S1 Episode 10 - Guests: Tyler Potter and Family Part Two

Tyler who is on the Autism Spectrum talks about college and living independently. He is joined by his mom and sister who talk about their careers and what they would like to see change within the Autism Community. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

All right. Well, welcome everyone. We are back for round two. I appreciate you guys coming. We had some technical difficulties, but we are good to go and we appreciate you guys coming back. Hope you've been doing well the last couple weeks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Busy, busy, huh, Tyler?

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Yeah, been busy with school. Already power screen break. It's been terms. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Don't let I yeah. Yeah. So um we're gonna kind of go off of where we think we left off. So we're just gonna jump right in. Um Tyler, do you currently work at a job or you just full-time? Uh full-time.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

That's busy enough, right?

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Yeah, I used to work part-time when I was doing full-time on the web, but I just kind of worked out.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Yeah, what what's your word print is like oh I was a med researchist for a strong trial, did phase one trials. My gosh. That sounds like that was a very interesting and take uh circumstance like expertise to learn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Warrant.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah. Too much, but it was it in like the line of field that you were interested in?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Uh that's when I was warrant at school. Now I have over microbiology. So it's still like medical exclusive.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Yeah, do you feel like you've learned a lot? Yes. But good, right? I feel like if you've learned from somewhere you'd work, that's a positive, right? Yeah, what was your first job?

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Uh clerk at Fry.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Uh yeah, good fries. Fries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For those of you in other states, that's equivalent to program, right? Oh yeah. But I love that fries. Um they are really insistent when they're workers. And I don't know, that's what they like brings my joy when I show it. Do you have good experience there? Or it's my first job. Yeah. Right. Everyone's first job is something like that. Yeah, did you work there? Yeah. Yeah, that's not. Oh the one over. I know. I know exactly. We grew up in the same area as long as Bango Copenhagen, so fine.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

I like the internet. I'll go and call here. I don't think I'll PhD. Hopefully, I want to do microbiology.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Um generally for the advice from my advisors and the other like professors have their doctorates. They have more money, they generally have the staff that work more seriously. So if they're actually okay to do like really serious stuff to go on a PhD, not do your best.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Wow. Okay. Gosh, that's scary, nerve-wracking.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

It's definitely like a lot of consideration for the financial stuff. But generally, even if you don't really do well at the program, you have like two years and get your master's passing as you leave your PhD program. Typically, your last three years to be it's like a double deation between uh a doctoral candidate and a doctoral student that I've still tried to figure out.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Yeah, I've always wondered.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

And I'm not quite sure how that all works right now. So I'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Will you be doing that at a community college or ACO? Yeah, but yes, I'm dead long sound right. Good for you. Yeah, that's amazing. I'm I'm so impressed with how your brain works. I'm sure you guys are blown away and changed up by what data analytics first, and then stop.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Data analytics programming right now is so bad that if I weren't pure in my actual screen, my master's three would be charm witness.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

What so what wouldn't what is data analytics? Then what is that? Is that just like information technology or jet?

SPEAKER_02 4:46

A lot of it is like jittering wants, um, descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, descriptive analytics, basically like a lot of business-related analytics for like uh data analysis, uh marketing, those kind of kind of things. Yeah, it's not really the stuff that I'm super interested in, right? Yeah, split car work. Okay, good.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

But you know, you gotta go where your heart is telling you, right? What's your passion? You don't want to go through all that and be like, oh, I don't like some dreading it.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Yeah, I don't want to go do juror tickets and it's no. I don't lose my mind. Yeah, you would go I looked into the market.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Okay, these are three search, huh? Well, I'll tell you what, I didn't go to college because I didn't know what I wanted. Didn't want to waste my time. And then it's safe, but a lot of people don't want use their debris. So yeah, so it's better that you're changing it while you're in there to realize and I'm gonna push myself and that's it, right? Yeah. I know, right? Do you get have you gotten any um something I belong to? Is there scholarships out there for individuals on that truck?

