Latest / Thick No More / From Rock Bottom to Remarkable | Laura Horn on Trauma, ADHD, Autism & Recovery

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From Rock Bottom to Remarkable | Laura Horn on Trauma, ADHD, Autism & Recovery · Thick No More

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Welcome back to Thick No More. Today's guest is someone whose
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story will stay with you long after the episode ends.
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Laura has lived through trauma, addiction and survival and
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turned it all into something extraordinary.
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From chaos to the calm of poetry and creativity, Laura's journey
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is more than recovery. It's about resilience, self
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discovery, and finding light in the darkest of places.
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She's walked through battles that most of us couldn't
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imagine, and yet here she is, thriving, inspired, and helping
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others heal. If ever you wondered how someone
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can rebuild from rock bottom, how ADHD and autism shaped her
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path, or how words can become a lifeline, then this conversation
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you need to hear. Laura, welcome to the podcast.
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Thank you, Jay, for the invitation.
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Now you're very welcome. So I'm sure you already know
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what the first question is because we go on every show and
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it it brings out some great answers and because a lot of
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people really dig deep into this one and sometimes change their
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mind as well. So you walk into a room and your
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theme tune starts playing. What would your song be?
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Keep your head up, keep your heart strung by Ben Howard.
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And it's a song that I replay. I love that.
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When times. Get tough.
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It's an absolutely. Yeah.
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No, it's a brilliant track, that is.
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I love it. Yeah, I got great choice.
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So we always go back a bit and this this tends to tends to
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bring out the tissues from from a lot of people, from what I'm
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told that have listened to previous podcasts.
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And most of the time it's me that brings the tissues out, to
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be fair of you, But I like to sort of go back to childhood.
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So do you want to take us back to your childhood?
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And what were the hardest moments for you growing up and
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how did they shape the way that they saw yourself?
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So I grew up in a really deprived area.
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My sister had a seizure when we were toddlers in the garden,
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which I remember quite well. And yeah, her life's never been
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the same again. She's got a learning disability,
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she needs a lot of lot of support now as an adult.
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My brother was born shortly afterwards, so my mum had three
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children, all under the age of 5.
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My, my parents split up at a young age.
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My dad served in the army in Ireland and that was hard on
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him. You know, I, I, I look back now
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and I can see the symptoms of PTSD.
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Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah, it was, it was.
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It was so tough, obviously my my sister unfortunately due to her
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struggles, it was just constant screaming and shouting.
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Home life was really, really challengingly chaotic due to my
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sister's needs and having 5 three children under 5, my mum
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couldn't really work so finances were real tight.
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We grew up with childhood aces me impacted more because I was
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older and I I, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents at
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weekends, who I miss so much dearly because I had a lot of
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peace and quiet there, Jay, you know, and I needed that peace.
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And quiet was was that was that kind of were those moments when
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you think about now, those were the moments like that were your
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time that you look back fondly, you know, in childhood.
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Not, not particularly. They were really, really tough
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times, but the on that's. Why?
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I mean, I mean with your with your grandparents, I mean you
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met, you spoke about your grandparents there.
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You say you missed them dearly. Those are those are those the
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bits from your childhood that are the nice bits.
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So so. Sweet, Amazing.
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Do you, I mean, my grandparents were just, they were just such
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incredible people, you know, they, they got, I think they,
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they really understood me and they really understood my needs
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because it was, it was incredibly difficult for my mum.
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Yeah, trying to, because it, it was, yeah, I'd need a lot more
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time to kind of go in the insurance and outs.
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But yeah, it was incredibly difficult for my mum, just with
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my sister alone. But my, my mum, my mum, my
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stepdad who's an incredible human being.
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And we there was a lot of fun as well.
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So he's very athletic and very sporty.
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So we had that. The other element that were that
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we were doing stuff a lot. So we were up to the beach,
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we're up surfing. I was a huge football fan, which
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I inherited from him. So I was always playing
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football. So yeah, there were, there was a
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bit of a contrast. You know, there was all those
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struggles. But then there was some really
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good kind of humble times, you know, that showed us that
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actually having lots of money wasn't that important.
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You know, it would have made life easier.
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But we were out of nature, you know, We were.
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We were. Yes, as a kid, you as a kid at
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that age, you, you don't, you don't see yourself in that, in
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that space, in that, in that, you know, in that position, you,
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you, you as a child, you get on with it.
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And and I guess it's only when you look back now or when you
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become you start to become older in life, you look back and think
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flipping ack that that was those are tough moments, you know.
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Yeah. And and you mentioned there
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about you, you know, your dad in in Ireland on a tour of duty.
