EP113 The Busiest Man Alive- Special Interests & Autism

In this episode of Mad About, Maddy Alexander-Grout is joined by the wonderful Michael Bown, community champion, performer, theatre-lover, choir member, charity supporter, and quite possibly the busiest man alive.

Michael shares what life looks like as an autistic person with big passions, a packed calendar, and a deep love for performing, community, musicals, festivals and making a difference. From attending hundreds of theatre shows a year to singing in multiple languages, collecting DVDs, making personalised badges and taking part in local community events, Michael shows the joy, dedication and brilliance that can come from fully embracing your special interests.

The conversation also explores autism, bullying, burnout, belonging, friendship, performing, finding your people, and why being different is not something to hide from.

This is a beautiful, funny and heartfelt episode about autistic joy, community, and what happens when someone finally finds the places where they feel safe, seen and celebrated.

In This Episode, We Talk About:

•  Michael’s role as a community champion in Lichfield 
•  His love of theatre, musicals, choirs and festivals 
•  Attending hundreds of shows and events every year 
•  Special interests and going “all in” 
•  Autism, dyspraxia and diagnosis at age 12 
•  The impact of bullying and finding belonging later in life 
•  Burnout and the pressure of a packed schedule 
•  Performing as a place of safety and connection 
•  Collecting DVDs, badges, calendars and memories 
•  The power of community, friendship and making a difference 

Key Takeaways

•  Special interests can be powerful sources of joy, identity and connection. 
•  Autistic people are not all the same, and social needs can look completely different from person to person. 
•  Finding the right community can change everything. 
•  Burnout can happen even when you love what you do. 
•  Being different is not wrong. It can be brilliant, beautiful and deeply meaningful. 
•  Belonging often comes from finding people who celebrate your quirks rather than question them. 

Favourite Quotes

“I’m mad about making a difference in people’s lives and performing.”“When I’m up there on stage with my best friends who have become like family to me, I feel like I truly belong.”“The busiest man alive.”

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction to Michael and the Mad About Podcast
00:56 – Michael’s Life as a Community Champion
01:41 – Choirs, Concerts and Singing in Seven Languages
04:05 – Theatre, Musicals and Personalised Badge Collecting
05:17 – Special Interests, Shows and Going All In
06:32 – Work, Volunteering and a Very Busy Calendar
07:35 – Burnout, Rest and Reducing Pressure
09:30 – Autism, Socialising and Breaking Stereotypes
12:20 – Museums, Family Memories and Special Interests
14:53 – Maddy’s Sea Glass Collection and Creative Joy
16:03 – Lists, DVDs and Michael’s Collections
20:49 – Performing, Belonging and Feeling Safe on Stage
22:39 – Festivals, Lichfield and “Viva Lich Vegas”
28:58 – Michael’s Autism Diagnosis
30:05 – Bullying, Difference and Starting Again
35:42 – Walking for Autism and Making a Difference
37:26 – What Michael is Mad About

Connect with Maddy

Follow Maddy Alexander-Grout for more conversations around neurodivergence, money, business, life, visibility and what it really means to be seen, heard and understood.

Follow Maddy @madaboutmoneyofficial on TikTok and @maddytalk

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Mad About. I'm Maddie Alexander Graut, and this is a podcast where we talk about all things that we are mad about. Mad can mean happy, it can mean excited, it can mean totally obsessed, it can be angry, it can be passionate, but it means so many things, and I'm all about amplifying neurodivergent choices on this podcast. We talk money, we talk life, we talk business. Um, and I'm very excited today to be joined by another Michael Bower, who is not only a fantastic member of the MyDiverse community, um, but he is also an autistic person. He is somebody who is a community champion of the literature field, which basically means that he champions all people who are doing really, really good things in the community. And I can't wait to hear more about what that actually entails. Um, so good morning, Michael. Lovely to have you with us. Do you want to tell us a bit about you in your own words?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Hello, my name is Michael. As Maddy has said, I'm one of the community champions in Lichfield. It is our responsibility to go around the city doing acts of charity. I take part in lots of different events throughout the year, and I attend the theatre about 300 times a year now.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

That's a lot. That's almost like more days than there are in the year, Michael. I'm impressed. I mean, whenever I speak to you, you do always seem like you are the most busy person. Like, I think you you actually rival me in terms of like busyness, which I love.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

