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Hello and welcome. Here is a podcast just for you, where every day I'm teaching you something new about how to be the best version of yourself. So you can be an inspiring visionary for everyone else. I'm showing up to guide you. There's some things that you may have often overlooked, such as how to strengthen your mind set without having to read a book in a world where everyone's focus is on what everyone else is up Thio. I'm hoping I can help you slow life down so you can focus on what you can. D'oh! The world needs more people to believe in what they see and to have visions beyond diagnoses with a focus on possibility. So I'm asking that as you listenin, please open up your mind and together, let's see all the ways we can make better what we find. This is a podcast about diversity, equity and inclusion, and it's also about my experiences with exclusion. And it is my hope that in each episode you're able to connect with me, and when we leave the conversation, I hope you are forever committed to the cause. See me, not ASD. Let's get started Hello and welcome to the first episode of See Me Not ASD the podcast. I'm your host Devika Car and Happy New Year to you. Hopefully you will find this podcast to be one of the great highlights of your new year. And we thank you for tuning in. So the way that this will work is every quarter of the year, we will have a different theme. And this first quarter, which will take us through the 1st 13 weeks of the year, is called awareness through honesty. And in this week's first episode, what we're really talking about in order to bring awareness is the introduction to see me, not a SC. And hopefully, by the end of this episode, you will be clear about what we're here for. So before I even get into the details, my questions to you are this. How much time are you willing to commit to bring more awareness to your life? How much time are you willing to commit to shift a culture? How much time are you willing to commit to inspire the mindfulness and thoughtfulness of your community? And how much time are you willing to commit to receive the better that you desire as we go through this episode. And as you go throughout the rest of your week, I ask that you consider all of these questions and that perhaps you might find some answers here today. Or maybe as you engage in the call to action that we have at the end of this episode, you might find the answers there. Our segment goal is this. At the end of this episode, we want you to be sure that we're this and not that. We want you to know that we're here for this and not that. So what are those things? So 1st 1 of my favorite authors is South Garden, and he wrote a few of these really incredible books that are some of my go to favorites. Purple Cow took the box. That's a fun one, and I took the cover off of this one. But it's this is marketing, and what I love about Seth Godin is that each of his books and all of his teachings they apply to the multitudes of things that you do in your life, right? They're not just for business, they're not just for entrepreneurship. They're not just for understanding, marketing or advertising or those aspects of business and entrepreneurship, but they really can be applied to all aspects of your life. And I'm a firm believer that anything that I touch or that I engage in, or that I'm investing my time in it has to apply to multiple parts of my life. Otherwise, it's not worth my time. And one of my favorite teachings from him is that individuals are equally rich in their lives and also equally conflicted in their lives. And the way I interpreted this teaching is that each of us, in our own perspective, is rich, and each of us is conflicted. Now the ways in which we are rich and conflicted may not be the same. However, We are always each of those two things collectively, and it got me thinking. What kind of commitment do I have in making sure that my perspective is always to see where I'm rich and toe always work on the challenges that make me feel conflicted? So my gratitude really is for this lesson because I had Thio conjure up a lot of bravery in order to to decide that this podcast was going to become reality and I had to release a lot of expectations in order to be brave enough to do this. It's incredibly challenging, I think, for people to believe that their voice matters. And I could be sitting here saying all these things that I think are incredibly wonderful and not a single person tune it, not a single person watch a video even though there might be something great further on in the segment or further on in the video or further on in the speech, it doesn't matter. I could be saying something profound and it could mean nothing to anyone. And so I had to be brave enough to say that I know my voice matters and I had to release some expectations. So the first expectation I have released in order to do this is that it would be unfair for me to expect you to care how hard I've worked to get to where am. It's unfair for me to expect you to care and understand how much this project means to me. It would also be unfair of me to expect you to understand how loud the noise is in my head every day. How much conviction I have about every aspect of this project and my life at. It's unfair for me to expect any of that if you so those air. They're some of the expectations I've had to release in order to do this. But that doesn't mean that you don't matter to me. In fact, you do matter. You are the reason I'm doing it. And so I believe that I'm just here to share the stories, to share the narratives, to share the dreams, to share the stories, the narratives in the dreams of you with me and connect that That's the awareness that I'm bringing here. The awareness that I'm here for those things I see a change that I want to be made. I see a better that I want to achieve. I I see a better that I want to create. I see that my vision matters. I see a cultural norm that I want to invest in and help shift. And I believe that I am not the only one. I am not the only one who sees a change that they want to be made. I am not the only one who sees a culture that they want to invest in shift. I believe that I am not the only one who