Special Education Assistant

Speaker 0 00:00:11 Yo welcome to autism on shift. I'm Thora, I'm Adam, and we're going to sell it. No, we're not selling it. Sales is overrated. We don't watch us. We've got, this is autism on shift. We talked to other autistics about what we do for work and we, uh, we're kind of silly, maybe a little you're rid of today. We are talking to Kelsey and Kelsey is a special education assistant in an autism classroom, which is super cool. Tell us about that. What does that like for you and welcome, Speaker 1 00:00:48 Thank you for welcoming me. Um, you know, it's, it's unique experience. Something that I really pushed to do, uh, because I felt like we need more of us in the classrooms working with the kids. Like, everybody's always like, you know, ADA's terrible. Why are we doing this? And, uh, I think it's important to have those voices. And also as somebody who, you know, got to take advantage of, uh, Perez because special education systems are also, you can also call them Perez. Okay. Um, I'd like to take advantage of them when I was in middle school and high school and I don't let my children walk all over me. Like I was able to walk over. Um, but I like giving back and being able to say, Hey, you know what? I got this up when I was a kid. And now I'm giving that help. Speaker 0 00:01:34 Yeah. That's fantastic. Throw. And I were talking earlier too. Uh, and we thought that it's really cool to have an advocate in the classroom. You know, someone who really knows, you know, what's going on. And then, you know, you can have a sense of feeling of, you know, what's needed. Speaker 1 00:01:53 Oh, absolutely. And they listened to me like the teacher that I've, I've, I've worked with a couple other teachers. I've also worked in a developmentally, cognitively delayed classroom. Um, but the two teachers I've worked with, I've done autism have always been very relatable. I've always listened. They've always, sometimes they've looked at me and been like, so what's going on? Or, you know, because they work in autism, I can be like, I'm overstimulated because this child's been screaming for an hour and a half. I need to go take three minutes or else I'm going to start screaming. Nobody wants the SCA to melt down while the child is melting down. Like, Nope, we're not doing this. Speaker 0 00:02:28 Is it to have the job that can actually help assist you when you need. Like, that is perfect. That's really funny. Speaker 1 00:02:35 Exactly. And that's, that's something that I've learned to do that doing like at being an advocate, learning to be an advocate for myself also means I learned to be an advocate for my Kindles. There are things that I realized, like we have a student who just sometimes has issues. And like I realized that like going, like put, putting your fingers up and down, the inner arm can be really good because that feels good. And I can tell them that feels good, or they'll be like, I don't know why when I trust their head, they're fine. And I'm like, do you know how many, like sensory things happened in the hair? That's why they liked that, you know, rub their back, you know, use your nails a little bit if you need to, not, not hugely, but just, you know, just lightly and things like that. Like those sensory things that we get that they won't, or they'll be like, I don't understand why this kid's reacting. And I'll be like, you hear that small beeping beeping. I'm like, you can't hear it, but I can fix things. Speaker 2 00:03:36 Let me ask this. Um, you kind of, you kind of hinted at it, but I, I'm not sure. Um, I was clear on it. Um, did the kids relate to you in a different way than they relate to the teachers? Like, do they know you're autistic, first of all, Speaker 1 00:03:49 Um, you know, I'm very open about it with them. The thing is, is that a lot of them, um, I work with mostly, um, five to 11 year olds and put them, haven't been told that they're autistic. So they don't understand when given the opportunity. I will, I will always be honest with a kid when I'm with mainstream kids. I can say, I can say, Hey, you know, Treyshawn, I I'm very, sorry. I reacted badly. I have a thing called autism. You know, this, you know, I don't know Marcus, you know, Mark is, you know, he's a little weird, we have the same kind of thing going on. And it kind of has that helps that student take a step back. And it doesn't necessarily be like in the classroom, like you were asking. But, um, I do try to be honest with my students. Speaker 1 00:04:36 If my students say they have autism. And I said, Hey, so do I. Um, but again, a lot of, um, in the past I've had worked with more. Um, and I know people don't like these terms, but it's the only terms I can use to explain it really well. But like, I've worked in a higher functioning classroom where the kids are like mainstreamed and things like that. And they've been more likely to understand and I