I more than rival you this time. I'm actually even busier than before because I've now taken on an extra project with the job centre.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Wow, that's amazing. So tell me about the sort of projects that you do.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Um, as part of the Lich Hill Gospel choir, we sing in Nigerian, Zulu, Zambian, Tongan, Mandingo, Swahili, and Greek. We have about 40 performances a year for our different venues throughout the whole of Staffordshire. In the next few months, I have a performance at the NMA in Auruas on the 17th of May during the afternoon. On the 31st of May, I'll be performing in the Birmingham Symphony Hall. I will be performing a lovely piece of music called Rahm's German Requiem from 7 pm until 10pm. On the 13th of June, I'll be performing at the Coach and Centre in Tamworth. This time I'll be performing a piece of music called Bart Magnificat, and on the 26th of July, I will be performing a piece of music with 900 other singers alongside me called Community Spirit 2026. This entails 10 different pieces of music written by a very local composer called Mr. Ken Burton. He's written 10 magnificent pieces joined together for all different choirs from around Staffordshire to join together for the 15th anniversary of this special event. But alongside that, I'm also a member of the D-Day Darlings choir as well. So over the next few weeks, I will be performing in a few concerts with them, including the 10th of May at Tamworth Assembly Rooms, the 19th of June at Southern Culfield Town Hall. On the 7th of November, I will also be performing with them at Bedford Civic Hall, and on the 8th of November I will also be performing with them, but this time at Stratford Art House.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Wow, you are very busy. Like, I mean, now that we have got your social calendar for the next like three months, I love that. I really do. Um, I want to know. Um, so with these quiets, you have to sing in all of those different languages.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

I have to sing in seven different languages without any sheet music. We learn these songs off by heart from start to finish. And so far we have over 100 songs in our repertoire.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

That is just incredible. Um, I mean, like, I can't even I can barely speak French. So, I mean, this is an example of a special interest and a hobby that is just like you go all in, and this is like what you do now, and I absolutely fucking love that.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Um I do pretty much go all in, and afterwards I make personalised badges on Amazon with all the titles of the shows that I go and see, and then I put them up on the board in my room as a lovely memento of the events that I go and see. Because in total, I must go to about 700 events in total throughout the year.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Wow, can we see the board?

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Of course. Allow me to go upstairs for a moment, I'll show you.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

This is like super exciting. I mean, I'm a big pin badge fan anyway.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Because when I said I was a fan of musicals, I wasn't exaggerating. Here are all the musicals that I've attended so far this year.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Wow, can we go a bit closer? Oh, they are so cool. Wow, that's lovely. Okay, so what's your favourite musical?

SPEAKER_01 4:52

My favourite musical is Joseph and the amazing technical dream coat. And for that year, I attend all 13 musicals at Birmingham Hippodrome. All 180 shows at the Lichfield Garrick Theatre in Lichfield, and this is the eighth year in a row that I have attended all of them without fail.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

That is just crazy. Like, do you do anything else on your weekends apart?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Um, I recently I also attend shows in Birmingham as well. I recently went to Hot Wheels Live at the weekend with my best friend Sardet, and then I attended Gravity at the Hippodrome as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

That's very cool. I could imagine my kids being really into the Hot Wheels thing. Like, they are like, this is brilliant. I mean, I love it, I really do, because people we don't talk about special interests as autistic people enough. Um now, you know, I have one of my biggest hobbies is I like to make things shiny. So like I get things and I and I I basically make them shiny. It's a really weird hobby to have. Um there's not many people who I've found that that do it. I do it with shoes, bags, like all sorts of different things. Um music for me, again, you know, I I'm very much into my music as well. Um I always think I am. Like I go to probably six six festivals a year, and I go to maybe three or four gigs every month or so. Um, but you you do what you do, and you take it just so far, and I just it it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, and I would assume quite a lot of money to have a hobby and a special interest that that's that's as big as this.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

It really does, but on alongside all of that, I also attend all the appointments at the job centre. I do all of my shifts at work. So far, I've actually completed 530 shifts in total.

unknown 6:46

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

So, what do you do workwise?

SPEAKER_01 6:48

I work as a cleaner in the Britannia Enterprise Park in Street Hay on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I also volunteer with Lichfield Arts, the nurture community, where we put on five events a month for all ages and abilities. Alongside that, alongside my shifts as well. I also attend all the theatre shows, I go out with my friends, I try and schedule as much into my schedule as I can possibly cope with.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

What do you do for downtime though? Do you have any relaxation? I mean, I get I guess going to watch music and going to watch musicals and doing all the music stuff, I guess that is probably pretty relaxing.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

That is my downtime, but unfortunately I do three to four activities every single day, so I don't get home until about 10 or 11 pm at night almost every night.

unknown 7:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Do you have a burnout?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

I burnt out a few weeks ago quite badly, yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Okay, and what happen what happens when you burn out? How do you get back out of that?

