Episode Title: Exploring Advocacy and Identity in the Jewish Autistic Community

Episode Number: 28

Release Date: October 15, 2024

Duration: 35:49

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Now You Know One Autistic, Moshe and Leah dive into the intersection of Judaism, autism, and advocacy. Rabbi Simcha Weinstein joins the conversation, sharing his personal journey and insights into the challenges and triumphs of being a neurodivergent individual within the Jewish community. The discussion covers topics such as faith, identity, acceptance, and the importance of self-advocacy.

Key Takeaways

  • Faith and Neurodiversity: Judaism offers a rich tradition that can provide comfort and meaning for neurodivergent individuals.
  • Self-Advocacy: Speaking up for oneself and one's needs is crucial for navigating a world that is not always designed for neurodivergent individuals.
  • Community Support: Finding a supportive community can make a significant difference in the lives of neurodivergent individuals and their families.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • The importance of understanding and accepting neurodiversity within the Jewish community.
  • The challenges and rewards of raising an autistic child.
  • The power of personal stories in promoting awareness and acceptance.

Quotes

  • "I didn't grow up religious or observant. I grew up normal." - Rabbi Simcha
  • "You don't have to try in Israel to be Jewish. It's the default." - Moshe
  • "When they were a child, they were basically treated like they were mentally ill." - Moshe

Resources & Links

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Transcript

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<v Music>

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<v Moshe>Hi, I'm Moshe, and I'm autistic.

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<v Leah>I'm Leah, and I'm boring. Welcome to the Now You Know One Autistic podcast.

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<v Moshe>The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect one autistic and one Leah,

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<v Moshe>and don't necessarily reflect the entire autistic community.

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<v Leah>Let's get to it.

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<v Moshe>Hi, Leah. Hi, Moshe. How are you doing today? Exhausted.

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<v Moshe>Yeah, me too. This is our first episode back from the Chagim.

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<v Moshe>I know we were planning to do an episode last week and yesterday and the day

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<v Moshe>before, so things kind of got away from us.

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<v Moshe>It is the, we call it the Chagim, the Jewish holiday, the high holiday season

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<v Moshe>here in Israel and around the world and Jewish communities.

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<v Moshe>This is a podcast about autism and neurodiversity and not Judaism,

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<v Moshe>so we won't get too much into it.

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<v Moshe>But on that topic, we're very excited today,

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<v Moshe>as promised in some of the posts last week, that we have Rabbi Simcha Weinstein

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<v Moshe>with us today with the Jewish Autism Network. Rabbi Simcha, hi.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>How are you? I'm also mid-high holiday marathon, so I get the exhaustion.

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<v Leah>Absolutely. I'm the cook, so this is like my Olympics. Yeah.

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<v Moshe>You said it was like your Olympics. So we're very, very excited to have you

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<v Moshe>on today. It's been a long time coming.

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<v Moshe>We've been talking for quite a while.

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<v Moshe>And we're going to do it. This is going to be the first of a two episode series with Rabbi Simcha.

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<v Moshe>And we're going to be talking today and the next episode, which hopefully will

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<v Moshe>be sooner than this one was.

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<v Moshe>And we're going to be talking about advocacy, ableism, and identity in the autistic

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<v Moshe>community, the Jewish autistic community.

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<v Moshe>And we're going to discuss a whole series of topics in regards to advocacy,

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<v Moshe>ableism, and identity. So Rabbi Sintra, why don't we start?

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<v Moshe>Tell us a little bit about yourself and the Jewish Autism Network and what brought

00:02:18.397 --> 00:02:21.337
<v Moshe>you to advocating for that.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Yeah. First thing, thank you for having me on. And it's really, truly a pleasure.

00:02:26.575 --> 00:02:30.455
<v Rabbi Sincha>And when we spoke on the phone, I remember saying, like, let's just pause it.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>This should be the episode.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Like, we kind of, I felt like we all hit it off right away.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>So I think this is going to be, it's going to be a fun, fun conversation.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>So the Jewish Autism Network is evolving, but so I'm running the Jewish Autism

00:02:46.835 --> 00:02:48.975
<v Rabbi Sincha>Network and I don't even know what it is.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>So it's an evolution, not a revolution,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>but I guess I could talk about what led me and I felt like it's been a sort

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<v Rabbi Sincha>of a really a journey of a lifetime that sort of led me to launch the Jewish Autism Network.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Work, but I don't know how far back into my origins you'd like me to go.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I am sort of a colorful personality, but I guess I like to joke that I didn't

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<v Rabbi Sincha>grow up, and I am a rabbi, but I like to joke that I did not grow up religious

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<v Rabbi Sincha>or observant. I grew up normal.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I'm from a secular British family in the north of England, and growing up, for me,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I think I was like a very shy child and I was sort of the beginning of high

00:03:37.015 --> 00:03:42.515
<v Rabbi Sincha>school I was bullied a little bit and I always sought solace in superheroes.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I've been a bit of a culture vulture my whole life and I did harbor dreams of

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<v Rabbi Sincha>working in the film industry which started to which I did start and I went to

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<v Rabbi Sincha>film school and then they say man,

00:03:58.695 --> 00:04:00.435
<v Rabbi Sincha>plans and gargoyle apps.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>That's the phrase so I did end up taking a bit of a detour into yeshiva.

00:04:07.855 --> 00:04:13.975
<v Rabbi Sincha>I got involved more Jewishly in college, and that led me to yeshiva.

00:04:14.175 --> 00:04:20.295
<v Rabbi Sincha>That led me to the rabbinical school. That led me to becoming an assistant rabbi in Brooklyn Heights.

00:04:20.455 --> 00:04:26.055
<v Rabbi Sincha>That led me to becoming an art school rabbi in Pratt Institute, which really,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>for me, felt very almost like coming home because I was an art school student,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>and now suddenly I'm an art school rabbi, so I could talk about the Talmud or

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I could talk about, you know, Evil Dead 2.

00:04:39.875 --> 00:04:43.095
<v Rabbi Sincha>You know, both cultural touchstones are there.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>In fact, sometimes the film history, you know, is more readily available than the Talmudics.

00:04:51.355 --> 00:04:54.255
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I started to also, with the students,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Really create literature and artwork that dealt with the synthesis of theology and popular culture.

