Is Autism a Gift? Exploring Communication, Intense Focus, and Mathematics with Ben Levin

WEBVTT

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We are AudioStack .ai. Combining AI writing,

00:00:03.990 --> 00:00:06.370
the best synthetic voices. With production and

00:00:06.370 --> 00:00:09.189
delivery. Be it ads, podcasts, or VOs for video.

00:00:09.390 --> 00:00:12.470
Just like this ad. How would you utilize AI audio?

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For free. Go to AudioStack .ai forward slash

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contest. Give us just a few details. And you

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could replace this spot and be heard by millions.

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See webpage for Ts and Cs. AudioStack .ai forward

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slash contest. Lucky Land Casino, asking people

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what's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky.

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Lucky? Ah. If you're on the autism spectrum,

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and if you feel like you're sometimes, I don't

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know, I'm looking for the word. If you just feel

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like you're out of place, well, don't. Happens

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to all of us. My friend here, Ben, he's going

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to be talking about why autism is not a curse.

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I used to think I was accursed back then. I use

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that as my strength now. So let's welcome Ben

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out. So Ben, before we get started, can you tell

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the audience a little about who you are, how

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you got started, and what you do? How I what?

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How you got started. With my writing? Yeah. Sure.

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Hi, I'm Ben Levin. an autistic teen author i've

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been making up stories since i was 10 and i and

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i self -published my books from 14 forward and

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i'm i'm sorry i'm not very smooth that's fine

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you know i loved making up stories from an early

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age but it didn't come up to occur to me to write

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a book until when i was 10 and mom kept accidentally

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referring to one of my made -up stories as a

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book multiple times by mistake and that made

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me think maybe i should turn it into a book i

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did and it turned out writing was something i

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had a lot of fun doing and just like that I found

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my passion for life. That's great because, yeah,

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you know, I like to write as well, though when

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you're writing on a website, it's a lot more

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different than because there's certain criteria

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you have to follow, and it's totally annoying

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at times because it's like, oh, you're supposed

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to be doing this, you're supposed to be doing

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that, and I'm like... Geez, this should be like

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some kind of just easy set of rules to follow.

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Come on, please. At least a book is like, okay,

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you have to put it in a format and then you publish

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it. I mean, I don't know all the stuff because

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I haven't wrote a book. I co -authored a book,

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but it's not like I was in charge of any of that.

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I just showed up, did my piece, and there we

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go. I took the easy way out. I'm kidding. It

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still wasn't easy. I still had to write a chapter.

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That's kind of daunting on me. What kind of stuff

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do you like to write about? I like writing about

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all kinds of things. I love writing about animals,

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friendship, and history. My fourth favorite thing

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to write about, actually all four of the subjects

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are tied, is something you're probably going

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to love since you love fitness. I'm assuming.

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Yeah, I do. The fourth part of my four favorite

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things to write about is sports. I like sports.

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Who's your favorite sports team? I don't really

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watch sports as much, but when I was younger,

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I used to, like a few years back, I used to love

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watching either the Yankees or the Lakers. That's

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cool. My favorite sports team is the New York

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Giants in football, and I also like Duke basketball.

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Indiana Hoosiers in basketball as well. But when

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the two teams play each other, Indiana and Duke,

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I always have to go with Duke because ever since

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I was very young living in New Jersey, me and

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my dad watched a Duke game every single time

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when it came on. And I've been watching Duke

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for, I have to say, pretty much, I would say

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at least 28 years of my life so far. So that's

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pretty much my whole life. It's like two girls

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away, and I'm definitely watching Coach K's last

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home game tomorrow. I'm going to miss him so

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much. I never met him in person, but I got two

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of his autographs. That's so cool. Yeah. I know

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where I'm going to be at 6 o 'clock tomorrow

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night, watching them destroy UNC. Sorry for anybody

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who's a UNC fan, but Duke all the way. I used

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to have that feeling. Originally, I used to have

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two favorite sports teams at the time. I decide

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what teams are based on who I read about since

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I love reading about biographical people. Biographies,

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basically. I used to like, for baseball, my favorite

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teams were the Yankees and the Dodgers. And for

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basketball, my favorite teams were the Lakers

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and the Celtics. I didn't know back then that

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you couldn't root for both Lakers and Celtics.

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So, I ended up... Going with the Lakers for a

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little while because of how much I like the Wii.

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Makes sense. Just out of curiosity, was it hard

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for you growing up on the autism spectrum? It

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was. different in a lot of ways, especially for

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me, communicating and spending time with others

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wasn't easy. I had to do a special program in

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order to learn how to want to do it, I guess,

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to be inspired, but those types, and even now,

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I struggle with things like when situations get

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overwhelming i shake my knees i i i roll my shoulders

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stuff like that and sometimes the fact i had

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to be homeschooled for this program did make

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me feel a little different and the fact that

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there were some things i just didn't understand

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about other kids like when i was five i went

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to a special needs camp but when the kids were

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playing tag when we went to the playground they

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were screaming and some reason i was convinced

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that they were screaming because of me that they

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were scared of me so because of that i became

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afraid to Spend time with them and on the playground

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there was fine and other activities except for

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gym or any other physical ones because Those

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types just made me think that they were scared

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of That they were scared Me because of all the

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screaming we did during those and I just would

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sit by myself and watch Then, shortly after I

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went to the camp, I went on a picnic with some,

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with a, with family friends and some, and some

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other kids who I used to be good friends with

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one of the, with the kid in the family, in the

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family friend, if you get what I'm saying. And

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one of the kids... Back then, I hadn't realized

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that millions of people around the world have

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the same names. And when I heard one of the kids

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had the name of which one of the kids from my

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camp also had, and when they started playing

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games, part of me assumed that... That kid had

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already informed everyone that I was dangerous,

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I guess, and that made me think the whole world

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knew or something. I have no idea what I was

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thinking back then, and I spent three years afraid

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to be on playgrounds unless I was alone. Jeez,

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for me growing up with autism, i know i didn't

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really know i was autistic until i was 11 in

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11th grade when i got invited to my own iep meeting

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which was literally the biggest waste of time

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i've ever been to uh i mean it's not i'm like

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today like i joke about it because like i can

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literally tell you what what the scenario was

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i was in this Small conference room with a long

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table. Some people sat on the right side, some

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people sat on the left side. Guess what I said?

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I sat at the head of the table and I got to see

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both sides arguing, this would be better for

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Jimmy. This would be better for Jimmy. Were you

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allowed to speak at your IEP meeting? Yeah, it

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was. Yeah, they invited me because I was at a

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certain age in high school. They basically said

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it was like an upcoming for my age and like,

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oh, it shows you the maturity. But before I even

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got to go in, they remind me, it's like, just

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let you know, you're not allowed to speak at

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your own IEP meeting. I'm like, even though this

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morning is not me? Okay, cool. That's not okay.