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Um, I spent a few days on my own, just relaxing at home with my family, watching TV. Eventually, my friends talked me back into going back into some of my activities. I eventually went back to some, but due to burnout, I decided to get rid of some of my activities to lessen the pressure on myself. But knowing with the choirs, I've now got 40 concerts in the next eight weeks, which I'm now rehearsing for three times a week. I love every moment of it, but I have to travel back into Lichfield from Fradley, where I live. So I have to spend five pounds on the bus, both there and back. So I spend about 10 to 20 pounds a day travelling.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Wow, okay. That's that is that is quite a lot. Um, but I I think but we do what we do, don't we? When it's when it's something that we're really passionate about, you know. I don't see spending money on going to see bands or like going, you know, going to festivals. I don't see that as a really big expense, even though sometimes they can cost up to like 300 pounds. I don't see that as being a lot because that's my enjoyment and that's my happiness. So I really love to do that. So I completely get it. Um there is an interesting crossover there though, with like I think a lot of people assume that when you're when you're autistic, that you are not sociable and that you can, you know, just really go into yourself and go in go into that burnout. And and me, as I think as an Audi HDer, I have very strong extremes where I'm like super, super peeply and I'm like a social butterfly, and I love doing all like the peoply things, and then I go, autism, and I have to like retreat back like back into my shell, kind of go inside of myself and like not speak to anybody, including my family, for like a whole week. Do you get that as well?

SPEAKER_01 9:30

I unfortunately no, I don't. I'm actually the most social person out of everyone in my autism group so far.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

I love that. And this is the thing, we are all so different. Just because we have that label, and I don't like calling them labels, um, it doesn't mean you know, we are two autistic people who are very, very different. And it's just the way that our that our brains and our our kind of symptoms manifest themselves. Um but I I do I do get the kind of I'm peopled out, like too much has happened, I I need to have like that that relaxation and that that pullback sometimes because otherwise I get like really super overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Like I can imagine that being that busy, like I would just want to make sure that as a friend you are looking after yourself because I'm trying to look after myself, but throughout this week, I've got tomorrow I've got my shift at work, then I've got a meeting with a neurodiversity coach at the local library in Lichfield, and then I'm going to show it the Garrick in the evening, which should be quite exciting. Um, on Thursday, I've got the day out of my friend Kay, and then I'm going to the disco with her in the evening.

unknown 10:39

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

On Friday, I have my shift at work, and then I'm going out with some friends, but then the weekend is going to be kind of overwhelming for me because on Saturday I'm meeting up with some friends, having dinner with them, going to a local show, and I do from because I do three activities a day, I don't really have any downtime. I'm literally out and about until about 11 pm at night, almost every single night now.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Do you think that do you think there's a there's a reason why you do all of these things? Have you ever had kind of like a time in your life where stuff wasn't happening for you, and actually now this is your kind of the the thing that that keeps you occupied and keeps you happy?

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Um actually no, I've been like this my entire life, to be completely honest with you, because I moved from Hampshire eight years ago to here in Fradley in Staffordshire.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Whereabouts in Hampshire were you?

SPEAKER_01 11:30

I was originally based in Yately in Hampshire, but because of my past, because of some issues I went through, I moved here eight years ago in my family.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Oh, the other side to me, I'm Southampton. Um so Hampshire is one of the most beautiful places. In fact, I've I've pretty much lived in Hampshire for most of my life. Um, like bar a couple of things, like I moved to Leicestershire and like Warrington at one point. That was kind of Cheshire that's Cheshire actually. I was just thinking, where that, where is that? Um but apart from that, I've been here for most of my life, and I moved back to to Southampton when I was 25, I think. Yeah, about 25, 26. Um, and I've been here since. So, you know, that's I'm not gonna give away my age, 42.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Well, I'm 33, and as you're right, Southampton is very beautiful, including the Aviation Museum.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Do you know what? We go there quite a lot because the kids love it, they love all their aeroplane stuff. And also, I don't know if you've ever been to the Army Air Museum in Overwallop.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

