Galen Howard Breaks Character: Living & Thriving with Autism

In this episode of the NF Podcast, we sit down with actor Galen Howard (known for roles in The Book of Boba Fett, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine) for an honest and deeply personal conversation about life on the autism spectrum.

What if the secret to thriving as a neurodivergent person isn't about changing yourself, but finding environments that embrace who you already are? Actor Galen Howard takes us on a deeply personal journey through his late-in-life autism diagnosis and how he found his sanctuary in the structured world of acting.

Galen's story begins with childhood confusion—labeled with vague terms like "non-verbal learning disability" and "pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified"—essentially what he calls "a big shrug" from medical professionals. Only as an adult did he discover these diagnoses fell under what's now recognized as atypical autism. This revelation frames our conversation about navigating a world that often misunderstands neurodivergent minds.

The podcast explores the surprising safety Galen found in acting, where the clear structures of scripts, sets, and stage directions created an environment where his creativity could flourish without the anxiety of unwritten social rules. "It's not about finding a way to fit in," he shares. "It's finding an environment that fits you." This perspective offers a transformative lens for anyone who's ever felt out of place.

We dive deep into practical strategies for managing sensory overload on busy film sets, the function of those "vocal additives" like "um" and "you know" that pepper neurodivergent speech, and how medication at its best creates space between physical anxiety responses and emotional spiraling. Galen also unpacks his breakthrough role in an independent horror film where he channeled his lived experience of feeling isolated into a character searching for belonging.

For anyone feeling behind or struggling to find their place, Galen's parting wisdom resonates powerfully: there's no deadline for discovering your path. Understanding your neurodivergent needs takes time—and that's okay. What environments help you thrive? Where do your unique perspectives become strengths rather than challenges? Join us for this conversation that will leave you rethinking what success and belonging truly mean for neurodivergent minds.

Transcript

Meet Galen Howard

Jaxon Rosa 0:00

Hey everyone and welcome to the Neurof**ked Podcast. I'm your host, jackson Rosa, and over here we have Hayley Olivia Wonderful. Well, let's not waste any of your precious time, let's get right to the episode. Hit it, terrence.

Voice Over 0:14

It's time for Neurof**ked Podcast with your host, jackson Rosa, that mischievous mother******. Hayley Olivia, what's your name, girl? You on the spectrum and Terrence. We've got autism, adhd, ocd, all the D's. We've got stories and artists from all walks of life. It's time to get f***ed Neurologically.

Hayley Olivia 0:40

We have the amazing Galen Howard right here. Oh yeah, that's right, he's a super talented actor such a great party.

Galen 0:51

Everyone had the best time. I mean, except for Linda. Linda wasn't happy. Yeah, it was strange. He was passing through the living room. I asked him if he wanted a little HG, but he just ignored me. I mean, who doesn't want an HG from from their cousin? Hold up an HJ, a head job, a massage, isn't that what everyone calls it? I don't have any siblings, but if I did, I don't think I'd protest against them.

Voice Over 1:15

Let's go back.

Galen 1:19

Boba Fett, do you have an appointment?

Voice Over 1:23

I found one of his stray pets. I'm here to return it to its master.

Galen 1:31

Well, I don't see your name in the schedule, so you'll have to Okay.

Hayley Olivia 1:37

He's actually had a podcast of his own before.

Galen 1:40

I've done podcasts before. I've tried to do my own, but I have no patience for editing.

Voice Over 1:49

That's the one thing.

Galen 1:52

And especially on the audio side. I would get really anal about editing out a lot of own like neurodivergent additives, you know that I would add in, and so then I would just get like no, no, and then I would just have like a big like, a big like existential crisis, and then just stop so it's much more funded to to guest on other people's like this one. You know where they get to handle all the post production.

Jaxon Rosa 2:23

I have to already edit out so many of Haley's mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, but it's okay, yeah.

Hayley Olivia 2:31

I already did 50 million and thought oh my goodness, amazing.

Galen 2:35

Yeah, all the little additives. They're so fun, I'm going to develop it. All the false start sentences yeah, yeah.

Hayley Olivia 2:43

I think it was developed. Yeah, Don't tell me more. I'm excited. I mean I'm excited.

Galen 2:49

I'm excited at this new revelation in podcast recording, you know yeah.

Jaxon Rosa 2:56

Yeah.

Galen 2:59

If vocal additives are the trend now, I'm in.

Hayley Olivia 3:02

Yeah, exactly. Actually, let's talk a little bit more about vocal additives, because that's actually a great subject to segue off of. Why do we feel the need and why is it especially big among people who are neurodivergent? In that case, do this when?

Galen 3:24

can we show that?

Hayley Olivia 3:32

You know, is my big one. Oh, you know, you know, you know you know you know, right, that's mine I go right, oh yeah you know what?

Jaxon Rosa 3:37

that one screams you're asking for validation. Oh right, okay, right, wow, so just no, no, no, that's how a normie would interpret it. I feel like you know potentially, but you know, no, yeah, mine, I think I can do. I'm picking up the. You knows, I pick up them from the environment. Of course that makes sense. I do have the uhs Totally. I think most people around the world have a version of uh.

Galen 4:03

Mm-hmm. Most people around the world have a version of uh right, yes, I think they're more yeah more prominently than others.

Jaxon Rosa 4:11

But yeah, absolutely, I think more most likely, I'll have a word of the month where I'll just insanely use, I'll just, it'll be like a thesaurus, I'll somehow get fixated on that one adjective I do that describe everything. I do that a lot yeah, I'll get that.

Galen 4:25

I'll get that kind of thing. Yeah, I think I would. Yeah, like little little catchphrases, little little things, that little um little placeholders, you know, yeah, that um right, where it's like you, you have the thought that's formating and you want to have a, you want to have like a response. So it's kind of it's your, those little things of like you know I'm getting to it.

Hayley Olivia 4:48

Exactly. It kind of takes the pressure off of formulating your thoughts later.

Jaxon Rosa 4:53

It's a template in a way.

Hayley Olivia 4:55

Yeah, yeah, a template that makes sense.

Galen 4:57

I use a lot of like affirmatives, like an absolutely or right or 100%. You know I do those a lot.

Jaxon Rosa 5:05

It's very politician-like 100% 100%.

Hayley Olivia 5:09

When we distract you with these words that seem like they mean something, but they don't.

Galen 5:14

Right, right, because I'm still figuring out what the fuck I'm going to say Exactly.

Jaxon Rosa 5:19

Yeah, there's a lot of filler words 100%.

Jaxon Rosa 5:21

Yeah, the filler words Exactly lot of filler words and I think, yeah, the filler words exactly, I tend to um. I mean, one of the things about that I kind of relate it to would be um impulsivities and and just overall attachment to um. Speaking sporadically, speaking extemporaneously, you have. I come from a background where I had Tourette's, like physical t, and I'm on the spectrum as well, sure, and the feeling of having a tic. I feel like sometimes people attach that anxiety to their words, so like if it becomes a compulsive nature to repeat the word or the phrase, you're not even in control of it at a certain point, it's just compulsive and it actually might be comforting to have that word in a way, the repetition of it that's what I was gonna say.