can be like, Hey, this is who I am. And I understand how you're feeling right now. Whereas opposed to my lower functioning quote, unquote, students who are nonverbal, who scream or who have a lot of sensory needs and issues and things like that, you can't really explain to them, you can't stop them and say, Hey, I understand how you're feeling. I feel the same way I can tell them that all I want, but sure. It doesn't mean they're going to process it, um, because they're having their own struggles and trying to figure out things. And they're just not quite there developmentally. Speaker 2 00:05:32 Gotcha. So, so how about, how about communication? So when you're talking about kids who are maybe non-verbal or who might be, um, easily overloaded, um, sensory wise, do you like, do you have a way that you communicate with them that is different because of your autism? Or do you, is it just something that you would do anybody would do? You know? Um, there Speaker 1 00:05:58 Are some things that I have done that are just a teeny bit different. It actually, people have picked it up and I picked up from other people, like, for example, some, a lot of teachers will be like my coworkers who aren't don't have a degree in special needs or whatever. I also have a special ed certificate. I forgot to mention that. Um, but people, um, like there'll be like, look at my face, look at me, look at my eyes, look, my eyes. I'll be like, you can't do that. They're not going to want to look at your eyes. It's awkward. And they haven't learned to, you know, what, I'll look at the forehead or learn how to live in that discomfort of touching your eyes. So what I always do is to repeat after me, I'll touch the bottom of my, uh, the top of my chin. Speaker 1 00:06:40 Okay. All right. Under my lip. And I'll say, I want what, and then like give them two different choices. And I've noticed that people have picked that up. When I, when I started doing that and people have noticed that it's been successful because it gives the kids something to focus on. Like you're focusing on because a lot of kids have like with disabilities have speech issues. So, you know, that means that that gives them the chance to work on their speech because then she has to see somebody else form the words and it gives them, you know, that verbal, okay, this is what I need to think. We also have communication boards, which are great. Um, they have changed in the last few years in the district that I work in. Um, so we haven't like we use them, but not nearly as much at least with my particular kiddos, but we use those as well to help us. Speaker 1 00:07:29 So you go like to, I, and it's a picture of you. And like, I want like the, the want is like, um, uh, emotion where you're putting your hands and putting them towards you. And like in his, like a box and pointing down or piddle a lot of pictures of things. I sometimes think the conveys communication ports can be a little more complicated than teaching them kids how to speak. But I understand that I don't have all the knowledge. I know that I don't have, uh, you know, a degree in speech. So I kind of go with what I'm told to do, but at the same time, it's like one of those, I try to find my own way. And my way usually is the trying to get them to mimic and repeat what I do. Speaker 2 00:08:10 That makes sense. Yeah. You know, I've heard that and I didn't really, I don't know how I didn't get this, but for some reason I didn't get what annoyed me so much about my daughter's teacher and she's remote right now, obviously everybody's COVID and you know, um, so she's remote. So I'm working on the couch right next to her at her desk when she's in class. And this thing triggers me every time and it didn't occur to me until you just said that the teacher says eyeballs. Yeah. She like demands that the kids look at her in the eyeballs and she just, she says it in such a way. She's just like, all right, everybody eyeballs. I'm like my goodness. Like not only is that demanding, but how many of your kids have, do not even the ability to look at you in the eyeballs? Like, I don't know something to bring up Speaker 1 00:08:59 And see I'm doing distance learning as well or distance teaching. I also just love learning, but I'm also just teaching. And so what I tell the kids to do is look at the screen or look at my face. I never say, look at my eyes or anything, but it's one of those, because I know that my kids are disengaged is one of those like, Oh, I know they're watching the TV, or I know that they're looking at what their, their things do. Like, I need them to look at the screen. I don't need them looking necessarily at me. I don't need them looking at my eyes, but I need them to see my face. I need that. I need to know that they're looking at the screen and they are paying attention to what's going on. Yeah. That'd be a much better way. Maybe send her an email and say, Hey, can