Peeling Back The Mask

Yesterday, it seemed like no matter what I did, I was the bad guy. I was assaulted by people I considered friends for a post on Facebook about adopting pets rather than buying them. I suspected tat they were into the whole puppy mill thing, but didn't really want to know for the sake of our friendship, but they decided that my post was aimed at them or offensive to them somehow and decided to not only attack me, but to sarcasticaly joke about the fact that they were into the breeding of dogs for profit. My wife said I was over reacting and wouldn't listen to what I had to say and then my day was just downhill. I had to record this to try and get it out of my system, but I ended up recording a meltdown.

In this episode I talk about how my life was, how I felt, what I thought when I was younger and growing up and how my diagnosis changed my life, my self-esteem, confidence and how it changed my understanding not only of my past, but my outlook on life and how I tackle issues now.

In this episode I talk about the hypocrisy surrounding what is happening in the Ukraine right now and the history behind the conflict that the main stream media won't report, hasn't reported and doesn't want you to know. The information is easily found online for those who wish to inform themselves instead of listening to the media source that we all know manipulate the information we receive in order to fit the narrative they choose to follow.

I also talk about coddling ourselves after being diagnosed and the need to create a balance between having a productive and active life and maintaining the necessary self care to keep us mentally and emotionally healthy.

And lastly, I talk about something that can be far more dangerous for us than the strong and obvious issues we face, and those are the subtle ones that come and go quickly, leaving us somewhat confused and irritated and not knowing why.

You can now watch my episodes on YouTube at my channel Peeling Back The Mask, or on Odysee.com on my channel TheAutisticTuber.

As always, you can find me on Instagram as Peeling_Back_The_Mask and Facebook at PeelingBackTheMask.

Thank you for listening!

It's been quite a while since I uploaded an episode and in this one, I explain why.

It's been a tough few months and at one point I was starting to doubt my sanity and thoughts of suicide started creeping in.

I talk about why and touch on a few things that I think many people, Autistic and Non-Autistic can relate to.

Thank you for your patience and for listening!

You can also now see my episodes on YouTube at my Peeling Back The Mask channel.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmzB9f9yukqGupuf0LxXLkM_K6wAmRLcx

I have had a little more time on my hands since my wife has been working double shifts and my daughter is at daycare, so, my mind has been churning away.

On this episode, I talk about critical thinking and how it seems that we have just given up on it, for the most part, and some of the reasons for it. 

**I do express a few opinions that may not be popular, but, whether you agree or not, take a minute to think about it. Trying to see things from another point of view, can help to solidify you own view based on information from both sides, or, maybe, change your view.**

For the younger audience, I recommend you watch George Carlin comedy. Even though he passed away in 2008, everything he talks about (apart from being hilarious) is still true today.

In this episode I pose some questions that I have about Autistic people being better at gathering information and confirmation, confirming or denying common news stories and in general? Also, could we be better at being Psychologists and Scientific Professions?

Join me to explore these questions, and feel free to give your input on Facebook @PeelingBackTheMask or Instagram Peeling_Back_The_Mask.

In this episode I talk with the wonderful Dr. Ali Arena.

Dr. Arena is both a Speech-Language Pathologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

For her Doctorate, she addressed the dating intricacies of those on the Autism Spectrum which  lead her to develop unique 1:1 couples counseling for neurodiverse  partnerships and social skills classes for individuals with social  learning differences (including Asperger’s syndrome, high functioning  autism, ADD/ADHD, and those without a formal diagnosis but who struggle  in the social world).

You can find her on Instagram @connectingwithali and find information or contact her for information on counseling at er website: https://aliarenacommunications.com/

I do apologize for the audio quality on this episode. There were some issues with Zoom, which weren't apparent until I started to edit the audio, I hope you won't hold it against me this one time. :)

In this podcast, I am talking more about the state of the world right now and how it is and may affect us in the future.

I want to open up the forum for discussion and debate amongst my viewers. Please feel free to visit my Facebook page for Peeling Back The Mask at @PeelingBackTheMask and leave your thoughts and comments on this or any podcasts.

Connect with me on Instagram at Peeling_Back_The_Mask and please share my podcast with others who you think may be interested!

After my last episode, a listener contacted me and suggested that I am in burnout. I thought about it and realized I am, but the question was, why?

Well, a few nights later, I found out...

In this episode I talk about something I call Black Spots in my memory, problems with Executive Function and some other ramblings.

I'm just maintaining and finding it really really hard to focus on something, my brain is just rejecting everything, trying to force me to just do nothing, but I can't. So I am teeter-tottering on the edge of burnout or meltdown.

This interview has been long in the process, but we finally managed to do it, and I am so honored to have her on my podcast.

Carol Jean is the founder of Mind Your Autistic Brain, created to help Late Diagnosed (and self-diagnosed) Autistics on their journey, sharing tips and techniques to help us make sense of everything after we realize we are Autistic or are diagnosed.

Her work has made a difference in so many lives, including mine, and she is always looking at new and interesting topics and angles on Autism and the challenges we face and how to look after ourselves.

You can find her on Instagram as SocialAutie, on YouTube as Mind Your Autistic Brain with Social Autie and on Face Book as Carol Jean Whittington.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

In this interview, I talk with Ron Davis, a paramedic for 25 years, Instructor and now Life Coach and Counselor, specializing in treatment of addictions.

We talk about medications for anxiety, depression, ADHA and in general, their affects on the brain and body, how it affects our ability to function , the long term affects as well as some other topics I hope you will find interesting.

In this episode I talk about being one-minded and forgetting (or purposely) putting other things aside that we previously did, and the reasons why.

I also talk about the need for some wind down time and what I believe is a helpful tool for everyone, not just those on the spectrum, to help achieve or return to, a place of calm after or during a stressful day.

