Welcome to my first blog post! Let’s get this part out of the way first: why I am here.
I had a major stroke I had when I was a baby and my brain’s wiring is different. The medical community will say I have permanent damage because of that stroke — I have two big holes in my brain — which is true. I have a cluster of letters after my name, like OCD, autism, epilepsy and ADHD. I walk a little differently too because of the stroke, but I call it my swagger.
Sometimes stuff is great and sometimes not so great, but for me, overall, I have come to view them all as superpowers because I do see the world differently, depending on which letters are dominating me on any given day. I think that gives me a unique perspective on life.
There is a lot of awareness now about autism and other disabilities but my experience has been that awareness isn’t really understanding. For me, it is something like this… You might be aware that eating a lot of sugar is really bad for you, but do you understand why. Once you GET it, it makes more sense to you and it may change what you do.
This blog will be about my adventures, misadventures, the lessons and incredible people I get to meet along the way and places I get to see, hoping it may add a bit of understanding to the challenges of my world and those who have physical and mental challenges. I tend to become obsessed with stuff and learn a lot about whatever it is I love. I know a lot about crocs, alligators, caimans and any crocodilian; world geography; world history; cooking and cultural stuff. I also love travel, tanks and planes.
I love meeting cool people. So let’s dive in!
Take Commander Chris Hadfield. I met him for the first time when I was 12. Hadfield is known around the world as the cool, mustachioed astronaut. He spent 166 days in space, mounted the Canadarm II onto the International Space Station, was the first astronaut to operate it and the first Canadian to walk in space, visited the Mir Space Station, and was Commander of the International Space Station. His tweeting and Instagram posts from space propelled him to a new kind of fame and when he sang David Bowie’s “Space Odyssey” in the International Space Station, he became a stratospheric superstar.
At the time I met him, Colonel Hadfield was going to make an appearance at a local air show and fly a Spitfire, one of my favourite planes.
I got in line to meet him and brought a Yuri Gagarin souvenir I had brought along to show him. (in the picture.) I started talking and my mom was getting mad at me because there was a huge line forming to meet the Colonel. But he just kept talking to me, which was really cool.
“What is your name?”
“I am Jacob. And do you know who Gagarin is?” That was kind of cute because I was a kid at the time. Of COURSE he did lol.
“Why yes, I do, Jacob. Do you know what the Russian saying on that souvenir means?” I uncharacteristically shut right up.
“Well, it means ‘Let’s go’… which is what Gagarin said at lift off.” I yelped with glee. “That is amazing. You speak Russian!”
Hadfield smiled. There was a real connection and Hadfield then placed his arm around me. and, shockingly, I didn’t even flinch (I don’t like being touched by people) and my mom managed to capture it on film.
Not only did Hadfield indulge me and fully engage with me, he embraced my curiosity and way of seeing things during those ten minutes. While I was nervous about upsetting everyone else, many people in line listened to our conversation and the vibe was positive. They also got see what a compassionate person Hadfield is and how patient he was with a special needs kid.
Fast forward 10 years, and I had the chance to ask Commander Hadfield a couple of questions recently, such as what he thinks about neurodivergence. He had the BEST answer.
“We’re all different and everybody’s brain works differently. There is 8.2 billion people in the world, it’s a big bell curve of how peoples’ brains work and a lot of people are in the big lumpy section in the middle and then a lot people are not. I work with people all sorts of different ways of thinking, ways of visualizing the world and ways of expressing themselves. As a public figure, I also get to meet more than my share perhaps of people and it is really interesting trying to quickly understand how a person thinks, what’s important to them how they express themselves and get to the core of who they are, as quickly as possible.”
How cool is that? HE understands.
He has schools and parks named after him, not to mention an asteroid, but I wanted to know about the weirdest award he has received. Well, the proof that his influence knows no bounds is the fact that he has a bee named after him. “Yes, I have an insect named after me.” Is that the strangest honour? “Well,” he says, “strange is in the eye of the bee-holder, isn’t it?” Lol. True story!
So I hope you get what I am going to try and do. And sometimes it won’t be polished and pretty. But that is what keeps life interesting.
To all of us diversAbled, we are spectacular! Let’s show the world!