Chelsea's Vocation
Chelsea's neurodivergent offspring are the reason her heart and mind have grown year after year for two decades. As a neuromajority human caring for and about autistic humans, she has learned to apply a thing or two about brain wiring and wants to share that learning with other people so they can know better and do better, too. These 20-minute long shows will be released every two weeks (two per month max), feature occasional guests, have a neuroaffirming focus, and highlight autistic experiences.
Chelsea's Vocation
"Magnetosphere" and Synesthesia
Since Chelsea’s youngest Noey disclosed nonchalantly that they see music in color, Chelsea has been intrigued by synesthesia. Learning about “Magnetosphere”, a recently-released feature film depicting protagonist Maggie’s inner and outward experiences with synesthesia, prompted her to zoom in on the topic for this episode.
Guest Nicola Rose is the writer and director of “Magnetosphere”, a movie about a neurodivergent 13-year-old girl (Shayelin Martin) realizing she has synesthesia. You can watch the movie on multiple platforms at http://freestyledigitalmedia.tv/film/magnetosphere. Previously, Nicola wrote and directed another film, “Goodbye, Petrushka”, which was interpreted by many as being about a girl with autism.
While Chelsea loved Colin Mochrie as quirky Vietnam veteran Gil, the representation Maggie’s friend Wendy (Mikayla Kong) brings to the story is important. Noey was surprised to see Steven He portraying Maggie’s love interest, as they’re familiar with him in other media contexts.
Check out these articles for more on autism and synesthesia:
- “Is synaesthesia more common in autism?” Baron-Cohen, S., Johnson, D., Asher, J., Wheelwright, S., Fisher, S. E., Gregersen, P. K., & Allison, C. (2013). Molecular Autism, 4(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-4-40
- “The Interesting Connection Between Autism and Synesthesia” (Amber Wu, Western University, 2021)
The following topics and terms, in order of their appearance in the podcast, might evoke some curiosity:
Next episode: Language Development
Podcast includes an introduction for episodes 6 and following at the beginning. Transition music, "Taking a Vocation", by Noey Budde.
Closing narration for episodes 6 and following.