00:05:02.184 --> 00:05:06.784
<v Rabbi Sincha>I wrote a book about superheroes, which I think, you know, maybe it was a bit

00:05:06.784 --> 00:05:10.244
<v Rabbi Sincha>of a lightning in a bottle because it doesn't always go that way.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I've written other books that no one knows about, including my own family,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>even though the books are dedicated to them.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>But I wrote this book about superheroes that to this day has traction.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I think maybe it was a timing thing.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>And if we get into autism, it's sort of interesting that I didn't really even put the two together,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>but I've been writing about masks and sort of double identities and really like

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<v Rabbi Sincha>this symbolism of being an outsider, insider and, you know,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>assimilated archetypes and things that I've been writing about for a very long time.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>It was only like years later that a self-advocate sort of said,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, maybe there's a connection. I'm like, well, yeah, that's interesting.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I guess what led me into advocacy. Am I talking too much?

00:06:01.244 --> 00:06:05.124
<v Leah>I was actually going to get word in edgewise, not because you're talking too

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<v Leah>much. I love everything you're saying.

00:06:06.644 --> 00:06:07.584
<v Rabbi Sincha>But I kind of want

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<v Leah>To respond to a few things before I forget because I have a memory thing where

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<v Leah>I don't remember everything.

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<v Leah>And I wanted to say, first of all, Moshe and I have both said the same thing

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<v Leah>that you said, which is sometimes we'll just go out for coffee and have such

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<v Leah>a great conversation that we think we should have microphones with us all the time.

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<v Leah>Because I think people like us just have this tendency to verbalize everything

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<v Leah>internally and make everything important. And it makes it important to other people.

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<v Leah>I also just really love that superhero connection for you, because what did

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<v Leah>we always say about you, Moshe?

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<v Moshe>What did we always say about me?

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<v Leah>That you're a superhero.

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<v Moshe>I am a superhero.

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<v Leah>You save people. So that's kind of his autism superpower.

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<v Leah>You know, somebody needs help, he's there. Somebody needs to do something,

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<v Leah>he's there. Somebody needs to carry 400 heavy bags, he carries them.

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<v Leah>Like he's a superhero. So the connection there is really interesting.

00:07:01.126 --> 00:07:01.566
<v Speaker2>Yeah.

00:07:02.046 --> 00:07:05.966
<v Leah>Can talk about that a little bit maybe. And I just love that you come from multiple

00:07:05.966 --> 00:07:09.226
<v Leah>backgrounds. You must be able to reach out to so many more people. You.

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<v Speaker2>Must have the

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<v Leah>Ability to be applicable.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>To sell more people than your average rabbi,

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<v Leah>Right?

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Yeah, and I think what was interesting in my kind of evolution that there was

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<v Rabbi Sincha>a time when, you know, if we're getting into sort of like the masking side and,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, I don't want to make this episode about me because it's,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>but, Lea Moshe, I don't want to make it about me.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>What do you think about me? That was a joke, by the way.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>But I think that when I first became sort of more quote-unquote religious,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>and I did grow up pretty traditional.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>You know, England is a little more traditional, I guess, in its sort of Jewish communal life.

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<v Leah>I mean, where we grew up, too, Canada was the same. There were some very religious

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<v Leah>people, but there was also, you know, the reform and the,

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<v Leah>reconstructionist and all the other options there too which aren't necessarily.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Traditional i guess we went to we

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<v Rabbi Sincha>just called it shul i didn't know it was an orthodox shul it

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<v Rabbi Sincha>was just shul and we went we did go shabbos morning

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<v Rabbi Sincha>and then we'd come home jump in the car and go and watch the football game and

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<v Rabbi Sincha>we always had to bend down when driving past the rabbi as a sign of respect

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<v Rabbi Sincha>almost almost crushed into the rabbi but we we did bend down so out of respect

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<v Rabbi Sincha>but but i i i would say that there was a time when I first entered sort of yeshiva,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I look at it like that kind of Noah's Ark kind of comparison,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>that I really felt that I had to kind of like almost remove myself from secularism.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>And I kind of like, you know, this is back in the day of CDs,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>so I got rid of all my, you know, Oasis and Beatles,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>And, you know, I stopped going to, you know, cinema, and I really felt that

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I had to kind of remove myself and kind of enter the world, and I was very devout.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>Not that I'm not devout, but I think maybe I kind of needed that rigidness.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>And as I kind of get older, I've realized that these, you know,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>experiences that I've had and this, like, you know, I really do love culture, and,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, it's kind of like my, you know, in many ways, it's sort of like,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, the superheroes kind of like have been my own sort of hero and my

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<v Rabbi Sincha>own guides, and I didn't even realize there was a whole Jewish connection to the superheroes.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>I felt it was crypto-Jewish, but that was something that in college I kind of

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<v Rabbi Sincha>discovered as a way to connect with students.

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<v Rabbi Sincha>So really, you know, I think that you're right. That kind of like,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>for me, it's kind of having, like, you know, being like a bit of an outsider-insider is,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>and I always worried that that was something I should be embarrassed of,

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<v Rabbi Sincha>and maybe, you know, but I've embraced it.

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<v Leah>I think, honestly, Rabbi, that's amazing because you can reach out to people

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<v Leah>who would never speak to, let's say, a frum rabbi who was born frum.

00:10:03.326 --> 00:10:07.766
<v Leah>Or, you know, you can identify. And coming around to that, we do have a lot

00:10:07.766 --> 00:10:10.486
<v Leah>of listeners that are not Jewish and don't know much about Judaism.

00:10:10.486 --> 00:10:14.146
<v Leah>So let's touch just real quickly on tshuva and belta tshuva and what that means.

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<v Leah>That means you're a Jew who's not necessarily religious and you become very religious.

00:10:19.426 --> 00:10:23.606
<v Leah>And what you described was also Moshe's experience. He became very rigid.

00:10:23.846 --> 00:10:26.646
<v Leah>He wore the black hat. He stopped listening to secular music.

00:10:26.946 --> 00:10:30.286
<v Leah>And eventually he had to scale back into a point where he was comfortable.

00:10:30.286 --> 00:10:33.906
<v Leah>Whereas me, I always kind of was comfortable with Judaism, wherever I could

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<v Leah>just pick up a C door and be more religious or not.

00:10:36.206 --> 00:10:40.746
<v Moshe>My grandparents were members of a conservative synagogue in Montreal.

00:10:42.686 --> 00:10:47.606
<v Moshe>And I would go unwillingly. I went to Hebrew school up until grade nine,

00:10:48.166 --> 00:10:49.826
<v Moshe>from kindergarten up to grade nine.

00:10:50.106 --> 00:10:52.946
<v Moshe>I was at one point fluent in Hebrew and Yiddish.