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I know. And while the two people were constantly

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bickering back and forth between the two sides

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of the table, I'm like thinking, well, Jimmy's

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over here thinking, you guys are all stupid and

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this was a waste of time. Can I go back and just

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pour myself into a class that I didn't care to

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be in anyway? I mean, I didn't care for high

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school. I didn't care for middle school. I mean,

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I still graduated. That's how I felt back then.

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Stuff's changed now, but it just, but yeah, I

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just felt like it was a total waste of time.

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I was like, thanks. I'm going to get nothing

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out of this meeting. So, so yeah, I can really,

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I'm helpful. Forget everything that you know

00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:19.950
about a web browser because you will be blown

00:13:19.950 --> 00:13:27.279
away by psychic. It's no ordinary web browser

00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:31.580
like Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge,

00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:34.919
and all the other web browsers out there. It's

00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:39.960
based on productivity. And let me just name a

00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.259
few other functionalities that it has. It's very

00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:49.179
fast. It blocks ads by default. You don't see

00:13:49.179 --> 00:13:54.070
that with Google Chrome, do you? Nope. And there's

00:13:54.070 --> 00:13:58.169
also a built -in sidebar so you can have all

00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:03.490
your tools and systems all in one place without

00:14:03.490 --> 00:14:08.509
having to go search and wait for the webpage

00:14:08.509 --> 00:14:11.289
to load. It's just right there with a click of

00:14:11.289 --> 00:14:15.289
a button. Try Sidekick out below with the link

00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:19.169
in the show notes and descriptions for more information

00:14:19.169 --> 00:14:24.419
about Sidekick. Boost your productivity probably

00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:28.059
tenfold. Because that's what I use it for, is

00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:31.200
productivity. Check out Sidekick and tell them

00:14:31.200 --> 00:15:23.389
I sent you. Thank you. Welcome to another...

00:15:23.389 --> 00:15:26.470
Oh, I forgot to put my microphone on. Oh, that's

00:15:26.470 --> 00:15:33.070
funny. That's what kind of... Welcome to another

00:15:33.070 --> 00:15:35.409
episode of Crazy Fitness Guy Healthy 11 Podcast

00:15:35.409 --> 00:15:37.870
slash Weekly Motivation with Crazy Fitness Guy.

00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:46.299
Yeah, my Friday's literally not going away. I

00:15:46.299 --> 00:15:49.340
almost forgot my microphone. I got everything

00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:56.559
else on my trusty mic. That's how it goes. Before

00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:01.840
we get started, you can follow me on Facebook

00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.940
at JimCloseSpeaker and Instagram at JimCloseSpeaker

00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:10.320
and JimCloseSpeaker on Twitter. You can follow.

00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:15.100
We are AudioStack .ai. Combining AI writing,

00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.600
the best synthetic voices. With production and

00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.419
delivery. Be it ads, podcasts, or VOs for video.

00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:23.700
Just like this ad. How would you utilize AI audio?

00:16:24.139 --> 00:16:29.000
For free. Go to AudioStack .ai forward slash

00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.639
contest. Give us just a few details. And you

00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:33.779
could replace this spot and be heard by millions.

00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:38.629
See webpage for Ts and Cs. AudioStack .ai forward

00:16:38.629 --> 00:17:08.539
slash contest. And when this show goes live,

00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.299
you can listen to it on Apple, Google, and Spotify.

00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:19.039
And I highly recommend, if you love the show

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and want to support us, check out the premium

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podcast for only $5 a month or $60 or $20 a year.

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And you get behind -the -scenes access, listen

00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:35.769
ad -free, and so much more. Check out Crazy Fitness

00:17:35.769 --> 00:17:41.309
Guy Premium Podcast by visiting the link in the

00:17:41.309 --> 00:17:46.950
show notes, or just go to crazyfitnessguy .com

00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:49.990
slash healthylivingpodcast, and it's on every

00:17:49.990 --> 00:17:52.869
single page in the banner at the top of the website.

00:17:53.549 --> 00:17:56.950
You're welcome. I made it easy. And last but

00:17:56.950 --> 00:18:00.730
not least, check out my friends at cleaver .fm

00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:03.880
to comment on the show. our favorite parts of

00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.160
the show, and so much more. You can interact

00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:12.119
with me, ask questions, and whatnot. So go check

00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:16.200
out cleaver .fm for more information about them

00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:21.599
and what they do. And it's a cool app. Check

00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.940
them out. Anyway, if you're on the autism spectrum

00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:32.720
and if you feel like you're sometimes I don't

00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.440
know. I'm looking for the word. If you just feel

00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:40.759
like you're out of place, well, don't. Happens

00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:46.880
to all of us. My friend here, Ben, he's going

00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.200
to be talking about why autism is not a curse.

00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:53.460
I used to think I was accursed back then. I used

00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:56.559
to ask my strength now. So let's welcome Ben

00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:03.740
out. Why is that video still going? I don't know.

00:19:05.059 --> 00:19:08.960
See? Technology hates me, I guess. Life happens.

00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.039
The future of the video is still playing. Even

00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:17.799
though it's supposed to be off. Cool. Oh well.

00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:26.660
Cool. I don't know why it is there. It's like

00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:28.240
it's playing catch -up. It makes me feel better.

00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:32.309
It's a really good video. Thank you. It's just

00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:37.829
fun to play twice. Guys, just to be honest, I'm

00:19:37.829 --> 00:19:42.829
not even watching any buttons at the moment that

00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:45.609
even has the video up and running, so I'm not

00:19:45.609 --> 00:19:50.869
even sure why it plays twice. My hands are literally

00:19:50.869 --> 00:19:53.990
off the keyboard. See? I'm not touching anything.

00:19:56.130 --> 00:20:02.039
So, Ben, Before we get started, can you tell

00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:04.279
the audience a little about who you are, how

00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.039
you got started, and what you do? How I what?

00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.740
How you got started. With my writing? Yeah. Sure.

00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:17.539
Hi, I'm Ben Levin, an autistic teen author. I've

00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:21.299
been making up stories since I was 10, and I

00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:33.100
self -published my books from 14 forward. I'm

00:20:33.100 --> 00:20:37.700
sorry, I'm not very smooth. That's fine, you

00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:42.259
know. I loved making up stories from an early

00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:47.940
age, but it didn't occur to me to write a book

00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:50.500
until when I was 10 and mom kept accidentally

00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:52.859
referring to one of my made -up stories as a

00:20:52.859 --> 00:20:56.140
book multiple times by mistake, and that made

00:20:56.140 --> 00:20:59.140
me think maybe I should turn it into a book.

00:21:00.170 --> 00:21:03.869
I did, and it turned out writing was something

00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:07.029
I had a lot of fun doing. And just like that,

00:21:07.210 --> 00:21:11.809
I found my passion for life. That's great, because,

00:21:12.029 --> 00:21:16.769
yeah, you know, I like to write as well. Though,

00:21:16.769 --> 00:21:19.970
when you're writing on a website, it's a lot

00:21:19.970 --> 00:21:24.069
more different than, because there's certain

00:21:24.069 --> 00:21:27.430
criteria you have to follow. Totally annoying

00:21:27.430 --> 00:21:29.690
at times because it's like, oh, you're supposed

00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:31.230
to be doing this. You're supposed to be doing

00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:34.509
that. And I'm like, geez, this should be like

00:21:34.509 --> 00:21:37.190
some kind of just easy set of rules to follow.