sees a better that they want made. And I believe that I am not the only one who has a vision that matters. Not everyone is meant to be on the same journey. And yet everyone's journey is different, even if they are on a similar path. So I respect you enough not to waste your time. I want you to know that. See me? Not SD the podcast, the brand, the business, the entity, the existence of it respects you enough not to waste your time. So if this journey is not for you, there are no hard feelings. We are appreciative of any consideration at all. We respect you enough not to insist that you change your beliefs. You change your viewpoints. You change yourself for us. I respect you enough that that's not what this is. This is not me trying to convince you to believe what I believe. I respect you enough that I'm not trying to do that. I'm also not insisting that you place your belief in me. I am insisting and I respect you so much that I am insisting that you place your belief in yourself today throughout every episode throughout the year, throughout this next decade. But that's where the insistence is. So even though I respect you enough for all of those things, every day I'm going to show up. I'm gonna show up consistently and I'm going to show up with energy. I will show up generously. I will give my mind my knowledge, my thoughts to you generously and consistently. That's a guarantee. That's what this is. This is me showing up every day for you. I will share my inspirations with you. I will be of service to you. If I fit into your life and into your journey into your thoughts. Then I will continue to show up for you. Please excuse any noise that you hear in the background of my kids. I'm doing this for them too. I'm showing up for them so you might hear them in the back. This is see me? Not a s D is meant to be a central hub, right? So if you know anything about the hub and spokes model, it's There's a central in the middle and it's the center source of Of what? Everything else branches out too. And it connects everything back to itself. So see me, not a s C is meant to be the central hub, right? And if you show up to this podcast to this this source, then here's what you're going to receive. And it's It's my commitment of what I'm giving you. You will receive guidance without judgment, guidance without judgment, perspective without pause and my favorite possibilities without limitations, I'm guaranteed to give you all of that. I'm committed to giving you all of that. Those air. The three things that I am committed to giving you that are incredibly important for you to walk away from this podcast and understand. So when you think what is see me not ASD What is this podcast? What is this? This entity? This this What? What is it? That's what it iss. It's me, your host Devika car committing to be of service to you and to providing you perspectives, possibilities without judgment, guidance, gratitude, all without judgment and without limitations. And the further we get into this podcast to the Siri's into this year, the more you will understand how important possibilities without limitations are to me. But again, I don't expect to you to care how much it means to me. But I d'oh insist that you believe enough in yourself that if it means something to you that you can be guaranteed to show up here consistently and receive generously guidance on how to continue living a life where you don't have to be judged where you get to insist on possibilities without limitations, for the people in your life for yourself. Even so, the final three things that you need to understand about what see me not ASD is is our call to action. It is never us asking you for likes and follows and reviews and five stars, and we're never gonna ask you in our call to action, to go out and tell people X, Y and Z No, that's not what our call to action is, but our call to action is asking you to act. But it is asking you to take what you learn here and apply it to your daily life as best as you can to make subtle changes to resist the urge to fall back and just be who you were before you heard it. We're asking you to do a little bit more to do the work necessary. If that's what you believe. If you desire the things that we discuss, then we simply give you a call to action to help guide you on your journey to achieving it. So this week, here's what we're asking. Here's what I'm asking on behalf of See me, not a s t. I am asking you to give me a chance. Give See me Not SD a chance. We want to earn your permission to continue with you on your journey. We want to earn the privilege of being apart of your life. We want to earn the privilege of being able to serve you consistently and generously. So are called to action. This week is simply asking you to give us a chance so that we might be able to earn your permission at some point in the future. So we might be able to earn the privilege of spending time with you Weekly Daily Monthly Nearly timelessly. That's all that we're asking for you to consider that now the creative connection here and again if you didn't get a chance to check out our overview of how the show flows. Our creative connection is something that we provide every episode where we connect you to something creative, such as art, music, books, quotes, movies, anything creative you name it that I have personally experienced and something from it caught my ear caught my eye and I just felt the need to share. And so this week, the creative connection is our logo. See me? Not ASD And the story behind how the logo was created. Um, I have a child on the autism spectrum who is now seven years old. We'll give him his and I'll give you his initials K t B. And when he was four, I gave him this phrase. I said it popped into my mind and I said to him, See me not a S t. Can you just write it down for me? And the way in which he wrote it was our logo. He wrote the word see, he put a hard around the word me and he lower cased the letters. A s D. Now, if you are familiar at all with medical diagnoses or autism spectrum disorder. In general, the abbreviation for autism spectrum disorder is usually capitalized. The ASD is in capital letters, and I had no idea at the time what this local would would come to mean in my future