Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ? - Madison Sasser: Embracing the Voyage of Self-Discovery and Thriving with Autism in the Literary World

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

Send us a text Discovering oneself can be a life-long journey, punctuated by profound moments of realization. For Madison Sasser, author and unguarded voice of the blogging world, that moment came at 23 with an autism diagnosis. Her story is one of navigating the murky waters of self-identity and professional life, a tale she recounts with raw honesty in our latest episode. Madison's narrative is a beacon for anyone who's felt adrift in a sea of societal expectations, providing an intimate look into the complexities of late autism diagnosis and the pursuit of personal truth amidst a career in writing. If you've ever felt like an outsider in your own life's story, Madison's insights into the stigma surrounding autism will resonate deeply. She dissects her journey through the often unforgiving terrain of the writing industry, where she's juggled the roles of blogger, podcaster, and aspiring author. This episode peels back the layers of Madison's experiences: from the siren call of law school for its false promise of stability, to the strategy of diversifying income streams to sustain her writing passion. It's a candid exploration of the hurdles she's faced, underscored by a clarion call for acceptance and understanding within the autistic community and beyond. Wrapping up our heart-to-heart with Madison Sasser, the notions of self-perception and career aspirations come to the forefront. We venture into the balancing act of maintaining a public persona while guarding one's personal space, particularly as a writer touching on sensitive topics. Madison candidly shares her blogging beginnings, born from workplace frustrations, and the subsequent sense of camaraderie and validation she found online. It's a conversation about overcoming obstacles, taking life step by step, and persisting in the face of adversity. By episode's end, Madison's encouragement for anyone on a similar journey is clear: embrace your path, seek support, and foster a culture of self-responsibility and mutual respect. https://tonymantor.com https://Facebook.com/tonymantor https://instagram.com/tonymantor https://twitter.com/tonymantor https://youtube.com/tonymantormusic intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI) The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk. Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Why Not Me The World Podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor. Broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make your laugh, some will make you cry. Real life people who will inspire and show that you are not alone in this world. hopefully you gain more awareness, acceptance, and a better understanding for autism around the world. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Why Not Me the World.

Today's guest is Madison Sasser. She's an author, a blogger, and today she's here to share her story of being recently diagnosed autistic. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. I understand you was recently diagnosed autistic. What age was that? So I was diagnosed probably about 23.

Okay, so age 23, you get diagnosed autistic. What were some of the events that led you to go to get a diagnosis? Yeah, so I was always planning on going to law school. That was always my fault. Okay. And so in school, I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was about 10 or about 12. All right. So it was something that I always knew I had.

And when I was diagnosed, the professor that diagnosed me told me not to disclose it, not to ask for the extra time that I was entitled to one exam. Right. And so I always had this feeling of like knowing that I was smart. And I like my friends were all the top 10 people in the class. And yet I was performing so much lower than them despite knowing that I was just the smart as them. So it was kind of this like feeling that I had like I was an imposter. And then when I got into college, like all my friends were getting.

with like their top choices. I got waitlisted and eventually got an off the waitlist. So, and I remember I was putting in my therapist office in college and I was so confused. And like, I don't even need here. And she's like, okay,

you got into a school with a 40% like acceptance rate. And at the time I, like I learned to overcompensate. So I worked a lot in restaurants and I did internship with different law firms to try to make up for the test scores that I knew I could make. Right. So I was always trying to find ways to boost my resume and make myself more personal, make better connection,

so that they wouldn't look at my tail sports. Okay. And eventually I started working in law firm, and after I graduated during the pandemic, I got a job offer at this really big law firm. It wasn't a big law firm, but it was a very prestigious law firm. And after eight months,

I was eventually fired for an experience. And I ran into some different things at the law firm that I felt like I was underperforming, but I also felt like I was being misunderstood and I understand why. Right. So I started going to therapy and I started like researching life learning disorders. And then I found like nonverbal learning disorder, which became like a form of autism. And then I saw about how many women were misdiagnosed.

And then more that like I started researching these women. And I started reading their accounts with what their lives were like, I'm like, oh, this is me. Okay. So that's when I decided to get diagnosed. So once you got diagnosed and you realize that you are autistic, Did you go through any emotions? What went through your mind at that point? Was there a sense of relief because now you know what's going on?

Or was there a sense of fear because what's going to happen? For me, it was a big sense of relief. But there was also a lot of grief. Okay. It was this grief of like, I wish this would have been recognized sooner. Right. And it was also this like grief and this like conflicting emotion of like I had to, I went through a government agency and it took about a year for me to get diagnosed.