you say you have to look at the screen or look at your face now that your eyeballs. Yeah, Speaker 2 00:09:39 Yeah. Right. Yeah. That, yeah. I'm like, mama bear. I want to be like, Hey, stop doing that. And I understand completely, no one wants to look at my face. So we, we talked a little bit about how busy you are. You have a lot of stuff going on. Tell us about all of your little irons and all of your fires. I'm curious. Speaker 1 00:10:03 So right now I'm attending, um, metropolitan state university in Minnesota for independent study program called, um, I actually created the degree. It's called leadership and advocacy for youth and people with disabilities. I really want to learn to be, be able to be an advocate for people with special needs. And I'm a part I'm a graduate of a thing called partners in policymaking, which is a government training service services program that goes throughout the country. It teaches people, disabilities, be advocates as well as parents to be advocates for their children. Um, I did that when I graduated high school in 2008. Yes. I just aged myself. Speaker 1 00:10:47 But, um, I am, so I'm doing that. I'm going to school. I am a special education assistant from Minneapolis and I also currently because of COVID, I'm also a, um, special needs bowling coach, usually for a program called adaptive recreation, recreation, learning exchange through the cities of Richfield, any Dyna. Um, so I go, when COVID, isn't a thing, I go Saturday mornings to a bowling alley, 18 weeks out of the year and spend about from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. We have a morning, morning adult league and we have an afternoon kids league all for kids with disabilities. And then I'm also an usher for Hennepin theatre trust. So I work at the fancy theaters. So I work, or if you have ever been to the state, I work at the Pantageous, which is pawn. I only got to do that for a year before. COVID shut Apple. Hopefully we get to open it again. Soon. I hear that Hamilton will come. Speaker 2 00:11:52 Oh, that's Speaker 1 00:11:54 It was supposed to be here last year, but obviously not even worth the wait I'm. Sure. Yep. And then for, um, between 2008 and today I have spent nine year nine summers out at pro scout camps. So the first one was, uh, camp Bonnie. The first one I worked at was camp Greenwood. It was the camp that I grew up at it girl scout camp, uh, that one got closed down. So then I worked at camp elk river and then following that camp North woods, and then I went out to Massachusetts and worked at camp. Bonnie Brae was the oldest girl scout camp in the country. And then I came back to river valleys, which is the overall name of the council. And I was their pro I've been their program director. I've been a counselor. I've been a campus cystic because I wasn't quite ready to be a counselor when I first started as was realized by my meltdown during training. Speaker 1 00:12:47 And that was, that was great. Um, but yeah, and um, I just accepted a position to go back to camp for summer 10 30, one years old. I'm going back to camp and I'm going to work with 18 year olds. And I don't know what I'm going to do with my son. And that could change. Who knows? I might find something that keeps me in the cities, but yeah, I have a lot of things. And I've also worked at a respite camps, uh, or a respite can't called camp Eden would, and that was many, many, many years ago, but that got me started. But yes, I like being busy. It's a problem. I, yes, I am. I do have a therapist and yes, she does tell me I need to stop being so busy. Speaker 2 00:13:33 That's that's Adam's thing. I have no problem sitting and doing nothing for awhile, but Adam will not sit down. We had, what did we have? We recently had a three-day weekend and his Fitbit, I think clocked him his longest resting time was something like, Oh, I thought it was like 78 minutes. That was the longest time he actually sat down and did nothing for this man does not do nothing. Speaker 1 00:14:00 I either have to be doing everything or I have to be doing nothing. Like, that's kind of how I am. Like, I'm either go, go, go, go, go, or, Speaker 2 00:14:09 Or sleeping. Does anything determined that difference? What does, is there anything that determines that difference, Speaker 1 00:14:16 You know, on all honesty, it's one of those things I've realized recently because COVID stopped all of my stuff in March. It just all came to a standstill and I ended up being able to do, um, emergency childcare, which kept me busy. And then I hit summer and I was bored and I was okay this past week I started school again, I haven't had, I've had one job. So then I went, you know, did winter break and nothing going on. I was going absolutely nuts. But this week again, I went back, I started in the college semester and I told my therapist, I was like, I'm happy. I was like, she's like, well, what's changed. I'm