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Have you already uh I know I have to remember I got like right I got like a disability related scholarship in no not spring. It would have meant fall. It's like 500 bucks. Um pretty decent. Books covers your books.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Yeah. Well they're I know I was the leukemia um society or organization, they give out scholarship, merge, and then have, you know, uh survived cancer, leukemia, and that's not me to think of like there's gotta be something wrong. I can learn.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

But I'm so it's so common now that I feel like from what I've seen, they tend to be a like very they want like a very specific kind of person, then I just acknowledge it.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Yeah, yeah, because intellectuals.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're you're brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Most of the scholarships I see are for them or strongly. Yes, yeah, and also for like, hey, you graduated this college uh this not college, but this high school were you graduated high school like very recently or stuff like that. Like the uh the Tempe Promise program, the basic promise program. Yeah, those are two really big ones.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Okay. Oh, I'll have to listen to that. Yeah. Okay, well it's recorded, so now it develops like normally like, oh wait, wait, what did you just say? It's recorded at the job. Yeah, no, yeah, I still explained because I don't qualify for it until I had someone else asked me that the other day. Uh the thing is, I can't remember. Well, I do know, so I have a friend um CEO hat like the uh program, but it's not like uh programming. She's like college and studied uh in GitHub. Yeah, yeah. I know Glenda called her college.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Chandler Gilburn. Yes, Chandler Gilburn. They just opened their fall. It's the Bachelor's of Science Machine Learning and AI systems. Well, that makes sense for nowadays.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, that's for that's a really good one.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Yeah, yeah. I was gonna say AI taken over. Oh watching how that chat GPT, yes, there's a bad guy. I like the I like I'm still learning. I like certified. I like that. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Community coffee office, because they're really good and tuition's very well priced.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

I I agree. I know I want to accept or not Glendale.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Yeah, there's Glendale, there's Champ Gilmer, uh Esmotto, College.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

I almost have to college too. Yeah, yeah. Scottsdale. Oh yeah. I always get R show. But fighting Rachel? Yeah. I'm not drinking from there. So are you are you all in person? Uh yeah, pretty much. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Classes yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yeah, and that was at a lot of it in the home lab. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Things like that where you're I've always every advisor I've ever spoken to, and every Latin teacher I've ever spoken to, don't take many math class, myology, or chemistry online. Just don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yeah. It's just gonna be one. Yeah, it's got any challenges. It's hard on I don't understand without having you just don't have any access to like being in a clinic.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

You know, you have to do all work yourself, basically.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

So it's like it's just not what's I agree.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Um, all right. So with you uh being in college, are you uh you're at a community college, they don't have dorms, right? So do you live in an early an apartment?

SPEAKER_02 10:13

I have a studio apartment in Teddy.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yeah, yeah. How long have you been on your own?

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Uh 23?

SPEAKER_01 10:22

How was that long? Was that very bracking? Yeah. Was that the first time you've lived out on your own?

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Yeah. Oh my gosh. And then that was oh but at first now it's like really hard. Oh, yeah, like now it's kind of weak I am. Are you like hot lips? That that how did it feel, Tyler? Um going down on your own.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

It was really nice. I at first I was in uh a four-bedroom four-bathroom format with a shared kitchen. Oh, in it, my uh were not it.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Yeah. Well, I don't think it's hard to share all as it is, but then you have a different way of thinking and processing.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Oh, that was really the problem. My two roommates fight. I don't know. And then I would be Coleman to pee. I would be high. They would each complain to be separately about each other and eventually I'd like to do it. I'm gonna wash my hand on this.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

I'll busy. Yeah. You're gonna worry about spell way. Yeah. You're gonna worry about spell I think. I can see that though, because you can't put your crying part in them like something you give them good honest nice opinion, but don't you think just too much?