Okay. But because I couldn't find anyone who diagnosed I couldn't find anyone that had a visibility because COVID everyone was kind of like over-resourced or they just they didn't have the capacity. Right. And it's when you know something is wrong and when you know something is wrong,

everyone tells you to ask for help. It's your responsibility to advocate for yourself. Right. So I was doing that exactly like I was supposed to and then I was kind of met with resistance. I was met with a lack of resources. and I don't think it should take anyone a year to get diagnosed. Right.

Like I don't think that that, because that's the year that you are waiting, that you're kind of taking short-term jobs to see what happens. Like, there's so many things that you miss because you're waiting for a year. Absolutely. It was just, and like there was also, like, when I was at the law firm, and I was, since I do have ADHD and I had never really been on ADHD meds, I went to get ADHD meds. And then there was a shortage where I would have to go to three different pharmacies.

And then I couldn't tell you if they had it. Wow. Because it was kind of like a safety concern. So you're like asking for help and you're using the resources that you're supposed to use and then they're insufficient. And I found that really frustrating. Yeah, that's a common thread that I hear is that it's difficult to get diagnosed, but it's more difficult once you graduate and become an adult to get diagnosed.

So in that period of time that while you was waiting to get diagnosed, you had all these things going through your mind. How did you cope? Yeah. So I kind of coops through writing and through like sharing my experience. experiences. And so I blog on medium. And so I would use my medium blog and then I would share it to my Twitter account. And it was kind of like it wasn't just about autism. It was about kind of like my entire life. I was reevaluated. Because like and when I was going to law school, I had this like idea of myself. I was a very type A person. I was very on it. I was very like motivated. Like I was someone who I thought got things done who is very ambitious. And when I kind of lost that, I had to find a way to get back that sense of my fault. Sure.

And blogging was a big way that I was able to do that because, like, it was a very external way of looking and saying, look, people read my writing or like, look, someone commented on it. Or like, look at my following. Like, I wouldn't have this if I was a bad writer. I wouldn't have this if I was a person with no motivation. Right. So I kind of had to try to find ways to redefine discipline and determination. and I had to kind of find a way to prove that I could still be that. Sure.

One comments read that I heard from a lot of people that are autistic, whether it be young kids or adults, is that they tend to get very focused on what they want to do. Did you find yourself focusing and really being driven that way? Did that create any issues for you to focus on what you wanted to do? Yeah. And that's kind of like what, like, writing has always been like a stressful interest for me. It's always been something that I've been drawn to.

Okay. And a lot of like autistic people, by making her special interest a career. Right. And so, and obviously, like, when you're a writer, you kind of feel a little delusional because you're like, it's a really hard to get paid. Even if you're a good writer and you're like,

fine, you're getting rejection after rejection after rejection. A logical person would say, maybe don't make this a career. Right. And that's kind of why I decided that I would go to law school. Because I knew a lot of good writers were also very good lawyers. And I knew, like, lawyers were like a safe income. career that people would respect. Right, sure. Then when I was

examining it, and I was realizing that I'd go $150,000 in debt. And then I'd have to apply to take a bar exam. And there were so many different barriers to making money even after you have the debt. Yes, right. And the starting salary for a lot of lawyers is like $50,000.

Right. So I'm like looking all of that and I'm like that logically doesn't make sense. Sure. So I started looking into writing and I'm like, well, if I have a blog that makes like say, you're $50 mark. And then I have a podcast and say I eventually launched a podcast that like makes $50 a month. And if you diversify your income between book sales, maybe a teaching position,

and all of these different revenues, you eventually build something profitable that it's sustainable because of one force of your income sales. You focus on your others. Right, right. That's a good plan. So I guess like focusing on writing and like trying to make it work in a way that was logical for me, help if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, it does.

So it's been a year since you've been diagnosed. What do you see that is changed in that year? What's the difference between last year and now? I think people are a little bit more understanding, but I also think that I'm better at articulating and explaining it. Because once you have like a label and you're like, oh, this is why I do this. You can kind of explain that to other people. And I actually run a blog about how I feel about my diagnosis a year later.

Okay. Reason and the way I feel about it is that I went to set so many therapists trying to ask them to tell me what was wrong with me. Most people aren't self-aware enough to do that and they go through life making other people miserable because they can't address their own issues. Right. So like having a self-awareness to do that for one says a lot about me. Absolutely.