like, I'm busy. I'm like, I have all these assignments. I want to get two or three weeks ahead. So that way when I crash or, you know, my anxiety kicks in or we get big assignments, I'm ready for them. I'm like, but I am happy that I'm busy, but I do enjoy my, you know, I don't want to move. And I'm going to listen to audio, an audio book for six hours, play about, you know, but for the most part, I like, I I'm happy when I'm busy. My mind is clearest. I don't have, you know, depression or anxiety when I'm moving. Speaker 0 00:15:32 That's me completely. It's the anxiety. I just, it, it, it just hides away. Yes. Speaker 1 00:15:39 I just started taking medication this year for the anxiety. And I'm just like, no, you know what? There's nothing wrong with, if, Speaker 0 00:15:49 If it helps and we need it, there's absolutely nothing wrong with medication that helps us. Oh, absolutely. Looking at me. Like I get it, Speaker 1 00:16:01 Dan, we want to be independent. We don't want to have to rely on myths. Speaker 0 00:16:08 I don't know. I'm pretty happy on my Speaker 1 00:16:12 Trip. I do like my anxiety med and I do need, my diabetic meds are all fine. Yeah, of course. Of course. Speaker 0 00:16:18 It's weird how we separate those as like, they're different things, right? Like it's like a dependence and one is like, Hey, this is how I actually get to have, you know, you know, uh, life. Yeah. Well, well I know my mom at one point she had a doctor who said something like, you know, you gotta think of depression. Like, you know, you wouldn't go around walking around with a broken leg. What'd, you know, you go and get a cast, you know? And it's the same thing with like depression or any kind of mental illness, you know, you know, it's, it's an S it's an assist, you know, you don't need to do it yourself. And then once you go and do something like that, you look back and you say, why did I wait so long? I feel so much better. You know what I mean? So, I mean, it is, Speaker 1 00:17:00 We all enjoy being miserable and tormenting ourselves. Speaker 0 00:17:04 It's like we're human beings or something. I don't know. It's a weird, Speaker 1 00:17:08 Hey, how do you, how Speaker 0 00:17:09 Do you go about making your own degree? Speaker 1 00:17:14 Oh yeah. Oh, you know what? That's actually a class. Um, so basically what I did is I told the, um, academic advisor, I'm like, this is basically what I'd like to do. And he's like, well, you need to take this perspectives course. And we will figure it all out. So that's actually what I did last semester. And like, we figured out, you know, what classes you're going to need. And we had to pull, add to put it all into a document. And I had to come up with goals and what I wanted the outcomes to be for those goals, for the job and had to learn the history of the college and all that stuff. And also, you know, I didn't figure out the wording until probably November, because I was like, okay, I know I want leadership. I know, I really care about advocacy. I care about people with disabilities, foster care about youth and with my background in camp and with my students and with the fact that I want to help adults and kids at the same time, like, there's gotta be something that would work for me. And now all I need to do is figure out what the deck is. I'm going to do my masters. And if I plan on going and do my masters after this, because I still have a whole year left, but I hear that it's a process. Speaker 2 00:18:29 How exciting creating your own? You create your own masters then? Speaker 1 00:18:34 I think so. They actually just started that program. Recently. What I'd love to do is tack on something with recreation or youth development or something along those lines. Speaker 2 00:18:46 Yes. We, um, we recently, recently everything seems recent. Every everything's recent, like recently is like pre COVID <inaudible>. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but you know, our daughter had, um, uh, enrolled in a special needs class to learn how to ride a bicycle. Oh yeah. It's fascinating. Um, I can bike. I can bike. I think it's like a kind of a derivative of, I can shine. Okay. Like, that's the, that's the umbrella company, but I can bike is the actual program we're going into I'm sorry. Oh, it was super cool the way, I mean, they had these, these tools like these, these adapted bicycles that allowed them to like, you know, work on certain things like balance and what that actually feels like before they get rid of the stuff that helps them, you know, Speaker 1 00:19:45 Was very familiar with those. We actually have those at the schools I work at for adaptive by ed. I'm very familiar with, I've definitely seen those bikes and we have a day in our school when there isn't COVID, um, that's like bike day or something like that, where the groups can like get together and they go around a track with the different kinds