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Um, yeah, once they were starting to complain to me about each other and like at farm like uh I'm like at that point, I'm like, we're done here. Yeah, I'm not gonna be involved with this anymore that is already here.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

I don't know. Do you do you have uh Emily? Do you go visit him sometimes as park man or as I no? I actually never have. I don't know if she's busy, I'm busy working. That's true. No, don't pay my face like I'm child for reasons. Yeah. Yeah. Well, good for you. Uh it's not easy being out on your own. And voice. Okay. How do you feel? Um, do you navigate things pretty well with like being in your apartment? Cooking.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Did that be doesn't take a long to learn, or were you pretty I just don't cook because I don't like cooking mostly.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Like baby. I think fine words. Make yourself sandwiches, or do you just go to get food and big things? I'll go get food most of the time.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

I'll go drive out and wherever and get something.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, so I can have whatever I want, right? Yeah, yeah. There's a lot about it. And you um we talked about this earlier. I can't forget that for you kid, but you don't hear drive. Yeah, independently too. Dang. I did drive a site, I couldn't take that for the both of you, huh? Yeah, I grew up. I only did she go on foot. Did you teach her how to drive or did she go to school too? No, my dad. Yeah. Yeah, my dad. Nope. Yeah. You're like, nope, mama's not doing that. Was it no, not that was it scary uh or encouraging for you to uh brother and sister support each other when we try?

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Well to me too.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

No, not really. Just saying he says, take me here, take me there, which I don't know. I have a few times. My brother. Okay, you got that line. Let's go here and let's go there. He's like, it's probably a girl thing. I'm sure if it was like vice versa. Oh yeah. Okay, take me here, tell me that if you do there. All right, I'll say that's a bit quite checked.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Things are a lot better.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

I I can't really think of like a singular thing. I mean, it's a little weird. It's most of my like childhood experiences are a lot different than people. So when that conversation comes up in tweet, like people it's always like, well, you know, I'm gonna explain this whole thing. But generally it's like nowadays I don't really feel in very much. And so it's like mechanics.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Yeah. Yeah, I feel like the world is just way more inclusive and and uh accepting and you know, actor like honestly, when I first wanted talking to you, I had no idea, like I wouldn't have realized that you were back here. But um, do you do you struggle with like navigating certain things as an adult?

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Oh no, besides cooking.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

I'm not a cooking person.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

But generally no, I can't really think of any like singular vague problems.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Do you anyone at all?