And the fact that so many people go through life and don't do that is actually very concerning. And I framed it in a way that's like how I feel like that year later is. we all have things that we struggle with. Right. And I have more barriers because of the way autism is perceived. So it's like how do I eliminate those barriers and also like find a way to communicate and normalize autism as something that people are familiar with?

What was your mindset? Did you see yourself getting depressed at all? Because I know especially in females, it's well known that later diagnosis when it comes to females, they can go through so many. challenges and get depressed. Did you go through any of those situations at all? Yeah. So I struggled with depression and I still do. And it was actually like in my like psychiatrist knows they noticed that like my depression was actually causing more issues than my autism was. Okay. And so and a part of that is it's not how I feel about myself. It's about how other

people feel about me and my autism and you're constantly dearing with that. Sure. Whereas like my family will say like, can she thought? saying autism and it's like okay but that's the correct diagnosis like people haven't really used the term aspirators in 10 years right and most people don't know that and then you they just hear autism and they're like oh well you're saying you can't do anything and you can you're high sunscreen and it should be a compliment but because they don't know about autism and they don't know like they don't realize that they're saying all they're up things and it's so frustrating

because I do still see myself as achieving I do see myself as motivated because capable, but people hear autism and they assume that I have this view of myself that I don't. Right. And so, like, you're trying to build ways to support yourself and to support the way that you work and, you know, maybe, like, a 40-hour work week, maybe that's not the best for me. Or, like, maybe working from home is easier. And you're trying to make all of these changes that make your life better. And people see these changes and they're like, oh, well, maybe you're crazy or maybe you're

just this. And I find like sliding through the stigma of what people think autism means is more exhausting that actually happens. Yeah. I was talking with a lady just yesterday that has an autistic son. That was the one thing that she brought up is that people just don't get it. And my slogan for my podcast is autism awareness, acceptance, and understanding. And the reason why I put in understanding is because I felt that was one word that they've left out

because people can be aware of it. So how do you deal with that? Yeah, that's something. Usually I write about it. And it's been very helpful because I have a lot of people in my life that aren't autistic. So they kind of say what they observe

about my autism from their lens. So like I'm trying to like meet people where they are and what they understand about autism. Because when I was diagnosed, I really didn't know anything about autism and I had a perception of it that was wrong. So it's kind of about finding ways to communicate that

in a way that other people understand. Yes. And in the autistic community, there's a lot of pushback about using, like, labels like high functioning or you don't look autistic and different things like that. And like as someone who people don't see as autistic unless I told them I am autistic, I want to make room for the people who experience more symptoms or who people look at and immediately, oh, they're autistic. Like, I work in a restaurant and a lot of people find restaurants overstimuating even if they are autistic. So it's a place with like a lot of triggers. And we have this one customer that comes in. He orders the same thing every time.

And he's very visibly autistic. Like people kind of know that he has it and it's not something that he can hide. Right. And the people like the other service, they make fun of him. They're like, oh, do you get to go back again? And it's like, okay. And I told him, I'm like, can we like say something about him that's not about his autism? Like can we talk about his shirt color or can we identify something about him that's

not that he's autistic. Right. And I know that those people are going to have a very different experience of autism than I am. And so it's weird because I want to make room for their experiences and their perceptions. But I also don't want to say that stigmatize them further. And they're like, and that's what a lot of people feel about functioning labels. Is it stigmatizes this further? Right.

My experience of autism is going to be different than his experience of autism. And I want to be room for that. Exactly. When you look at yourself and you kind of self-diagnose or self-evaluate and what you perceive of yourself, how have you found that that's different as your friend's perception of you? Does any of that meet together where the perception of reality is the same? Or do they have different outlooks than you do when it comes to yourself? How does all that line up?

Well, I think a lot of it lines up with society and what we expect people to be as a functioning number of society and I put that in here. Okay. And a lot of it comes back to your idea of work or what it needs to be an adult. Like, is having a job where you work 40 hours, you commute an hour, you do whatever your boss says and you don't complain and then you go home and then you go to the jet. Like, is that your idea of being an adult. And like part of being a writer is knowing that your career is going to look very non-traditional.

You know, I like serving a restaurant because I can come home and not think about it. I work for maybe four or five hours. I make the same amount of money somebody who has been working eight hours what I made, and then I come home and I write until 3 a.m. And that's my life. And for me, that works.