I have.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

So I used to work there when I was a child. So I grew up in Overwallop and I used to cycle up there. That was one of my first ever jobs. I'd cycle up there. The only time I I actually stopped working there because I got the the cuff of my trousers locked around one of my bicycle things, and I fell off into the road. I was like, um, but yeah, I worked, I worked there. That was actually how I saved up the money for my first ever festival. Um I worked in the cafe and they had the most disgusting food, and you probably don't want to know how they cook it. Um, but actually, we've now got a season ticket to the Army Air Museum, and I take my autistic children there, and they absolutely love helicopters, planes. Like um, when they were there, actually, they they went at the weekend with their dad, and like they had um a Spitfire landing um when they were there. So they like and also yeah, there's been like lots of different things happening over the last couple of weeks with Spitfires around the area, so we've been keeping an eye out. Um, and yeah, they they have they just love it. There's so much there for them to do. They love the aviation museum, they love like the with the Titanic Museum. In fact, they're quite into museums in general. Like, I have to admit that I have never really been that into museums. I'm kind of like I find them interesting. One of the best ones I've ever been to um was the the uh the shipwreck museum on the Isle of Wight. Have you ever been to that?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

I've been to the Isle of Wight, but unfortunately I haven't been to that museum. But maybe I'll visit one day if I have the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

It's super interesting because they've got like everything that they've found at the bottom of the sea, and I just think that's crazy that there's this just gigantic body of water, but underneath it there's all of these boats and things that have sunk. And like I'm a really, really big collector. That's that's my my other special interest, which I'm so so proud of. Um, is that I collect sea glass um and I collect sea glass that is like that I've found myself, and I know that that seaglass has a history, but every single piece has a little bit of history in it. It's like what boat was that on? Like, was that part of a wine bottle? Was it part of a bear bottle? Who drank that bear bottle of that wine bottle? Um, and I have some really weird I I actually made, because I'm quite crafty as well, I made this piece. In fact, I'm gonna show you, I'm gonna get it because it's amazing. And because it's the Isle of Wight, and my dad lived on the Isle of Wight before he died. This is what I made out of all of the sea glass that I collected.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

That's very beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

That's pretty cool, isn't it? Like, I have to say, I um like I what I did was I went onto Canva and I printed out a picture of the Isle of Wight. Um, and then if you can see it, because it's a bit of a glare there. But that's every single piece that we collected on our holiday last year. Um and there's some red bits in there, these bits. Like the red bits are quite hard to get. Um but every year we go, we try and get more sea glass, and I've got my kids into it as well. And we basically we spend hours, it's a really good free activity to do with the kids. We just go to the beach and we like by the way, if anyone wants to go to the Isle of Wight, the best one is Yarmouth Beach, because the tide comes in and out quite quickly, and it is a gold mine, like honestly. So, my yeah, my special interest is seaglass collecting, which is a little bit like well, I think we we don't talk about the fact that we have special interests enough, and you know, they are things like I get really super passionate about like all of the things that I do that that other people might think are quite quirky or quite weird. I mean, do you get that as well?

SPEAKER_01 16:03

I've got a well, I've got a kind of weird fascination with kind of writing down lists because of everything that I do in my life. I've got about nine folders full of every activity that I do, and then I write attending to each one after I do it because I'm in the gospel choir, the D-Day Darlings, I volunteer with different charity groups, my short work, and things like that. And I also am a collector just like you, but I collect DVDs and I must have at least 20,000 or more.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Wow, that's crazy. That is a what okay. So, what's your favourite film?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Um, I don't really have a favourite, but I also attend all the films at the cinema as well every single year with my mum, because my mum likes to take me. And so far, I've seen almost every film here in the Midlands for the last eight years as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Wow, like every film.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Almost every film that I want to see at the cinema, and there's a list of about 40 of them. I attend every single one of them all year without fail.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

I mean, so my my dad was an autistic person, and my dad was obsessed with films. He had like loads of um big kind of film directory things. I guess they would probably be what IMDB is now, um, but like the books, the book version. So they basically have every film with every actor and all of those things. And he just used to sit there and and read these books, and like he used to take us to the cinema a lot. Like we used to go as a family, and I remember I remember him sneaking us into like 15s when we were like 12 or 18s when we were 15, and he'd just sneak us in. And like I I remember once we were we were watching um, I think the the most funny one. I remember we were watching American Pie. Um, and I just remember being like 15, 16 years old, and the guy's having sex with the apple pie, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm here with my dad. Like, what's going on? What is my life coming to? So weird. But but it is like it's I'm I love films. Like my my husband is very much a film person as well. Um, my favourite film ever is The Labyrinth. Um, it was my favourite from the tri from being a child, and I've got my kids watching it now. Um, but the problem is with my children, and I don't know whether or not you've ever had this, and I think it's quite an ADHD thing when you find a film that you like, you watch it on repeat and you watch it all the time. Um do you have that?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Yes, yes, I do.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yeah, um, and my kids, they they're like, Mummy, can we watch this film? And I'm like, we've watched it 78 million times, and I really don't want to watch it. We had it with Do you remember The Lamb Before Time?