of like adaptive equipment. Maybe I should get one of those. I forgotten how to ride a bike. Last time I tried to ride a bike. It was quite interesting. I had trouble turning corners, like, Oh, right. It's been 10 years since I've been on a bike and this is a problem. Speaker 2 00:20:23 It's just like riding a bike. Oh shit. All right. So let's talk about what you like and dislike about your job. And let's kind of focus on your, um, I guess your career, your main job, right? Like a special education assistant. Speaker 1 00:20:46 Well, I always like start with the negative and then go to the positive. Awesome. If you guys are up for that, but you're a teacher. Isn't that? How that works. Speaker 0 00:20:56 You'd have to start with positive and then go negative, then finish with positive. It's a sandwich, but go, go ahead please. Speaker 1 00:21:01 Hi, I'm Kelsey. I'm also a supervisor. When I girl scout camp, I use the cookie method. I'm very familiar with that. I love the cookie method. My problem is, is when I don't have anything for the middle. And then I'm just like, well, I have no stuffing for you, but you're doing a great job. I would say probably the negatives are, you know, just I'm in a love, honestly, I'm in a setting three classroom, which means I'm with the higher behavior kids, kids who need more support. I would say sometimes I get really overwhelmed, um, to be perfectly honest. And I'm very, very honest about this. Um, before COVID I was literally looking for other jobs. Um, I'll be honest. I got, and this is going to sound awful and keep in mind, this is the bad stuff. People, um, I've been, I've been kicked, I've been hit. Speaker 1 00:21:57 I think it should have been slapped. I've had chairs thrown at me. I've had toys thrown at me. I've I've had the gamut of things done. I work at a school that's in North Minneapolis, which is a hard area to be from, and they don't get necessarily support. They need at home. It's hard heartbreaking. Sometimes seeing, hearing things that some of our kiddos have gone through. Um, I sometimes get overwhelmed. I will need to go to the bathroom occasionally to have a Melton or step into the hallway and just cry and try not to bring attention. Um, I think some of the big, big stuff is, is in my head. Um, as I said, I started recently taking anxiety medication and that's because my anxiety was getting to me. And I was just assuming that everybody hated me. And that was because of the anxiety and the fact that I was just like, well, I'm autistic and I am just screwing everything up and I'm not making things better. Speaker 1 00:22:55 That's a terrible place to be. Yeah. And that's just, that's just what I was. And again, that's because our kids and honestly, going to the bright side, we had an end of the year when we had an end of the year staff meeting with the assistant principal, I was told by my coat, by my lead teachers that no, they thought I was wonderful. They were feeling the same way that they were struggling and they weren't doing enough. And that they were like, you were doing just fine. You were doing what you knew how to do. And we were trying to, you know, help you with trainings. We didn't have time for training. Speaker 0 00:23:26 I think some of the best, if you don't mind me interrupting, I think some of the best of people who do the best work, uh, tend to think they're, they're, they're, you know, tend to think they're doing terribly because they just want to do more and better all the time. Speaker 1 00:23:42 Yes. And that's, that's absolutely, that's absolutely true for me. I mean, again, I was told by the assistant principal, I was told by my lead teachers at the end of the school year, they're like, no, he thought you were doing just fine. They're like, you just need to reach out for help. And you need to, you know, if you need to remind you that you're doing okay, you can have those reminders if you need them. Yeah. Um, I have a thing that I do that I've done since. I dunno since I started working here a couple of years where I allowed myself one stupid question today, I walk up to a teacher or I walk up to somebody and I'm like, I have my stupid question of the day. They're like, you know, you can have more than one, right? Like, what do I need to do with so-and-so? And you're like, that's not a stupid question. I'm like, yes, but I'm using it. Speaker 2 00:24:35 They go challenge yourself. Like, you know, ha ha how, how stupid can the questions be? Like, kind of down in that hole, do you want to go, Speaker 1 00:24:45 Oh, I can get down in that hole once in a great while. I can just be like, I don't know where my brain isn't. I don't know what I'm doing. I could do this yesterday, but I can't do this. There's always that occasion where I was talking about gross motor skills with the bike, there's also those fine motor skill times where I'm just like, you want me to zip up this child's