#PartOfMePodcast – Episode 8: Natalie Talks Autism

Esi:

Hello everybody. We’re here again for the interview of part of me. This is episode eight, so we’re going really, really well. I’m here today with another interviewee, which I’ll introduce to you in just a second. Just to remind you part of me is a podcast run by celebrating disability, interviewing different disabled people on their impairments and how it affects them in their workplace. They will offer advice and tips to both managers and disabled people about how to manage with a disability in the workplace and how to support a disabled person in the right way. So I hope you do enjoy today’s podcast. So hello

Natalie:

Hi

Esi:

Hello. Thank you very much for joining us today. Can you start by telling us who you are and what you do?

Natalie:

Hello, I’m Natalie Priest, and I’m a freelance animator and illustrator with my brand Radiant Chameleon. So I graduated this year with a master of art in animation.

Esi:

Congratulations. That’s amazing. And my understanding is that you’ve just graduated.

Natalie:

Yeah, on Monday this week

Esi:

So exciting. Did you have the graduation ceremony? 

Natalie:

Yeah, I did. Yeah, it’s in South Bank, Royal Festival Hall  London

Esi:

Oh, that’s Wow. That’s amazing. Congratulations. So can you just tell us what an animator in another story that is? 

Natalie:

Well for me, it’s 2D digital animation. So I work on my own as a sole trader and creating drawings on my computer using my drawing tablet, using programs like Photoshop and TV, paint and Adobe Animate CC, I sort of plan the story beforehand, and then I go ahead and animate the drawings on the computer.

Esi:

Excellent. So I know that you’ve been in a few animation festivals and short film festivals and things like that. 

Natalie:

Yeah, my film Zach and the rainbow making friends, which I made for my graduation last year, doing quite well in the festivals, which I’m quite happy about.

Esi:

Excellent. So what kind of businesses do you work with, or are you planning to work with?

Natalie:

I’m planning to work with people that already know me through networks that I’m part of, or children’s services or children’s related charities, because I’m got quite family friendly films that are to do with different issues, such as being on spectrum or mental illness, or just stories for children. Really

Esi:

Wow, that sounds really cool. So at the end of this podcast, you’re going to tell us where people can find information about you, and we’ll also publish this along with the podcast, so that people can link to your website and see what you do

Natalie:

Yeah, that would be good. Thank you,

Esi:

yeah, of course. Well, well, thank you for joining us. So can you tell us a little bit about your disability?

Natalie:

Disability I have is Asperger syndrome, or sometimes known as high functioning autism or ASD, and it affects my ability to relate to people and communicate verbally, so I come across quite withdrawn and quite shy in a group setting. Find it hard to talk up in a group, but it also it can affect my sensory issues, such as noises can seem very loud and colors can seem quite bright. I can get sensory overload. Sometimes they’re my main challenges that I have.

Esi:

And how do you overcome that? In the workplace,

Natalie:

I overcome it by understanding from staff and people that work with me to know that I don’t mean to be seem rude or distant. It’s just part of my condition that I find it hard initially to communicate with people, so I have conversations, so they just need to ask me questions or give me a bit of prompting to talk.

Esi:

So before this interview today, we kind of ran through the questions, didn’t we, so we had time based to prepare the questions, and then you’ve got them in front of you as well, so you can have a look at them.

Natalie:

Yeah, that’s right, that helped a lot. 

Esi:

Okay, great. So can you tell us a little bit about the positives of habit for an employee of her employer, of having somebody with autism working in their business, there are so many.

Natalie:

Yeah, one of the main positives is that they are very they can be very enthusiastic and hard working workers. They put their all into what they’re doing, and they’re very passionate about certain topics. They’re of interest to them. And if that’s where they work, they’ll be very motivated to do the work, and they they have very good attention to detail the tasks, and they can be very focused on the task in hand. But also they’re very good at being independent workers like working with little prompting or support from staff, so they can work on their own very well.

Esi:

So what kind of jobs are people with autism typically really good at?

Natalie:

I’d say they’re very good at jobs with computers, and I think they enjoy those kind of aspects of those jobs, like working different using different programs, and learning, say, how to use a Word Processor, or coding or computer programs in general, they’re also good at working independently on tasks on their own that require them little supervision. Okay? Because they’re quite hard working in that way. Yeah,

Esi:

Excellent, brilliant. Thank you. If you could offer any advice to disabled employees, perhaps who have autism, are on the autistic spectrum. What do you think it would be?

would be? 

Natalie:

One of the advice I’d give is to be not afraid, to be yourself and be who you who you are as a person, and not hide it from people. So, for example, you let the employers know beforehand, at an interview or on an application form about your specific difficulties and how they can accommodate you as a person to make you work better at the job. 

Esi:

Okay, great. And what advice would you offer managers who was supporting somebody with on the on the autistic spectrum

Natalie:

For managers and maybe to make adjustments in the workplace that they the person with autism specifies. So, for example, they might want their own quiet space or their own place that they sit at every day with less noise and less chatter around them, if they prefer that kind of environment, and sort of to maybe make it so that they get get meetings one to one meetings or meetings with the Staff every month to talk about how they’re getting on with the job, so that they know what what to do for the for the job. And also have maybe a task list so that they know what’s expected of them with specific jobs, yeah, a list of planning of what’s due for that job.

Esi:

Okay, cool. So, like, it’s almost like a task slash to do list,

Natalie:

yeah, they like that kind of Yeah, that kind of thing, yes, yeah, structure 

Esi:

Brilliant. Okay, great. Thank you. So we’re going to swap tone a little bit and just ask something else. So as a disabled customer, what would your biggest challenge be as a customer, buying a good or a service from a business?

Natalie:

My biggest challenge would be verbal communication, so talking to the staff and communicating with them effectively, and also communicating with them at all, so that I feel comfortable around them or to ask them for a query or some advice if I needed it that kind of issue,

Esi:

Okay? And if, if you’re gonna say how they can solve the issue and make it easier? How can they make it easier for you?

Natalie:

The main thing is that they have excellent customer service for everyone, so that everyone they talk to, even if they haven’t got an invisible disability or a disability in general, that they’re just approachable and friendly and they make the customers feel comfortable talking to them and asking for help if needed.

Esi:

 I think that’s really good advice. So regardless of ability of disability, you should provide good customer service in their patient customer service, because with anyone,

Natalie:

sorry, with a hidden disability, they might not know that they have the condition. So it’s like you should be accommodating to everyone. So in case you’re talking to someone that is disabled, but it doesn’t seem that way on the surface.

Esi:

Yeah, that’s really good advice. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us, or anything else you’d like people to know?

Natalie:

Well, I’d like people to know about my website, which is raging chameleon, www.radiantchameleon.com, which has links to my artwork and animation films and also my social media where I’m known as raging comedian, a lot of them. So just have a look at my website and let me know what you think.

Esi:

Excellent.

Natalie:

Thank you.

Esi:

Thank you very much, Natalie. And as I said, we’ll put Natalie’s details up alongside this podcast as well so you’ll be able to link straight through to a website. Thank you so much, Natalie 

Natalie:

Thank you. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it very talking to.