00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:40.549
Come on, please. At least a book is like, okay,

00:21:40.609 --> 00:21:44.430
you have to put it in a format and then you publish

00:21:44.430 --> 00:21:46.730
it. I mean, I don't know all the stuff because

00:21:46.730 --> 00:21:50.230
I haven't wrote a book. I co -authored a book.

00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:54.400
But it's not like I was in charge of any of that.

00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:57.140
I just showed up, did my piece, and there we

00:21:57.140 --> 00:22:00.940
go. I took the easy way out. I'm kidding. It

00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:02.740
still wasn't easy. I still had to write a chapter.

00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:08.579
And that's kind of daunting on me. So what kind

00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:13.599
of stuff do you like to write about? I like writing

00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:16.299
about all kinds of things. Hydroflask is the

00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:19.019
best water bottle, in my opinion, because...

00:22:19.500 --> 00:22:22.099
It keeps my water nice, cold, and refreshing

00:22:22.099 --> 00:22:24.920
throughout the day. And yes, I do drink a lot

00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:27.740
of water throughout the day. So even though it

00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:32.039
stays colder for longer, I still like having

00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:37.220
a reusable water bottle like Hydroflex because

00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:43.839
it just sits on my desk. It just sits on my desk

00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:45.940
and reminds me, hey, you got to drink water.

00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:51.579
And Hydro Flask, it keeps it cold longer, which

00:22:51.579 --> 00:22:54.000
makes me want to drink more water throughout

00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.420
the day because, you know, there's nothing worse

00:22:57.420 --> 00:23:02.140
than drinking warm water. Go to hydroflask .com

00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:06.519
and use the link in the show notes. And yes,

00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:10.480
I do get a small commission from Hydro Flask.

00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:15.359
which also helps support the show. So tell them

00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:19.779
I sent you. Use the link below. And yeah, check

00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:23.839
out Hydroflask .com for more information. I like

00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:27.380
writing. I love writing about animals, friendship,

00:23:27.539 --> 00:23:31.819
and history. And my fourth favorite thing to

00:23:31.819 --> 00:23:34.140
write about, actually all four of the subjects

00:23:34.140 --> 00:23:36.279
are tied, is something you're probably going

00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:39.359
to love since you love fitness. I'm assuming.

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:47.549
Yeah, I do. The fourth part of my four favorite

00:23:47.549 --> 00:23:51.289
things to write about is sports. I like sports.

00:23:52.849 --> 00:23:58.109
Who's your favorite sports team? I don't really

00:23:58.109 --> 00:24:03.390
watch sports as much, but when I was younger,

00:24:04.210 --> 00:24:08.650
I used to, like a few years back, I used to love

00:24:08.650 --> 00:24:13.289
watching either the... Keys or the Lakers? That's

00:24:13.289 --> 00:24:16.829
cool. My favorite sports team is the New York

00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:22.269
Giants in football, and I also like Duke basketball

00:24:22.269 --> 00:24:28.089
and Indiana Hoosiers in basketball as well. But

00:24:28.089 --> 00:24:31.690
when the two teams play each other, Indiana and

00:24:31.690 --> 00:24:35.130
Duke, I always have to go with Duke because ever

00:24:35.130 --> 00:24:40.059
since I was very young, living in New Jersey.

00:24:41.339 --> 00:24:44.240
Me and my dad watched a Duke game every single

00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.740
time when it came on. And I've been watching

00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:53.339
Duke for, I have to say, pretty much at least

00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:58.519
28 years of my life so far. So that's pretty

00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:05.640
much my whole life. Duke all the way, and I'm

00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:08.200
definitely watching Coach K's last home game

00:25:08.200 --> 00:25:11.380
tomorrow. I'm going to miss him so much. I never

00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:14.460
met him in person, but I got two of his autographs.

00:25:14.460 --> 00:25:18.619
That's so cool. Yeah. I know where I'm going

00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:20.500
to be at 6 o 'clock tomorrow night, watching

00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:25.240
them destroy UNC. Sorry for anybody who's a UNC

00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:30.599
fan, but Duke all the way. I used to have that

00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:37.619
feeling. Originally, I used to have two favorite

00:25:37.619 --> 00:25:43.579
sports teams at the time. I decide what teams

00:25:43.579 --> 00:25:46.960
based on who I read about, since I love reading

00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:51.700
about biographical people, biographies, basically.

00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:55.440
I used to like... For baseball, my favorite teams

00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.319
were the Yankees and the Dodgers. And for basketball,

00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:00.980
my favorite teams were the Lakers and the Celtics.

00:26:01.099 --> 00:26:03.819
I didn't know back then that you couldn't root

00:26:03.819 --> 00:26:10.619
for both Lakers and Celtics. So I ended up going

00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:14.519
with the Lakers for a little while because of

00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:21.160
how much I liked the Wii. Makes sense. And just

00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:31.269
out of curiosity, Was it hard for you growing

00:26:31.269 --> 00:26:37.789
up on the autism spectrum? It was. I felt different

00:26:37.789 --> 00:26:45.549
in a lot of ways, especially for me. Communicating

00:26:45.549 --> 00:26:49.190
and spending time with others wasn't easy. I

00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:51.750
had to do a special program in order to learn.

00:26:52.299 --> 00:26:57.160
how to want to do it i guess to be inspired but

00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:02.240
those types and even now i struggle with things

00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:06.039
like when situations get overwhelming i shake

00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:13.559
my knees i i i roll my shoulders stuff like that

00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:20.220
and sometimes the fact i had to be homeschooled

00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:23.869
for this program did make me feel a little different.

00:27:23.930 --> 00:27:27.210
And the fact that there were some things I just

00:27:27.210 --> 00:27:32.349
didn't understand about other kids. Like when

00:27:32.349 --> 00:27:37.309
I was five, I went to a special needs camp. But

00:27:37.309 --> 00:27:41.490
when the kids were playing tag, when we went

00:27:41.490 --> 00:27:46.579
to the playground, they were screaming, ah! For

00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:49.839
some reason, I was convinced that they were screaming

00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:53.500
because of me, that they were scared of me. So

00:27:53.500 --> 00:28:00.140
because of that, I became afraid to spend time

00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:04.700
with them on the playground. It was fine in other

00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:08.240
activities except for gym or any other physical

00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:12.599
ones because those types just made me think that

00:28:12.599 --> 00:28:18.440
they were scared of me. That they were scared

00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:22.579
of me because of all the screaming they did during

00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:27.839
those. And I just would sit by myself and watch.

