Hello, this is Anna Kennedy and I am at Women's Radio Station. We're in Covent Garden and we're live and my guest today is Paul Isaacs. Welcome Paul. And how are you today? Very well, thank you. Yeah, we've just come all the way from Uxbridge together on the tune. We've had a good old chinwag, so what we're going to do now is I'm just going to introduce Paul, tell you a little bit about Paul and then we're going to go over and have a chat about Paul's diagnosis and about the work that he does. So Paul Isaacs is an autistic trainer, speaker, consultant and blogger. He has co-authored several books, including Life Through a Kaleidoscope and Living Through the Haze. Paul has released and published five books on the subject of autism published by Chipmunka Publishing and has contributed to other books too. Having overcome many challenges to achieve the successes that he now enjoys, Paul messages that autism is a complex mix of ability and disability. He firmly believes that even autistic person should have the opportunity to reach their sorry, every autistic person should have the opportunity to reach their potential and be regarded as a valued member of society. So Paul, we met about three years ago at the Puzzle Centre. Yes. Because Puzzle Centre is a school for children under seven and I am one of their ambassadors and we had a conference day where I was the compare for the whole day. And it was a really lovely venue and that's where I heard your talk. And that's how we decided to work together, collaborate as you being one of our charity ambassadors. So could you tell me a little bit about when you were diagnosed and how was the process? Yes. So I was diagnosed in 2010 at the age of 24. OK. So the reason why that diagnosis come about as we were discussing on the train down here was because of a plethora of mental health conditions. I went through the adult mental health service. I recently, well, not recently, but sometime after getting the the diagnosis of autism, I wanted to look back at my mental health notes and the diagnosis were a mixture of personality disorders, anxiety, et cetera. So this was prior. This was about in 2007. From that point onwards, from 2007 onwards, I got increasingly more poorly. My mental health declined. And what happened was a mental breakdown, which in in terms of how it affected me was conditional psychosis. A psychosis is a is a breakdown of reality and auditory hallucinations. So I was a very, very unhappy and very unwell man at that point. Obviously, my parents had seen the struggles I've been through, not only in, you know, employment, but education as well. So when the diagnosis came in 2010, at that point, it was needed or felt it was needed because of the recognition of the problems I was having at that point in time, but also to answer questions, not only for myself, but my parents, who were part of the diagnostic process. And luckily enough, near where I live, there was a kind gentleman. I think he doesn't mind me naming him called Mike Layton. Hello, Mike, if you're listening, who was diagnosed in people with autism without a learning disability as a project. And so when when I met him and obviously met my my parents as well, I think what was so important was the fact that Mike and myself and my mum and dad really hit off on in terms of we were comfortable. And I think being comfortable in the diagnostic process, because you're going to be talking about some difficult things, was key. And when I got got the diagnosis, of course, what happened afterwards was a level of recognition. But also this journey, as you've described the the title of the talk, the fruit salad, which is obviously going to that later, understanding my autism from that point onwards. OK, so you were diagnosed quite late in life at twenty four. So how was it for you at school? Did you struggle? Were you coping or were you just about coping? Yes, obviously, I was born in nineteen eighty six. And in terms of recognition of autism, then it was certainly different to now. Yeah. And in terms of my parents and my parents recognition or understanding that there is anything different, I'd say it's my mum that picked that up the earliest about, you know, when I was about six months old. OK, there was there were issues around language processing and visual perception, because initially my mum thought I was well, I was deaf and blind, but it wasn't to do with, you know, the sensory organs, it was to do with how my brain was processing and perceiving the information. I was late to walk to walk. So 18 months, I believe. And I had speech and language delay, which isn't indicative with autism. You can have it without, but it was just part of the fruit salad. It wasn't just speech and language delay. It was actually not not being able to process interpretive language. So when I got into education, which was late 80s, I would say preschool, play school, they they they noticed difficulties, what I mean by those teachers or the headmistress for that there was some sort of attachment disorder going on because I didn't appear to see or hear, I suppose, people in the room. So very hyperactive. So it was a little hurt where where this preschool was. It's kept onto the primary primary school campus. And I used to just run around and sit down for lunch, run around, sit down for, I suppose, lessons and play with puzzles. That's one thing that just springs back. But I don't remember it through seeing it. I just remember the texture of those puzzle pieces and mapping the puzzles out, you know, very kinesthetically. And then, of course, you know, my mum would come and pick me up. So when I got to to primary school, of course, I don't hold hold any malice, as you know, from my conversations, I don't hold any malice or grudges or bitterness towards the