But other people see somebody going to bed at 3 a.m. writing all night. I'm like, is that healthy? You should have a schedule that functions like everyone else. But it's also some things that when you're someone who works nights and you work weekend.

And it's kind of not great to say that, oh, because you work these jobs that other people don't want to work your own, a wealthy member of society. Right. Because we all do things at this time. So those are some of the biggest, like, criticism that I face of, like,

the way that I function or the way that my schedule looks. Like, they not work for someone else, but it works for me. And one of my biggest priorities right now is focusing on my writing and trying to build a writing brand that eventually leads to a book deal or a blog that brings in consistent money.

Okay. One of the problems of being a writer is you have to have resources to create things from the ground up. You have to be able to pay your rent and write without worrying about your rent being paid. If you're producing a podcast, you have to be able to edit sound

and you have to be able to book guests. And like, there are a lot of things that would take time, money and resources that you don't have. Right. So I've kind of had to be very strategic about where can I get my time and my resources to go,

like kind of what can I do with the least. Sure. And I did eventually apply to grad school. I haven't found out if I've been accepted yet. Okay. But if I were to be accepted, then it would pay for my housing and it would pay for my master's. So, like, it would be a consistent income that would allow me to focus on writing and also build a career as a teacher as, like, a second form of income. Okay.

So I know you have to get really creative and you have to be able to say, you know what, I don't care how this looks. I care how this feels. And I care about my goals and how it builds my future, not what somebody else would want. see a success. So with what you're doing now, where do you see yourself five years from now? What's your short-term goals? What's your long-term goals? So my short-term, like, goal is I want to write an awful and get it traditionally published. Okay. Or maybe build an op-flowing that I can publish and be successful and have a consistent readership. Okay. So right now I'm working on a manuscript. It can take time, especially as you're a new writer trying to figure out. And I don't want to say I'm a new writer,

but I'm a young writer. And it takes a lot of time to figure out what works through you and you're writing from. So I want to finish a manuscript and I want to find an agent. And those are kind of my two big short-term goals. Okay. And like my long-term goal is I want to be a writer that has multiple books. I eventually want to launch a podcast.

Like I would love to adapt some of my novels and screenplays. And like, very fascinated with the productions of media and how books can go to podcasts, can go to audiobooks, can go to screenplays, and how each different format is a different way of telling a story, but it's still the story that thrives each format. And this blog, so is that telling your story, or do you put other things in it that encompasses the world, so to speak, or your part of the world? Yeah, so it is kind of my part of the world. I started it when I was working at the law firm, and I was very frustrated about how young people were being treated in the look for.

And I was reading all of these blogs about how Gen Z was ruining the work. forth. And I thought that was really funny because everyone I know has three jobs and they still can't pay the rest. Right. No, I kind of felt like people weren't representing our concerns and they weren't giving us opportunities to succeed. So I started the blog for that reason. And it kind of evolved into like my autism diagnosis and my examining of what success would mean, how work norms kind of play into that. Right. I'm kind of in a stage right now where I'm, I'm like re-examining my brand and trying to decide how I want it move forward. Because when you choose to write under your own name and not a pen name, it can impact your

career prospects. It can impact your family and your friends. And if I would have known what I know now, I might have chosen, but I probably wouldn't have to have because I like standing by my work. So I'm trying to decide how I want to move forward as far as like the articles that I want to produced. And as much as I like to talk about autism and I like to normalize it, there are a lot of other things that make up my identity that aren't my autism. So like I don't want to be known as the autistic writer. Sure. That makes sense. Yeah, absolutely makes sense. So I'm trying to decide how do I want to address and when you're like a writer and you're off the writing about your romantic life or you're writing about your job life and all of those things are going to impact

your real life. So I'm trying to find how. And so I recently had a conversation with a friend where I wrote this, like, feminist blog about, like, how hard dating is. And I realized that it's a writer that it's a blog that, like, writers I admire with pin names would have published. But because I'm not using a pen name, I don't feel comfortable putting that much out of myself into the world and letting people judge those ideas. Right. So I decided to maybe repurpose it for a novel where I have a character and that's a blogger and it's a blogger and it's a blog that's. you would have written. So it kind of gives me some distance. So I'm trying to decide, you know, like, what are articles that, like, I'm okay, like, standing by and saying,