00:28:30.140 --> 00:28:35.500
Then, shortly after I went to the camp, I went

00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:45.190
on a picnic with family friends and some... and

00:28:45.190 --> 00:28:52.529
some other kids who I used to be good friends

00:28:52.529 --> 00:28:57.829
with, with the kid in the family friend, if you

00:28:57.829 --> 00:29:03.450
get what I'm saying. And one of the kids, back

00:29:03.450 --> 00:29:07.690
then, I hadn't realized that millions of people

00:29:07.690 --> 00:29:11.990
around the world have the same names. And when

00:29:11.990 --> 00:29:17.099
I heard one of the kids, had the name of which

00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:20.779
one of the kids from my camp also had. And when

00:29:20.779 --> 00:29:24.480
they started playing games, part of me assumed

00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:28.839
that that kid had already informed everyone that

00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:34.339
I was dangerous, I guess. And that made me think

00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:37.839
the whole world knew or something. I have no

00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:41.609
idea what I was thinking back then. I spent three

00:29:41.609 --> 00:29:44.930
years afraid to be on playground unless I was

00:29:44.930 --> 00:29:54.829
alone. Jeez, for me growing up with autism, I

00:29:54.829 --> 00:29:59.490
didn't really know I was autistic until I was

00:29:59.490 --> 00:30:03.829
in 11th grade when I got invited to my own IEP

00:30:03.829 --> 00:30:06.950
meeting, which was literally the biggest waste

00:30:06.950 --> 00:30:16.259
of time I've ever been to. Today, I joke about

00:30:16.259 --> 00:30:21.359
it because I can literally tell you what the

00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:24.420
scenario was. I was in this small conference

00:30:24.420 --> 00:30:29.299
room with this long table. Some people sat on

00:30:29.299 --> 00:30:31.380
the right side, some people sat on the left side.

00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:33.980
Guess where I sat at? I sat at the head of the

00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:37.240
table, and I got to see both sides arguing. This

00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:39.079
would be better for Jimmy. This would be better

00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:41.759
for Jimmy. Were you allowed to speak at your

00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:48.960
IEP meeting? Yeah. They invited me because I

00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:54.640
was at a certain age in high school. They basically

00:30:54.640 --> 00:31:01.000
said it was an upcoming for my age. It shows

00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:05.009
you the maturity. But before I even got to go

00:31:05.009 --> 00:31:08.829
in, they reminded me, just let you know, you're

00:31:08.829 --> 00:31:11.630
not allowed to speak at your own IEP meeting.

00:31:12.029 --> 00:31:14.529
I'm like, even though this meeting is not me?

00:31:15.130 --> 00:31:21.630
Okay, cool. That's not okay. I know. And while

00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:24.769
the two people were constantly bickering back

00:31:24.769 --> 00:31:28.009
and forth between the two. Are you stuck with

00:31:28.009 --> 00:31:32.529
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00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:12.779
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00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:15.980
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00:32:15.980 --> 00:32:18.900
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00:32:18.900 --> 00:32:21.000
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00:33:06.339 --> 00:33:09.660
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00:33:09.660 --> 00:33:12.500
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00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:17.180
And I absolutely love their meals. They're fresh,

00:33:17.299 --> 00:33:22.059
authentic, and it's all around great food that

00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:25.650
you normally think. Oh, gee, I think this would

00:33:25.650 --> 00:33:27.809
take hours to cook, but they already took out

00:33:27.809 --> 00:33:30.430
all the cooking for you. All you have to do is

00:33:30.430 --> 00:33:32.630
heat up in the microwave. How simple is that?

00:33:33.150 --> 00:33:37.269
Or the stove. I mean, or the oven. So go check

00:33:37.269 --> 00:33:40.769
out Eat Clean Bro in the links in the show notes

00:33:40.769 --> 00:33:43.250
for more information about them. Besides the

00:33:43.250 --> 00:33:46.569
table, I'm like thinking, it's like, well, Jimmy's

00:33:46.569 --> 00:33:49.390
over here thinking. You guys are all stupid,

00:33:49.549 --> 00:33:51.809
and this was a waste of time. Can I go back and

00:33:51.809 --> 00:33:55.029
just pour myself into a class that I didn't care

00:33:55.029 --> 00:34:00.829
to be in anyway? I mean, I didn't care for high

00:34:00.829 --> 00:34:03.289
school. I didn't care for middle school. I mean,

00:34:03.309 --> 00:34:07.049
I still graduated, but that's how I felt back

00:34:07.049 --> 00:34:12.519
then. Stuff's changed now, but just... But yeah,

00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:15.559
I just felt like it was a total waste of time.

00:34:15.579 --> 00:34:18.260
I was like, thanks, I'm going to get nothing

00:34:18.260 --> 00:34:24.760
out of this meeting. So yeah, I can relate. I'm

00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:29.059
multiple things with you about, yeah, growing

00:34:29.059 --> 00:34:32.860
up, it was hard for me to make friends, even

00:34:32.860 --> 00:34:37.840
though somehow I did make some friends. I don't

00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:41.619
know how I made some friends, because I was very,

00:34:41.699 --> 00:34:45.619
very not social back then. I kind of kept in

00:34:45.619 --> 00:34:50.699
my turtle shell. A very, very small, comforting

00:34:50.699 --> 00:34:54.719
shell. And now I just have a big mouth that doesn't

00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:59.199
know how to shut up. I was exactly the same way

00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:03.900
from the age. From when I was really little up

00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:07.079
until I did that program, I was really quiet

00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:09.539
too. But when I was out of the program and started

00:35:09.539 --> 00:35:14.860
being in school, I, especially at the school

00:35:14.860 --> 00:35:16.920
I went through from third grade through seventh,

00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:20.360
was called out hundreds of times, especially

00:35:20.360 --> 00:35:25.280
in third and fourth grade for talking all the

00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:33.570
time. Jeez. Yeah. I don't remember if I did that,

00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:38.230
but I just, I remember I got into a lot of trouble

00:35:38.230 --> 00:35:41.650
because I had a lot of autism meltdowns. And

00:35:41.650 --> 00:35:47.349
what I think was kind of hypocritical at one

00:35:47.349 --> 00:35:52.690
time was when I stood up to the bullies. My math

00:35:52.690 --> 00:35:55.070
teacher told me to go down to the principal's

00:35:55.070 --> 00:36:00.010
office. because I interrupted math class. And

00:36:00.010 --> 00:36:03.130
to be honest, it wasn't like at the very beginning

00:36:03.130 --> 00:36:05.949
of math class. It was like 10 minutes left in

00:36:05.949 --> 00:36:08.530
math class, and everything was just wrapping

00:36:08.530 --> 00:36:11.929
up. And it was like, oh, come on. And it was

00:36:11.929 --> 00:36:13.429
like, I'm being sent down to the principal's

00:36:13.429 --> 00:36:17.449
office, but these boys are picking on my friend

00:36:17.449 --> 00:36:19.829
who's in a wheelchair, but they don't get to

00:36:19.829 --> 00:36:23.000
be removed at all. And it was like... Gee, I

00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:25.920
thought, you know, like in the movies, you would

00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:29.920
think that, like, oh, well, because this is happening,

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:33.980
I knew I was going to get some kind of repercussion.

