lot of stigma
for so many of us.

1049
00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:16,720
I I can just remember.
That a lot of them probably have

1050
00:52:16,720 --> 00:52:20,040
visual outward where, you know,
maybe they have ticks that

1051
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:22,520
people see right and they can't
hide that.

1052
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:26,720
So that's even worse when you're
in that shape where I know just

1053
00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:31,080
from being a kid myself.
And we had several, you know, we

1054
00:52:31,080 --> 00:52:33,960
had a learning department in our
high school for sure.

1055
00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:38,440
And I was always the person that
would defend those.

1056
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:41,280
You.
Know, tell the bullies.

1057
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:43,200
Hey what?
You know that kid can't defend

1058
00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:44,920
himself man.
It's not cool, you know?

1059
00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:48,520
But those are always going to be
the kids that people pick on 1st

1060
00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:51,400
as the ones that have the
outward ticks, right?

1061
00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:54,640
And it's, it's more more and
it's more so because they're

1062
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:56,880
afraid they don't understand.
So instead.

1063
00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:59,280
Of I'm glad you said that, I've
been meaning to say that too.

1064
00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:02,120
Yeah, instead of trying to be
empathetic and understand the

1065
00:53:02,120 --> 00:53:05,240
situation, they automatically
turn to the bullying side

1066
00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:07,000
because they don't get it and
they're afraid.

1067
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:09,880
They're afraid of it.
I, I worked in, in before.

1068
00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:12,000
I do what I do now.
I, I worked in the field with

1069
00:53:12,000 --> 00:53:14,360
mentally handicapped and, and
mental illness people.

1070
00:53:15,240 --> 00:53:18,120
So anything and everything in
the spectrum from autism to

1071
00:53:18,120 --> 00:53:22,480
mental retardation, mild Mr.
Extremely R, affective organic

1072
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:26,640
disorder, bipolar, manic
depressives, Down syndrome, all

1073
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:29,320
levels of functionality, low
functioning to high functioning.

1074
00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:33,440
I, you know, my, my group of, of
guys that I took care of, you

1075
00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:35,440
know, until they open their
mouth, you wouldn't know.

1076
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:39,360
Like I, I flew one, I took him
home a couple times to use your

1077
00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:40,960
organ.
And unless he opened his mouth,

1078
00:53:40,960 --> 00:53:43,680
you'd have no idea.
Just have no idea.

1079
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:45,880
Now, when I put the headphones
on him for the plane ride,

1080
00:53:45,880 --> 00:53:49,080
because music kind of soothed
him, I didn't realize he was

1081
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:51,480
going to start singing.
And he started singing knocking

1082
00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:54,400
on Heaven's Door because he left
Guns and Roses on the plane in

1083
00:53:54,400 --> 00:53:58,640
the middle of the air, you know,
And so once he started singing,

1084
00:53:58,640 --> 00:54:00,840
it's like, well, I'm not going
to, I'm not going to stop him

1085
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:02,640
because, you know, it's keeping
him at Bay.

1086
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:07,760
And but unless you unless you
know, you don't know with the

1087
00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:10,640
with the bulk of the population
I'd dealt with, but the Down

1088
00:54:10,640 --> 00:54:12,840
syndrome, you can see and you
can tell them the autistic, you

1089
00:54:12,840 --> 00:54:14,760
can see because they have the
takes like Mike said.

1090
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:18,120
And they without exception, all
of them are bullied in their

1091
00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:20,800
lifetime because they just were.
What you don't understand, you

1092
00:54:20,800 --> 00:54:21,960
fear.
So what do you fear?

1093
00:54:21,960 --> 00:54:23,960
You have to you feel like you
have to exert yourself.

1094
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:27,160
You got to be the alpha male and
even women too, right?

1095
00:54:27,560 --> 00:54:29,720
Women are just as bad at
bullying as as men are.

1096
00:54:30,480 --> 00:54:33,920
I think a little bit more so,
especially in the in the teenage

1097
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:37,480
drama era with females.
My wife was was bullied by

1098
00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:41,240
somebody and, you know, kind of
talk down on her kind of looks

1099
00:54:41,240 --> 00:54:44,160
and then, you know, the irony of
life now this woman, you know,

1100
00:54:44,400 --> 00:54:47,160
her face looks like a long horse
and, you know, and making a

1101
00:54:47,160 --> 00:54:51,320
beautiful human.
So it's kind of like, you know,

1102
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:54,560
but we don't we're not those
type of people, but it's still

1103
00:54:54,560 --> 00:54:57,840
kind of that thing like, yeah,
OK, how pretty are you now?