jacket? I'm like, I've tried, I've tried 12 times. Nobody else can do it now. It's your, it's your turn. You can tell me what I'm doing wrong, but I guarantee you it's these fingers Speaker 2 00:25:19 I'm doing the worst is when it's something that, you know, you are normally very good at. For example, I have, I have extremely good spatial reasoning. Uh, I can pack a car with more things than you could fit in a bus. Like I just can't Speaker 1 00:25:39 It's Speaker 2 00:25:41 I found myself in downtown Baltimore wandering around with my toddler and infant because I forgot where I parked. Speaker 1 00:25:57 Oh, no. I mean, I'm, Speaker 2 00:25:59 I'm, I'm the most spatially. And then we lived in Arizona at the time. So she was, Speaker 1 00:26:08 It sounds like that time that I got lost in the train system, fora in Boston, got completely lost to get to where I needed to go until like midnight and Oh my God. That was so scary just for being so lost and being like having a meltdown in the middle of box. Um, anyway, we got sidetracked. That's how the show I need to make sure I give the proper amount of plus honestly, the distance learning is hard because you know, I miss giving our kids hugs. I miss giving them the cuddles, the things that they need, I've missed being able to read with them. Um, those are the things that I've, I love to do. I love watching them grow. One thing that's really been good is that we have a student who hasn't progressed in like two years, just hasn't progressed at all because of the high behaviors in our classrooms. Speaker 1 00:27:11 We can't focus on that child, but with distance learning that child's getting one-on-one attention. And in last I've seen changes from November to now. Like they weren't able, they didn't know what a tens frame was two weeks ago. They can now identify a tens frame and tell me how many things are the times frame. And it's just like, that doesn't sound like something that's big, but for this per this child, it's huge. And everybody's all like, what do you mean? And like, they're talking more and that's, what's really, really rewarding to me is seeing that progress, seeing them grow, seeing them become independent. It's why I'm doing leadership and advocacy because I want kids to learn, to be able to do things for themselves and be able to ask for help when they need it and get the help that they need. Now, my kids are a little young to be doing that, but, Speaker 0 00:28:10 Uh, I don't think age is a necessarily ever inappropriate, uh, judgment of character. Speaker 1 00:28:17 True. Very true. It's just that sometimes you just look at a tiny child and be like, it's just you. Speaker 0 00:28:26 Sometimes the young child will, uh, come and hold me Speaker 1 00:28:33 Again. It goes both ways. I think so. Okay. So, so you have many things, Speaker 0 00:28:38 Things that you're doing, some of which I assume required an interview. Speaker 1 00:28:43 What was that like for you? Oh dear goodness. Honestly, I suck with interviews. I don't know why, but I always get stopped at the interview process. Um, for this current job, I got really lucky. So I went to a community college and for that community college, I had to do volunteer work inside. And then I did, um, an AmeriCorps program called the Minnesota reading Corps at that school for a year and a half. And then I found out there was an SCA job opening up and I had like three people come up. They like, they're like, go apply. Oh, apply. Now this job go apply. And it's in the room. You want it in? And I'm like, Oh, so cool. Okay. So I did. And I got in there and I got really lucky because first of all, I knew the three teachers that I was being interviewed with one of them, I was currently helping with her afterschool program. And I asked her, I asked her, I'm like, so I applied for, to be your SCA. Um, would you, would you hire me? And she's like, yeah, probably depending on who the other candidates are. Speaker 1 00:29:53 Um, but the really nice thing about this particular about being an SDA. I don't know if they do it anymore, but they gave me the questions ahead of time. And like, you had the opportunity to like, write your answers in. So that way you could walk in or you didn't have to be totally flustered now that's never happened in any other job that I've done, but that was very unique to this particular job that made me happy for my ushering job. Speaker 2 00:30:20 Yeah, no, I was just going to say, um, if I could give one piece of advice and I have been on both sides of this equation, right? Like I've hired hundreds of people in my career. And I have interviewed Speaker 0 00:30:33 Hundreds of times, Speaker 2 00:30:37 I have the ability to get a job and I have an amazing ability to get a job really good at the whole process. Speaker 0 00:30:44 Keeping it totally different conversation. Speaker 1 00:30:50 I'm in a job. I can keep it. It's just a matter of getting in. Speaker 2 00:30:54 Yeah. See, I just, I rubbed people the wrong way and I just, I I've, it's very clear. I don't fit in after a period of time. Anyway, Speaker 0 00:31:02 I'm more like you, I can, I keep a job for a long time, but I'm terrible with the interviews. In fact, Dora actually helped me one time, figure out how to interview, you know, and we went over it for like a week. And actually that was the best interview of my life, but I don't, I don't, I still don't like them. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:31:21 Well, I've done them often enough. And of course, I've, you know, I've been the interview where I've hired many people and I guess back, back around to what you said, if I could give one piece of advice to any employer looking to hire somebody, particularly somebody of advanced skill, but maybe not, um, not a great interviewer is that exact thing. And that is to give the interview questions ahead of time. Speaker 1 00:31:50 It's so help a person's Speaker 2 00:31:52 Character is going to come out in their answer regardless of whether they were able to fashion the answer ahead of time or not. Speaker 1 00:31:59 The nice thing is for me, if I connect with somebody in an interview, it goes fine. Um, I had actually got hired for a job in February last year to do last summer until COVID hit. And I lost the job, but me the interview, you, it clicked right away. Um, for my, uh, girl scout job, I interviewed with a camp director that I worked with 10 years ago. And then I worked with actually 11. Okay. Not 10, 20, 21, 10 years ago. Want wait, it was 2010. Nevermind. Doggone it. 2010 camp complicated. Oh, I worked for 10 years ago for half a summer. And then I worked with her again in 2018 when my, the camp that I was working on got flooded. And then I got sent to their camp to be their program director. So, and then I'd also had already met the other interviewer. Like I had met her in 2018 when I had worked. And so we just had a conversation, like ask the official question. I'm like, I get to sound smart today. But like walking into a job to like work with people that are homeless and helping them find resources. I walked into that interview. I thought it went, I thought it went okay. I was like, Oh, I really hope I get to hear back. Never heard back. Or I'm trying to work for the big brothers, big sisters program. I've done that interview in the last year. And again, I thought it went great and never got a call back. Got the, we had so many people that wanted to do this job. Speaker 0 00:33:43 Was he told you something sometimes they don't, uh, they don't get back to you at all. I mean that's yeah, Speaker 1 00:33:48 No, sometimes they don't and that makes me very angry. Speaker 0 00:33:52 Yeah. I don't like that bothersome. You're stuck with that. And I, I, I stick with things though. They'll go over in my head over and over. And so when I don't hear back, you know, even like four months later, it will still come up and I'm like, yeah, dude, they're not, they're not calling you back, you know, but they don't keep processing until it's complete. So. Okay. Speaker 1 00:34:11 Exactly. And you just, you per separate and per separate. And he was like, okay, what did I say wrong? What did I do? Right. What did I did I wear the wrong shoes? Like, I'm the kind of person that only wears one pair of shoes. I'm sorry, you're not going to get me in dress shoes. You couldn't pay me to get weird, put different shoes on for nothing. So Speaker 0 00:34:32 I only wear heels personally. They don't like it. When I do it at work, Speaker 1 00:34:39 Then you have a lot more balance and better feet than I do. Speaker 0 00:34:48 Okay. So we've talked, actually, Speaker 2 00:34:50 You kind of talked about both of these things that are coming up in the outline, right? Like how does, how does your autism kind of hinder you at work and how does it help you at work? And I think you just kind of naturally answered those questions because of the fact that you work with children with autism. So you kind of like, you know, get to get to see it, like it unfolds in front of your face all day, every day, right? Like the good and the bad and how it all plays together. You have anything else to say about all that? Speaker 1 00:35:19 I don't know. I think just in all, if somebody wanted to shout, just be aware that the kids are different than you are. You got to remember that they're not exactly the same in that every child is. I know this sounds real cliche, but every child is unique. Speaker 0 00:35:37 What Speaker 2 00:35:38 Did they say? If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism Speaker 1 00:35:43 And that's so true. And you just have to remember that, that they come from different places. And if you want to do this job, you wear the, you won't always get, you know, those kids that are mainstreamed and are just need help with social cues. They