Vocal Additives and Neurodivergence

Hayley Olivia 6:12

Kind of does feel comforting when you say them yeah, you're still involved in the conversation, but you're not like relied upon. I guess that's how it feels. Let's talk a bit more about you and your background. That makes sense and kind of like introducing you to our audience and everything. So tell us a little bit about yourself and your acting career, or even anything else that you would you feel is special to you.

Galen 6:43

OK, cool, yeah, I mean certainly um as um. You know, in relation to, to this podcast, I was um, born on um, I was, yeah, I was. I was diagnosed on the autism spectrum as an adult, I think. As a kid I was um, you know, kind of misdiagnosed with a variety of different you know, as they call them, learning disabilities. You know, learning differences, learning conditions, however you want to call it now. But but yeah, ultimately it was designated, as you know, what, what we now call atypical autism and and so, you know, because of that, I was had a lot of, you know, trouble like processing information as a kid, going, you know, doing anything that was, you know, completing any tasks on a, on an, an, an efficiency based matrix.

Galen 7:45

You know that any tasks on a, on an, an, a, an, a, an, an efficiency based matrix, you know that sort of thing Like that's, yeah, that was out the window for me and I and, and, and, you know, and then just socializing or relating to, you know, to, you know, my peers, and that sort of thing. You know I was, you know I found I was able to socialize, I was able to relate more to my parents', adult friends, and that sort of thing because they had more patience.

Galen 8:16

It wasn't just everything immediate. They were able to just be like oh great, let me listen to you, let me hear what you have to say, that sort of thing, and I had the safe space to, like, express myself.

Hayley Olivia 8:27

You know that actually that kind of gave me a realization when you said that, yeah, um, because I was diagnosed, not diet, I was uh, let's cut that out I'm not cutting anything out more.

Jaxon Rosa 8:40

Don't make more work for me, just keep going. Just if you, if you mess up, just keep going I've had a long day.

Hayley Olivia 8:50

I'm I'm flubbing up right now no, just don't worry, but anyways, I was. I went to a therapist like probably a year and a half ago or so, yeah, and they said, oh, you tested positive for all of these personality disorders and all of these things. And I was like I can't possibly. What are you talking?

Galen 9:13

like all of them, am I okay? Like, am I?

Hayley Olivia 9:15

okay. And then the next time I went to see them they were like okay, did you ever think that maybe you were on the spectrum? And we started diving into that conversation and so I mostly got into that realm and started understanding myself as being autistic way later in my life. So you saying that, talking to the adults and everything people who are older- who have the patience for you. I had the same experience.

Galen 9:46

That's awesome. I just didn't know it was because of that right yeah, yeah, I mean I was, you know, I was coming of age in the you know 80s and 90s when there really was no um, uh, you know kind of um kind of context for a lot of that, or very, very, very limited.

Galen 10:03

And yeah, so, yeah, so, when I was, you know, as I, as I got older, I, you know, I found, you know, you know, again, would have a lot of trouble relating to my peers, a lot of trouble kind of expressing myself. I, my kind of my stammering and stuttering was even more pronounced when I was younger, when I was still kind of having, you know, kind of grappling with how I express myself and dealing with a lot of things and, and I'm sure, my anxiety of my social anxiety, compacted that as well. But, um, I, you know, that is to say, I found, um, you know, I, you know, I had a very active imagination and so I found that, you know that, when I discovered, when I discovered acting, I think you know, my parents enrolled me in like a summer, like a summer program or something when I was a kid, and you know, I realized that, you know, like, oh, this is a like, this is like a structured environment in which I can express myself, in which I can, you know I was, I mean, I think what all acting comes down to is is, you know, I think, a love for storytelling, and you know, so, I think that you know that was a great, it was like a great kind of structure for me, able to be be able to explore my imagination and kind of express myself in a structured environment. Otherwise, you know, in the, you know, in the normal social setting, you know the, I think for a lot of us on the spectrum it's, you know, you know the there's a lot of that anxiety of not having that structure of like, how do we, how do we socialize, how do we express ourselves, how do we do those things? And and having that, um, you know that structured environment, um, in acting, was like a real, you know, kind of a real breakthrough for me when did you um journey into acting?

Hayley Olivia 11:55

when did you find it was your safe space really?

Galen 11:58

I mean definitely when I was, um, yeah, when, when I was probably you know preteen, you know I think, yeah, I started that when I was started exploring that more, you know preteen 11, 12. And then you know, started, you know taking, you know taking classes doing, you know kind of, you know, you know plays in school and that sort of thing, and it was, you know, gradually from there realizing like oh, oh, yeah, this is, this is where I need to be.

Jaxon Rosa 12:30

That's awesome.

Galen 12:31

Wait, you get in the zone like cause yeah, in the zone Exactly I was going to kind of get into that we?

Jaxon Rosa 12:36

we talked in different like aspects. For me it's music or it's also going to be filmed. But when you are in your kind of zone of focus from a neurodivergent perspective, what does it take for you to get there? Or is it actually easy? Does it click that part of your brain where you're just like I'm in acting mode, I'm on set?

Galen 12:57

What is the transition between you in your kind of current energy, and you, the actor in your kind of current energy and you, the, the actor, yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, I think it's definitely, it definitely helped having that the environment of like, either like being on on this, you know, on the stage, in the theater or on the set, because there's all those, all those kinds of reminders of just like, just like, kind of in you know, like, oh, I'm, you know, I, you know I'm in a work environment, I'm in a classroom, whatever, it's like, those things, that kind of click in of like, oh, this is where I need to be, but you know, but it's like, but it's finding the place that's safe for you and like, not the place and the, and the place where you know, where your strengths are emphasized instead of your limitations. And I know, you know, for me, I think, for a lot of people, you know, growing up that's what, that's what school was, was where their limitations were emphasized and not their strengths yeah, and so to find exactly.

Autism Diagnosis and Childhood Experiences

Galen 13:57

And so to find a place like you know, to find your that, that safe space, to find you know, you know, know some kind of creative or structured environment where you can thrive is just you know. It's the breakthrough for everyone.

Jaxon Rosa 14:11

Do you feel like? So, I was. You mentioned things about like the school system and the kind of conversations around mental health in the 80s or 90s. I was diagnosed in like 2001. I was kind of the precipice 90s. I was diagnosed in like 2001. I was kind of the precipice. I probably fit somewhere in between where you were at, where hailey, you know as far as like you know, but the point is is that I was seven is when those things sometimes start to show a little more, apparently. Yeah, start to show in kids. Um, but we had to like drive, my mom had to become like a private investigator. Yeah, right, my mom had to basically take the reins and be like what, what's going on? Like the parental involvement, how do you feel like? Uh, what do you think? The importance of parental involvement in discovering the strengths of a child, or the, the discovery of like, not just well, maybe not just that, but how you know, figuring you out?

Galen 15:04

That's a good question.

Hayley Olivia 15:06

Yeah, boy how long do we have? We can do it anyway.

Galen 15:10

Yeah, I mean that is to say, I mean that was huge for me. I mean my parents, you know, I mean the number, I mean with all the parent-teacher meetings and all that you know, I mean my parents were on campus just about as much as I was, you know, I mean it was um and just, and then just, yeah, um, you know me, you know meeting with um, you know with counselors and learning specialists and everyone you know, and, and for me at that time, everyone had their idea of what, of what it was. Everyone had their different idea of you know, of what was wrong with me. You know, and I'm sure, a lot of people, yeah, like you, you have like five different people. They all have something different to say and it's like, ok, great, that's a help, you know.