00:10:53.406 --> 00:10:57.666
<v Moshe>I could communicate with my grandparents, whose first language was Yiddish,

00:10:57.886 --> 00:10:59.506
<v Moshe>the language of the Ashkenazi Jew.

00:11:00.726 --> 00:11:03.826
<v Moshe>And after my bar mitzvah is what happens to a lot of people.

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<v Moshe>I kind of fell away from it when I no longer had to do it anymore.

00:11:07.386 --> 00:11:10.586
<v Moshe>And I went through a long period of time where I was secular,

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<v Moshe>but I felt an attachment to return.

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<v Moshe>So I returned. And as it happens in many of these, you know,

00:11:18.006 --> 00:11:22.006
<v Moshe>less than Jewish communities, the only presence was the Chabad.

00:11:22.626 --> 00:11:25.966
<v Moshe>And I went to their synagogues there.

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<v Moshe>And I tried to figure out where I stood.

00:11:30.286 --> 00:11:35.286
<v Moshe>And it seemed the most convenient place to be like, I'll just be like you.

00:11:35.686 --> 00:11:40.826
<v Moshe>And they said, you don't have to. That's fine. You don't have to do it. You can just be like you.

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<v Moshe>And as Leah said, I went through the period where I was the black hat as close

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<v Moshe>as possible that I could to that sort of way of thinking and way of doing.

00:11:52.926 --> 00:11:59.006
<v Moshe>And I really tried. I really did. But it caused a lot of conflict.

00:11:59.006 --> 00:12:04.066
<v Moshe>Because as an autistic person, I believe very strongly in rules.

00:12:04.146 --> 00:12:06.466
<v Moshe>And if you follow certain rules, those are the rules that you follow.

00:12:06.626 --> 00:12:11.106
<v Moshe>And any deviation from that causes a great deal of anxiety for me.

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<v Moshe>So I realized that I could not operate in a way that I could not maintain.

00:12:20.086 --> 00:12:29.326
<v Moshe>And then when we came to Israel, we realized that the people that cling most, Let me try this again.

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<v Moshe>The people that cling the closest to...

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<v Moshe>Everything that they can are either people that were brought up in it or people

00:12:38.462 --> 00:12:40.222
<v Moshe>that are trying to prove something.

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<v Leah>People who are looking for themselves.

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<v Speaker2>And I think

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<v Leah>The process of becoming more religious is a very good way of searching for and

00:12:47.322 --> 00:12:49.402
<v Leah>looking for yourself. But you have to find balance.

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<v Leah>So I find that your experience, interestingly enough, sort of mirrors Moses' experience also.

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<v Moshe>And I consider myself to be Orthodox Jewish.

00:12:58.002 --> 00:13:01.682
<v Moshe>I'm very religious. I wear the T-Tune and the Kippah and all that stuff.

00:13:01.862 --> 00:13:08.462
<v Moshe>But I also wear jeans. And, you know, I don't wear the hat anymore.

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<v Leah>We listen to rock music.

00:13:09.662 --> 00:13:12.602
<v Moshe>We listen to rock music. We watch, like, horror movies.

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<v Moshe>We do engage in a lot of secular things. And then, you know,

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<v Moshe>Yom Kippur, I spend 12 hours in synagogue, you know, doing tshuva and praying and all that stuff.

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<v Moshe>So I found a balance in my life.

00:13:26.542 --> 00:13:29.742
<v Moshe>But when we came to Israel, we realized it was a lot easier.

00:13:30.342 --> 00:13:34.302
<v Moshe>Because you don't have to try in Israel to be Jewish. It's the default.

00:13:34.782 --> 00:13:40.062
<v Moshe>All the food for the most part is kosher. The holidays are observed statewide

00:13:40.682 --> 00:13:45.942
<v Moshe>instead of where it used to be in North America where on Shabbat I still had

00:13:45.942 --> 00:13:48.762
<v Moshe>people calling me and if the rent was due, it was due.

00:13:48.882 --> 00:13:51.722
<v Moshe>And I was like, I can't, it's Yom Kippur. And they're like, I don't know what

00:13:51.722 --> 00:13:54.082
<v Moshe>that is, but you still have to be aware of that.

00:13:54.582 --> 00:13:59.862
<v Moshe>And I currently work for a from company here in Israel.

00:14:00.482 --> 00:14:07.102
<v Moshe>And we keep the holidays. We have discussions all the time about the halacha, what we're doing.

00:14:07.642 --> 00:14:11.962
<v Moshe>We're talking a lot about the mechanics of it.

00:14:12.322 --> 00:14:17.142
<v Moshe>And over lunch break, we chat about what we did over Shabbos.

00:14:17.362 --> 00:14:23.142
<v Moshe>So it's a great life that I just didn't have in North America,

00:14:23.182 --> 00:14:25.202
<v Moshe>and I love Israel. I think it's a wonderful country.

00:14:25.742 --> 00:14:34.382
<v Moshe>But it taught me a valuable lesson, which is that you don't necessarily have to be as strict

00:14:35.302 --> 00:14:41.242
<v Moshe>As some of the Haredi people are in order to be a proud Jewish person.

00:14:41.382 --> 00:14:46.262
<v Moshe>You can be a secular person who doesn't keep Shabbat and doesn't eat kosher

00:14:46.262 --> 00:14:49.582
<v Moshe>and still be a proud Jew. It's your own journey.

00:14:50.442 --> 00:14:56.062
<v Moshe>And my path back to my faith took me to a place where at one point,

00:14:56.162 --> 00:15:01.402
<v Moshe>as Leah will attest, I was the guy with the ripped jeans and the seating.

00:15:01.682 --> 00:15:07.482
<v Moshe>So I was sort of a man who stood out of context for what I was perceived as.

00:15:07.982 --> 00:15:13.122
<v Moshe>And it makes me really happy to meet someone else whose journey was very much the same.

00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:16.090
<v Speaker2>Well, yeah, a lot of that resonates.

00:15:16.290 --> 00:15:19.130
<v Rabbi Sincha>Yeah, it's not it's not it's not all or nothing. And I have found that in my

00:15:19.130 --> 00:15:22.490
<v Rabbi Sincha>own journey that, you know, being kind of like this outsider inside,

00:15:22.690 --> 00:15:24.070
<v Rabbi Sincha>it does make me more approachable.

00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:26.150
<v Rabbi Sincha>It's also put me into all sorts of

00:15:26.150 --> 00:15:29.930
<v Rabbi Sincha>interesting networks where I guess a traditional rabbi doesn't get to go.

00:15:30.050 --> 00:15:33.490
<v Rabbi Sincha>Like who gets to present at a panel at Comic-Con?