SPEAKER_01 18:43

I remember that film. That was wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Fucking brilliant film, right? So we had it with The Lamb Before Time, and I introduced my son my son to it, and then I introduced my daughter to it. I think when I was a child, that was one of my special interests, one of my hyper focuses was I needed to watch Lamb Before Time all the time. That and Care Bears and My Little Pony, which I don't think I was gonna get either of my children into. But Lamb Before Time, I would say now, is probably my most watched film of all time because I watched it loads, my kids watched it loads. I think Catchamutu will watch because we haven't we haven't done it for a couple of years, but it's it is one of the most beautiful films ever made. I love it, I really do. Um but that's that's I mean, we've got between me and my husband, I always say that I married him for his CD collection. Um, it was either I married him or I stole it, so I thought in the marriage thing seemed a bit easier. Um, but we've got thousands of CDs between the two of us, and we don't really listen to them that much because obviously like music is online now and films are online as well. So, do you actually get them out of their cases and watch them on a DVD?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Yes, I do, and I'm looking when I buy one DVD, I have to buy the set. So for the last 33 years, if I bought one, I have to buy the set of everything. Because I've actually got a room in my house full of every DVD, board game, and CD and video game I've ever bought in my entire life.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Wow. That's and and also when you're so when you were doing all your like your choir stuff and things, do you get pip printed tickets? Because I remember I used to I used to collect all the printed tickets from all of the gigs, and I had a house fire when I was younger, and everything I lost all of my gig tickets. Like I lost basically I lost everything that I owned, and that was the thing that I was the most sad about. The fact that I had like 12 years worth of gig tickets that I because they used to give them to you in paper, they don't anymore, which I think is really rubbish. I think I've got one gig ticket which uh floats around up here, which is my favourite band. Um, and they split up last year, so I went to see them three times in in one year, which people thought was excessive, and I really didn't. But we have to we have to hyper focus on these things, they're what makes us happy, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:49

That's very true, but I hyper focus when I'm performing, it's the one place I feel truly safe and like I belong. When I'm with the gospel choir, we're like one big family, and there's about 250 of us now.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Wow, that's just so. How did you get into all of this?

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Um, that would be because of my dad, because he used to be a drama teacher for 30 years, he passed on his love for performing arts and drama to me. I have now been singing on stage for the last 30 years of my life, and I've done almost 1500 performances in my existence.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Wow. Well, that is very, very cool. Like my my dad uh gave me sport, so we we used to go to the football, he was a Portsmouth fan, I was a Southampton fan. That always like and and actually it it it became a running joke like all the way through our lives that like we were rivals and it was it was quite funny. And my son is now a Southampton supporter, my dad was a Portsmouth supporter, and like the last Christmas we spent together, I bought both of them a calendar for their respective teams. Um but I swapped them around because I thought it was funny. So uh yeah, and we did and my mum my dad used to take me to rugby and like we used to go to Twickenham like quite like two or three times a year. And like I've I've grown up as a result, like really loving football, really loving rugby. Um like I kind of lost the love for football a bit, but now that my son's got into it, I'm kind of like my husband is very anti-football. He would never ever go, even if I paid him, I don't think. So uh it just means I get to take him. But it's nice because it's that like that father daughter, father daughter, father-son bond. Mother daughter, mother-son, fucking hell, Maddie. Get your words out. It's that bond between a like a parent and the child, and I love that. I really do.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