Galen 16:03

But, yeah, I think, because I think, yeah, when I was in high school, you know the like Asperger's was the big, you know big buzzword, and so they were like, oh, it must be Asperger's, you know, and it's like, yeah, maybe, and you know, and then it's just, and then it also. But it still would come down to like, yeah, okay, what's what are we? You know what, what, what's what's like the optimal situation. What's the optimal educational situation? I mean, I think the, the, the, the, the biggest thing that my, my parents, you know, the, the, the or the, the, the, the, the approach they took to me and as far as kind of as I was, you know, you know, you know getting, you know, getting through um, getting through high school and going and pursuing higher education and all of that, I mean it was that, it was. You know. What they would always say is what do you want to learn and what's the best way for you to learn it?

Hayley Olivia 16:59

you know, I just asked you what you needed.

Galen 17:01

What you need, yeah, and then, yeah, it's so simple, right, and so it was yeah and and a lot of it was just was all of us kind of learning together like what were the alternatives? You know, because you know, at the time when I was starting college in the early 2000s, yeah, there wasn't, there weren't a lot of um, of, of different resources and um, and so, yeah, figuring out what were what were the kind of, what was the kind of structure that I would best, you know, thrive in. And it was, and we were all kind of you know, kind of you know kind of fumbling together and like, okay, maybe this, maybe that, and you know, and, and you know, I think I went to like kind of a kind of an alternative, like like, kind of like hippie, off-campus kind of college system.

Jaxon Rosa 17:51

Where did you go to college if you don't know what I'm?

Galen 17:52

asking Well, I attempted to go to college out of Goddard in Vermont and they had kind of a self-driven kind of academic program which, on the surface, seemed awesome. And then when I was actually trying to, you know, create my own structure on my, you know, day to day was a nightmare.

Jaxon Rosa 18:17

And so I went to do. You know that what the Evergreen State College?

Galen 18:20

Yes, yes, yes.

Jaxon Rosa 18:21

So that's where I went to school. I also had learning plan. Basically, you could write your own curriculum like that. Yeah, exactly I thrived off of that.

Galen 18:33

Cause I cause.

Jaxon Rosa 18:34

I thrived off to creating the own, my own little pocket of structure, as opposed to the moment I was told something to do or a professor. That was just the slightest bit. The moment I was told something to do from a professor, that was just the slightest bit like like, I just was not, I'm just anti-authority, and so I was like I was just ready to just do my thing.

Hayley Olivia 18:52

I think most of us are, though because we I know from my perspective I always I was always the good kid, like I was always the teacher's pet. But I remember also thinking but why do I have to do this?

Hayley Olivia 19:07

I guess I'm supposed to yeah um, it's not necessarily that I felt that it was fair or the way things were supposed to be, and as I got older too, being at the jobs that I've done, it frustrates me so much because I feel like, um, everyone what everyone thinks is who are neurotypical thinks it's supposed to happen or how things are supposed to work. Or, for example, they think, oh yeah, you have to follow these specific rules to the T or you're the one in the wrong. I'm like what?

Jaxon Rosa 19:42

Yeah, it's the way you get the work done is wrong. But yeah, you could both come to the same conclusion. You can both come to the same finished product like.

Hayley Olivia 19:50

I'm glad that you had that experience where your parents and them wanted to figure out, yeah, how to help you, because I think it's really lacking, especially even now, even though they're learning so much about it. There's a lot more talk around it, it's being more understood how did I know you were going to say something?

Jaxon Rosa 20:14

like that. We're mind melding on this now, I lost my train of thought. Thank you, it was such a good train of thought man. It was so great, the good train of thought man. It was so great the greatest train of thought, best when was I, though you have to help me. Ok, I'm going to bring you back into it. I'm bringing you back in. You were talking about the conversations around the spectrum, the current state.

Hayley Olivia 20:40

Yes, ok, I'm back. And schools and things do not try to figure out how they can help you. They try to figure out how they can get you to do the way they want you to do things. Yeah, exactly.

Galen 20:54

Yeah, a hundred percent. That's exactly how it's structured. They, yeah, it's all about.

Jaxon Rosa 21:00

Yeah, right, how can we help you conform to, you know, to the system that we have, and poor teachers, just like, honestly, the funding if you, if I really look back because I was also, you know, placed into the special needs kind of class in elementary school, right, when you get taken away from the, the main class, and you're just kind of brought to the side and you're brought in that class and looking back on it I was it was very frustrating environment to be put in there and then have kind of a teacher that was not only like trying her best to be patient with these kids that were in there, that were really jumping up, bouncing off the walls and going through emotional turmoils or certain things, to basically be like like there was that one person at school for that Right, and so like, at the end of the day, I look back on it.

Jaxon Rosa 21:53

That's a lot to a lot for one person to do, and I look back on it now and I you know, with the in a different light of just like, what a like, what a way to take it, like you want it, like you're going out of your way to help kids that you're. You're doing this for a reason. Obviously you're here to help kids that are in these different states of mind and different things happening at, either at home or at school or whatever.

Galen 22:15

But you know it's so a lot of those people have to have who they're. You know their, their, their intentions were correct and their heart was in the right place, but it's like they have the. They're not getting the, the help from the administration. They're not. They're. The deck is stacked against them too.

Jaxon Rosa 22:34

Exactly it trickles down.

Hayley Olivia 22:35

Like so many people have really good intentions, you know, when it comes to that, they're not given the tools.

Galen 22:41

They're not given the tools to be, to be, to be, to be, to truly be of service, and so then that's that's frustrating for them, then they get discouraged, it's yeah, it's a.

Voice Over 22:49

You see that happen a lot.

Galen 22:50

Unfortunately you still, yeah, I mean, it seems, yeah, it seems like, sadly, that's still happening to a degree, you know. You know, though, it seems like there are a lot of advances we've made in the last, you know, 20 years. Yeah, yeah, and when did you say that you figured out that you were on the spectrum? It's interesting, I you know, because it was. It was again.

Galen 23:14

there was a lot they were using a lot of um yeah, they were losing a lot of different terms, you know I think, um, um, you know that they didn't necessarily, you know, you know, couple with autism, or, you know, equate to autism, to autism, like you know, I think you know for a while I was, you know I, you know they would use the terms, like you know, like a nonverbal learning, disability, things like that, or and and then I think you know what they, what they really identified is that, you know for me, was that, you know I, I had, you know my, that, you know for me was that, you know I, I had, uh, you know my, you know my, level of my level of processing was very high, but the, the speed at which I processed was lower, you know, was much lower.

Galen 24:02

And so it, you know it's a created this discrepancy. And so then they, ultimately, you know, you know they, and I think they, you know kind, you know they were giving it a name, I think you know which, I think at the, at the time they called it but pervasive developmental disorder, and then, and then, and then with an, and then I got a special additive not otherwise specified, so so my entire diagnosis was a big shrug.

Hayley Olivia 24:36

Oh, wow, okay.

Galen 24:38

That's what doctors do.

Hayley Olivia 24:39

They're like we have no idea what this is, so we'll just say unspecified. We'll just say fuck if I know.

Galen 24:44

Yeah, that's it, and yeah.

Hayley Olivia 24:46

Fucking, figure it out yourself. Figure it out yourself. Good luck.