this is what I believe and also articles that I'm okay with attributing to characters that are a little more controversial. Sure. Have you found a good balance within the autistic world, the real world, and your blog and writing world to where you can get out there, put some of your time to each one that needs to be given the time. And then at the end of the day, you sit back, you have that inner piece to where, yeah, this is what I want to do. I wouldn't say I've found it, but I've found steps towards achievement. Okay. So I recently, like, moved back to my rural hometown. So I could kind of save a little bit of money and, like, put more money into my writing and into my time, into my writing. So I'm not so worried about my finances. Right. And so I'm on a

past to achieving that, where in a couple of two, three months, I'll be, like, comfortable financially where I don't feel guilty for spending that time. Okay. And I'm also, like, starting to rethink, like, what kind of blogs do I not? Right. And so I'm writing some blogs about, like, working in the restaurant industry and what I've learned about my mental health through the restaurant industry and different things that, and that's kind of why my writing became so popular is because so many people feel like they're overburden and, like, there's so many. And, like, there's so many demands that they can't meet through their jobs, through their finances. And so we're all kind of asking the same question of like, why is it like this?

Why isn't it this hard? Right. So finding blogs that to write that professional tone and that professional examination, but also aren't to start quite as personal of putting myself out there. Because sometimes like when you're having a really bad mental health day and you write about it, everyone's like, are you okay? Are you good? Right.

And I want to kind of eliminate some of that where I don't look unstable. How do you feel? I mean, you say unstable. Do you feel unstable much? Or is this just something like anybody else? You just had a bad day. I would say it's just like someone else where you have a bad day. But because of like the way that your emotions go, like when you have like childhood trauma

or when you have like a grief that like you're just never going to get over it, sometimes things trigger it in ways where you're like. you always go back to that place. And like, it's kind of having to recognize that that place isn't real. And those feelings, like, while they're real feelings, they're not an accurate perception of reality. But I've had to kind of come and realize that feelings kind of come in waves and you kind of have to, like, just sit there and kind of let them do their own thing and just kind of find ways

to cope where you're okay with just sitting in them until they pass. Sure, that makes sense. Now, let's expand on your blog a little bit. What led you to start it? Yeah, so when I started vlogging, I was just fired from my job at the law firm. And I kind of started just tweeting out like what was going on in my life because I didn't feel like I had anyone I could talk to. And that's like, and the tweets that were just really raw and vulnerable, like, I just had

this like awful fight with my roommate where the tweets that really started to get attraction and to get attention or to get attention, which ultimately led to building a following of now, almost $16,000 followers that I built over two years. And so it was just this experience of like sharing my life with people and getting that support that was really helpful to me, but also very validating because it reminded me that I was still this version of myself that I thought I was. Okay. Do you have a community of autistic people that have reached out to you because you're writing

things that they can relate to? And has that created some friendships or good communication? It has. For some reason, medium, the site that I blog, I have a lot of autistic bloggers. So a lot of time we read each other's writing and we like, add up comment and support each other that way. And obviously my Twitter has kind of reached out to a lot of autistic people who have reached out to me. And there's some people that aren't comfortable letting people know that they're autistic. And they let me know that, you know, like the fact that I am comfortable doing that gives them the courage to kind of take on their everyday life, which is always really good to hear. thing is you're writing about your life. You're writing about things that might happen to you, your thought process. All that together creates you. By putting that out there, you're putting it out there so other people can relate to it. And just by that, you might be helping others without knowing you're helping others. And then if you get response back, it helps you evolve to a higher level as well. So you're helping others, but you're helping yourself because every day that you get

up and write something or do something and you look at things a certain way and then somebody might say something you change your mind on it, you're continually evolving to something that's hopefully better. Yeah, and I've had that situation a lot of times where there's people who have responded in a way that was really hurtful or that just didn't understand. And it is very isolating. And that's kind of like the biggest thing that I struggle with is I'm still the same person I was before I was diagnosed. but now that I am diagnosed, people see that. And at one point, like someone had said, you know, like, sometimes I wish you would write less about your autism

because I don't want them to see your autism. I want them to see you. But, like, I am still me. And it's something that you just, like, want to scream at people. Yeah. Did you, once you got your writing out there in your blogs and your tweets and everything, did you start getting people that kind of follow,

followed you that that was kind of going the same path as you were and they were feeling your same struggles? Yeah, I did. And that's kind of why I realized I was sitting on so many different niches. Because obviously I was working in a restaurant at the time. And it was during COVID where we were really examining employment and why we work and what our work should expect from us and what we should expect from work. So, and everyone was feeling burnt out and exhausted.