00:15:34.010 --> 00:15:38.670
<v Rabbi Sincha>And that's kind of open all sorts of doors. So. So, yeah.

00:15:38.870 --> 00:15:42.690
<v Leah>Yeah. Well, what's the name of your superhero book? Because you mentioned it, but you didn't.

00:15:42.690 --> 00:15:45.890
<v Rabbi Sincha>Mention the name. The book is called Up, Up, and Oy Vey.

00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:47.850
<v Moshe>Oh, I'm going to read it.

00:15:47.930 --> 00:15:52.450
<v Leah>We're going to buy it. Absolutely. Absolutely. So anyway, I would like to gear

00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:57.330
<v Leah>us back towards the topic of our podcast, because again, I do like explaining for people,

00:15:57.530 --> 00:16:00.170
<v Leah>because we have a lot of listeners who aren't Jewish, and they might want to

00:16:00.170 --> 00:16:02.930
<v Leah>know what this Israel thing is and what all this Jewish stuff is.

00:16:03.430 --> 00:16:05.010
<v Leah>But they come to listen to us

00:16:05.010 --> 00:16:09.050
<v Leah>for the neurodivergency. So how did neurodivergency come into your life?

00:16:09.270 --> 00:16:16.410
<v Leah>What did you realize about it? and what made you start the Jewish autism.

00:16:16.670 --> 00:16:21.430
<v Rabbi Sincha>So, yeah, so it's like anything. It's sort of an evolution, and that's where

00:16:21.430 --> 00:16:28.930
<v Rabbi Sincha>I think my kind of, like, also my, I would call it an awakening around ableism

00:16:28.930 --> 00:16:30.810
<v Rabbi Sincha>has also been an evolution.

00:16:31.070 --> 00:16:35.410
<v Rabbi Sincha>You know, you don't know what you don't know, and for me, it was sort of like,

00:16:35.730 --> 00:16:40.590
<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, I have four children, and my second oldest was not hitting milestones,

00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:44.370
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I think I was very much, and I'm going to talk about my kind of,

00:16:44.530 --> 00:16:47.630
<v Rabbi Sincha>I guess it's a journey into ableism.

00:16:47.870 --> 00:16:52.010
<v Rabbi Sincha>So if I trigger anyone, it's kind of intentional.

00:16:52.650 --> 00:16:56.410
<v Rabbi Sincha>But I'll just kind of go through it the way that I experienced it.

00:16:56.510 --> 00:16:59.270
<v Rabbi Sincha>But I was very much kind of a dad in denial.

00:16:59.810 --> 00:17:03.470
<v Leah>You're in the right podcast, first of all. We say the controversial things that

00:17:03.470 --> 00:17:04.490
<v Leah>nobody wants to say. I'm sorry.

00:17:05.350 --> 00:17:06.990
<v Rabbi Sincha>I'm sorry. Let me just say.

00:17:07.737 --> 00:17:10.137
<v Speaker2>My phone just went off. Okay?

00:17:10.797 --> 00:17:14.557
<v Leah>Yeah, we can still hear you. But as I was thinking, we're all...

00:17:15.077 --> 00:17:20.537
<v Rabbi Sincha>Kind of like that dad in denial. Don't want to talk about it.

00:17:20.777 --> 00:17:23.057
<v Rabbi Sincha>The doctors don't know what they're talking about.

00:17:23.517 --> 00:17:28.817
<v Rabbi Sincha>And he'll grow out of it. That was sort of like my perspective.

00:17:29.217 --> 00:17:31.697
<v Rabbi Sincha>I still think the doctors don't know what they're talking about,

00:17:31.837 --> 00:17:33.477
<v Rabbi Sincha>but that's a whole other topic.

00:17:33.977 --> 00:17:39.737
<v Rabbi Sincha>And, you know, they talk about, I guess, in advocacy about, providers and agencies

00:17:39.737 --> 00:17:44.377
<v Rabbi Sincha>being family-driven, what I was like literally sort of the Uber driver.

00:17:44.377 --> 00:17:49.717
<v Rabbi Sincha>That was about the extent of my kind of involvement in the journey.

00:17:49.917 --> 00:17:54.217
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I think, you know, denial, it works until it doesn't.

00:17:54.397 --> 00:17:58.257
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I think that, you know, the brain, in terms of the stages of acceptance,

00:17:58.497 --> 00:18:01.637
<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, the brain protects itself from things that are, you know,

00:18:01.737 --> 00:18:04.737
<v Rabbi Sincha>uncomfortable comfortable and and and even

00:18:04.737 --> 00:18:07.577
<v Rabbi Sincha>painful so i think that was kind of like the way you know

00:18:07.577 --> 00:18:10.377
<v Rabbi Sincha>the way i dealt with things and it was it was

00:18:10.377 --> 00:18:13.437
<v Rabbi Sincha>sort of a journey and and talk about sort of you know fitting in

00:18:13.437 --> 00:18:18.857
<v Rabbi Sincha>and and religiosity i felt that you know i i was second oldest had to be in

00:18:18.857 --> 00:18:25.277
<v Rabbi Sincha>a certain school system because that's what was expected and it was very for

00:18:25.277 --> 00:18:32.717
<v Rabbi Sincha>me difficult and sort of heartbreaking when I realized that he was not going to be in that system,

00:18:32.737 --> 00:18:39.637
<v Rabbi Sincha>which was also part of the journey towards acceptancy.

00:18:40.197 --> 00:18:46.277
<v Rabbi Sincha>But in terms of my entry point into advocacy, and I'm well aware that it's not,

00:18:46.417 --> 00:18:50.837
<v Rabbi Sincha>I'm talking about my son, not on behalf of my son.

00:18:50.917 --> 00:18:55.477
<v Rabbi Sincha>So I'm very careful not to appropriate his journey.

00:18:55.477 --> 00:19:01.517
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I don't want to, you know, what's the word, like appropriate him and his

00:19:01.517 --> 00:19:07.657
<v Rabbi Sincha>story, but I felt that we went through some inequities that for me were so shocking

00:19:07.657 --> 00:19:09.437
<v Rabbi Sincha>that I sort of had to talk about it.

00:19:09.517 --> 00:19:13.097
<v Rabbi Sincha>I felt like it was, I felt that this was,

00:19:13.377 --> 00:19:17.217
<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, it was almost like they say in rabbinics, like a schlitzchus,

00:19:17.317 --> 00:19:22.357
<v Rabbi Sincha>like a mission, that it was really, for us, it was sort of around puberty,

00:19:22.357 --> 00:19:26.197
<v Rabbi Sincha>everything seemed to change in a nanosecond.