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Do you struggle with like half spark? That's just so lazy. Okay. Well. And he's the guy. I I I there's that. Yeah. Well I'd cut it. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm very busy, I get very good at being like, well, I don't think with it later.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Yeah. Yeah. And that's I feel like that's a thing too, though, with uh being on the spectrum. It's I feel like some individuals have more time prioritizing like okay, I know I need to get this done. I don't know. I feel like I'm starting to more as like and on the spectrum. That's kind of hard to not that balance, right? Yeah. That's yeah, yeah. Fair to say. I I'm thinking of a few people on that line or of that or on the second half of threat for me for like this. That's a huge trouble. Uh let you go to the next part. I nuts or a bond of threads for us town. I'm the only person, so I'm the lady border. I'm not the only person, but I have brain support system, I brain loss, and just lends me run. Like, do whatever I want. I mean, feed the kids, yeah. But I bet most gosh, there's 127 in there. So yeah, you know, like eat on a good day and like 112 for lunch and eighty four for breakfast. So I bet you see a good variety of all different types of in. Whether some of them are gonna be neurodivergent or expecting kind of yeah, you kinda can tell. Yeah. Through your experience, really experience. Yeah. Yeah. But I love all that great. I see so they just think my way. And I say just what brought you to go to Mortown? Well, just kind of like an opportunity. One of the ladies I used to work with. Sure, yeah. She's kind of like a mentor type to be like she's the coach. Like pretty um it's ten hours a day and sporting the week. Pretty much whatever you want within the guidelines of what I have to follow. Right. But you can make it yours. Then I've been there almost eight years now. So you like choice. Yes. Yeah, right now my eighth graders, and I think I might actually stay for the graduation. May team is kind of like my first grade that I really got to know. Oh, I have to say that. Maybe we're at first break. Second and third break. I'm like, oh my gosh, I might cry. Except you can touch. Yeah, and that's only a few of them that have been there the whole time. I've been there. Yeah. So that'll be kind of special. Well, where you do before there, where have you always worked in like a full setting? Yes. I've I've been in the lunch for about 16 seventeen. Wow. So take a special heart because I've got some can be like challenging at times I should. It's challenging, but I try to just be really yellow as I can. I just try to have what they like and overhead. And so yeah, you can tip on the water, huh? Oh, yeah, I do every wow. Which is great. Yeah. I don't know. And see what you saw about her. I'm like, okay, well, that's it. Yeah. I remember the crazy like square pizza with milk that we would get and out of that. Yeah, the big daddy bowed it. Like the round wife. Yeah. And they all got that. Did you were you like uh working out of school when May went to school? Yeah, yeah. I did work in a bed for a little bit when they were younger. She was very young again. So she probably didn't really be like on the buttons hide. No, not yet. Yeah. So that I transferred over and start thinking, I don't want to be clean kids anymore. Thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah. So I just thank I just marked down. I started as a cash eater and now I'm way out of the smell. You get to now my official title is certain as miraculous life. Well, I'm planning on making a making a day up there where I go visit with my doctor's evening birthday. So in the morning we're doing green eggs and ham and skits and range. Okay. And then for we have EVC, one, two, three chicken nuggets. And then I'm doing little yogurt. Little fish on top for one fish, cheap fish, red fish, and then apples for apples on top. So I was trying to tie it all together, but it'll be really fun. And we're gonna play the belly ease for the kids because we can play the beef and much time. So being here's the ooh or race or one of their cat and hat. One of the Its and Hat played that in the morning. And we've invited parents to cop. Besides Grin I mean I don't know what cringe. But that's not cringe time. Not cringe. It's not cringe, sadly. So we've invited parents to the morning. So they'll get too easy. I saw all their own, like drop off, stuff like that. Yep. So they'll come there and eat breadness, watch this. Heck yeah. That's awesome. How are you on calling to me? I am. Yeah. That's your advocacy right there. Yeah. We did a few things while the kids were young. Yeah. Uh we went to Champions Beach Park because they had a big beach. Oh, yeah. That was ready to work for the kids. Yeah. Yeah. So we did that kind of thing. We always donated to Audio. My mother was donating it to Audio. Research and things. If you ever want to join us for thanks well, let you know what we're doing and just talk from along the thing. More than welcome to. Do you guys are you guys interested in temple balls? We're seeing all chicken. Yeah. They do include some of like thanks or whatever. And playing temple balls. You can like uh I think they in the very small charge. Oh, that's perfect. Yeah. It's a lot of fun. They have food so good. The double days, they have taco stays. Oh, Emily. Here's an awesome little shot. So Emily and I both work at Phoenix Autism Center. Um, I do the not so fun stuff behind the scenes. Um Phoenix Autism Center is an ABA uh therapy center, and you are an RBT? Yes. Yeah. So what's the difference between a BT and an RBT? So BT is a behavioral technician, an RBT, registered behavioral technician. So to get registered, you have to do a course, which I didn't mind. It was like a like in-person like classroom. Yeah. So like we got to like think like they modeled things. So we got to like test it out like with each other, like run stuff out and wood to the center, and it had like modules that went along with it. And uh took about two weeks and then after we don't have more easy. I think it's like a 40-hour course, but like with the classroom hard when you're like knecking things out learning situations, it took about two weeks. Yeah. And then have to take an exam in your like structure after it's not easy. I mean time your oh uh if it wasn't for some work I'm trying to I'll try to tell you how strong about this, but if it's not for the words I can do as a technician, like our chance would not grow and develop the way that they'd Jackson's been getting it three years and uh the growth that he is like I never would have thought the striping. So props you're you're an unsung hero for sure. Definitely reporting. Yeah, I've been getting it. Yeah. So how long have you been uh and skill? Um I think it's been like over two years. I've been hard now, and then I've been uh for almost the just that not high thing. Good strike. Yeah, yeah. You get to see a lot with them every day. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's a lot of progress made. Yeah, and then they like so um for those who are not unfamiliar with the ABA, they uh see different therapists throughout the day. So it's not like a teacher was just the one on. So they get a variety that helps the both the kids to different stuff. Help generalize stuff across other not just like one person. They're learning ways. Yeah. So you could say we're with a few kids at the that progress, yeah, right. Um do you feel like having a brother on the spectrum as your inspiration to get in the field? Definitely was. I uh been working with kids for but um I did some in elementary school and then a lot of my time was in daycare. So then like seeing a lot of different kids and like like you were saying earlier, like kind of makeup on those things from see um from experience. So then when I found RBT, it was good and fit for beats, but still what I love working with kids and it's rewarding thing to like be there for them at the broad rest. Yeah, and you'd have to have a special place in your party for that kind of market. It's not for how we I'm sure you have that have that connection. Gives you more empathy.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