Galen 24:49

Good luck in the world. Yeah, fucking, figure it out yourself.

Hayley Olivia 24:50

Figure it out yourself. Good luck. Good luck in the world, yeah.

Galen 24:52

And so I think that's a diagnosis that now has been kind of grouped into what we now call atypical autism. Okay, and so for a while I had no idea that that random, useless diagnosis was in fact autism.

Hayley Olivia 25:09

Yeah. Yeah diagnosis was, in fact, autism. Yeah, yeah, and I think that's also what they're discovering now coming across. Why so many people are now figuring out, when they're much older, that they are on the spectrum is because it's a spectrum like they should call it late onset.

Jaxon Rosa 25:27

Autism is what? No, I don't know. Okay, first, should we not? Should we come up with less terms? Do we need more?

Hayley Olivia 25:36

they didn't do studies on girls they did studies on boys, so you'll find a lot more I didn't know that that's wild yeah, a lot more boys were diagnosed way early on and that because they didn't do studies on girls, they didn't know what it looked like. In girls, autism comes across differently a lot of the time. For example, autism in a boy they come off as more so, um more so, sometimes laid back necessarily, than autism in a girl makes them seem more anal and needing to get things done and being on a very like kind of schedule even though it.

Hayley Olivia 26:20

It's very similar in a lot of ways, of course, and there's a lot of like, like in boys, of course. It's like I, I need to get things done at a certain time. Again. It's a spectrum, but that's kind of just like the very beginning of it for me, of me kind of trying to understand, um, how, how, how it come across for me or how I work necessarily.

Jaxon Rosa 26:43

Yeah, no, that's I mean honestly cause, at the bare minimum, it was even hard to diagnose in the first place in men. So you add on top of that the lack of a data right that they collected. Um, I and I think this is something I kind of bring up on the podcast from time to time, but it could even just be interpreted as from the outsider as anxiety, right At the bare minimum.

Hayley Olivia 27:04

I was told I had severe anxiety.

Jaxon Rosa 27:07

Yeah, sure, yeah, and which?

Acting as a Safe Space

Galen 27:13

is which, honestly, is like yes, but you know it's like, yes, I feel like there's a bit more. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's wild to me that, um, yeah, that that anxiety is still it's like its own diagnosis, because I think it's so often symptomatic of something completely different. It's something else entirely and you know this, you know it's like, certainly in our case, like, yeah, that's just, that's just, that's just like a, you know, like symptomatic of navigating the world, being on a you know, being neurodivergent, being on the spectrum the crazy part too is anxiety can even be a symptom of, for example, something that's getting really like heavily diagnosed now pots like it could be anything, but it's it's easier for them to just go.

Hayley Olivia 27:57

I don't know, it's too generalized. You have anxiety, sure like you go to the doctor.

Jaxon Rosa 28:02

Oh, it's anxiety well, it's because it's probably in that sense because it's very black. When a doctor needs to diagnose something, they have to make sure it's black and white. And anxiety drugs, certain ones in particular, can work in correlation with, you know, autism or antipsychotic right. So it just depends, like because I think, at the end of the day, the reason the diagnosis is going to happen is to write the prescription. We have to be honest with ourselves, like it's, like that is the end goal of you know, our for-profit, you know medical system and I was medicated for a long time so I do know that that was like the target of it is like an antipsychotic or anti-anxiety meds actually help to, like with Tourette's right. The interesting thing about it is I think you're right, um, anxiety is like it's so when they say it it's so general, but I think it's actually just a building block.

Jaxon Rosa 28:59

It's like a structural building block of most neurological things, not everything, but it's like the base layer of the cake and then on top of that cake, you, you add the other ingredients.

Hayley Olivia 29:09

But often it's made to seem like it's the main issue. And then you're trying to grapple to figure out how to help yourself.

Galen 29:18

Right, yeah, because again the anxiety is coming from just the stress of navigating a world you weren't. You weren't wired to you know, naturally navigate so then it's like so, so if we can spend more time just focusing on that part of it, like that, you know, yeah, that's really where where a lot of it is helpful.

Hayley Olivia 29:45

Because when I was told I had severe anxiety, they asked me three questions and I taught them for five minutes. You have anxiety, here you go.

Galen 29:55

That was it. It was based on a five minute conversation.

Hayley Olivia 29:59

They didn't do anything else, and that was it.

Galen 30:04

I was going to say. I was talking to a psychiatrist recently for anxiety and we're talking about switching up medication and I was trying to, because that's always very scary, trying to adjust your meds and all that and I was saying what are the things I should look for as far as if it's working? How will I know if it's working? And she said, well, if you feel better.

Jaxon Rosa 30:35

Oh, that's so descriptive of her.

Hayley Olivia 30:37

Thank you, thank you, you just go, I give up.

Jaxon Rosa 30:42

Well, you know what's interesting about that feeling If you've taken medication in which I have for the Tourette's specifically, but it kind of trickled around, it helped with other things with spectrum related. The Tourette's is a cousin of these, you know, neural, all these things we're talking about today, um, but it actually um, I don't think anxiety ever went away when I took those drugs. It always felt like, you know, you have the pit in your stomach and all it really does is like if you shook a bottle of champagne, like, and you open it immediately, that's what the anxiety would be like without them, like it'd be whatever burst of energy that needed its output, its output. But with, um, if you just shook it and just let it sit, and then it's similar like the, the pressure, yeah, got caught at a threshold and then was like right, so that's, I think, what those drugs really do and in a way it kind of is it's suppressing those things. Yeah, I know for me.

Hayley Olivia 31:48

I take um citrulline. I've taken citrulline since I was a junior in high school and at this point it's more so that you get withdrawals from it when you sometimes I feel like I'm a druggie. No, not really, but like sure yeah, we can take the withdrawal is is actually pretty bad where like if I miss, like one day, you get. I don't know if you guys have ever experienced this before, but your vision goes. It's like a weird, like it's as if you forced your eyes sideways and the whole world just shifts.

Hayley Olivia 32:25

It's like called brain zaps.

Jaxon Rosa 32:26

Oh, is that what they're called? I've had that once. I thought it was just vertigo.

Galen 32:30

Crazy.

Jaxon Rosa 32:31

No, I had that actually called. I've had that once. I thought it was just vertigo Crazy. No, I had that actually.

Hayley Olivia 32:33

No, I had that when I you said it with such a straight face.

Jaxon Rosa 32:36

No, no no, I had it when I Okay. Fun fact, I jumped into a pool, skinny dipping naked an Olympic sized pool in the middle of the night. It was at a spa in Ashland.

Galen 32:55

Oregon, aptly named.

Jaxon Rosa 32:55

Jackson Hot Springs actually. Oh, it was a nude spa and so, um, you felt comfortable because it's named after you. Yeah, exactly, it was my place.

Jaxon Rosa 32:58

I could walk around like I owned it so so obviously I stripped down and I'm with a cousin of mine who was introducing me to the area and we're out there and then I remember, um, yeah, I went from the hot tub to the of the hot springs, to the cold pool. You know it's very wakes you up and I got in there and I went from the hot tub of the hot springs to the cold pool. You know it's very wakes you up. And I got in there and I think it was enough of a shock to the system and yeah, I had like a record spinning style like a.

Jaxon Rosa 33:21

DJ was like, but my eyes were like. It was over and over. It was like if a CD started skipping on that one section.