00:19:26.757 --> 00:19:29.757
<v Rabbi Sincha>And around puberty, there were more behaviors

00:19:30.432 --> 00:19:34.872
<v Speaker2>And those behaviors, I think, were kind of expressing themselves.

00:19:35.072 --> 00:19:38.952
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I have the language now that I didn't even sort of understand at the time

00:19:38.952 --> 00:19:42.912
<v Rabbi Sincha>were expressing themselves more through the lens of mental health.

00:19:42.912 --> 00:19:48.072
<v Rabbi Sincha>And that's something that I'm really kind of passionate about is comorbidity

00:19:48.072 --> 00:19:54.452
<v Rabbi Sincha>within neurodegenerative and within autism and within like the kind of the developmental

00:19:54.452 --> 00:19:56.472
<v Rabbi Sincha>disability population.

00:19:56.472 --> 00:20:01.032
<v Rabbi Sincha>Because our systems, I could talk about it from a New York State perspective.

00:20:01.032 --> 00:20:05.972
<v Rabbi Sincha>I don't know other, you know, states and countries, but we don't seem to offer

00:20:05.972 --> 00:20:07.852
<v Rabbi Sincha>a New York State whole person care.

00:20:08.052 --> 00:20:11.992
<v Rabbi Sincha>So you either fit into, and I didn't even know about these systems at the time.

00:20:12.132 --> 00:20:16.572
<v Rabbi Sincha>I didn't know. There were just an acronyms that sounded something like out of Star Trek.

00:20:16.812 --> 00:20:22.812
<v Rabbi Sincha>So, you know, we did have an educational advocate that helped us with schooling.

00:20:22.812 --> 00:20:25.572
<v Rabbi Sincha>And this advocate has become, I think I speak to her

00:20:25.572 --> 00:20:28.372
<v Rabbi Sincha>over the years more than my own mother she's become like a real

00:20:28.372 --> 00:20:31.392
<v Rabbi Sincha>kind of mentor mentor to me shout out

00:20:31.392 --> 00:20:34.432
<v Rabbi Sincha>to joan harrington still still crushing it

00:20:34.432 --> 00:20:37.672
<v Rabbi Sincha>at age i don't know how old joan is but she's joan

00:20:37.672 --> 00:20:46.532
<v Rabbi Sincha>is like uh eternal in advocacy and and like like all i i i like all adhders

00:20:46.532 --> 00:20:50.712
<v Rabbi Sincha>i kind of feel like i'm going on the tangent over here but i'll try and lay

00:20:50.712 --> 00:20:54.552
<v Rabbi Sincha>you got to keep me stay on target you know I

00:20:54.552 --> 00:20:58.732
<v Leah>Had something to say. So not just comorbidity, but also misdiagnosis.

00:20:59.112 --> 00:21:04.012
<v Leah>So a lot of times neurodivergency is misdiagnosed as mental health issues.

00:21:04.572 --> 00:21:08.532
<v Leah>And again, you're on the right podcast because we say the things that no one

00:21:08.532 --> 00:21:12.792
<v Leah>else is saying and that are very, very controversial. So go for it. Say whatever.

00:21:13.232 --> 00:21:13.872
<v Rabbi Sincha>Okay, good.

00:21:13.872 --> 00:21:19.232
<v Leah>But what I'm interested in, really, and the thing that interested me about talking

00:21:19.232 --> 00:21:24.952
<v Leah>to you when we did the pre-show show was the internalized, you know,

00:21:25.212 --> 00:21:29.552
<v Leah>the internalized feeling of ableism that happens within people.

00:21:29.692 --> 00:21:34.272
<v Leah>And also that whole moment, because we've all had it. Our son was kind of like

00:21:34.272 --> 00:21:37.272
<v Leah>the sacrificial lamb, if you want to say, because at four and a half, he was diagnosed.

00:21:37.532 --> 00:21:41.352
<v Leah>And then all the adults look at each other and go, where did he get it from? Is it me? Is it you?

00:21:42.512 --> 00:21:45.612
<v Leah>What's going on? So talk a little bit about that process, maybe.

00:21:46.452 --> 00:21:51.072
<v Rabbi Sincha>Okay, okay. But I just want to, like, put a ribbon on the entry to advocacy,

00:21:51.392 --> 00:21:55.772
<v Rabbi Sincha>which was really, like, you know, puberty, I'd say things got real quick.

00:21:56.212 --> 00:21:59.892
<v Rabbi Sincha>And suddenly the school are telling me I have to be, I think it was,

00:22:00.032 --> 00:22:02.732
<v Rabbi Sincha>like, 15 minutes away at all times.

00:22:02.932 --> 00:22:07.492
<v Rabbi Sincha>So, you know, it's very hard to, like, do anything when you have to be 15 minutes

00:22:07.492 --> 00:22:09.232
<v Rabbi Sincha>away from the school at all times.

00:22:09.232 --> 00:22:16.232
<v Rabbi Sincha>And then, you know, there were meltdowns that landed us into psychiatric settings.

00:22:16.812 --> 00:22:18.512
<v Rabbi Sincha>And what really got me...

00:22:19.036 --> 00:22:27.156
<v Rabbi Sincha>My entry to advocacy was just seeing how many kids like Ellie were in these

00:22:27.156 --> 00:22:33.996
<v Rabbi Sincha>settings and facilities and how unequipped these settings and facilities were

00:22:33.996 --> 00:22:37.596
<v Rabbi Sincha>for a young adult on the spectrum.

00:22:37.596 --> 00:22:44.416
<v Rabbi Sincha>And when the very doctor who is who is like, you know, the clinician who's prescribing

00:22:44.416 --> 00:22:49.156
<v Rabbi Sincha>the medication and quite a lot of the medication at that point is telling me,

00:22:49.356 --> 00:22:51.016
<v Rabbi Sincha>I don't know anything about autism.