So nice. Because you mentioned loving festivals. I'm actually like you in that way because as I actually attend the Lichfield Bower Festival parade every year. In fact, I'm in the parade this year for the seventh year in a row. I'm also in the Fuse Festival, the Lichfield Arts Festival, the Arts and Heritage Parade, the free Christmas festivals as well. We actually, people here in Lichfield, we call it Viva Lich Vegas, because we have over 400 festivals a year.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Oh, I love that. Wow, that is a lot of festivals. I mean, I so mine are more like I go to kind of like the music-y festivals. So I do um Slam Dunk, which is a pop-punk festival, like like punk and pot punk. I go to Isle of White Festival, which is like all sorts of different music. I go to um where else do I go? Uh Ciderfest. Ciderfest is like in Cornwall, like I don't actually drink anymore, but I go to Ciderfest because of the music. Like, and they always have like an old school kind of 80s, like 80s or 90s kind of rock throwback. So you know it's a couple of like the levelers and ash and grief and a couple of you know ones like that. But yeah, so I go I go to a few, and then like gig-wise, I just go I go to as many as I possibly can. I'm always trying to find like new bands that I like, but I'm more kind of down the alternative kind of so I I like I like all sorts though, you know. If I'm ever in I mean if I'm if I'm ever in your area, I'll definitely come and try and check out yours. Because I reckon that they considering how many you do, if I'm in your area, there will be one on, I would have thought.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

You should really come and visit Lichield. I'll show you around if you ever travel up here.

unknown 24:14

Oh, that would be lovely.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

There's so much to see, but there's Stowpole, Minster Paul, and we have the only three-spyred cathedral in the whole of Europe.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Ooh, okay, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

Interesting. I actually performed in there in 2024 in a wonderful piece called Echoes alongside my friends, and I played Samuel Johnson, the writer of the dictionary, a historian, and the civil war soldier, and the whole video is on YouTube. I was then in a performance in the Lichfield Market Square in October of 2024, and that was called George Fox. That video is also on YouTube where I play Evil Guard number two, and I end up screaming like a lunatic. So if you watch that, please cover your ears because I scream like a lunatic for about half an hour.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Excellent. Okay, like for all of you autistic people who who struggle with noise sensitivity, like, how is that by the way? Like, when you're performing, do you ever get like I I guess like for me, noise is if it's a sudden noise, I'm like, hate it. Um, my daughter, I took, we I took the kids to the fair at the weekend, and there was this like it's called New York. It basically goes like up and down and round and round and round and stuff. And my daughter is like a thrill seeker, she's like totally her special interest is like roller coasters, she just fucking loves them. So she's there on the she's she's there. She's like, Mommy, I really want to go on that, I really want to go on that. And I'm like, but have you have you heard it? Because there's this blaring music, and she's like, the music's okay, but they had like one of those um like foghorns that are like meh meh meh meh. And so I actually went and I spoke to the guy operating the ride, and I said, My daughter's autistic, she really struggles with noise sensitivity. Is there any chance that you could not do that blaring meh meh meh thing? And he was like, Well, the ride's quite loud, but it's going round, so you kind of need the music to cover up like the bumpiness and like the noises of the ride. I said, That's fair enough because it's a continuous piece of music, but it's that foghorn type thing that she really will get scared. He was like, No problem. So he turned it off for her, and it was so nice. Like, I he really didn't have to do that. And actually, I noticed that on the same ride there were two other autistic people, and I like they came off, and you could tell the only reason why you know is because they've got head, you know, they've got the noise cancelling headphones on. But Harriet hates those from a sensitive perspective, she just won't wear them. So, like, I guess if you're if it's noisy, it's okay if it's if it's not just like a continuous level at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Well, actually, I have no noise sensitivity at all because when I attend all the concerts and festivals, I sit on the front row right in front of the stage. It doesn't matter how blaringly loud it is, I will watch it gladly.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Amazing. Like I've I've been see a few for a f a few musicals. So I I've been see The Lion King.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

I saw that at the Hippodrome two years ago. It was magnificent.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

So good, so good. Uh the Mary Poppins. The Mary Poppins is brilliant. Um Wicked, I've seen it twice actually. Um ABBA.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Seen it.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

Um yeah, uh what else have I seen? Um oh um oh Phantom of the Opera.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Oh, that's what I really want to see at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Have you not seen it?