00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.260
But I was like, gee, you're coming over this

00:36:36.260 --> 00:36:40.579
time with me. You're not going to. But they just

00:36:40.579 --> 00:36:42.579
sent me down to the principal's office instead.

00:36:43.059 --> 00:36:46.920
And I'm like, okay, this is the Twilight Zone

00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:49.659
or some kind of thing going on. I'm not really

00:36:49.659 --> 00:36:55.010
sure. Sounds really messed up. Yeah. My school

00:36:55.010 --> 00:36:59.610
did a lot of things that was messed up. If I

00:36:59.610 --> 00:37:01.989
was in charge of the whole situation and this

00:37:01.989 --> 00:37:04.690
whole school system, I would have done a lot

00:37:04.690 --> 00:37:07.369
of things different. Too bad I wasn't in charge.

00:37:08.630 --> 00:37:12.230
Yeah. Imagine if Jimmy was in charge. That would

00:37:12.230 --> 00:37:19.619
be wonderful. And imagine a school where One

00:37:19.619 --> 00:37:23.179
thing schools don't have enough of, teachers

00:37:23.179 --> 00:37:27.360
who are actually on the spectrum. We need more

00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:30.639
of those teachers who can actually understand

00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:34.900
us, understand what it's like to be us. Well,

00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:39.619
I think one of the things I appreciated, my son's

00:37:39.619 --> 00:37:43.860
great teacher, who was my special education teacher

00:37:43.860 --> 00:37:52.159
at the time, she understood. very well. She knew

00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:55.219
when I was about to get upset. She knew what

00:37:55.219 --> 00:37:58.659
causes me to get upset when I didn't even know

00:37:58.659 --> 00:38:03.480
myself. She stood up to this annoying principal

00:38:03.480 --> 00:38:05.599
who thought bullying didn't exist in school.

00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:08.820
I think he had a little problem with his brain.

00:38:08.940 --> 00:38:13.400
I'm not really sure. Just a small part of his

00:38:13.400 --> 00:38:18.679
brain. Of course, I joke about it now, but That's

00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:21.840
how I basically got through everything was make

00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:26.500
some kind of a smart aleck joke about it. Hey,

00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:29.639
sometimes you just have to joke in life, or everything

00:38:29.639 --> 00:38:35.960
just, ew, I got bullied. What was me? My next

00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:40.000
question is, why do you feel like autism is not

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.360
a curse? Two reasons, particularly. The first

00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:50.179
is... Our community is just so special. I've

00:38:50.179 --> 00:38:55.860
always had this one really close friend who was

00:38:55.860 --> 00:38:59.039
also on the spectrum for the past six and a half

00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:03.659
years. And last year, I made another great friend

00:39:03.659 --> 00:39:08.280
who was also an autistic author. And he introduced

00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:12.739
me to some of his friends. And because my needs

00:39:12.739 --> 00:39:19.599
are significantly low and lack, I've always been

00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:23.199
in the mainstream program, but getting the kids

00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:27.860
in the special ed program, kids who were like

00:39:27.860 --> 00:39:35.239
me, was so cool. And we even formed a club together

00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:40.460
to celebrate our talents called the Special Talents

00:39:40.460 --> 00:39:43.960
Club, which brings me to my next point of why

00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:47.510
I think autism is a gift. Because I don't think

00:39:47.510 --> 00:39:49.809
I'd be able to write the way I can if I wasn't

00:39:49.809 --> 00:39:53.210
autistic. The way I can come up with all these

00:39:53.210 --> 00:40:00.550
storylines, keep hold of them, and stay concentrated,

00:40:00.909 --> 00:40:08.590
and come. Yeah. I agree with you on that. For

00:40:08.590 --> 00:40:14.449
me, I also feel like it's a gift because I know

00:40:15.449 --> 00:40:17.489
And I don't know if this is going to come out

00:40:17.489 --> 00:40:20.369
right, but I'm just going to say it anyway. And

00:40:20.369 --> 00:40:24.710
sorry if I offend anyone, but I've been having

00:40:24.710 --> 00:40:29.030
a long week, and it's the end of the week. So

00:40:29.030 --> 00:40:32.389
sorry if I'm not on the very top of my game.

00:40:33.329 --> 00:40:42.530
But for me, I know some... I wouldn't say my...

00:40:45.130 --> 00:40:50.650
I wouldn't say it was my, I wouldn't say, I mean,

00:40:50.690 --> 00:40:54.510
I see some, like my parents, they have a good

00:40:54.510 --> 00:41:00.969
memory, but I can remember things far, far long

00:41:00.969 --> 00:41:06.769
ago. I remember a lot of lines from movies, TV

00:41:06.769 --> 00:41:12.010
shows, and so many different things. And I read

00:41:12.010 --> 00:41:16.719
an article somewhere. I forget where, and I forget

00:41:16.719 --> 00:41:20.460
the source, but they did say that people on the

00:41:20.460 --> 00:41:23.719
autism spectrum have very good memories for a

00:41:23.719 --> 00:41:27.820
lot of things, and I mean very long -term memories.

00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:32.659
I can literally recall what happened the previous

00:41:32.659 --> 00:41:35.199
week, the week before that, a month ago, two

00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:38.639
months ago, five years ago. Maybe not from all

00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:42.079
the way up until I was born, but I can remember,

00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:45.920
I can recall. And sometimes it drives my parents

00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:48.860
nuts because it's like, Jimmy, that didn't happen.

00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:51.119
It's like, you're literally going to try to argue

00:41:51.119 --> 00:41:54.400
with me who has a spot on memory for stuff and

00:41:54.400 --> 00:41:58.800
I can memorize literally every line by line.

00:41:59.469 --> 00:42:04.530
from a TV show. And, and then, and once I say

00:42:04.530 --> 00:42:06.769
that, sometimes they just kind of just drop it

00:42:06.769 --> 00:42:12.369
and it's like, that's so, I win. Not that I always

00:42:12.369 --> 00:42:14.750
try to make it happen, but just, it's kind of

00:42:14.750 --> 00:42:21.250
fun to be right. But yeah, that's just, but then

00:42:21.250 --> 00:42:25.250
I think that another thing that I do, I also

00:42:25.250 --> 00:42:29.539
just bring up is that I, people, I also like

00:42:29.539 --> 00:42:35.460
to... I notice that I can have many different

00:42:35.460 --> 00:42:38.579
thoughts, different thought processes, and I

00:42:38.579 --> 00:42:45.760
like to think outside of the box quite a bit,

00:42:45.820 --> 00:42:50.519
and I have many good ideas. Sometimes those ideas,

00:42:50.699 --> 00:42:54.000
there's so many ideas that I just can't get them

00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:57.400
all down on paper or implement them right away,

00:42:57.539 --> 00:42:59.719
which kind of drives me nuts because it's like,

00:42:59.780 --> 00:43:02.340
oh, this is a good idea. Let's go do it. And

00:43:02.340 --> 00:43:05.139
you kind of feel like it's not going to take

00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:08.260
very long. Five hours later, it's still not done.