Hayley Olivia 33:32

My eyes were just like but that's literally what it's like only it's sideways oh, that's wild and then you feel like you have the flu oh, that's so annoying, that's so wild.

Jaxon Rosa 33:42

I'm so glad I don't.

Jaxon Rosa 33:44

Well, I got off my medications is because I had the form of Tourette's for that stuff. That um that I was able to grow out of. I still have mild ticks, physical ticks, but um, I, the concern over the course of my life was, like you said, going off of medication is the act of doing so is scary and, just in the sense of your body, chemistry is about to shift in a hydrara, in a, in a pretty strong direction and I was able to, but you have to, they have to get you down to a pretty small dose before you can do that totally, yeah, I, yeah, I mean, I think, for for me the main, the main benefit I found it when it's at its, when it's working at its best, is that it, it kind kind of, you know, compartmentalizes my, my physical reaction, my emotional reaction.

Galen 34:35

So it's kind of like you know, and in the past, like when you you have, like you have those physical reactions that then immediately kind of transfer into you, you know your emotional reaction of freaking out or whatever it's you know, then it's like you, you know it went when it's working, you're you're like you know when, when it's working, you're you're like, oh, my, oh, oh, my, my heart is racing, oh, my, you know, my, my, my, oh, my palms are sweating. Okay, oh, you know. And then it just kind and you're able to kind of separate yourself from that, instead of getting getting kind of in lost in the spiral it grounds you.

Hayley Olivia 35:11

Yeah, yeah, we're able to separate that. It's like oh, this is my body reacting to anxiety, you know, contextualizes it.

Galen 35:20

You're able to like figure it out rather than being overwhelmed by it Getting overwhelmed by the anxiety and the racing thoughts and everything You're just like. Oh, this is my body's reacting to the anxiety.

Jaxon Rosa 35:32

Okay.

Galen 35:32

I can step back and let that happen, and then move on, you go into producer mode.

Jaxon Rosa 35:34

You're just like okay, everyone, let's figure this out.

Hayley Olivia 35:36

You're stressed out. Still, you're still anxious, but you're gonna figure it out, yeah you can.

Medication and Managing Anxiety

Jaxon Rosa 35:42

You can step back and figure it out exactly we talked with one of our guests about hyperstimulation and I feel like it's a good thing to go into, especially since you're creative, who works on film sets and is around a lot of the hustle and bustle.

Galen 35:57

Yeah.

Jaxon Rosa 35:58

What are some of your triggers, since, if you have any like sensitivities to that stuff, and how would you describe them to people.

Galen 36:07

I think you know. Again, I think I think a lot, of, a lot of my overstimulation comes from from like, from like new, unfamiliar stimuli. So I think when I once you know, I mean certainly I think a lot of different stimuli at once is, you know, definitely that can be, you know that that can be very overwhelming. It certainly was when I was younger. I think I've found ways to kind of navigate that as an adult.

Galen 36:39

It was really hard for me as a kid but I think you know, as an adult, I, you know, I think once I kind of once I'm familiar with the environment. I kind of know the rules of the setting. That's kind of why I was talking about like you know, kind of you know the structure of a creative environment, like the set or the stage. You know, you kind of once you understand some of those rules, then it gets. Even then, when there's a lot of stuff happening, you still have like the those different things to hold on to of, just like okay, the camera's there, okay, they're gonna, they're gonna call me to set in five minutes, like so on day one, do you feel like you're collecting that information a lot of the time?

Galen 37:23

yeah, just yeah, figuring that out, getting getting you know kind of taking in the entire environment, knowing you know what's going on, what the rules are, all of that and yeah and then that that kind of helps you kind of navigate, you know, the chaos and the overstimulation so because, um, and I I'm also um, familiar with the sets and how they work and everything, and then, a

Hayley Olivia 37:45

lot of times you even have a pa like guiding you.

Galen 37:47

You don't eat like great, I love that so good yeah, it makes it.

Hayley Olivia 37:52

It makes it a lot easier because you're generally gonna have the same situation, right? Yeah, um, they bring you here. You have a trailer, you eat. They bring you there, you perform the best so also being on sets very known for last minute changes, last minute minute, a lot of last minute things right.

Galen 38:14

Yeah.

Hayley Olivia 38:14

So how, when you have that structure, how do you, does it help you deal better with that change Sometimes?

Galen 38:21

Yeah, and I think yeah, and usually I'm able to yeah when there is that kind of um, yeah, last minute changes, yeah, like, yeah, um, yeah, like finding your point person finding like is it's like the first or second ad, or someone who's like yeah who's able to kind of like if you need those check-ins, you know, because yeah, it can be hard sometimes when you know they, yeah, they might change up the entire setup.

Galen 38:46

Or you know, and then the, you know the, you know they, they change the camera around and like, and so now and then you know your, you know, and then you know they change the camera around and like, and so, and then you know your, you know your blocking is changed or what you, or kind of you know the rules kind of change on you, or maybe the, maybe the terminology changes on you, even though it's the same thing. They're just using different terms it depends.

Hayley Olivia 39:06

The set, but it generally means the same thing. Yeah, yeah.

Galen 39:09

But it's. But sometimes it's hard for you to yeah when there's you're getting all that information. So, yeah, like just you know, you know, if, yeah, if you, if, if you're, if you're lucky enough to have, like you know, the, the AD or first, so that then you can just relax.

Hayley Olivia 39:37

Yeah, do you? Do you try to ask people to help you out a bit more with that if you need it, or do?

Galen 39:46

you feel like you can't or.

Galen 39:48

I've gotten better at that. Yeah, there was definitely when I was better at that. You can't. Or, I've gotten better at that. Yeah, there was definitely when I was. Yeah, I mean when, when I was younger, when I was first starting out, and you know, you kind of have that, you know that you're less familiar.

Galen 39:59

You kind of when you get first get your gigs and you know you get your first jobs, and there's that feeling of like, oh, you know, I'm, I like to. You know, oh, I don't want to screw this up like I don't want to be, I don't want to be, um, you know, I don't want to screw this up Like I don't want to be. I don't want to be, I don't want to be a burden on other people, I don't want to. You know and and you know, thankfully now I, you know I've done it long enough that I have that I'm, I'm able to have to have that assertiveness of just, you know, be able to. You know, if I, if something's not not clear to me, I know that I can ask. I know, you know, I, you know yeah, and it's just like yeah, and you, just, you have that, you know that you have that permission to do that Cause. That's you know, that's your job.

Jaxon Rosa 40:39

Do you feel like to to piggyback off of that? Do you feel like um, the so we talked. You talked about like, the feeling of like being a burden or, you know, burdensome, um, I think like this might just relate to a lot of people that are on the spectrum or have some sort of thing, I think especially with parents, but more so, even in the education system. You feel, um, you feel like um sorry, I got distracted by terrence. A shadow moved through the frame and I was like oh. You were like, oh, are we good? No, we're good, yeah.

Hayley Olivia 41:16

He's checking. He's just occasionally checking. Amazing. I love that. It's good.

Jaxon Rosa 41:20

Thank you, terrence. Yeah, awesome, but yeah. So, basically that, how do you feel like it's time and experience that helps people get rid of no snappy. No, you can tell her down. Oh hey, buddy, you can tell her down snappy.