educational system because their framework, let's be honest, because I went for a mainstream school was of children not having the type of information processing difficulties that I had. Yeah. Maybe they could have gone to help things a bit differently. But you live and learn. So when I was in one, you know, one of the teachers noticed that our problems with I think it was reading and maths. The head teacher noted because we had two had teachers. The first teacher noted that I had emotional and behavioral problems. And from each year that went on, my mum's observation was that it was becoming more and more noticeable. If anybody I feel sorry for, it's my parents because there was nothing ever was constructed in a way that offered any hope. So it was much to do to do with what Paul wasn't doing. So Paul wasn't he can't do this, do that. He's walking around the playground on his own. He doesn't interact with children. He doesn't, doesn't, doesn't. There was never an offer to support him. Exactly. Yes. So did you find it frustrating at school with work wise or were you able to cope with the work? Was it the children that you found frustrating? What was it that you found or was it just you were just coping day to day? Looking back that back at that time, how my mind and worked and processed information. If I'd have got a diagnosis at that point in time, I'd like to point out it would have been a classic autism. The type of presentation that I had was of someone who was classically autistic. So what was happening in areas of learning and language was the inability to keep up with interpreted meaning. So I was meaning deaf and the technical word for that is aphasic. Someone who receptively hears words but treats them as sounds. So phonically, I could hear all this this tone. Yeah, but couldn't grasp meaning. OK, I must have been frustrated for you. Very frustrating. And also from a visual, the perceptual point of view, everything was fragmented and distorted. It was very much like living in a world of of a mosaic painting. Yeah. So I'd focus on one piece of someone and lose them or focus on one piece of the room and lose everything else. So basically, what was happening was a lack of coherence. OK, so was it did it get any better in secondary or? From that lack, probably not. No, no, I was bullied in in the first two weeks. I know it's terrible, isn't it? But yeah, there were no just difficulties in understanding. And of course, it was again, a mainstream setting. So again, the frame of reference was why isn't, you know, Paul operating like the other children? Do you have any brothers or sisters? No. OK, so everything was working around yourself with your mom and dad. So yes, yes. Did you make any friends? My first friend was water. And that's that's that's something that even children of the spectrum can do. So I really tapped into to water and everywhere I went. My mom often joke, you know, it was always loo loo. So everywhere I went, it would be flushing toilets. OK, could you swim? Slowly, but I guess like the feeling and the sensory experience of the water. Yeah, I did love water. I love to see. Yeah. Well, thank you for that. So we're now going over into the second part. So before we go over, are you on social media? Yes. So what if somebody wanted to speak to you and ask you any questions? Where would they find you? Oh, goodness, there's so many places, but I'll start off with one. Yeah, Facebook. So if you if you type in in Facebook on the search bit at the top. Yeah. Paul Isaac's autism. You'll be able to find my page and you can ask. I suppose I s double a CS. OK, thank you. So we'll give other handles later on in the next part of the program. If you want to find out a little bit more about Anna Kennedy online in the charity and you want to contact us, it's www dot Anna Kennedy online dot com and you can contact us there. Welcome to Women's Radio Station, the voice of women worldwide. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lesson live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamante on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie Mae is listening. Hello, this is Anna Kennedy at Women's Radio Station live voice of women worldwide talking about all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. I'm Saskia at Sable Forex and we specialize in saving individuals and companies money on their international money transfers or foreign exchange. 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To find out more, head to womensradiostation.com or theaproject.co.uk. Women's radio station can give a voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programmes. We can tailor your experience to you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show go to womensradiostation.com. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Zina Masconi, Head of Business Development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07 956 371 483 or alternatively ZM at womensradiostation.com. Hello, this is Anna Kennedy at Women's Radio Station, and we're live at Covent Garden and we're talking all things autism. My guest today is Paul Isaacs, who's one of our charity ambassadors. But before I go over to Paul, I just wanted to share with you there's been so much anxiety over the last few days about the DVLA and a statement that they issued on their charity website. I was asked to speak on London LBC radio, and I'm pleased to say that they have retracted. So I just share with you a little bit about what happened. So the DVLA had today issued a statement confirming that autistic drivers are only obliged to complete a medical declaration if their condition affects their driving. Twitter users had noticed that the agency's website had been updated to require drivers to declare autism and ADHD in all cases, a change