might need help with toileting and things, and there might be stuff you need to learn. And that's an important thing to remember because I think some people think, you know, you're going to walk into this room and it's going to be easy peasy because you know, you understand. And I, I just, I like to make it clear that it's not that easy and it's such a rewarding and growing job to do. You, you learn so much, even in a day, you can learn so much if you're paying attention to what they're doing. And if you get like the right teacher. Speaker 2 00:36:27 Well, it's huge. Yeah. Everybody really needs to pay attention to everybody in general, anyhow, but you know, especially for your job. Speaker 1 00:36:36 Oh, exactly. And it's just, again, it's a great learning experience and to learn about yourself and about your disability as well and learning how other people cope with it or what other people need for it. Because some people aren't that self-aware regretfully. I have all the self-awareness of, I dunno, I have way too much. Self-awareness Speaker 2 00:37:02 Self-awareness, that's called anxiety. I've already admitted to that one. Dr. Thorugh tell us more. No, I'm not diagnosing anybody. I'm not a doctor. Oh my goodness. It was just a joke. Speaker 1 00:37:20 Go take a break. Good choice. One, one thing that may happen. If you ever work with children, you might start talking to your animals like that. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:37:31 Yeah. I caught that. That's a good choice. I like that. I like take a break Speaker 1 00:37:38 Dreadfully. My, my partner has started to do it. It started to rub off. Speaker 2 00:37:44 I never thought I'd be this person, but I, I think I said something to Nicky enough this morning. Uh, something about that's our dog, by the way. Oh yeah. Nikki. Now he's our dog. Um, I said something and they came up this morning and I'm like, daddy will be very upset if you do. And I never thought I'd be that person, but apparently you're Nicky enough to daddy. I don't even know what to say. Are you done? Are you better Lord? I know I got the bug. The dog bug. Speaker 1 00:38:23 Yeah, Speaker 2 00:38:25 She's sick. Okay. So, so let's wrap up with, um, with the million dollar question, given everything you know about yourself and the way you interact and what it is you want on top of designing your own degree program, design your own job design. What's the thing, the one thing, Speaker 1 00:38:50 Oh, Oh, I have the answer to that question. You guys have it. All right. Speaker 0 00:38:56 Bye. Speaker 1 00:38:57 My goal in life. The thing that if I could do anything in the world, if it's do whatever I wanted, I would open a camp for girls with autism and inner city girls and have them work together and create, you know, school year, school, year programs as well around that because inner city girls have this very unique way of having independence and they need that. You know, they need, they need support and girls with autism need support as well. And they need, you know, to, to see goodness, they need to see examples and they need assistance. And I just, I can imagine while much leadership and growth could be gained by this kind of program and idea, Speaker 0 00:39:44 I love it. And it's inspiring. And I can definitely see you doing that in your future. I think it's absolutely attainable. That is fantastic. Speaker 2 00:39:54 I'm all over that. Speaker 0 00:39:56 We're not crying dusted here where that came from, Speaker 1 00:40:04 But that's why, like I talked about earlier about, you know, line to add recreation or like child development into things, the leadership and develop the leadership and advocacy piece is there. I have the experience with the girl scout camps and working with people with disabilities at the school and all that. I think it would be beautiful if I had a million dollars. Speaker 2 00:40:30 Well, yeah, I think that's our time. Uh, is there anything we missed? Anything you want to say that we didn't cover? Speaker 1 00:40:41 I have no flipping clue. If you need more interviews for another job, let me know. Speaker 0 00:40:49 Nice. Speaker 2 00:40:52 Awesome. So, um, that is it. Thanks Kelsey so much for your help and your time and sharing your life with us. This was fun. Yeah. We had an amazing time. Well, that was awesome. Thanks for listening. Join us next week where we will talk to someone else about their job. Sure, Speaker 0 00:41:15 Indeed. And, uh, the transcript and what else Speaker 2 00:41:19 Have notes? Any links associated with our guests today will be found at our website, carved resumes.com. Speaker 0 00:41:28 That's like carve a name for yourself, carve like a Turkey. Speaker 2 00:41:34 We, uh, we also, if you're interested, provide resume writing, cover letter, writing and interview coaching for the autistic Speaker 3 00:41:41 Community. Thanks for listening. Catch you next time. Bye. Now.