1104
00:54:58,280 --> 00:55:00,800
You know, because.
But you carry that like you

1105
00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:02,680
carry that.
There was there was a couple

1106
00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:04,320
kids.
I was bullied that bullied me.

1107
00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:06,960
And I could still drop their
names.

1108
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:10,600
I'm not going to but, and it was
just more out of fear for

1109
00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:13,280
whatever reason, they were
afraid that I had asthma and I,

1110
00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:15,000
you know, I was kind of like
Mike's sick kid.

1111
00:55:16,120 --> 00:55:19,760
If you know, if I'm going to, if
I'm, if I'm that kid nowadays,

1112
00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:22,200
I'm kicked out of school because
I was gone more than I was there

1113
00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:25,000
because, you know, we moved from
Illinois because I was going to

1114
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:26,040
die.
My asthma was so bad.

1115
00:55:26,040 --> 00:55:30,360
So we moved to Arizona and they
were, you know, half the school

1116
00:55:30,360 --> 00:55:31,560
year.
Sometimes I missed, I got held

1117
00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:33,560
back in 4th grade because I just
didn't go to 4th grade.

1118
00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:37,520
So, you know, when I would show
up, I was always the awkward,

1119
00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:40,520
sickly looking kid.
So I was AI was a brilliant

1120
00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:44,040
punching bag, right?
Luckily it wasn't as bad as it

1121
00:55:44,040 --> 00:55:46,760
could have been, but I, I feel
that.

1122
00:55:46,760 --> 00:55:49,080
So, and that goes back to what I
said earlier, the fact that you

1123
00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:51,160
can empower these kids because
you've been there, done that,

1124
00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:53,040
and you're living with it and
you're living proof that you can

1125
00:55:53,040 --> 00:55:56,360
overcome and you can be
successful and, and you can

1126
00:55:56,360 --> 00:55:58,680
reach heights that other people
didn't believe you could.

1127
00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:01,040
You're just a superhuman,
Michelle.

1128
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:02,640
It's like the life resume that I
preach.

1129
00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:05,000
It's just fantastic because
those could have gone the other

1130
00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:06,440
way.
Those are the people that need.

1131
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:09,000
It, you know, you could have
taken the easy road and just put

1132
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:12,360
like, what was me living off the
state, you know, living in a van

1133
00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:15,480
down by the river, you know, and
not being a productive member of

1134
00:56:15,480 --> 00:56:19,120
society.
Not that your disabilities were

1135
00:56:19,120 --> 00:56:21,120
that extreme, but I think you
follow what I'm saying.

1136
00:56:21,120 --> 00:56:23,960
It's cool that you've you've
taken the path you have and and

1137
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:26,920
you're so out there with
everything and sharing and

1138
00:56:27,560 --> 00:56:29,920
teaching and helping people
grow, and that's just that's

1139
00:56:29,920 --> 00:56:31,320
cool, man.
That's a good testament to who

1140
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:33,920
you are as a human and who your
character is.

1141
00:56:34,080 --> 00:56:36,280
And so you, you know, beautiful
soul man for sure.

1142
00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:37,840
I can see why Jack and Sparrow
love you.

1143
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:39,160
Oh makes.
Sense.

1144
00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:45,720
Well, that was awesome.
Anything else you want to talk

1145
00:56:45,720 --> 00:56:49,280
about before we wrap things up?
I just want to encourage people

1146
00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:53,360
that have disabilities or who
don't to know what they want and

1147
00:56:53,360 --> 00:56:55,360
to be able to find a way to do
it.

1148
00:56:55,400 --> 00:56:59,680
And it's like my dad always told
me, success doesn't always come

1149
00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:02,320
in the package that you expect,
but sometimes it comes in

1150
00:57:02,320 --> 00:57:04,800
something even better.
That's awesome.

1151
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:06,840
That is awesome.
I love that.

1152
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:10,040
Michellesmission.com This is the
Christian Mike show.

1153
00:57:10,040 --> 00:57:11,600
We leave.
We leave every episode like

1154
00:57:11,600 --> 00:57:13,000
this.
If you're having a bad day, if

1155
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:14,800
you're feeling down and
depressed and you want to take

1156
00:57:14,800 --> 00:57:16,760
your life, don't do it.
Somebody Loves You.