00:43:11.019 --> 00:43:15.139
I've been through that too. But yeah, I could

00:43:15.139 --> 00:43:17.639
just find a few. People on the autism spectrum

00:43:17.639 --> 00:43:23.519
have unique thinking capabilities, have great

00:43:23.519 --> 00:43:28.780
creative ideas. I've seen some companies, I'm

00:43:28.780 --> 00:43:31.159
not going to specifically say any names, but

00:43:31.159 --> 00:43:35.039
some of them, I don't feel like they have some,

00:43:35.159 --> 00:43:38.320
they didn't think of when they created their

00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:42.320
product or whatnot, it's not capable of it. It's

00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:45.320
only capable of one web browser. And you kind

00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:48.840
of just have to think, why? This is not modern

00:43:48.840 --> 00:43:51.980
technology. And I started thinking every different

00:43:51.980 --> 00:43:56.079
reason in my mind. And it's like, what kind of

00:43:56.079 --> 00:44:01.239
company does this? This doesn't seem right. So

00:44:01.239 --> 00:44:04.679
I kind of think of different scenarios. It's

00:44:04.679 --> 00:44:07.079
like, what would I say to this company? I think

00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:11.179
this is totally weird. I am what you call an

00:44:11.179 --> 00:44:14.280
indie podcaster. If I run out of money, there's

00:44:14.280 --> 00:44:18.159
nobody backing Crazy Fitness Guy. How you can

00:44:18.159 --> 00:44:21.079
support Crazy Fitness Guy is becoming a premium

00:44:21.079 --> 00:44:25.440
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00:44:26.019 --> 00:44:29.460
Our first plan is called Load Crazy. You'll get

00:44:29.460 --> 00:44:34.460
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00:44:52.460 --> 00:44:55.380
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00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:03.579
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00:45:03.579 --> 00:45:07.219
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00:45:07.219 --> 00:45:11.960
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00:45:11.960 --> 00:45:16.860
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00:45:16.860 --> 00:45:20.739
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00:45:20.739 --> 00:45:25.239
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00:45:25.239 --> 00:45:27.780
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00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:31.179
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00:45:31.179 --> 00:45:36.809
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00:45:36.809 --> 00:45:40.269
next plan that is up is $3 .99 and then $30 a

00:45:40.269 --> 00:45:44.190
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00:45:44.190 --> 00:45:49.949
years. And I'm looking forward to continue making

00:45:49.949 --> 00:45:53.090
content just for you. Thank you. To become a

00:45:53.090 --> 00:45:56.070
premium podcast subscriber, click the links in

00:45:56.070 --> 00:45:59.630
the show notes and see which plan is right for

00:45:59.630 --> 00:46:07.559
you. But that's just part of me. So do you have

00:46:07.559 --> 00:46:10.619
any books that you like to promote on the show?

00:46:10.940 --> 00:46:18.460
I wrote one. I have a book that was my first

00:46:18.460 --> 00:46:22.360
professionally published one nine months ago

00:46:22.360 --> 00:46:26.860
in the whole. It's about a young boy who faces

00:46:26.860 --> 00:46:30.460
homelessness for several years in his childhood

00:46:30.460 --> 00:46:34.599
along with his family. I wrote the book to help.

00:46:35.369 --> 00:46:38.329
raise awareness for the cause, and help show

00:46:38.329 --> 00:46:42.630
that homelessness can happen to anyone, even

00:46:42.630 --> 00:46:46.849
really, really hard -working people. It's not,

00:46:46.949 --> 00:46:50.210
they are not a different kind of people. They

00:46:50.210 --> 00:46:53.809
are just like the housed. That's part of the

00:46:53.809 --> 00:46:56.989
reason why a lot of people prefer the word unsheltered.

00:46:57.650 --> 00:47:04.670
And it's actually a really important cause. in

00:47:04.670 --> 00:47:09.050
our time when, especially with how the pandemic

00:47:09.050 --> 00:47:12.429
affected the economy, more people are becoming

00:47:12.429 --> 00:47:18.590
homeless. Yeah, it's totally sad and whatnot.

00:47:19.929 --> 00:47:26.250
So just before we wrap up, where can people find

00:47:26.250 --> 00:47:28.889
out more information about who you are, what

00:47:28.889 --> 00:47:32.400
you do? Actually, Before you ask that, is it

00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:35.380
okay if I also mention the series I have coming

00:47:35.380 --> 00:47:38.940
out next month? Oh, yeah, sure, definitely. I'm

00:47:38.940 --> 00:47:44.699
sorry. No worries. I also have a new series coming

00:47:44.699 --> 00:47:48.980
out about a little girl who loves making new

00:47:48.980 --> 00:47:52.139
friends and going on adventures with them. The

00:47:52.139 --> 00:47:58.900
first five books out of 44 are coming out this

00:47:58.900 --> 00:48:03.619
April. Dawn, Molly, Sadie, Abby, and Jessica.

00:48:03.840 --> 00:48:08.139
The series is called Nellie's Friends, and Nellie's

00:48:08.139 --> 00:48:10.599
Friends is very different from In the Hole, which

00:48:10.599 --> 00:48:14.619
is one of my favorite things about my writing.

00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:18.659
Not to toot my own horn, but I'm capable of writing

00:48:18.659 --> 00:48:23.679
a lot of really, really different things. I'm

00:48:23.679 --> 00:48:28.840
going to have to check those books out. And that's

00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:32.519
for where people can find me. Follow my Instagram,

00:48:32.820 --> 00:48:36.340
Ben Levin Author, or go to my website, benlevinauthor

00:48:36.340 --> 00:48:43.800
.com. And I just, there is a do -do -do menu.

00:48:45.480 --> 00:48:50.699
Yeah, there's the banner. Sorry, I have like...

00:48:51.099 --> 00:48:53.880
this tool I'm using, it has like so many different

00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:56.880
sub menus and whatnot. So I had to go click one

00:48:56.880 --> 00:49:00.579
to go click the other. And it's kind of confusing

00:49:00.579 --> 00:49:07.340
to explain on my end, but yeah, but you got to

00:49:07.340 --> 00:49:09.519
promise me something though. When those books

00:49:09.519 --> 00:49:12.000
are released, uh, you got to come back on the

00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:15.679
show because, uh, I think the audience would

00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:20.539
find it. Uh, we'd like to know. more about the

00:49:20.539 --> 00:49:24.179
books in detail, maybe after they're, uh, read

00:49:24.179 --> 00:49:29.000
them and whatnot. Okay. And let's definitely

00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:32.980
stay in touch because, uh, yeah, I think. Absolutely.