I mean sometimes some have behavior stuffing on it to be able to extain along but props to you and the work that we're doing. You must be a problem, man. Oh they're incredible. I know. Yeah, I know, I don't know. Yeah, I could tell that is it comes from mom and dad, I'm sure. Uh well that's about it. We just have a few more. And so before we wrap it up, is there anything um that we didn't go and that you would like to share about just autism in general or uh motivations that we're gonna give to our listeners and uh anything anything the mic's open? I mean, I'm trying to think of like specifics.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

The real problem is most of the community stuff, like a lot of the like more just a seekers are kind of after my type. Well, like not really I don't really know anybody personally on the spectrum. I don't really like it's not really like a club for it and college.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

Right, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

So it's like I couldn't really say because a lot of my own experience is highly specialized to myself because the spectrum. Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

So I I do you sure like you know there's there's stuck organizations out there, some of them aren't geared towards maybe younger kids, but there is some like adult, would you like to see more like adult uh community like getting together or is that you're gonna help them?

SPEAKER_02 28:40

I don't know. It's a complicated question. Yeah. I'd much rather go to a event that's about like a thing or like a trip. Not just autism. But just going to an autism event because it feels kind of like that's not my entire totality plan into that. And that's one of the like things that I've like kind of weirded out about sometimes. Yeah. Or some of the autistic adults they're like varied into that idea. Right. Like the idea of like because like I'm not like a big person. I don't feel like I mask. There are a lot of autistic adults that like they feel like they have to wear on a mask report really bad. That's not really the experience I shear, so I don't really get it.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

Yeah, it's very, very bad. So like you, you are the type of person I could uh you know meet and roll with individuals that are not on exactly and not on what they say, uh what changes that you would like to see onto the community. Tyler, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

I mean yeah, because I think a lot of the changes I thought of or could think of kind of already happened. Not really in the community, so I don't know the big points.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

That's the key with the board. Yeah. And then Amy as a mom and teacher understand what what we went through with the understanding what was it a lot of oh, he's got behaviors or he don't care. Right, don't count, they can't processing. Yeah. And I think teachers probably are a little bit more now. Yeah. I still hear a lot of struggles of the special education teachers, but they still you're in that department in the school setting, you should be able to understand things different. Right. Yeah. Well, they're still learning and it's still coming a long way. So yeah, the work I want to see. Um Lee, as a sister, as a behavioral health technician, how does that? What do you like? Do you think still like with that understanding? What works for one kid might not work for another, might like being able to adapt. Two kids are the same, like you said, and just like you had someone with uh some other kind of conditions. I agree. Well, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thank you for having us. Great family, and we look forward to keeping in touch and doing things together. All right. Thank you. Bye everyone. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

We want to take a moment to thank Ideal for sponsoring today's episode of Modest Raising Spectrum. Ideal is a creative education and community space that brings together learning, innovation, and collaboration.