from the previous word in which requested disclosure only if a person's ability to drive a vehicle was affected. The updated policy, which had not been announced, warning that drivers failing to disclose the conditions risked a fine of £1,000. Following several days of discussion on social media and representations, the DVLA released the following statement on their Twitter account. In our attempt to clarify the advice for drivers with autism spectrum disorders, we've clearly muddied the waters and we're very sorry for that. We have amended the advice on government. UK for both drivers and medical professionals, which makes it clear that a driver who has an autism spectrum disorder only needs to tell us if their condition would affect their driving. The amount of anxiety on social media and people contacting worried about does that mean that my insurance is going to go up? Are they going to take my license away from me? You know, I've been driving for 20 years. I need my mobility. So I'm so pleased that they've retracted that particular statement and reverted back to how it was originally. They just basically changed it without telling anyone and just so relaxed. But obviously people were not relaxed to read the DVLA website. What did you think of that then, Paul? Ridiculous, isn't it really? So in terms of, you know, firstly, not letting anybody know and just certainly putting it on the Internet without thinking it would affect people. Yeah. And also people may be worried to disclose in certain contexts about about their autism or worried that it may be. I think the overall premise was worried that it was going to be somehow used against them or questioning their their ability and competency to drive. I mean, autism doesn't have a look, you know, and that's that's something I feel strongly about. So people with autism can drive just like people without and vice versa. It's it's specific. So I've got an overlapping condition like epilepsy. Then obviously you need to declare of course. Yes. But yeah, I'm glad that they they clearly listened because there was a petition that was put up. Yeah. And I think it was getting signature after signature. So I'm glad that they've they've made this decision. Really. Oh, well, we move on. OK, so I'm going back to your story. How did your parents manage? Because obviously you had lots of different difficulties. Were they supportive? Were they thinking, you know, what's going on with Paul? Why is he having all these issues? What is it that we can do to help him? They must have felt a little bit in limbo, I would have thought. Yeah, I would say so in terms of recognition and understanding that it wasn't there and it from a personal perspective, of course, there were schools nearby and bases in particular that had children with autism. But because obviously there wasn't a diagnosis early on for me, the way in which my parents coped and adapted was I would say quite admirable because I suppose putting myself in in their shoes, there was obviously a lot of confusion, particularly my mum in particular notes in different things about my development, notes in things at school, notes in things in employment. But specifically, when when I was younger and going through school, yeah, it was very difficult, as I pointed out in the first half, to constantly keep hearing the negative. But the positive things they done, I believe, was very simple things as take me out and make me a part of the family. So as as odd and as obvious as that sounds, it benefited me going walking because I live in a village. Yeah. So there's those lovely fields to to walk around and being outside in the fresh air and getting a lot out of being around nature, going swimming, going cycling. So always I would say, I suppose, looking back, making me feel a part of the world rather than detached from it. Yeah, I'd imagine cycling, swimming with good stress busters as well. Yes, absolutely. And the feet, I love the feeling of movement, you know, so when you cycle, there's it's not just your body moving. It's you get that rush, don't you, as you're moving through the environment. And the same as swimming. I found I found swimming very grounding and very therapeutic looking back. I know Angelo loves the great outdoors and you've met my son, Angelo. And when we go to the north east, I stay at a farm with Angelo and they have beautiful fields there. And I always remember the first time I took him, he just ran and his arms are out. And it was almost like he was flying. You could just see the pure joy in his face when he was running. And I just thought this is this is the right place for him. It's somewhere where I can say, go on, Angelo, you can run now. You know, there's no dangerous roads or anything like that. Yes. So, yeah, so that that's just something that we like to do. You wear tinted lenses, if you don't mind me saying, what does that do to support you with your vision? Yeah. So along with a diagnosis in 2010 of autism, I got a diagnosis in 2012 of visual perceptual disorders and visual stress and also particular learn difficulties, dyslexia, dyscalculia, which are to do primarily with how my brain processes and perceives information. So what the what the tinted lens is do. So basically, colors are frequencies of light. So 70 percent of information is visual. And what it does is it frees up my brain to be able to integrate visuals in a more coherent way. So when I was saying about how I saw the world when I was younger, you know, fragmented in bits and distorted, what it does is it glues that together. OK, so when I look at you, I see you as a whole person rather than in bits. And when I walk around the physical and visual environment, I'm able to piece things together and associate it more coherently. OK. And does it help with the