00:22:51.016 --> 00:22:56.616
<v Rabbi Sincha>I'm like thinking to myself something's not right over here because he was on

00:22:56.616 --> 00:23:04.596
<v Rabbi Sincha>a unit that was not in any way adapted for his needs sensory,

00:23:04.836 --> 00:23:08.036
<v Rabbi Sincha>Whether it's sensory whether it's just in terms of communication

00:23:08.036 --> 00:23:10.956
<v Rabbi Sincha>which is like obviously key as I've

00:23:10.956 --> 00:23:14.016
<v Rabbi Sincha>learned and that was the point where I sort of

00:23:14.016 --> 00:23:17.276
<v Rabbi Sincha>started to kind of speak up and speak

00:23:17.276 --> 00:23:21.096
<v Rabbi Sincha>out and I didn't realize siloed systems

00:23:21.096 --> 00:23:24.136
<v Rabbi Sincha>case management the failure to to

00:23:24.136 --> 00:23:27.116
<v Rabbi Sincha>kind of understand a dual diagnosis whole

00:23:27.116 --> 00:23:33.096
<v Rabbi Sincha>person care because you know who doesn't have anxiety especially in 2024 so

00:23:33.096 --> 00:23:38.536
<v Rabbi Sincha>and and i i sort of came to kind of understand that the the the comorbidities

00:23:38.536 --> 00:23:46.556
<v Rabbi Sincha>around around autism and neurodivergence and that That was my kind of entry into advocacy,

00:23:46.556 --> 00:23:49.776
<v Rabbi Sincha>was really seeing just how unequipped.

00:23:49.916 --> 00:23:54.616
<v Rabbi Sincha>And what shocked me was that it was the moment that we needed help the most

00:23:54.616 --> 00:23:56.316
<v Rabbi Sincha>that there was the least.

00:23:56.336 --> 00:23:58.516
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I sort of was blessed.

00:23:58.576 --> 00:24:02.136
<v Rabbi Sincha>I was blessed to be in a community that seems to have, you know,

00:24:02.216 --> 00:24:05.296
<v Rabbi Sincha>we have more services than Starbucks.

00:24:05.296 --> 00:24:10.676
<v Rabbi Sincha>And, you know, when he was younger, we're in like the Disney world of inclusion

00:24:10.676 --> 00:24:16.016
<v Rabbi Sincha>and there were all these organizations and, you know, everyone's sending me

00:24:16.016 --> 00:24:18.256
<v Rabbi Sincha>a gift packet and all these.

00:24:18.376 --> 00:24:24.816
<v Rabbi Sincha>But when I really needed it, and that's not necessarily critique on the community,

00:24:24.816 --> 00:24:28.336
<v Rabbi Sincha>because if New York State couldn't figure it out, how could,

00:24:28.416 --> 00:24:30.816
<v Rabbi Sincha>you know, any one communal organization,

00:24:31.156 --> 00:24:35.316
<v Rabbi Sincha>Although they were claiming to have figured it out. So that I found frustrating.

00:24:35.956 --> 00:24:39.316
<v Leah>Absolutely. I'm glad that you're saying all of this, and I'm really glad that

00:24:39.316 --> 00:24:42.316
<v Leah>you advocated for your son, because, again, I'm sure you're busy and you probably

00:24:42.316 --> 00:24:43.656
<v Leah>haven't listened to every episode.

00:24:43.976 --> 00:24:47.496
<v Leah>But on previous episodes, we've also touched on the fact that Moshe is still

00:24:47.496 --> 00:24:51.816
<v Leah>on a medication that his body is addicted to that he never needed because his

00:24:51.816 --> 00:24:54.196
<v Leah>parents didn't understand what his meltdowns were.

00:24:54.736 --> 00:24:59.136
<v Moshe>Yeah. As we sort of went into, I think, in our first or maybe our second episode,

00:25:00.023 --> 00:25:05.403
<v Moshe>When I was first coming out, it was also around the puberty thing,

00:25:05.583 --> 00:25:09.063
<v Moshe>I think, that I was especially, as they called it, difficult.

00:25:10.383 --> 00:25:16.143
<v Moshe>And a lot of, I mean, there wasn't a formal diagnosis of autism as we know it today back then.

00:25:16.383 --> 00:25:20.843
<v Moshe>There was, I mean, there was autism, but it was certainly not the way that it's

00:25:20.843 --> 00:25:22.843
<v Moshe>presented. There was like...

00:25:22.843 --> 00:25:25.483
<v Leah>Yeah, the problem with that is that autism in and of itself,

00:25:25.623 --> 00:25:28.523
<v Leah>what the process does to your brain, the type of person you are hasn't changed.

00:25:28.523 --> 00:25:31.123
<v Leah>It's the diagnostic criteria that have changed.

00:25:31.403 --> 00:25:34.283
<v Moshe>Right. And they had like Asperger's and a bunch of other things.

00:25:34.563 --> 00:25:39.563
<v Moshe>So when I was first exhibiting some of the harsher symptoms,

00:25:39.723 --> 00:25:45.183
<v Moshe>and one of the ones that really sort of brought me into therapy was the fact

00:25:45.183 --> 00:25:48.983
<v Moshe>that I was having meltdowns at school.

00:25:49.143 --> 00:25:53.623
<v Moshe>I went to a school that was built for 2,000 and had a student population of

00:25:53.623 --> 00:25:58.723
<v Moshe>5,000. And it was overcrowded, overpopulated, and crowds would be coming at

00:25:58.723 --> 00:26:03.003
<v Moshe>me and there would be noise and sounds and sights. And it was very overwhelming.

00:26:03.043 --> 00:26:07.763
<v Moshe>And I would end up running to a quiet room and just trying to find a way to calm down.

00:26:08.363 --> 00:26:16.303
<v Moshe>And that happened enough times that my family at the time decided that I needed to go to therapy.

00:26:16.443 --> 00:26:21.623
<v Moshe>And I met with a psychiatrist and they diagnosed me with anxiety and depression

00:26:21.623 --> 00:26:23.123
<v Moshe>and a slew of other things.

00:26:23.123 --> 00:26:32.463
<v Moshe>And they put me on antidepressants and they put me on antipsychotics and they put me on anti-anxiety.

00:26:34.443 --> 00:26:38.603
<v Moshe>I went on medication to help me sleep, medications to help me get up.

00:26:39.043 --> 00:26:43.583
<v Moshe>And to this day, I'm on an antidepressant that I certainly don't think I actually

00:26:43.583 --> 00:26:49.243
<v Moshe>ever needed, but it was given to me because essentially nobody wanted to take

00:26:49.243 --> 00:26:53.483
<v Moshe>the time to figure out what was going wrong, so they wanted to make me manageable.

00:26:53.863 --> 00:26:58.763
<v Moshe>So they would give me medications so that I could go to school and I could behave myself

00:26:59.529 --> 00:27:07.409
<v Moshe>And it was a really sad depiction of the fact that people,

00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:13.829
<v Moshe>not just for myself, but we've heard from other listeners of our podcast who

00:27:13.829 --> 00:27:15.309
<v Moshe>are also adult diagnosed.