SPEAKER_01 27:30

No, I haven't, but in the next few weeks I'll be watching Barnum the Musical, Waitress, Mamma Mia, Miss Saigon, Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire, Sylvia, the Packer Jack musical, Cat, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, the Pantomime, and Back to the Future of the Musical as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Back to the Future of the Musical, I'd like to see. Um, see, I was actually in Cats once. So when I was younger, I used to actually do quite a lot of performing arts. Um, I did quite a few, I did um I was yeah, I was in quite a few musicals. I did Cats, I did um Bugsy Malone, I did Dracula Spectacular, um loads of loads of different ones, and it was it was really fun, and I actually I really enjoyed the social side of those. Um I do get stage fright though, which is weird considering I'm so like invisible and out there. Like I my stage fright used to be really bad when I was a kid when I was a kid. Um but cats was one that I just oh god, if I ever hear the soundtrack from cats, I'm like it's it's one of those things like if you have a music sensitivity and you hate a specific song, like I really hated cats. I don't know why, but it's just I just never really got along with it like music-wise, it just wasn't my thing. But the rest of them I really enjoyed, it was nice. So let's talk a little bit about um just moving moving on from all of the musical and the special interest. Let's talk a little bit about your autism diagnosis. How old were you when you discovered your autism?

SPEAKER_01 28:58

I was diagnosed at age 12, but that was about 21 years ago now.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Wow, okay. So you are one of the the luckier ones who actually got a diagnosis around the time when you probably should have done. Um, not like us who, you know, I got my I got my autism diagnosis when I was 37. That was quite I don't really know how anybody didn't really notice. Um, it kind of came along with my ADHD one though. Um so was that just your parents thought that you were different, or how how did that kind of come about?

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Um actually it started off in infant school and I had no idea all those years ago. My teachers recognised that something was wrong because my writing used to be really hugely slanted and because I'm I was unable to draw, but now my writing's really neat and tidy. It's unbelievable. But I knew all those years ago.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

I didn't know that that was a I didn't know that was a sign. Like, I mean I'm dyslexic as well. I mean I've I've got the full shebang uh going on over here, but I think I didn't realise that slanty writing was a was a sign, and also not wrong.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

It's not a sign for everyone, it was for me. And I'm the funny thing is when I was younger, I was in the gifted and talented program because my spelling and writing ability were just off the charts. But then as I got older, when I was diagnosed with autism, all that kind of went out the window, and my life became incredibly difficult. I was I was I was bullied for about 20 years in the end, but then I moved here eight years ago, and my family by moving me here have completely changed my life for the better. Because a lot of time what you said on one of your videos, I'm also dyspractic, like you as well.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yep. How many things of water have you spilled today? I like I had to change my trousers a bit because I was drinking this and I like I sat down and I was just like just all over me.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

I've got to I am a little bit clumsy, but that's why I find it hard to do jobs in my hands, like at work. I've got to do certain times like hoovering and cleaning the toilets and wiping down the surfaces. I can do it, but I haven't got the supplies at the moment, so I'm just waiting for that to turn up. But it's actually not that bad being different because I was originally part of Staffordshire Adult Autistic Society, and we normally used to meet on Mondays at St. Mary's Hub in Lichfield from four to half six. It would just be a room full of people like me. We'd hang out, have free drinks, and just enjoy each other's company. But then because I've taken on too much, I've decided to get rid of that for the time being because I've got too much on my schedule and it was causing burnout, and I don't really want that again. So I've turned that off. But now the job centre has said because you're struggling at work a little bit. Let's add this new project to your schedule and see how many meetings you can attend. So on my calendar, because I've got a weird fascination with calendars as well. If I did if I just show you this, um this is where I this is where I go wrong. Because most people's schedule don't look like this. That's my schedule for the rest of the month.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

It gets worse because then May looks like that.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Oh wow, that is that's a lot, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 32:06

No. There's June. I think that's my worst month for them all. There's June.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

You're just you're just too popular and too busy.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

I take on projects that I absolutely love. I kind of have a fascination with attending all the festivals every year without fail. So I do the Fuse, the Bower Festival, the Literal Arts and Heritage, I attend Shakespeare in the park every year, all 180 shows at the Garrick, all 13 shows at the Hippodrome, I meet up with my friends almost on a daily basis, my shifts at work, my volunteering. I'm literally in the busy I'm literally the busiest man alive.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

I think you are, and I think that needs probably needs to be the the title of the of this podcast, like meet the busiest man alive. Like I think it's brilliant. Um so can we talk a little bit about like I I first of all I just want to say how amazing it is that you are so integrated into society and loved and you have so many friends. And I just think that that's really hard after you have been bullied because as somebody who has also been bullied, um, and fairly you know, fairly recently in my in my working life, in my career, like I think that because of the fact that we are different, we are and can be quite outspoken. We say what's on our minds and we don't really mince our words, that can sometimes make it a bit diff a bit more difficult. How did you overcome that that period where you were bullied to where you are now?