00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:38.480
I love that. Awesome. Uh, so, uh, thanks for

00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:40.739
being our guest on crazy fitness guy, healthy

00:49:40.739 --> 00:49:43.300
loving podcast slash weekly motivation, most

00:49:43.300 --> 00:49:47.599
crazy fitness guy. And. I'll just wrap up the

00:49:47.599 --> 00:49:51.559
show and we can part our ways for the day. And

00:49:51.559 --> 00:49:54.880
thanks for being a guest. Thanks for having me.

00:49:54.920 --> 00:49:59.679
Have a great day. You too. So that's all that

00:49:59.679 --> 00:50:06.079
we have time for today. And I'm very grateful

00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:12.380
that Ben was on the show. And like you said,

00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:16.289
if you want to learn more about him, go to and

00:50:16.289 --> 00:50:22.449
LevineAuthor .com. And check out his work. And

00:50:22.449 --> 00:50:24.989
trust me, he's definitely going to come back

00:50:24.989 --> 00:50:30.230
on the show in the future. And if you want to

00:50:30.230 --> 00:50:32.829
follow me, go to Crazy Fitness Guy on Facebook,

00:50:33.250 --> 00:50:40.429
Twitter, and Instagram. You can follow Crazy

00:50:40.429 --> 00:50:44.150
Fitness Guy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:48.719
And you can watch this weekly live stream on

00:50:48.719 --> 00:50:51.039
Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,

00:50:51.139 --> 00:50:54.920
and Instagram. I'm not sure how much it shows

00:50:54.920 --> 00:51:01.340
on Instagram. And you can listen to this podcast

00:51:01.340 --> 00:51:03.780
once it goes live on Apple, Google, and Spotify,

00:51:04.119 --> 00:51:07.880
and so many more platforms. I can't even list

00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:12.699
them all. And if you want to help support Crazy

00:51:12.699 --> 00:51:17.719
Fitness Guys' work and Help keep the show up

00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:20.679
and running. Subscribe to Crazy Fitness Guy Premium

00:51:20.679 --> 00:51:25.800
Podcast for only $5 a month or $20 a year. You

00:51:25.800 --> 00:51:28.000
get behind -the -scenes access, listen ad -free,

00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:32.860
and so much more. Subscribe today or go to Crazy

00:51:32.860 --> 00:51:34.780
Fitness Guy Healthy Living Podcast and check

00:51:34.780 --> 00:51:42.559
to learn more about the premium podcast. And

00:51:42.559 --> 00:51:45.320
sometime in the future, I'm going to be having

00:51:45.320 --> 00:51:48.219
a mission statement and what's included on everything.

00:51:48.900 --> 00:51:54.340
Just give me time to do it. And visit my friends

00:51:54.340 --> 00:51:57.139
at cleaver .fm to comment on our show, highlight

00:51:57.139 --> 00:51:59.000
your favorite parts of the show, and so much

00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:02.260
more. They're a very unique podcast app, just

00:52:02.260 --> 00:52:05.019
like everyone in the autism community, who are

00:52:05.019 --> 00:52:10.760
very unique, just like me and Ben. And last but

00:52:10.760 --> 00:52:17.460
not least, just a shout out to everyone who watched

00:52:17.460 --> 00:52:23.420
the live stream. Thanks for commenting. And thanks,

00:52:23.559 --> 00:52:27.559
Whitney, for a great discussion. And thanks for

00:52:27.559 --> 00:52:34.360
Andre. And the hall is perfect for young adult

00:52:34.360 --> 00:52:38.400
readers. Nellie's Friends series is great for

00:52:38.400 --> 00:52:40.800
younger readers. I'm going to definitely check

00:52:40.800 --> 00:52:46.179
them out. And I can't highlight everybody because

00:52:46.179 --> 00:52:48.699
it only shows up as a Facebook user. Of course

00:52:48.699 --> 00:52:53.099
Facebook does that. And a big shout out to Will

00:52:53.099 --> 00:52:58.960
Brody. Hello to you too. That's it for today.

00:52:59.179 --> 00:53:01.940
I'll see you again back here for another episode

00:53:01.940 --> 00:53:04.219
of Crazy Fitness Guy Healthy Living Podcast slash

00:53:04.219 --> 00:53:06.199
Recalling Motivation with Crazy Fitness Guy.

00:53:06.599 --> 00:53:11.139
Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay

00:53:11.139 --> 00:53:15.360
motivated. See you again here next time. Peace.

00:53:33.319 --> 00:53:37.699
Literally every line by line from a TV show.

00:53:38.539 --> 00:53:43.119
And once I say that, sometimes they just kind

00:53:43.119 --> 00:53:45.880
of just drop it. And it's like, that's so, I

00:53:45.880 --> 00:53:50.320
win. Not that I always try to make it happen,

00:53:50.340 --> 00:53:58.530
but it's kind of fun to be right. But yeah, that's

00:53:58.530 --> 00:54:01.969
just... But then I think then another thing that

00:54:01.969 --> 00:54:05.989
I like to... I also like to bring up is that

00:54:05.989 --> 00:54:14.929
people... I also like to... I notice that I can

00:54:14.929 --> 00:54:17.750
have many different thoughts, different thought

00:54:17.750 --> 00:54:22.250
processes, and I like to think outside of the

00:54:22.250 --> 00:54:30.960
box quite a bit. many good ideas. Sometimes those

00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:34.420
ideas lead to so many ideas that I just can't

00:54:34.420 --> 00:54:37.840
get them all down on paper or implement them

00:54:37.840 --> 00:54:40.099
right away, which kind of drives me nuts because

00:54:40.099 --> 00:54:42.039
it's like, oh, this is a good idea. Let's go

00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:45.679
do it. And you kind of feel like it's not going

00:54:45.679 --> 00:54:48.639
to take very long. Five hours later, it's still

00:54:48.639 --> 00:54:57.679
not done. I've been through that too. But yeah,

00:54:57.780 --> 00:55:02.059
I could just find a few. People on the autism

00:55:02.059 --> 00:55:07.599
spectrum have unique thinking capabilities, have

00:55:07.599 --> 00:55:12.300
great creative ideas. I've seen some companies,

00:55:12.480 --> 00:55:15.579
I'm not going to specifically say any names,

00:55:15.659 --> 00:55:20.320
but some of them, I don't feel like they have

00:55:20.320 --> 00:55:23.960
some... They didn't think of when they created

00:55:23.960 --> 00:55:29.039
their product or whatnot, it's only capable of

00:55:29.039 --> 00:55:31.820
one web browser. And you kind of just have to

00:55:31.820 --> 00:55:37.139
think, why? This is not modern technology. And

00:55:37.139 --> 00:55:39.940
I'm sort of thinking every different reason in

00:55:39.940 --> 00:55:44.019
my mind. And it's like, what kind of company

00:55:44.019 --> 00:55:50.130
does this? This doesn't seem right. I kind of

00:55:50.130 --> 00:55:52.170
think of different scenarios and say, what would

00:55:52.170 --> 00:55:54.969
I say to this company? I was like, this is totally

00:55:54.969 --> 00:56:05.670
weird. But that just bothered me. So do you have

00:56:05.670 --> 00:56:08.710
any books that you like to promote on the show?