sunlight? Because I know I've mentioned this before that when I take Angelo for walks, we could have gone down that route so many times. But when it's really, really sunny, it's almost like we're going down that route or that road for the very first time, it's almost like he's going to fall off a cliff or something and he grabs hold of my arm. So with the glasses, I'm just thinking about Angelo, actually, that when he goes out, would it benefit someone like him to wear these glasses? Yeah, some people with autism have, you know, sensory integration problem. So what that means is it's not necessary to be perceptual, but they have problems with light. Yeah. And wearing tinted lenses helps them focus more. For me, it's a mixture of what you're saying about the sunlight, but it's also how I perceive the world. So it's perception. So it may be worth looking into thinking how does he perceive the visual world around him and whether or not tinted lenses could benefit in actually helping him find coherence, because integration and perception are two different things. Integration, sensory integration is all to do with frequency and volume, whereas perception is awareness of the sense. So if someone is, let's use an example of what I saw on Twitter a few days ago. Protopagnosia. So face blindness, the inability to perceive or recognize faces. That's perception. So the sensory organs work the eyes, but there's a part of the brain that recognizes faces. So when you see someone in a different context, the way you respond to them and talk to them is like how you saw them in the previous context. So that's an example of perception. And it's an example of integration is maybe a child being in a room and they're not able to filter out certain frequencies of sound. So that could be the electronics. It could be plug sockets. It could be lights, et cetera. I mean, that's a very basic example of perception integration, but it's worth noting the differences. I was just thinking that you've you had to cope with all of that until you were 20 in your 20s, yes, without any support whatsoever. That must have been I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you actually thinking about it. Well, the way in which I look at it is why not? As odd as that sounds, I think the thing that I've learned most out of life is that nothing is taken for granted. So from every negative situation I have had, as you've heard me speak about, I hold no bitterness. So I've essentially I have no regrets about what has happened to me. And I think through every negative, you can you can see a positive. And does the different colour lenses mean different things? Because I have seen some adults wear like a red coloured lens. Yeah, it's basically which frequency is bothering you the most. Oh, I see. So you would be able to go to a regular opticians to get such glasses. Unless they have a specialist in the field because it wouldn't be regular opticians that would be looking at how the brain interprets this information. Obviously, they're just looking at the eyes. Yeah. OK, because obviously I've known a few adults recently been diagnosed with Erland syndrome. Yes. Have Asperger's syndrome. So and they found that the glasses have really helped them. Yeah. So that's interesting information. So if anyone's interested in asking you a little bit more about that because they might be experiencing what you've just been talking about. Is there a website that they can check out? Yeah, my website is Google Sites. So again, if you go on Google and you type my name, Paul Isaacs website, it should come up at the top of the list. OK, that's great. And you've also written some books. So is that on your website as well? Yeah, and Amazon. OK, that's great. So again, if you want to ask some questions, you want to ask them to Paul or you want to go through the charity website. It's www.annakennedyonline.com Women's Radio Station is a fresh new broadcasting platform driven by love and passion. Connecting women around the world in a global network is all about diversity from the opinions, career, ethnicity, education. We aim to show the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and a platform for your voice. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Liz Van Linden, the UK travel consultant for Hazelmere Travel. People come to me as they want unique experiences and a personalized service. This happens from the moment that they inquire till they come back here. I work with luxury tour operators. You can contact me on 07825441212 and Liz spelled L-I-S at hazelmeretravel.co.uk I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you climb up or get confused? 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Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio STN or Facebook Women's radio station to keep up to date with all our exciting news. Hi, I'm Zeena Miskoni, Head of Business Development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07 956 371 483 or alternatively ZM at womensradiostation.com. Hello, this is Anna Kennedy, and we're back at Women's Radio Station Live in Covent Garden. My guest today is Paul Isaacs. I can't believe you're in the month of March already, and it's the month of International Women's Day and the month of Mother's Day. And I've asked some of our charity ambassadors to give me quotes. And I'm going to read a couple of them across the program. So one of them that we received was for Casey Ainsworth, who is one of our charity ambassadors, a mom of a young man on the spectrum and also married to a gentleman who has got a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. So Casey's quote for me is it is important to recognize the actions of women. We are half of the planet, but seldom are our voices heard or our actions and accomplishments recognized, hence