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Um, I was originally bullied for 20 years throughout both my senior schools. I was forced to go to two of them. I originally went to Yates School in Hampshire, then I moved to Fleet from 2009 to 2011, and then I jumped to college, to Queen Mary's College in Basingstoke, so I ended up bouncing around a bit. But a college I studied performing arts where I made friends. I spent years kind of on my own outside of that. Once I left, because I didn't know really what I wanted to do in my life, but then my parents moved us here in 2018, and it just changed everything for me. I've got friends, I'm part of all these festivals, I'm I know so many wonderful people. I'm on the actual community champions float again this year, if I have the choice. I can either choose that or the Bower princess float. So I can either choose to be on the Bower float with the Queen, or I can be the bodyguard on the Garrick Theatre float alongside everyone else who shares my love and passion for music.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

And I th I think that this is like, you know, if I'm taking anything from what you're saying and also from my own experience as well, it's it's about like if you are being bullied, realizing that it is temporary, and the more you identify with who you are, what your hobbies are, what your interests are, like finding your people who get you, who understand, who can actually be friends and not judge you or rate you for any of the things that they would class as weird, whereas most of us would go, that's just a really fucking cool hobby. Um, I think is it is really kind of where where people can go from it. You know, I think the more you identify with your own values, the more you identify with who you are as a person, what you love, and what makes you tick, the the less you will get bullied because actually you don't care about the things that are outside of that world. You just have your world, and actually, like the people in your world are there for a reason. Does that does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Very true, because I just want to make a difference in people's lives, because I originally took part yet again in the Walking for Autism initiative challenge. I ended up doing that, didn't I? Yes, you did. I mean, I was supposed to do over 10,000 steps a day, and in the end, I did 110,000. I did 30,000 more than I was originally supposed to.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

You crazy person.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Because originally I was going to get sponsored for this event, but you were one of the only two people who sponsored me. But four years ago I was at part in this challenge. I raised 900 pounds for charity, and I've actually got a gold medal upstairs from where I was given it from a couple of years ago.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

The world needs more people like you, Michael, because you actually you care, you make a difference, you're passionate, you're out there in the community, you're you're doing things not just for you, but to make other people's lives better, and that's just absolutely bloody marvellous.

SPEAKER_01 36:35

The world also needs you as well, Maddy, because you've changed people's lives. You set up the Maddy Verde, you talk to me on a daily basis, and honestly, from the bottom of my heart, I cannot thank you enough for that because you've become my you've become my friend, and for that, I can never thank you enough.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

Oh, well, this is the this is what the world needs. It needs more friendships and it needs more people who are neurodivergent, like supporting each other and taking interest in each other's lives, and I absolutely bloody love that.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

So, if you were ever up in Lichield and Staffordshire, I'd love to show you around, but there's so many wonderful places to see, so many lovely places to visit, including the cathedral, Minster Pole, Stowpole, the Garrett. There's just so many.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

I would love to do that. Well, it has been an absolute pleasure um to have you on. I have to ask my final question, um, but I think we've probably answered it throughout the whole of this podcast. Like, what are you mad about?

SPEAKER_01 37:26

I'm mad about making a difference in people's lives and performing. Because when I'm up there on stage with my best friends who have become like family to me, I just feel like I truly belong. And for the first time in my life, it feels incredible.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

I absolutely love that for you, and I'm so proud to have you as a friend as well. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Um, where if people want to connect with you, where's the best place that they can do that?

SPEAKER_01 37:51

The best place to connect with me is on Facebook because, as people have probably seen on my Facebook page, I actually put photos of every activity that I do from the last eight years. I've actually kept a profile with everything I've ever done. And I update it almost every two days as well. I just love it.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

And Michael took part in our um 100 Neurodivergent Voices podcast as well, which was our 100th episode from Ad About. If you haven't heard it already, go and check it out. Um, Michael, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on today, my darling. Thank you so much for being so honest about your experiences. Um for anybody who's listening, if you've enjoyed this podcast episode, please hit the subscribe button, hit the like button. If you want to come on as a guest and talk about your neurodivergent experiences, please get in touch because we're always open to having uh different uh different voices, different opinions, and different things that talked about here. Um I'm Maddie Alexander Grout. You can follow me at Maddie TalksMoney on Instagram, madmoney official um for TikTok, and uh Maddie Alexander Grout everywhere else. And we will see you next time. Thanks for listening.