00:27:16.069 --> 00:27:20.109
<v Moshe>And they were told that as children, they were basically told that they were

00:27:20.109 --> 00:27:25.329
<v Moshe>difficult, impossible, broken, abnormal, weird, awkward, you name it.

00:27:25.329 --> 00:27:34.149
<v Moshe>And they were exposed to neglect and abuse and essentially being shut down.

00:27:34.549 --> 00:27:44.509
<v Moshe>And they talk a lot about the infamous I Am Autism commercial that was put out by an...

00:27:45.629 --> 00:27:49.009
<v Leah>I've seen it. The one that we probably shouldn't say, but everyone...

00:27:49.009 --> 00:27:51.189
<v Moshe>I'm not going to name them, but everyone knows who they are.

00:27:51.189 --> 00:27:55.669
<v Moshe>And it essentially depicted autism as something that destroys families,

00:27:56.469 --> 00:28:03.909
<v Moshe>kills lives, you know, you know, like this criminal that lives in your house and robs from you.

00:28:04.089 --> 00:28:07.949
<v Moshe>And that's actually how it was treated when I was a child.

00:28:08.249 --> 00:28:11.929
<v Moshe>It was treated like you need to not.

00:28:13.169 --> 00:28:19.129
<v Moshe>And our son now was diagnosed from a very young age, and he has received some,

00:28:19.149 --> 00:28:25.049
<v Moshe>but not by any means all, of the therapies and supports that he needs to be functional.

00:28:25.329 --> 00:28:28.589
<v Moshe>Whereas in my day, when I was dysfunctional, I would be hit.

00:28:29.542 --> 00:28:33.642
<v Moshe>Both at school and at home, and I would be all that, and I would be told just

00:28:33.642 --> 00:28:35.322
<v Moshe>to sit down and keep quiet.

00:28:35.642 --> 00:28:41.242
<v Moshe>And that is the basis of one of the reasons why we do the podcast,

00:28:41.422 --> 00:28:45.682
<v Moshe>is because there are a lot of adult-diagnosed autistics out there,

00:28:45.922 --> 00:28:47.722
<v Leah>People with autism, people with ADHD.

00:28:48.102 --> 00:28:52.862
<v Moshe>People with any number of neurodiversity-related conditions,

00:28:53.102 --> 00:28:55.522
<v Moshe>and they all have the same story.

00:28:55.582 --> 00:29:00.002
<v Moshe>When they were a child, they were basically treated like they were mentally ill.

00:29:00.302 --> 00:29:07.382
<v Moshe>When all they really needed was a way to understand the world and how they relate to it.

00:29:07.542 --> 00:29:09.882
<v Leah>I just thought you cried a lot and I enjoyed hugging you.

00:29:10.382 --> 00:29:11.542
<v Speaker2>Leia was the only person,

00:29:11.542 --> 00:29:16.362
<v Moshe>We've known each other since we were seven, and Leia was the only person who

00:29:16.362 --> 00:29:22.722
<v Moshe>actually never treated me like I was just an inconvenience. I just thought

00:29:22.722 --> 00:29:25.762
<v Leah>You cried a lot and I thought that was fun. I was like, why are you so sad?

00:29:26.742 --> 00:29:31.562
<v Moshe>And it was a very tragic way of growing up.

00:29:32.642 --> 00:29:39.302
<v Moshe>But advocacy and ableism have come in leaps and bounds over the years.

00:29:39.322 --> 00:29:43.862
<v Moshe>And I'm really glad that we live in an era now which by no means is perfect,

00:29:43.862 --> 00:29:50.782
<v Moshe>but where a child who is diagnosed as autistic is actually given some of the

00:29:50.782 --> 00:29:52.542
<v Moshe>supports, depending on where you live,

00:29:52.622 --> 00:29:57.522
<v Leah>Of course. So, speaking of advocacy and ableism, we're going to dive immediately

00:29:57.522 --> 00:30:00.362
<v Leah>into it next time, and we'll take a much deeper dive next time.

00:30:00.462 --> 00:30:03.242
<v Leah>It does turn out that this time we've just been talking to Rabbi Johnson,

00:30:03.602 --> 00:30:04.942
<v Leah>which was well, a little bit.

00:30:06.122 --> 00:30:08.422
<v Rabbi Sincha>There is a lot that...

00:30:08.639 --> 00:30:12.839
<v Rabbi Sincha>Boishita said that I just want to like respond a little bit to.

00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:16.659
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I think this two-parter is going to become a ten-parter because there's

00:30:16.659 --> 00:30:19.379
<v Rabbi Sincha>so much. There's so much.

00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:27.279
<v Rabbi Sincha>You had just said something that kind of like almost it gave me like a recall

00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:33.739
<v Rabbi Sincha>of a memory that when I was in school, I really wanted to like be a good student.

00:30:33.739 --> 00:30:39.759
<v Rabbi Sincha>I wanted to, like, I kind of liked to learn, and I was sort of like a bit of

00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:47.419
<v Rabbi Sincha>the class clown, and I kind of, I think, masked my anxiety very well, still do it very well.

00:30:47.879 --> 00:30:51.699
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I remember you reminded me that there were times I would go,

00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:54.279
<v Rabbi Sincha>like, behind the stage of the school.

00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:59.799
<v Rabbi Sincha>I'd find, like, a desk, literally behind the curtain, and sit there and do my

00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:06.459
<v Rabbi Sincha>work because I just really wanted to do the work. But it was just hard to focus in the classroom.

00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:13.379
<v Rabbi Sincha>But, yeah, no, I do have to kind of be on a – part of my many roles is to them.

00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:19.579
<v Rabbi Sincha>I train peer family advocates. So I believe it's called family peer advocates. I always get it wrong.

00:31:19.879 --> 00:31:23.279
<v Rabbi Sincha>And it's something that I absolutely love to do. So we have a coaching call

00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:27.499
<v Rabbi Sincha>in 12 minutes. But I just want to kind of like, for part one,

00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:31.459
<v Rabbi Sincha>just to kind of put a little bit of a ribbon onto it.

00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:36.519
<v Rabbi Sincha>And in terms of the mental health piece, yeah, no, for me, it's sort of like,

00:31:36.659 --> 00:31:40.939
<v Rabbi Sincha>I think that it's, I'm not sure what comes first, the chicken or the egg,

00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:46.539
<v Rabbi Sincha>but, you know, neurodivergence and anxiety seems to go hand in hand.

00:31:46.539 --> 00:31:51.499
<v Rabbi Sincha>Maybe it's the, you know, we're operating in a world that's not designed for

00:31:51.499 --> 00:31:56.019
<v Rabbi Sincha>us, which brings out the anxiety or this kind of the internal anxiety.