International Women's Day, one day to celebrate what it is to be a woman in a male dominated world. And that's Casey Ainsworth. So thank you, Casey, for that. So Paul, back over to you. So I like to know what people do in their spare time because my thing is tap dancing and Zumba. So what's your thing? I like poetry. OK, I like the rhyming of poetry, but I can also do poetry without rhyming. I love creating stories through poetry and creative writing. Emotional awareness helps with from a personal perspective. So it's almost like once I've got all that stuff out, I read it back and then understand myself or my awareness of my emotions or something I've been thinking about for a long time or something that I didn't even know I was thinking about, but it's just gone splat on the page. I like art. I've always liked colors and textures. So that kind of makes sense. One of my first experiences of art in a very glamorous way was when I was at school and just smearing all the paint onto a piece of paper and just enjoying the smell of the paint and the different color I was making when I was smearing when it was running into one another. I used to draw things by rote, so just rote drawing. So it was, again, the feeling of the pencil or the pen on the paper and the movements that were being created. So that helps with, again, me being grounded as an adult. I do it for similar reasons. But I do do poetry. It helps me understand the world. But I can also just do things for a laugh. You know, it's not always got to be serious and intense. I like going out and meeting friends and socializing, which I do on a regular basis every, what's it, twice a month? I suppose that's regular for me. For some people, that's not enough. But for me, it's enough. And I really enjoy the company of the friends I meet. What else do I do? Now you're getting me thinking. You're talking about poetry. I don't want to put you on the spot, but could you say something you've written? Well, that told me then. No, I really have to troll back either on my word, my Microsoft word, as are my poetry or past posts. There's something that happens in my brain when I type and it just switches on a part of my awareness that I don't know is happening consciously. So when you ask me the question, can you recite some of my poetry? It doesn't come from a conscious place. It comes from a subconscious place. Well, maybe what you could do in the future is share some of your poetry on the charity website. I shall. But yes, and also family as well. I suppose that goes goes without question from what I've been speaking about previously. OK, so what do you think the future of autism should be? That's obviously a huge question. We did chat about with it quite a bit on the truth. Yeah, I think if people are aware of her, Donna Williams, who sadly passed two years ago, who was a pioneer in some ways. I know she wouldn't like me saying that because she was such a modest lady, really had it nailed in terms of what autism is in the fruit salad analogy. So for some people, autism will be to do with, you know, some of the sensory perceptual stuff I was talking about. You know, they may not see objects with coherence or they may not see things with meaning, recognize people by their faces. They may not recognize their own emotions. They may not recognize their own body. And so we were talking about firm as hot and cold. Yeah, there are some people with autism who are literal. There are some people who are not language processing. Some people that have epilepsy. There are some people that have health conditions. So metabolic, gut and autoimmune challenges. There are some people, goodness me, where am I go with this? Because there's so many things. So I've got language, visual perception, health, learning disabilities and learning difficulties. So what she's trying to say, just some of those brief examples I've giving you, is that autism doesn't have a look. No one can speak for all. Certainly not, because everyone has their own fruit salad. So pieces of my fruit salad I've gone through this morning or early afternoon, rather, is I've touched on language and visual perception. But there's other things as well. Personality types. Human beings have four to six different personality types. So what if, let's be hypothetical here, what if someone with autism has an undiagnosed personality disorder? Would they be operating differently once the volume of their disorder traits has been turned down into their version of normal? I'm not going to say normal, because that's subjective. Do you understand what I mean? Definitely. Do you want me to keep going? Yeah, no, yes. So mental health, mental health. So we've touched on information processing, personality types, mental health, impulse control. Many a time I've seen people with autism or heard rather when I asked staff or people in the audience, you know, sometimes they get people who impulsively pick their skin or pick their nose or pluck their hair, etc. And that could be to do with impulse control. It may have been called the autism. You can have dissociative disorders where people the reason why I started dissociating at primary school was a reaction to not being able to actually understand what was going on around me. So dissociation, a normal, a normal, quote, quote, former dissociation is daydream. But when it goes into disordered rounds, it could be to do with someone being in an environment they can't handle. So they dissociate. So depersonalisation, dissociating from yourself, derealisation, dissociating from the environment around you. OK, yeah. OK, so we get deep now. We get deep. Yeah. So what in other words to round that off. Yeah. What Donna was trying to say. And I hope that people embrace her analogy is that we're all all human beings are