1157
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:18,480
Somebody will miss you.
Don't leave a hole in somebody's

1158
00:57:18,480 --> 00:57:21,360
heart because you didn't have
the courage to just step back.

1159
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:24,680
Take a breath, meditate, reach
out to somebody that you know

1160
00:57:24,680 --> 00:57:27,280
will talk to you, help you get
off that that Cliff that you're

1161
00:57:27,280 --> 00:57:30,400
on tomorrow will be tomorrow
will be a better day.

1162
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:34,080
So wake up and and and be
present and be involved because

1163
00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:35,600
somebody does love you like we
do.

1164
00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:38,440
Thank you very much, Michelle
for being on the show.

1165
00:57:38,760 --> 00:57:41,360
We will get you all the content
once we get it up and running.

1166
00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:43,840
Definitely.
You know, as you go on a life

1167
00:57:43,840 --> 00:57:45,600
you ever want to come back on,
just shoot us a message.

1168
00:57:45,600 --> 00:57:47,600
We like to have people come back
on and update us where?

1169
00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:50,480
They're yeah, if you're going to
release that third anthology in

1170
00:57:50,480 --> 00:57:51,960
November.
Yeah.

1171
00:57:54,560 --> 00:57:56,760
Yeah, yeah, because, you know,
this is how we roll.

1172
00:57:56,800 --> 00:57:59,840
Nice, easy conversation, have
fun, learn and, you know, Share

1173
00:57:59,840 --> 00:58:01,320
your story.
And again, everybody who want to

1174
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:03,400
find Michelle, it's Michelle's
mission.com.

1175
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:05,560
It's plural.
Just don't do Michelle because

1176
00:58:05,560 --> 00:58:07,000
of all these other things.
Come up.

1177
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:11,000
It's Michelle's mission.com, and
you'll find all her stuff.

1178
00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:13,600
Booker, have her on your show.
Have her come talk to you

1179
00:58:13,600 --> 00:58:15,720
because, you know, this has been
a great conversation.

1180
00:58:15,720 --> 00:58:19,040
We've learned a lot.
Invisible disabilities are

1181
00:58:19,040 --> 00:58:20,320
there, you just don't know
they're there.

1182
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:23,600
So someone like Michelle helps
empower and get people to live

1183
00:58:23,960 --> 00:58:26,960
fuller and healthier and much
more productive lives, right?

1184
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:30,880
Absolutely.
Peace.

1185
00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:32,560
See you guys all next week.
Thank you.

1186
00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:36,520
Love you brother.
Peace, love you too man Thanks

1187
00:58:36,520 --> 00:58:37,560
Michelle.
Nice to meet.

1188
00:58:43,920 --> 00:59:01,690
You.
On your journey beyond the

1189
00:59:02,730 --> 00:59:09,770
trail, behind your eyes,
yourself and meet yourself.

1190
00:59:09,770 --> 00:59:12,210
Take a moment, look until you
see him.

1191
00:59:13,410 --> 00:59:16,170
Fight the battle that you bought
Wheel.

1192
00:59:17,610 --> 00:59:20,530
Fight the battle, but you bought
Wheel.

1193
00:59:21,530 --> 00:59:29,520
Who is this baby?
Oh yeah.

1194
01:00:28,830 --> 01:00:46,850
Come
down here, we haven't bounced

1195
01:00:46,850 --> 01:00:54,410
our leading exam from fighting.
Wait for the dead or when?

1196
01:00:54,690 --> 01:00:58,570
It's going around.
Here, but in the wind you ain't

1197
01:00:58,770 --> 01:01:02,920
no creature.
We're playing Smound you should

1198
01:01:03,040 --> 01:01:07,680
you put it on the almighty bed.
You got a dream.

1199
01:01:08,840 --> 01:01:15,520
Who in your life to keep our
soul in every man.

1200
01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:20,720
Take the trip behind your eyes.
Feel the soul.

1201
01:01:20,840 --> 01:01:27,680
And when you shine now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

1202
01:01:29,080 --> 01:01:33,320
yeah, yeah.
Take a moment.

1203
01:01:34,040 --> 01:01:37,160
Look at you.
See him fight your family.

1204
01:01:37,160 --> 01:02:06,250
To you more clear.
You gotta, you gotta.

1205
01:02:06,930 --> 01:02:48,530
You gotta, you gotta, you gotta.
The.