Hayley Olivia 41:41

Go to bed she's in two episodes now incredible stuff she's wrecking it.

Jaxon Rosa 41:48

Snappy, go to bed, look at me, go to bed. Look at me, go to bed. Actually, no, she just wants attention, there you go.

Hayley Olivia 41:59

Anyways, what are you saying, jackson?

Jaxon Rosa 42:01

Um, I want to unpack the feeling of Shame that some people might feel Around Having these things and how it Expresses itself, and how Do you get over that. People might feel around having these things and it can, and how it expresses itself, and how do you get over that. Is it experience, is it time or is it partially, that you know the mechanisms, the tools that you're using to get through those, to get through those days?

Galen 42:27

Um. Could you articulate that? Yeah, yeah.

Jaxon Rosa 42:31

So to explore, like if you were to give advice to someone yeah, uh, who? Who feels burdensome? It feels like they're. They're kind of like misinterpreted or they're not gonna be they're misunderstood. What would that? What would you say to them, as like a from your experience personally?

Galen 42:50

yeah, you know, yeah it's, yeah I mean it's so hard again, you know, because for me it just it, it just comes from you know, it, just it just comes from experience and it's like I think you know the um, but when you're there to do a job, it's like you know they've um, you know they've, you know they've hired you because they, because they trust your ability, and so it's like you're, you're there, you know. I think in a way you know, and especially as an actor, I think you know part of their job is to create an environment so you can do the do your best job environment so you can do the do your best job. And so I think you know, when you, you know talking about I, I think you know letting that enable you to um, you know, to kind of get that, get that information, know that you have the. You know have the.

Jaxon Rosa 43:46

You know that's completely within your right to do that that's awesome, yeah, so making sure to ask questions of the yeah and then. But yeah also. Yeah, you're right, the positive affirmation, the, the understanding that you were there for a reason that you actually you got in the door and it might be a pressure cooker environment, but you're there and so, yeah, no, that's along there, just like everybody yeah, exactly yeah, and so on.

Navigating Overstimulation on Film Sets

Hayley Olivia 44:12

You belong there just like everybody else. Yeah, exactly, I can say for sure too. I've had many times where I felt very stupid and slow and I did not know what was wrong. I always thought there was something wrong with me and I didn't know what it was. Yeah, and grew up Sarah too, my twin sister, have you seen?

Galen 44:34

Yeah, maybe we met, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, yeah, maybe.

Hayley Olivia 44:39

What if?

Jaxon Rosa 44:39

we switched you out with her, that'd be amazing.

Hayley Olivia 44:42

I think people would know because we look kind of different.

Galen 44:47

There you go.

Hayley Olivia 44:48

But both Sarah and I, like, struggled with that and we didn't know why we should. Everyone thought we were odd. They called us weird, yeah.

Jaxon Rosa 44:59

I called you guys autistic before on the spectrum.

Hayley Olivia 45:01

We were before we did.

Galen 45:04

Sure, yeah, yeah, I've had that yeah.

Hayley Olivia 45:07

And our parents tried to help us a lot. Like they, they love us very much and they did a lot of what they could, but there wasn't enough information.

Jaxon Rosa 45:15

They didn't know, right exactly that's actually so. So from like no. Thank you for describing that, because I think that the temptation to get in our own heads about this stuff.

Jaxon Rosa 45:32

That's what this podcast is going to help do for people is to like the, the temptation to get on her own heads about this stuff. That's what this podcast is going to help do for people is to like be like, oh, shoot, like. Not only can I, um, can I relate to that. You might have some have some as simple talk to the camera, as simple as anxiety or something like that Generalize anxiety.

Jaxon Rosa 45:47

But, you want to do. You know you want to do things like act, or you want to perform, or you want to do. You know you want to do things like act or you want to perform, or you want to do things, um, in the field of the arts or entertainment. Um, these are all helpful, like it's almost like just practical tips and tricks, so totally, that's pretty. It's pretty cool, hayley. Is there anything that we want to continue to go and recover? I, my mind is a little bit. Um, I'm, I am reaching that slow point. We were talking about.

Hayley Olivia 46:18

I sensed it a low processing well, what's great is we can all understand each other when it comes to things like that. It's okay, we'll work with it, um, but I guess. So we've touched upon a lot of really cool things and actually I the last thing you were describing like kind of giving advice and everything made me. I was like I don't need to be emotional, I'm fine, but it did make me a little emotional because I'm a very emotional person, but it did touch me, so thank you for that.

Jaxon Rosa 46:52

You know what I will add in post as a violin, he always makes fun of me because I get too emotional and he's like Haley, bring it back in. No, you're projecting. No, no, no, no, no. I'm okay with you being emotional.

Galen 47:03

You're projecting.

Jaxon Rosa 47:04

I'm okay with you being emotional. My mind went cinematic. I thought lone violin, slow zoom for that moment.

Galen 47:12

Very good, jackson. Thank you, and Haley, how does that make you feel?

Jaxon Rosa 47:17

See, this is what the problem is with our podcast it's going to turn into a therapy session.

Hayley Olivia 47:22

One of our interviewees was sitting over there and was like it felt like a therapy session.

Jaxon Rosa 47:30

She said it felt like couples therapy. She said it felt like um, but anyways.

Hayley Olivia 47:36

So a project that you worked on that made you realize that you were capable of anything.

Galen 47:49

Oh, wow.

Hayley Olivia 47:49

And that kind of turns that for you, let's see?

Galen 47:57

Yeah, I think I definitely had a few. I think one of my first feature films in LA was– um, a, uh it was. It was kind of at the end of the the, the found footage movement, and it was a a found footage horror film called um children of sorrow. That it was kind of it's a, uh it's, it's kind of a, um, kind of a first person camera, you know, take into um, a, a, basically like a, like a religious suicide cult kind of like half Manson, half Jonestown, kind of thing, yeah.

Galen 48:45

And so I was like one of the like, one of like the young impressionable cult members in that and it was.

Galen 48:53

It was one of those where they had written up, written up a whole script and then were just, you know, because of the the nature of how they were filming, they were finding that they could just, you know, get a lot of things just from kind of ad lib moments and things, and so like halfway through the through the film, they just, they just like threw out the script and were just finding creating all of these moments.

Galen 49:15

And it was, it was, you know, it was, yeah, it was really cool because I, it was, you know, I was playing kind of a, you know a character that I felt had, you know, had a lot of similarity to myself and it was, you know, my, my friend, one of my, my best friends, ryan Finnerty, had written the script, the script that was um, and had come up with all of these characters and kind of, you know, you know kind of knew that this was kind of a character that I could, um, really come alive in and um, and so so I was able to um, um, you know kind of uh, you know, bring a lot of the emotion that I had. You know kind of, you know from you know you know a lot of the emotion that I had, you know kind of, you know from.

Galen 49:57

You know you know, growing up on the spectrum and things like that and feeling isolated and feeling um and um and feeling alienated in that way.

Galen 50:06

And you know you know character, you know as someone you know who always wanted to find, you know, you know your, you know the people, you know you know your, you know the people you relate to, you know always wanted to fit in, and so I think it was a. So that was something that, um, you know, you know there was the, that emotional core that I had really, you know, connected to at a level that I really hadn't, you know, in a, in a character before, and so that was a real kind of breakthrough moment for me of, you know, of having a, having a performance that I was really proud of and material that I was really proud of, and and that was definitely a moment where I was like, oh well, this is yeah, like you know, like, if I can, if I can find, you know, a project like this, in a role like this, you know, then then there's, yeah, there's a lot that's possible for me, you know that's awesome yeah, so that was.