Thank you to all my listeners, I appreciate every one of you!

It's been a while since I've uploaded an episode because I was battling against COVID. Thanks to the swift actions of my wife, I was able to stay out of the hospital and recover.

I had severe problems breathing, was very exhausted and needed to sleep as much as possible and could barely talk without gasping for air and start to lose my voice.

But now, I'm feeling much better and ready to start recording again!

This is a short episode, but I talk about this labeling of "Neurodiverse" and the Inclusive Culture that is going on, and my thoughts on them. 

It's not meant to cause problems, just me sharing my thoughts on the issues. If you have thoughts on the topics, feel free to send me a message on Instagram, Facebook, or leave a voice message here on my Achor.fm channel.

I also announce my next guest, who is someone I admire, thankful to have met and am really excited to talk with her!

We hear and talk a lot about our difficulties as Autistics, but did you know we have Superpowers?

There are things that we can do far better than the Neurotypical population and they just come naturally!

On this episode I talk about some of them, do you have any of these Superpowers?

On this episode of Peeling Back The Mask, I talk with Samuel Huber, Father, husband, Public Speaker on Autism and YouTuber about Autism.

We talk about Sam and his experiences as a husband, father, about societies views on autism, the benefits of Social Media for the Autistic Community, his upcoming book and much more!

You can find Sam on YouTube at - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn88hCReMI1_ubtRtmpnBQQ

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/huberfamilyadventure/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/samuel.huber.5095

On this episode I talk about the difficulties of communication between Autistics and Neurotypicals and what I think are some of the benefits of getting a late diagnosis.

In this episode, I talk about how important and helpful it is to find a group or community to help us and not feel so alone. 

Community as Autistics can be difficult, but being part of a group of other Autistics can help alleviate feeling so alone, help us to get help when we need it and also support others. Also, it can lead to making friends, something we all tend to have a really hard time with.

This episode I talk about something that I am recovering from and wasn't aware was part of my Autism - Burn Out.

Autistic Burn Out is a part of Autism that can disable us in various manners and lead to depression, increase in anxiety, increase in stimming and many other things.  It affects us all differently, but it is important for all of us to be aware of it for our personal health, to be able to identify when it is happening and to create a plan to deal with it.

You can join me on Instagram at Peeling_Back_The_Mask or Facebook at Peeling Back The Mask. 

Feel free to leave feedback or comments on the episodes or suggestions for new topics.

Thank you for listening!

In this episode we pick up where we left off, talking about how masking evolves, masking being developed dependent on your environment, the definition of "normal", how workplaces could make things more Autistic friendly and the advantages and we touch briefly on masking in relationships.

If you want to send a voice message you can do it here - https://anchor.fm/peelingbackthemask/message

*WARNING* This episode discusses topics that can be disturbing for some people, especially if you have been abused when younger.

I had to work up the courage to do this episode as it is very personal and emotional for me. I did it to let others know that they are not along, Autistic or not, and that if they feel alone, confused, are hurting, that together we can start to heal and help each other in the process.

If you feel suicidal, are feeling alone or desperate, please leave a voice message with a way to get in touch with you and I will do my best to help you or put you in contact with someone who can.

In this episode, I talk about masking, what it is, how it affects our mental and physical health, and how it contributes to melt downs.

I broke the interview into 3 parts because we do cover a lot of topics during our talk, so it will be a little easier to digest in small 30 minute parts rather than a whole hour and a half.

In the third part of the interview we cover;

- Parents grieving after their child's diagnosis.
- Parents treatment of child's diagnosis and how it affects their development.
- Lack of effort by Neurotypicals to understand Autism.
- Medication.
- The good side of not being diagnosed early for those born prior to 1995.
- Advantages of Social Media and the Internet for Autistics.
- "Curing" Autism.
- Religion, labeling Autistics and discrimination.
- Mental Health views in Mexico.

I broke the interview into 3 parts because we do cover a lot of topics during our talk, so it will be a little easier to digest in small 30 minute parts rather than a whole hour and a half.

In part 2 of the interview, we cover;

- Continuing with Sensitivities from part 1.
- Music as therapy for Autistics.
- Special Interests.
- Briefly touch on repetitive behaviors.
- Psychological analysis of neurotypicals as a means to learn how to act like them.
- Autism and Evolution.
- Autistic labeling and how it affects support.

I broke the interview into 3 parts because we do cover a lot of topics during our talk, so it will be a little easier to digest in small 30 minute parts rather than a whole hour and a half.

In part 1 of the interview, we talk about;

- How and why Osiris was diagnosed.
- Family Support and their reaction to his diagnosis.
- The good and bad of getting an early diagnosis.
- Sensitivities.
- Facial expressions and humor.
- Communicating in the digital age.
-Autistic Empathy.

On this episode of Peeling Back The Mask, I talk about the effects of being in quarantine, isolation and depression.

I talk about how it affects someone on the Autism Spectrum, as well as people who suffer depression in general and some tips to help those you know who may be dealing with depression due to the isolation.

As well, I talk a bit about the labeling of Autistics as "high functioning" as opposed to others on the spectrum and how it needs to stop to unite us all under the one simple term of Autistic. 

I also talk a little about my support group on Facebook, who have been wonderful in helping me decipher things and given me a place where I can get support and feel safe in sharing.

Peeling Back The Mask is a podcast discussing Autism Spectrum Disorder in all of it's aspects in a raw, unscripted manner. We will talk about topics that are not generally discussed on Youtube videos, websites or other podcasts.

In this first podcast, I discuss some of the aspects of ASD, common traits and give some definition. And yes, it was scripted this time.

Whether you want to know more on the subject, have someone in your life with ASD or have ASD yourself, together, we can learn more about it, the good and bad, and gain insights into it and how it affects our lives.