Tourette's advocacy on TikTok – with Monica Nguyen
Beyond 6 Seconds: Neurodiversity stories from neurodivergent people
02/20/23
•20m
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Note: This episode contains occasional swearing (coprolalia).
Monica Nguyen is a 20-year-old disability advocate who lives in Sydney, Australia. Monica began sharing her experiences online after facing a lot of discrimination from people who don't understand her Tourette Syndrome. Her goal is to inspire, educate and empower.
During this episode, you will hear Monica talk about:
- What her life has been like with Tourette's, as someone living in Australia who is part of a Vietnamese family
- The discrimination she's faced in public because of her tics and coprolalia, including a confrontation at a train station that compelled her to start sharing her life experiences with Tourette's online
- The positive community she has built on TikTok by creating videos about her life with Tourette's
- The goals she has for her advocacy
Follow Monica on TikTok @meowmons and Instagram @ticswithmon.
This episode features a promo from the Psychocinematic podcast, which discusses the representation of disability and mental health conditions in film and TV. Listen to Psychocinematic at PsychocinematicPodcast.com or on your favorite podcast app.
Watch the video of this interview on YouTube!
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*Disclaimer: The views, guidance, opinions, and thoughts expressed in Beyond 6 Seconds episodes are solely mine and/or those of my guests, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer or other organizations.*
Previous Episode
Apraxia Story – with Tessa McEvoy
February 6, 2023
•25m
Content warning: This episode mentions emotional abuse.
Tessa McEvoy is autistic, has a speech disability called Oral Motor Apraxia, and was recently diagnosed bipolar. She talks about her experiences on her popular Facebook page, Apraxia Story, and advocates for autistic, bipolar, abuse survivors and apraxic individuals online. In 2022 she wrote, illustrated and published her book called "What is it like Living with Depression?"
During this episode, you will hear Tessa talk about:
- What inspired her to start sharing her apraxia story online
- The difficulties she's faced as a neurodivergent person with a speech disability, including being judged, abused and isolated
- Why she advocates for disabled people who are experiencing abuse
- The inspiration and motivation behind her book
- Sharing her life experiences to help people in similar situations feel less alone
Follow Tessa on Facebook, join her Patreon community and check out her book, "What is it like Living with Depression?" on Amazon.
Watch the video of this interview on YouTube!
Subscribe to the FREE Beyond 6 Seconds newsletter for early access to new episodes!
Support this podcast at BuyMeACoffee.com/Beyond6Seconds and get a shout-out on a future episode!
*Disclaimer: The views, guidance, opinions, and thoughts expressed in Beyond 6 Seconds episodes are solely mine and/or those of my guests, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer or other organizations.*
Next Episode
A nonspeaking autistic writer's advocacy – with Ben Breaux
March 6, 2023
•12m
How do you get an education when you cannot speak, and the school system does not understand your abilities or support your needs? This was the experience of Ben Breaux, a 22-year-old nonspeaking autistic man with epilepsy who uses a letterboard and a text-to-speech app on his iPad to communicate.
Ben is an aspiring journalist who feels it is very important that non-, minimal- and unreliably speaking autistic people have equal rights, opportunities, and voices in society. He writes and advocates on these topics and more on his public Facebook Page, for numerous autism advocacy groups worldwide, and on advocacy boards and committees in his home state of Virginia and nationally.
During this episode, Ben discusses:
- What life was like before he learned how to communicate using a letterboard
- The struggles he faced to earn his education
- The advocacy work he does for nonspeaking autistic people with two nonprofit organizations, NeuroClastic and CommunicationFIRST
- What inspired him to start sharing his writing online
- His advice for parents of nonspeaking children, and for nonspeaking people themselves
Read Ben's writing on his Facebook page, Instagram and on the Neuroclastic website, and follow Ben on TikTok.
Watch the video of this interview on YouTube!
Subscribe to the FREE Beyond 6 Seconds newsletter for early access to new episodes!
Support this podcast at BuyMeACoffee.com/Beyond6Seconds and get a shout-out on a future episode!
*Disclaimer: The views, guidance, opinions, and thoughts expressed in Beyond 6 Seconds episodes are solely mine and/or those of my guests, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer or other organizations.*
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