Galen 51:01

Yeah, so that was. I would say that was a huge, a big. That was like a breakthrough project for me as far as you know, for as far as me as an actor and knowing kind of what the what was possible?

Jaxon Rosa 51:13

you know in this career, yeah, that's actually quite phenomenal, yeah any other person would be like oh, let me tell you about mandalorian. Sure, but I am interested. But the fact that it was that was a very profound like that. It's a very profound moment in your acting career right where you, where you tapped into the place yeah that you got to.

Jaxon Rosa 51:35

That was was necessary for you to get there. Yeah, that's real. Do you think that there should be and I say this selfishly, as I have a script about kids on the spectrum do you feel like there needs to be a variety of more stories in this world, in, um, you know, in hollywood about spectrum disorders?

Jaxon Rosa 52:00

and the reason I say this is because we only got a few right now. We got rain man and the reason everyone thinks autism is rain man, like, so like we have a lot of misinformation out there. No, I'm serious, no, no, but that's we need.

Hayley Olivia 52:15

We need content of people who are autistic but are just living their lives and it's not completely centered around being autistic. 100, it's like anything. It's like you know, it's like any kind of mind.

Galen 52:28

You know. Minority group it's like the, you know the the. You know the. The early content is all about putting the is. It's the first time that that's illuminated, so it's just like well, let me tell you all about this. And then it's like and so every kind of revelation is like the big plot point, whereas in you know, for people, you know people living that life, that's just another day.

Galen 52:51

You know, and yeah, exactly, yeah you know and yeah, exactly yeah, and so I think you know, I think we're, you know we're, I, we're beginning to see more of you know the, you know where that is, you know that's, um, you know where that's, that that's more that's not like so kind of you know put, you know put in the foreground and it's just more that where it's just where that that thing kind of thing is, is normalized and I think, and our understanding of it deepens. And I think you know, because you know, I think our I mean the difficulty is is that, like a lot of you know is you know, you know, you know something like you know a, you know a neuro, you know a, you know a neuro, you know someone who's neurodivergent. That's something you can't just call out immediately of just, oh, that person, oh, there's the neurodivergent character in the film you know which is kind of what's funny is all of the characters that were written as quirky or whatever.

Hayley Olivia 53:54

you rewatch it and you go they're just not, they're just.

Galen 53:58

Right, oh yeah, that weirdo. Yeah, no, they're just, but they didn't write them to be.

Hayley Olivia 54:03

It's just now we have more of an understanding of what is.

Galen 54:07

Absolutely. Yeah, there's so many. Yeah, that is so fun of just going through and just being like, oh yeah, they're just displaying neurodivergent characteristics.

Jaxon Rosa 54:18

I have to speak this into existence. So we should have a segment eventually called Ot or Not.

Voice Over 54:23

Yes, and we should do it again Totally we should do it again with Shaggy or Scooby.

Jaxon Rosa 54:30

We could do it for fictional characters. We could do it for whoever it could be character-based.

Galen 54:35

We don't have to do it to fictional characters. Right, we could do it for whoever it could be, you know, character based, we don't have to do it to actual people yeah I still remember there was a whole there was a whole internet thread when um when um the ryan gosling film drive came out of whether his character was on. This was on the spectrum and no, they're just like.

Finding Your Path and Environment

Jaxon Rosa 54:50

It'd just be cool if you didn't talk that much, right, exactly, isn't ryan gosling so cool in this jacket? And you know, it'd be even cooler if we had no dialogue, right? No, no, that's. That's the director making a choice, right? That's an example of him being like we're paying him this much money, but how about we just don't give him lines, right? Yeah?

Hayley Olivia 55:13

Yeah, so now that we're kind of we're kind of nearing more towards the end, right?

Galen 55:20

More towards the end Should we bring in. We were less towards the end before Now we're more towards the end. Now we're more.

Hayley Olivia 55:25

More towards the end. Thank you for the clarification.

Jaxon Rosa 55:27

That's how that that's how that that yeah.

Hayley Olivia 55:37

The end is Terrence. Do you have anything to add? Do you want to? Ask or ask yeah Face that camera when you ask the question. I know that it's sorry. It's been a day.

Jaxon Rosa 55:44

Oh, oh man, I'm sorry. Oh no, it's fine. Can I put the audience sound in there? Totally, we're leaving that in, but they're good doing it Even.

Hayley Olivia 55:55

Gannon was like no, no.

Jaxon Rosa 55:59

We're getting a soundboard next. Yes, I actually don't know if I want to give this guy access to a soundboard.

Voice Over 56:09

It might be helpful Responsible.

Hayley Olivia 56:13

I was going to say conservative, okay, no, he would not be, he would run wild. What's your question?

Terance 56:19

terrence. What do you um? What is something that you know now, that you wish you knew, uh, when you were younger and figuring out about being on the spectrum.

Hayley Olivia 56:32

Oh nice, see, he was sweating and he asked a great question that's a great question.

Galen 56:38

Now I just have to come up with a good answer.

Hayley Olivia 56:40

You had great answers. It's okay. One can be mediocre. Okay, okay, good, good.

Galen 56:45

Thank goodness, oh yeah, thank goodness, as we talked about before. It's just that it's not about um. It's not about finding um, finding the way to fit in. It's finding an environment that fits to you, you know and that's yeah I think that's you know, that one.

Galen 57:04

That was a huge revelation for me once I figured that out.

Galen 57:08

I think it was it's, it's one of those that you can understand, um, you can understand intellectually for a long time, but like emotionally, really understanding like you know, no, like you know, that's you know and you know and that, and that kind of learning to assert your, assert your needs, and saying like no, this, like this environment, doesn't work for me.

Galen 57:30

I'm going to go seek something else and not feeling like you know because it's yeah, it's one thing to say like, oh, yeah, like I'm, you know, um, like I'm okay, I, you know all of that, but I'm. But it's another thing to you know, to really you know, really make those you know, you know the, you know those demands and even when you, when it's you know cause, you know, you know I think growing up, we're always you know it would be an edge, you know an educational experience or a work environment or anything. You know you're, you know you're constantly made to feel like, yeah, you're not, you know, you're not. Living up just was able to remind myself more of just like no, this is just not my um, this, this, this is just not the environment that's meant for me, you know yeah, yeah, hold for ambulance hold for ambulance.

Jaxon Rosa 58:26

Hold me this is my, like you know, studio slash apartment right it is the space we. You know I have surroundings around my lights and stuff like that Soften the lights. For example, what if you were to create the perfect space for yourself, a sanctuary like um? Coming back after a long day of um, a performance or a gig or whatever, what would that space look like this? Is like this is like you needing to relax after an overstimulus.

Galen 58:53

like this is like you needing to relax after an overstimulus, hyper stimulating day yeah, I don't know, I mean I think, like, like your, I think your, I mean your dog, I think, has got the best deal with that huge bed.

Voice Over 59:12

I would just have a bunch, I would just have a bunch of those beds.

Jaxon Rosa 59:16

Like those beds look super comfortable. Do you want to try it? Before we leave I might have to.

Galen 59:22

She might get jealous.