complex. Yeah. You contextualise it to autism. Everyone is their own patchwork quilt. Yeah. And autism is just to reduce that down to something more easily digestible. Yeah, I'm thinking of parents and kids who've just been diagnosed. OK, so for parents at home, what the analogy is, is effectively saying that autism is a clustering. Yeah, pre-existing conditions that are based in urology and biology. So for parents out there, you can be the detective. You can find out what pieces are relevant to your child. Yeah. And don't be afraid of failure because failure is normal and try different things. You think of autism not in the singular, but in the plural, autism. Yes. So are there any books that Donna Williams that are written that a parent, you would say, say their child has just been diagnosed and they're trying to find out a little bit more. Is there a book that you might like to recommend or something that you've written? I could make sure of both, I suppose. Autism, the jumble jigsaw she done about 10 years ago, which expands on this fruit salad analogy in a way that is not as clinical as I've I've proved it as I've described it. It's more written in a very, I feel, very laid-back way. OK, sort of personal, heavy reading. No, it's one of those books that you can actually just look at the chapter at the front and then go to the relevant chapter. It's a handbook. OK, and how about one of yours? If you're interested in visual, perceptual conditions and learning a difficult is related to visual stress and problems with processing stuff, the life through kaleidoscope one is is something that I could recommend. OK, we spoke about this before, but my recollection of Donna Williams was when she came to Hillingdon Manor School and it was quite a few years ago. We had a conference and I invited her over to speak because obviously she doesn't live in this country or she didn't live in this country. But she was over doing lots of different talks. And I said, oh, could you squeeze us in at Hillingdon Manor School? So she said, yeah, sure. Well, when you were chatting, she sent me some pictures as well. I remember she still up to paint and she came to the school and all of the walls of the school painted with hyacinth pillow because I remember you to first came along and she said she loved the colour of the walls. And the school is sort of in a square. So you've got like a garden in the middle and then there's just glass windows all the way around. So if you walk all the way around, you can walk in a circle in the school. And Donna said, do you mind if I skip around the square? So I said, no, not at all. So she was a lady in her 20s. And I remember she had like a smock type dress on and she just reminded me of a little girl just holding on to the frills at the side of the dress. And she was skipping all around the school and you could see the pure joy. And she said, I've enjoyed that so much, I'm going to do it again. So I said, carry on. So off she went. And then she said, OK, now I'm ready to talk. So and then she gave her presentation and I just loved her for that. And I just thought how lovely it must be to be so free and just to be able to do something like that. So, yeah, Donna Williams. Yeah, great lady. Very sad that she died two years ago. And now a really lovely lady. And as you said, very unassuming. You know, it's not like I am the voice of all reason. If you want to read my books, there they are. So, again, if you want to talk to us or chat to us or send us a question, please email www.annaKennedyonline.com or you can contact the office or one eight nine five five four zero one eight seven. Welcome to women's radio station, the voice of women worldwide. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Pasalante on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie Mae is Listening. Hello, this is Anna Kennedy at Women's Radio Station, live voice of women worldwide, talking about all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. I'm Saskia at Sable Forex, and we specialize in saving individuals and companies money on their international money transfers or foreign exchange. So when money is crossing currencies, whether it's euros to yen or rands to pounds, that's where we can add value. So for all your foreign exchange needs, I'm Saskia at Sable. You can contact me on saskia.johnston at sableinternational.com or my number is 0207 759 7541. Hi, I'm Sue Openshaw, owner of Femme de Ciel, the luxury ski chalet in Samoix in the Grand Massif, France. We are open for skiing from mid-December to end of April, and we're only one hour from Geneva. So perfect for short breaks or longer holidays, single or multiple bookings. Contact us on Femme de Ciel dot com or 07733 100020. Do you need mediation? We are the A-Project charity. We provide convert resolution and community engagement services. Our services include community mediation for neighbour disputes, family mediation for separating couples, special education needs for parents, carers and their children and young adults, as well as workplace mediation and restorative services. To find out more, head to womensradiostation.com or theaproject.co.uk. Women's Radio Station can give a voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programmes. We can tailor your experience to you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Zina Moscone, head of business development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07 956 371 483 or alternately zm at womensradiostation.com. Hello, this is Anna Kennedy and we're on the final quarter of all things autism. My guest today is Paul Isaacs. And there's just one more quote that I'd like to read with you, because obviously this is the month of International Women's Day and Mother's Day. So self help expert Dr. Pam, who's a supporter