00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:59.779
<v Rabbi Sincha>But but and the problem is that there's no real evidence based.

00:32:00.492 --> 00:32:03.572
<v Rabbi Sincha>Treatments to treat that

00:32:03.572 --> 00:32:06.552
<v Rabbi Sincha>anxiety in a way that is competent to the

00:32:06.552 --> 00:32:09.572
<v Rabbi Sincha>operating system with which it's

00:32:09.572 --> 00:32:12.392
<v Rabbi Sincha>trying to which they're trying to to focus

00:32:12.392 --> 00:32:17.332
<v Rabbi Sincha>on so you're going to get treatment that's that's based on a profile that's

00:32:17.332 --> 00:32:23.012
<v Rabbi Sincha>not yours which is very damaging and dangerous and i think often done with the

00:32:23.012 --> 00:32:27.352
<v Rabbi Sincha>best of intentions and and then if if i was being cynical i'd talk about you

00:32:27.352 --> 00:32:30.652
<v Rabbi Sincha>know big farmer and who's, you know, follow the money.

00:32:30.792 --> 00:32:33.892
<v Rabbi Sincha>That's a whole other part of advocacy that I've kind of realized.

00:32:34.132 --> 00:32:38.112
<v Rabbi Sincha>Follow the money. I've seen how this, you know, it's very fascinating to see

00:32:38.112 --> 00:32:41.072
<v Rabbi Sincha>elected officials, how decisions are made.

00:32:41.292 --> 00:32:45.892
<v Rabbi Sincha>That's a whole other, but to put a ribbon on terms of my kind of evolution that

00:32:45.892 --> 00:32:47.452
<v Rabbi Sincha>I felt that I had to do something.

00:32:47.732 --> 00:32:54.032
<v Rabbi Sincha>I didn't know what to do. And I started to kind of do a little bit of research from the parent piece.

00:32:54.112 --> 00:32:58.512
<v Rabbi Sincha>And this was before I even kind of was aware of my own neurodivergence,

00:32:58.712 --> 00:33:02.852
<v Rabbi Sincha>which may be a part two, but I want to leave it on a bit of a cliffhanger that

00:33:02.852 --> 00:33:08.212
<v Rabbi Sincha>for me, I felt like, oh, I'm going to become like one of these like mother warriors,

00:33:08.512 --> 00:33:09.732
<v Rabbi Sincha>like, you know, I was seeing on,

00:33:10.812 --> 00:33:14.212
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I know that's like a massive trigger and I'm saying it's intentionally,

00:33:14.212 --> 00:33:17.292
<v Rabbi Sincha>I'm saying that because it's been an evolution and I thought,

00:33:17.452 --> 00:33:22.132
<v Rabbi Sincha>oh, I'm going to be like warrior dad and I'll, you know,

00:33:23.052 --> 00:33:29.452
<v Rabbi Sincha>I don't know, I'll start like what's the word, like videoing the journey, as it were.

00:33:29.952 --> 00:33:36.132
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I kind of thought that, and I've since kind of found that that's a little

00:33:36.132 --> 00:33:38.832
<v Rabbi Sincha>bit icky, not my comfort level.

00:33:38.832 --> 00:33:44.092
<v Rabbi Sincha>And I certainly did not ever go around with a GoPro camera following my kid

00:33:44.092 --> 00:33:45.692
<v Rabbi Sincha>around because that's weird.

00:33:45.952 --> 00:33:52.172
<v Rabbi Sincha>But I didn't know, I knew I had to do something. I didn't know what and why and how.

00:33:52.392 --> 00:33:57.452
<v Rabbi Sincha>And that is itself evolving. and I think in terms of my own discovery and in

00:33:57.452 --> 00:33:58.952
<v Rabbi Sincha>terms of my interactions with

00:33:59.160 --> 00:34:02.060
<v Rabbi Sincha>with self-advocates and parent

00:34:02.060 --> 00:34:04.840
<v Rabbi Sincha>advocates that that's really kind of changed me

00:34:04.840 --> 00:34:08.080
<v Rabbi Sincha>so i guess like for a part one i just knew that i i i

00:34:08.080 --> 00:34:10.940
<v Rabbi Sincha>felt that i compelled to to

00:34:10.940 --> 00:34:15.560
<v Rabbi Sincha>kind of be involved i felt this was becoming a calling and i didn't quite know

00:34:15.560 --> 00:34:22.120
<v Rabbi Sincha>how that was gonna kind of manifest and it's that was kind of i guess the the

00:34:22.120 --> 00:34:28.300
<v Rabbi Sincha>genesis of me kind of going into into advocacy which is a whole journey into itself,

00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:30.760
<v Rabbi Sincha>but that's my part one.

00:34:31.300 --> 00:34:35.000
<v Leah>Well, by somehow, what a pleasure. You're a very smart person.

00:34:35.200 --> 00:34:37.140
<v Leah>I'm sure I'm not the first person to point that up to you.

00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:42.100
<v Rabbi Sincha>You actually may be the first person that ever said that to me, number one.

00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:47.260
<v Rabbi Sincha>Number two, as you described yourself as the cook, and I know you're a lot more

00:34:47.260 --> 00:34:51.280
<v Rabbi Sincha>than the cook, you only have about another, I think it's three,

00:34:51.540 --> 00:34:55.160
<v Rabbi Sincha>six, you've got about another 12 meals left of the High Holidays.

00:34:55.620 --> 00:35:00.560
<v Leah>So, yeah. Pray for me, even though I'm the one who's here at the wall.

00:35:01.100 --> 00:35:07.020
<v Rabbi Sincha>Yeah, yo, I'll go pray for you. And to be continued, so I'm joking off.

00:35:07.680 --> 00:35:12.520
<v Moshe>Rabbi Simcha, as they say, I'll leave you to your meeting. We'll talk again soon.

00:35:12.860 --> 00:35:15.400
<v Rabbi Sincha>Alright, thank you. It's been a pleasure. Bye.

00:35:18.320 --> 00:35:23.440
<v Music>

00:35:23.120 --> 00:35:27.300
<v Moshe>Well that's the end of our episode and now you know one autistic just a little

00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:32.200
<v Moshe>bit better now something you may not know about some autistics is that we often

00:35:32.200 --> 00:35:37.780
<v Moshe>struggle with ending social interactions so leah it's

00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:42.140
<v Leah>Okay moshe i'll take care of it thank you for listening to now you know one

00:35:42.140 --> 00:35:43.580
<v Leah>autistic see you next week.

 

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