and in my son's future and in our lives my my whole family's lives. But I loved so much that he highlighted with a heart that he wanted me, the love to be around the me him and that he minimized the letters um a s d so that they were no longer the center focus. They weren't the capitalized letters. And that's really what see me, not SD is about. It's about being able. It started out being about seeing an individual and loving them for who they are, as opposed to what they've been diagnosed with, um, narrowing the focus on are actually minimizing the focus rather on what the diagnosis is. Thus the minimization from capital letters to lower case and then highlighting the me and loving the me, the individual that you see and then as the years progress in the past four years or won't really three years since he's seven, Um, I have come to find that A s d also can stand for any specialized disability diagnosis. Any significant difference? It's more than just autism spectrum disorder. Now, obviously, I'm I'm rooted in that perspective because I am the proud mom of a kid on the spectrum. However, I was also able to apply it to other levels of diversity. So I have struggled with, um, anxiety and depression and still something that I struggle with. So I don't go around telling people like, Hey, I'm Devika and I have anxiety and depression. No, I go around hoping that people see me and love me for who I am and what makes me exceptional, as opposed to whatever my diagnoses are. If you are in imminent an individual Excuse me, that has been diagnosed with cancer with some physical limitations, some other intellectual disability, A mental health disorder. If you have, um, any significant difference such as the color of your skin, the style of your hair, the your height, your weight, the list of of levels of diversity extends beyond just those that I've listed here. But if you are any of those things, which every single one of us in the entire world is of one or more of those divers levels those categories. I would hope that you are also the kind of person who wants to be seen for what makes you exceptional, as opposed to just those things. Right now, there's an honesty here. You have to acknowledge sometimes the levels of divorce for diversity in an effort to effectively serve people and their needs, right? So if someone like my son is on the autism spectrum, then there might be a specific time and place for me to acknowledge that he's on the spectrum in an effort to make sure that he gets the service is he needs in order to be his most successful self. However, at the end of the day and at the beginning of every day, I want for people, and even in the middle of the day, I want for people to see him for who he is and what makes him exceptional. First, I want him to be loved and seen for his me, for the me that he is not because he's on the spectrum, not in spite of him being on the spectrum. No, I want the spectrum to be minimized and There are platforms out there that highlight autism and autism spectrum disorder and other levels of diversity, but that's not what this is. This is the place where I offer guidance and perspectives and possibilities without limitations, without judgment, for people who are committed and who want to be committed. If there, even if they're not there yet to seeing people beyond, they're diversities their levels of differences there identifiable disabilities in the hidden ones. I'm here for the people who understand the need for our culture to see beyond those things and the need for our culture to shift and begin to invest in the exception. Al it ease of one another first before we focused so much on what they've been diagnosed with, what they've been given at birth, the things that make them different because exception ality zehr. What makes our world really great exception AL it ease and individuals are the things that change the world that make unimaginable things happen where possibilities are it. So that's the story behind the logo. That's the creative connection this week. That's the awareness I'm bringing through honesty, and I'm hoping that now you have a clear understanding of what we're here for. So I'm gonna leave you lastly with a mantra. This is a phrase, an affirmation. Ah, statement that I personally believe in. And I ask you to either adopted for yourself word for word changing around so that it fits your life in a better in a better direction. Or just hear it and let it flow through you. Consider how it effects and impacts the world around you. And if you are up for practicing throughout the week, say it. Say it out loud once a week, once a day and see how it changes your perspective to the mantra is this I see a change I want to make. I see a better that I want to create. I see a culture that I want to shift and invest in And I see that my vision matters. I believe I am not the only one. And while I don't always know when or where I know I shall meet them in this place. Thank you so much for tuning in to the first episode of See me Not ASD. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you have a clear understanding of what See me not s t is here for And I hope that you will join us again. Take care. You've just listened to see me, not SD the podcast with your host Devika Thank you for joining. Please connect with us beyond this week's episode so we can continue the conversation. We hope that you'll have time to visit our website. See me, not SD dot com where you'll discover show notes bonus content Be able to sign up for access to our other resource is and submit any questions, comments or topic ideas. But if you're currently multitasking while watching or listening to this podcast and you're not able to get to the website right now, we simply ask that you remember us on Instagram see me not a s t. We have some bonus content that we've bookmarked for you easy access and you'll be able to get started. We believe we are the number one source for inspiring visionary supporters around the world so that they can elevate the exceptional people in the world a swell in the pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion. So as you, me individuals see them for the exceptional people that they are and do your best to elevate that