existing (tactically) audio transcript – Alyse

Lightly edited for clarity

Society’s just not willing to or like ready to address like differences a good thing. You know, which, again, is a bit of a larger conversation. But yeah, I mean, I think that that’s one of the struggles about being neurodivergent. And whether or not again, it’s kind of in a lifelong sense or in, like, something happened, situational sense, everything is so individual; brains are so individual. Medicine doesn’t necessarily have good answers, [n]or is good at making predictions. We all really need to find our own journeys through these things.

I think that that’s why community is so helpful, you know, like most of the helpful information that I’ve gotten isn’t really from doctors, it’s from friends or other people who deal with chronic issues or like a physiotherapist rather than like a medical doctor. I think that that’s quite important and interesting, because those ways of relating to each other aren’t seen as valid as medical stuff [is]. Which is really unfortunate, but not surprising in a capitalist neoliberal patriarchy.

_________________________________________

I think there’s such a fallacy at play because people think that—Oh, you’re thinking your way into these problems, so you can think your way out of them. But if you don’t understand the way you’re thinking your way into a problem, how could you possibly understand the way to think yourself out of a problem?And it’s like, all pain exists in your brain. Right? Like, no matter. You’re talking to psychological pain, physical pain, It all exists in your brain. So yeah, literally all of my pain is in my head. But that doesn’t make it any less valid, or that doesn’t change my experience of it and the more people that tell you, your pain is not real or [they] minimize it, in general, studies are showing, the worse your pain gets, because your body is literally trying to make people pay attention. It’s like, Oh! these alarm bells aren’t loud enough? Let me get louder!

And like, I don’t know, I find that so intriguing, and telling of where we’re at, like, as a society in a way because generally, if you’re met with compassion, it’s like, it’s like if I have a meeting with a prof and it goes badly, and they’re really not understanding I’m gonna feel worse, more stressed out triggered afterwards. If I have a meeting and it goes well, with the prof I’m gonna feel more calm, less pain, like that understanding literally translates to a reduction in pain. And that’s because my body felt that release, I didn’t need to like perform it or prove it more. And I think that is like, really interesting, but not something that you can know until you know it, right? You have to be able to recognize those patterns.

Transcription by Otter.ai