of the charity, is saying, find your purpose in life and set goals and reach them, even if the road ahead feels tough. Never lose sight of those goals. Right now, you might not realize how much inner strength that you have, but it's there just waiting for you to tap into it. Never feel embarrassed about asking for help to reach your goals. We all need help. It's a sign of strength, not weakness to ask. And don't forget your goals may change over time and take you into a new direction that can be the exciting part of reaching out for new goals. So that's great words from Dr. Pam. Thank you, Dr. Pam. So Paul and I are doing some work with Great Western Railway. Anna Kennedy Online started working with Great Western Railway last year where we did an awareness raising video that went out to three thousand five hundred staff. So now we've been asked to continue because this piece of work was so well received by the staff and Paul is now going to be working with them and he's written something that's going to be shared with all the staff. So I just wanted to ask you, Paul, if you don't mind, is how does your visual perception have an impact when you travel? Yeah, I mean, if I didn't if I didn't have these lenses, it would be a tarsum experience from beginning to end. If you can imagine the problems that I've described with visuals, understanding placement where I am on a track. If I'm on the right track, trying to read the ticker, you know, the ticker that goes across the colours and all the frequencies. One of the things that I struggle with is is this ability to keep up with what's happening at the moment in with a sense of structure. OK. What what can happen is I can get quite lost in colours or or shimmer and shine. And if I keep, you know, for example, the underground. Yeah, if there's a certain colour or a certain frequency visual that I like, what I have to then tell myself is right. You with the example of being with you, right, I'm with Anna and I'm going to the radio station, so I have to constantly keep switching my brain to be actually focused with what I've planned, because what will happen is if I start looking at certain colour or a certain texture, what will happen is I'll lose myself in the colour and I will struggle to then bring myself back. So if you actually put that in in a situation where I'm waiting for a train or I'm waiting for connecting trains, you know, if I'm going on more than one, then that's going to create problems, a lot of problems. It may bring about unwanted attention. If someone's just glaring a colour, the lame and public may wonder if there's something wrong. I could potentially have people next stuff and just not be aware of, you know, my pockets being, you know, rated. And so, yeah, there are there are I suppose what I'm trying to describe is you know, there are there are a level of difficulties which then create their own vulnerabilities, I suppose. Yeah. So remember you and listening to you talk when you were there, sometimes you can get lost in when you're in the supermarket. Absolutely. And you've got to focus on why you're there. Yeah, absolutely. Going in the supermarket, don't you know, it's not just colours, it's like textures as well like someone's hair or someone's coat or something. Yeah. And of course, what it's going to do is it's going to bring about trouble, whether I like it or not. So the focus has to be just keep myself consciously switched on in the moment because if I don't, then I'm just going to lose myself. Now, losing yourself in some contexts is brilliant, you know, people train for years to just lose themselves. But, you know, I always perceive it as the opposite problem. I'm too inclined to go into Zen and have to be force myself into a more structured way of thinking when things are happening. So if you think about a train, train stations, trams, it's based on a very structured way of thinking, interlinking. So if my brain is trying to go fuzzy and wild, then I have to, without the tints, I would just constantly be just trying to switch myself off from these pieces of information that look so lovely, but they're not going to really do much for me if I'm standing at a station for hours. Yeah. So would you get stressed, say, for example, if the trains were cancelled or they changed times? Because I know I, you know, if I'm going somewhere and I've got somewhere I've got to be and I've planned the route and everything, I know I get stressed myself. So would that have a great impact? Yeah, particularly, you know, connecting trains or I have to get somewhere. I know that sounds obvious because it's what people do when they get on public transport, but maybe why the volume is turned up on that particular problem is partly the issues I've described previous and partly at that point in time, how do I feel about it? I don't know how I feel about it. So it's these things sort of floating away. So it's almost like my coherence is beginning to shatter. And then that will affect my ability to concentrate. My emotional frequencies will be all over the place. And also the the ability to think about not only who to go up to once I've found them, how do I formulate how I feel and what I want? So what do you think of Asperger's Syndrome removal on the DSM-5? It's caused a bit of anxiety. People still say diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome because I've sworn to so many different people, even my son, Patrick, you know, he's got a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. So what's your opinion about it being removed from the DSM-5? Yeah, to be honest, I don't understand it at all. It's being, I think in the States, it's like called a communication disorder or something very watered down. And if you think about, you know, Asperger's Syndrome and autism, going