00:56:10.489 --> 00:56:16.130
I wrote one. I have a book that was published.

00:56:17.340 --> 00:56:20.179
my first professionally published son nine one

00:56:20.179 --> 00:56:24.679
nine months ago in the hole it's about a young

00:56:24.679 --> 00:56:28.840
boy who faces homelessness for several years

00:56:28.840 --> 00:56:32.699
in his childhood along with his family i wrote

00:56:32.699 --> 00:56:36.539
the book to help raise awareness for the cause

00:56:36.539 --> 00:56:40.400
and help show that homelessness can happen to

00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:44.639
anyone even really really hard -working people

00:56:44.639 --> 00:56:49.619
it's not They are not a different kind of people.

00:56:49.739 --> 00:56:53.519
They're just like the housed. That's part of

00:56:53.519 --> 00:56:55.760
the reason why a lot of people prefer the word

00:56:55.760 --> 00:57:02.019
unsheltered. And it's actually a really important

00:57:02.019 --> 00:57:07.940
cause in our time when, especially with how the

00:57:07.940 --> 00:57:11.980
pandemic affected the economy, more people are

00:57:11.980 --> 00:57:18.329
becoming homeless. Yeah. Totally sad and whatnot.

00:57:19.869 --> 00:57:26.530
So just before we wrap up, where can people find

00:57:26.530 --> 00:57:29.170
out more information about who you are, what

00:57:29.170 --> 00:57:32.690
you do? Actually, before you ask that, is it

00:57:32.690 --> 00:57:36.130
okay if I also mention this series I have coming

00:57:36.130 --> 00:57:39.650
out next month? Oh, yeah, sure, definitely. I'm

00:57:39.650 --> 00:57:45.420
sorry. No worries. I also have a new series coming

00:57:45.420 --> 00:57:50.280
out about a little girl who loves making new

00:57:50.280 --> 00:57:53.440
friends and going on adventures with them. The

00:57:53.440 --> 00:58:00.199
first five books out of 44 are coming out this

00:58:00.199 --> 00:58:04.900
April. Dawn, Molly, Sadie, Abby, and Jessica.

00:58:05.139 --> 00:58:09.440
The series is called Nellie's Friends. And Nellie's

00:58:09.440 --> 00:58:11.940
Friends is very different from In the Hole, which

00:58:11.940 --> 00:58:15.900
is... One of my favorite things about my writing.

00:58:16.460 --> 00:58:19.980
Not to toot my own horn, but I'm capable of writing

00:58:19.980 --> 00:58:24.980
a lot of really, really different things. I'm

00:58:24.980 --> 00:58:31.119
going to have to check those books out. For where

00:58:31.119 --> 00:58:34.880
people can find me, follow my Instagram, Ben

00:58:34.880 --> 00:58:38.159
Levin Author, or go to my website, benlevinauthor

00:58:38.159 --> 00:58:53.780
.com. Yeah, there's the banner. Sorry, this tool

00:58:53.780 --> 00:58:56.599
I'm using, it has so many different submenus

00:58:56.599 --> 00:58:59.619
and whatnot. So I had to go click one to go click

00:58:59.619 --> 00:59:02.860
the other. And it's kind of confusing to explain

00:59:02.860 --> 00:59:09.579
on my end. But yeah. You've got to promise me

00:59:09.579 --> 00:59:11.820
something, though. When those books are released,

00:59:12.219 --> 00:59:14.460
you've got to come back on the show, because

00:59:14.460 --> 00:59:23.099
I think the audience would like to know more

00:59:23.099 --> 00:59:26.260
about the books in detail, maybe after they read

00:59:26.260 --> 00:59:32.000
them and whatnot. Okay. And let's definitely

00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:36.639
stay in touch, because, yeah. Absolutely. I'd

00:59:36.639 --> 00:59:42.099
love that. Awesome. So thanks for being our guest

00:59:42.099 --> 00:59:44.780
on Crazy Fitness Guy Healthy Loving Podcast slash

00:59:44.780 --> 00:59:48.280
Weekly Motivation with Crazy Fitness Guy. And

00:59:48.280 --> 00:59:52.119
I'll just wrap up the show and we can part our

00:59:52.119 --> 00:59:56.059
ways for the day. And thanks for being a guest.

00:59:56.619 --> 00:59:59.739
Thanks for having me. Have a great day. You too.

01:00:00.199 --> 01:00:04.780
The internet can be a distraction place. It's

01:00:04.780 --> 01:00:07.719
full of distractions like social media, shopping,

01:00:07.920 --> 01:00:11.800
and so many more websites that are very distracting.

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Just like video games and whatnot. But it is

01:00:16.420 --> 01:00:19.380
all over the place. So much noise going on. Well,

01:00:19.539 --> 01:00:23.079
with a blocker tool like Freedom Blocker, it

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can block all those distraction websites that

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you find distracting. I block... RuneScape, Facebook,

01:00:31.369 --> 01:00:34.829
Twitter, and all the social media marketing tools.

01:00:35.309 --> 01:00:37.809
Without Freedom Blocker, I wouldn't be able to

01:00:37.809 --> 01:00:43.409
run crazyfitnessguy .com because I'd be distracted

01:00:43.409 --> 01:00:48.650
all day long. But thanks to them, I'm no longer

01:00:48.650 --> 01:00:53.369
distracted. Go to visit the web link in the show

01:00:53.369 --> 01:00:55.949
notes for more information about Freedom Blocker.

01:00:56.570 --> 01:00:59.590
for more information about what they do, what

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they are, and whatnot. And the best part about

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Freedom Blocker, you can use it on all of your

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devices. Apple, Windows, Macs, tablets, and more.

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Visit them to follow more information. And last

01:01:19.110 --> 01:01:24.230
but not least... Just a shout out to everyone

01:01:24.230 --> 01:01:28.909
who watched the live stream. Thanks for commenting.

01:01:29.230 --> 01:01:35.269
And thanks, Whitney, for a great discussion.

01:01:37.570 --> 01:01:44.849
And thanks for Andre. In the Hall is perfect

01:01:44.849 --> 01:01:48.449
for young adult readers. Ben Levine's Nellie's

01:01:48.449 --> 01:01:50.389
Friends series is great for younger readers.

01:01:51.050 --> 01:01:57.829
I'm going to definitely check them out. And I

01:01:57.829 --> 01:01:59.650
can't highlight everybody because it only shows

01:01:59.650 --> 01:02:02.510
up a Facebook user. Of course Facebook does that.

01:02:03.449 --> 01:02:08.309
And a big shout out to Will Brody. Hello to you

01:02:08.309 --> 01:02:14.219
too. That's it for today. I'll see you again

01:02:14.219 --> 01:02:16.559
back here for another episode of Crazy Fitness

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Guy Healthy Living Podcast slash Recalling Motivation

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with Crazy Fitness Guy. Until then, stay safe,

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stay healthy, and stay motivated. See you again

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