Jaxon Rosa 59:23

She has a bed over there. She just is spoiled on this.

Hayley Olivia 59:26

We'll end this with a photo of Galen just lying In the dog bed.

Galen 59:31

But yeah, I think Just Really Plush environments, like as a kid I really I was like, definitely like, like when you'd like go into the, like the, the, the counselor's office or something, they had all the beanbag chairs, like that was awesome, the big giant beanbag chairs and stuff like that. Just like, very like, like, just like, very like, like. That to me is like a like a moniker of safety of just like, okay, like big giant beanbag chair, like you're good.

Jaxon Rosa 1:00:04

Did you ever have the the seams thing when you so you're talking about sensitivity when you were younger, more or less being more of a, and that was very true for me. For me it was the seams on jeans, or like the socks, like, do you? Did you have anything that was like that as a touch related?

Galen 1:00:20

Sure, no, I would definitely I, I was. I was always very tactile as a kid. I would always kind of, yeah, like you know, very, yeah, respond heavily to texture and that sort of thing. You know, I would you know, I, you know, I would like, absentmindedly, just like you know I would, um, you know I, you know, I would like, absent-mindedly, just like you know, like you know um, like you know like, let you know like, pick paint off of the wall and shit like that.

Galen 1:00:44

You know like, I would get into that kind of stuff, yeah, it very, but yeah, I would, yeah, would get you know, or, or I would you know, play with like, um, like a, like like the you know like, the wrapper on, like, uh, on a water bottle or something like that, or on a like a soda bottle or something like that, like, just like, and just pick that apart and that sort of thing and just like, yeah, having that kind of tactile thing would definitely um, is is definitely kind of a like, a sort of stemming, a kind of um, a kind of grounding you know, tactic for me.

Hayley Olivia 1:01:16

For me, it's just humming all the time humming yeah without realizing it. There was one time where I went to universal this was in high school went to universal um with this group called opus. It was like a traveling choir. Wow, that sounds like a cult.

Hayley Olivia 1:01:34

I know, yeah, the opus, yeah, on netflix right interesting time but yeah, we went to universal and we were all separated into specific groups and I was in this group with this kid named I think his name was cole um and at the end of the day I guess I was humming, but I did not know and he went oh my god, hayley. And I was like what? You have been singing the scooby-doo theme song for like 10 hours and he waited until the very end of the day to say this to me and I was like I was. He was like, yes, please stop.

Hayley Olivia 1:02:07

I was like oh, I'm so sorry I don't even know, and it was the same song just all day.

Jaxon Rosa 1:02:15

Over and over again.

Hayley Olivia 1:02:17

I felt bad yeah.

Voice Over 1:02:19

No, I'm just joking.

Hayley Olivia 1:02:24

Anyways, they're both mean to me. It's okay. It's a great dynamic. Is there Anything you feel it's really important? Okay, is there anything you feel that's really important to touch upon or anything you would like to tell people who will be viewing or listening to this podcast?

Galen 1:02:44

Man, I mean I think you know, I mean I think we've covered a lot of it.

Galen 1:02:49

I think again, just I mean you know I get you know, just you know, harping on it again, just like I think you know I get just you know, harping on it again just like I think you know, I think the you know, you know for anyone listening who's circumstances and environments that work for you, and just kind of you know and is just is so, is so key and it like it and it just it takes, it takes time. I mean you know I didn't, you know I didn't move out to LA until I, I was in my late 30s and I think a lot of people they feel like the other side of that is to say there's not a time limit as far as when you figure out, when you find the path that's right for you. It took me a while. I mean I think I think part of I guess part of it for me is I. I always had a sense of what my path was, but there was so many, but there was so many outside information telling me it should be something different.

Hayley Olivia 1:04:05

And sometimes people who are neurodivergent.

Galen 1:04:08

everything need a little bit more time, but that doesn't make you any less capable of doing amazing things. Doesn't make you any less capable of doing amazing things.

Closing Thoughts and Musical Outro

Galen 1:04:14

Yeah, both to both, to like both, not just to find your path but to find the way that you need to walk it, you know, and that can find take time too, and so I think, and the way and how to, how to navigate that, that can just take time and it's like it really there, you know, I think, as long long as you know, as as long as you're actively doing the work, you know there's, you know it there, there, really, there is no deadline so in reality, like, yes, work towards your goals, work hard, yeah, work for it, but don't forget to try to understand yourself absolutely and what your needs are, what your what your needs are, what your needs are, and it's and You're important, yeah, and it takes that and that and that takes time and just you might just you, you might need more time than other, than than others, to get specifically what you want, because you know what you know our needs are more are are more specific and harder to harder specific and harder to articulate and harder to define.

Galen 1:05:20

So that's just inevitably going to take time.

Jaxon Rosa 1:05:23

Yeah, you and your art plus time. It's one of those great things that a lot of really talented actors have also said, like Bryan Cranston, you know, like people that have had later and like really amazing careers Incredible. Yeah, cranston, you know, like people that have had later and like really amazing careers, but that they just know that they love the work and they love to do what they do and one flop, five flops, won't take them away from doing what they love, so that persistence is key yeah, well, thank you so much, galen that was a great interview Awesome.

Jaxon Rosa 1:05:56

Thank you for being on the show.

Hayley Olivia 1:05:58

Thank you, thank you for having me.

Jaxon Rosa 1:05:59

Yeah, everyone give it up for Galen.

Galen 1:06:01

Everybody, everybody, the dog. The dog is who we're talking to. We have a crowd, the dog actually turned.

Hayley Olivia 1:06:07

I think she is silently clapping.

Galen 1:06:08

She is. She is she.

Jaxon Rosa 1:06:13

For you guys.

Hayley Olivia 1:06:14

Sure, do you want to close out with a song? Yeah, yeah, yeah, go on ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

Galen 1:06:19

Okay great Well, I'm excited.

Jaxon Rosa 1:06:21

Okay, I'm just trying to recoup in my head what we were talking about. Life in the 80s was so serene. School was tough but, like everything, I was never diagnosed. But I found the thing that I love the most. They sent me away to acting camp. I know it was okay. When I saw that camera I took the stage. I know it was okay. When I saw that camera, I took the stage and the lights shone down on me. That's when I decided it was time to leave and I went down to California. After I went to that hard art school. That was kind of interesting. And then I went and I got in that cult film. I dug deep and I tried to get in it. It was so good. And then I was cast the next day In a Lucasfilm project. It wasn't the next day, yeah.

Jaxon Rosa 1:08:07

Then I got diagnosed and it made lots of sense. I don't think this shit is Heaven sent, but it's okay and I don't know. It's not something that I'm Feeling deeply in love, but it's something that makes me Neurofuck Peace or neurofucked. And I'm so neurofucked when you find you got autism and you can't do long division. That's why you're neurofucked, that's why you're all fucked.

Hayley Olivia 1:08:59

It's not that bad dude, I don't know. That was great Amazing.

Galen 1:09:06

Awesome, fuck yeah.

Jaxon Rosa 1:09:08

We are incredibly excited to be launching this podcast and we have some super interesting guests Planned for the next episodes, so stay tuned, follow us on social media. And we have some super interesting guests planned for the next episodes, so stay tuned, follow us on social media. Find us on YouTube for some extra visuals. Well, we'll see you in the next episode. Peace and love.