back to fruit salad theme or theme rather, from what I've seen with Donna's work about the differences between Asperger's Syndrome and autism, generally it's to do with which part of the brain is compensating for the other. So, for example, my father has got a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and he tends to be very logical and literal in terms of processing and trying to work out the world, it's like this inner world, whereas autism, it's not a rule of thumb here, folks. It's just something I've observed when looking at her work tend to be less literal, less logical and externalised to internalise. And then, of course, Donna was so funny, she'd say, but there's something else. And she put a camera and she said, it's the Asperger's, the ones that are dipping into both the Asperger's and Aughty world. So I've kind of I may have made it more complicated now. I've explained that. But what I'm to get you folks to understand it's to do with which part of the brain is being compensated for. So if Asperger's, it tends to be more left brain dominant. Aughty's, it tends to be right. Asperger's tend to have social motiaagnosia, which is not perceived in body language. Okay. Facial expression or tone of voice tend to be more literal. Dysphraxia is common. With Aughty's, it tends to be higher levels of visual verbal processing challenges or apraxia. So expressive language, receptive language, receptive language processing disorders. So if you actually what I'm doing here is I'm explaining the fruit salad and then you get people that are dipping into the middle. So Asperger's does have its place, but I have a feeling it's no doubt to do with partly the issue with funding over in the States and partly to do what has recently been found out about Hans Asperger as a person. And for which I can completely understand because it's just a horrible thought. But in terms of looking at profiles, yeah, there's got to be differences. Okay. So tell me about the work that you do then. So obviously you're a blogger, you're a speaker. You'll be our autism expert. So if anyone's interested in coming along, you'll be there to answer any questions that people may have. So what other work do you do? Because I know you volunteer as well. Oh, goodness, you're making me think about the other work I do. Yeah, I work at a day centre for people with autism as a consultant, which I've been doing for, goodness me, about four years, which I really, really enjoy. I can see that when you talk to me about it. Your face lights up. You can see you're really enjoying the work there. Yeah, I like just the fact that in the end, we're all human beings. And if you can give people validation or not necessarily validation, but just being in the sense that they are human and not defining them by one word. Because you can't define anyone by one word. That's the point I tried to make. And I think it's very important that people get to have a sense of autonomy or not just a sense of it, live, autonomy, living, making choices. Even sometimes making the wrong choices can make someone more resilient. So, yeah, it is about just letting people live their life. I want to say thank you. This hour has flown by. We could have talked forever. So, again, if people are interested in looking at your website, what is it? It's Paul Isaacs at Google Sites. That's my website. Okay. And if they want to find you on Twitter, Paul Isaacs 22 and Instagram. Oh, goodness me. Oh, Paul Isaacs again, autism, there's a running female. Okay. It literally on Instagram, Twitter website. Yeah, Paul Isaacs. And if you can't get through to them, you can come through to the charity website, which is www.annaKennedyOnline.com or you can contact 018 95 5 4 0 1 8 7. Thank you very much, everyone. And bye bye. Welcome to Women's Radio Station, the voice of women worldwide. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lesson live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie Mae is listening. Hello, this is Anna Kennedy at Women's Radio Station, live voice of women worldwide, talking about all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. I'm Saskia at Sable Forex and we specialise in saving individuals and companies money on their international money transfers or foreign exchange. So in money is crossing currencies, whether it's euros to yen or rands to pounds, that's where we can add value. So for all your foreign exchange needs, I'm Saskia at Sable. You can contact me on Saskia. Johnston at sableinternational.com or my number is 0207 759 7541. Hi, I'm Sue Openshaw, owner of Firm de Ciel, the luxury ski chalet in Samoix in the Grand Massif, France. We are open for skiing from mid December to end of April and we're only one hour from Geneva. So perfect for short breaks or longer holidays, single or multiple bookings. Contact us on firmdecel.com or 07733 100020. Do you need mediation? We are the A project charity. We provide convert resolution and community engagement services. Our service include community mediation for neighbor disputes, family mediation for separating couples, special education needs for parents, carers and their children and young adults, as well as workplace mediation and restorative services. To find out more, head to womensradiostation.com or theaproject.co.uk. Women's radio station can give a voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programs. We can tailor your experience to you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Vina Masconi, head of business development at Women's Radio Station. Radio advertising is the most cost effective way of reaching a huge audience globally. Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs, whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07 956 371 483 or alternatively ZM at womensradiostation.com.