And I realized that I hit so many different. niches that not even meeting too. Like it was almost like unintentional, but I kind of wish it was intentional. Yeah, yeah. That's good. Yeah, I think, I think you're doing good. You know, I mean, considering what you have to take and evolve to what you want to evolve to and considering what you have to put up with to get where you want to be.

and then the misinformation that people have about what autism is. You know, it's a challenge every day for you, but you seem to be handling it very well. Yeah, exactly. I had a conversation with my therapist about it, and she kind of put it in the sense of you've just got to focus on eliminating obstacles. So just take one obstacle, or maybe if it's finance,

focus when you've got, like, getting your finances better. Right. And then if it's content, maybe it's a down, play not better, tend to write better content. But kind of like just taking it one day at a time, one step at a time, and just focusing on, okay, what can I do today? Right, right. So is that what you do? It's kind of like baby steps. Do you have like a list of things, okay, I want to work on this today or I want to work on

this tomorrow? Or do you have a list and then you might have it planned out that, oh, I'm going to do this today. But then all of a sudden you wake up, you're feeling different and you decide, I think I'm going to number five today instead of number two. Does that happen a lot? Sometimes as I write things down, sometimes it's more of a mental list. And like the thing about working in the service industry is like sometimes you work live-based rates. Sometimes you have like four days off in a row. Benj working like,

how do I like, I'm going to block this whole week off where I'm just picking up shit. And then I'm going to crash the next week and pay this bill off that I really need to pay. Right. Some weeks where it's like, okay, I know that I want to publish an article this week.

So like what can I read purpose? And then you write and you're like, this really isn't happening. And you kind of have to give yourself grace because sometimes things come up or like things don't always go the way you want them to. So like you kind of have to take advantage of what you have when you have it. Right. And like when you're writing and you get into a flow state and you can write like maybe free

articles and one go, you kind of just have to write three articles and one go and do it. Absolutely. I get that. So do you have a feeling of fulfillment or is that you still have some hole there that you need to kind of fill? I would say that I have a sense of fulfillment, but I also do so like it's a hole. Because I want to really be taken seriously as out professional and, as a writer and as a person. I wrote this blog because the man who fired me ended up as a

restaurant guest at people I was serving about a month ago. And I'm like, she was looking at me and he's like, oh, she's just some angry kids of a blog. Like, nobody cares what she thinks. And I'm talking to my therapist about it. And I'm like, I'm looking for agents. I'm looking for this. But like, he's kind of, he'd be right if you were to say that about me. Like, I'm just an angry kid with a blog. And my therapist was like, okay, so own it. You're an angry kid with a blog. And you have 15,000 followers. And you're just getting started. So, and that's, and that's, and I'm just, and That's kind of what I have to remind myself is that writing and publishing is a long game and careers are a long struggle. So where I am today is building on where I'm going to be 10 years from now.

And you just have to build the little step and take fulfillment in time. That's so correct. There are so many musicians that I've worked with that have been overnight successes in about 20 years. So you're spot on there. So if someone wants to follow you and check out your blogs and your Twitter, how do they find you. Yeah, so my blog is on Medium.com. It's under my name, Madison Sasser. I'm most active on Twitter. My Twitter handle is like M-A-D-I-I-3-O-3. It was something I made in high school that now I'm running with because I have too many followers to fix it. I'm also on threads as Madison Sasser

and on Instagram is Madison Sasser. All right, good. Now, you covered a lot of things. Is there anything that you'd like to leave the people that are listening to your story with, something that you just want to tell them. If you were standing in front of 100 people right now, what would you want to put across to them? I think the biggest thing about autism is obviously understanding, and it's also a lack of resources. And I think people are sitting there and you're seeing autistic people and you're seeing autistic people struggle. And you're like, well, I'm struggling with this too. Like what? And I think like we're all struggling and we all deserve help. And we all deserve to address our problem so that we're not continually projecting them on to other people.

So I think it's mostly just a self-responsibility of knowing that you deserve health and knowing that you can ask for help and being able to access that health. Like I think those are the most important things that obviously we need to do, but we also need to fix so that it's easier to do. Yeah, that's great. That's well put. Well put. Well, again, thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Absolutely. It's been my pleasure. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know anyone that would like to tell us their story, send them to tonymentor.com.

Contact, then they can give us their information so one day they may be a guest on our show. One more thing we ask, tell everyone everywhere. about why not me the world, the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone, everywhere, that you are not alone in this world.