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And that's another thing. PTSD is another thing really
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that's I think is really misunderstood.
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And and it can really, really, I mean, that can dent people's
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lives in a big way. It really can.
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Absolutely. How did you know?
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So you think back now, how do you think those moments in your
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childhood, you know, shaped the way you actually saw yourself as
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a child? Do you?
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Did you? Did you did you grow up feeling
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different or or did it just not really sink in?
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I did feel different growing up and I was often told that I was
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different. There was always jokes, Laura's
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like when's was it Wensley from The Addams Family or Lisa
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Simpson? Because I always, I was always,
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I always felt more like a kind of like AI had a bit of an adult
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view rather than like a child. And I just, I felt, I felt
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really, I felt disgusting. I felt ugly, I felt fat, I felt
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unattractive. I felt stupid and I, I liked
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being with the boys. You know, I was very, I was very
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much a tomboy. I'm still very much a tomboy now
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and again. That makes you feel indifferent,
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you know, to, to other girls growing up.
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I always get mocked. Oh, she's going to be a lesbian
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when she's older. She won't have kids.
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Again, it's all, you know, we've talked several times about this
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and, and labels are really, really tough.
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I mean, kids these days, they they have they go to the next
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extreme because they have mobile phones.
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And not only did they get it sent to their face, they get it
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sent to them on a message as well.
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But it can really, really, yeah, it can tarnish your childhood
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when you, when you the the podcast recently, the lady was
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talking about like it shaped her because she started to believe
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everything that people were saying to her.
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And as a kid, you just, it's hard to get yourself out of
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that, that, that, you know, that position that you're in.
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And, and what, what do you think?
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So when, when we spoke me and you, what I do with everybody's
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always had a conversation before we do these podcasts.
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And when you and I spoke you, you spoke about surviving some
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really dark times from, from family trauma.
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And I don't know if you want to go into this, but if, if you
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want to, I'm, I'm sure there's people here that would love to
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hear because what we try to do on this podcast is, is tell
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young adults, children and parents that there you will get
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out of this. There is a way out of this.
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There's another side to it. And when we spoke you, you
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talked about, you know, addictions.
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Is there anything you can kind of share with us from that
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period of your life and what it was like for you?
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So going back to high school, if I go, yeah, if I start high
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school, there's I think anxiety started to rise definitely
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towards my exams. I was I was previously shouted
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for not being able to hold my pen properly.
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I was punished for not handwriting well and then one
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of. Take your time.
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So one of our friends was murdered a few a few few months
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before before we start our exams so.
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This was this was during high school just.
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Before and it was just Jay, it was it was fucked up because
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considering of where where I grew up and the city that I grew
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up in this it was big it was big stuff.
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Stuff like that didn't happen where where we grew up and it
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was just like none, none of like a lot of us went into
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addictions. A lot of that cycle of friends
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went in, went into struggling with addictions and look, I got
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really angry last year because something happened that
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triggered the event. I've, I've been through various
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types of therapy before with it, but my nervous system, it went
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it, it just, it exploded. And I had, I had all this anger
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that came out because not one adult thought these children
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needs, these children need some support.
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You know, we have been interviewed.
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You didn't, they didn't take, they didn't take you to one side
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and talk to you and you didn't get any grieving time.
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No, they just expected you to just.
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Carry on, carry on. It's despite being at school.
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Do you mean you've got education stuff?
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Being interviewed by police? Nothing.
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Wow. You know and and.
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I mean, I'm 50. Three, I, I can't even imagine.
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I can't even imagine. I'm 53 now and I still don't
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think I'm grown up. But if, if that happened to me
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in my, in my young years of my life, you know, in high school,
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my, my school life, as you won't know, was tough enough as it
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was. I can't imagine what you won't
10:00
feel like. I, I, I literally can't, I'm
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done. Fine.
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I'm sorry you got upset there. Wow, I don't even know what to
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say. That's unbelievable.
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And you also one week spoke, you spoke about light and you've
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just mentioned some, some of your friends there, like so a
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what? At what point did you did did
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the addiction for you? And was that later in school
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life? You know, how did that start to
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come about with you? I started, well I was drinking
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anyway, and then I started drinking more heavily.
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I was drinking, I was drinking. I was getting so intoxicated
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before my exams the night before and drinking morning, morning
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before. I would save my money.
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I'd save my pocket money and just buy alcohol and keep it
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stashed. And then so the addiction
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started. What I, I ended up in on no.
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So going on from then, I started day before I started college, my
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dad was incarcerated. So you're looking at 2
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significant events in a child's education years, you know?
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Massive trauma. Massive.
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Trauma again, no support. I ended up going into social
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housing at young age. I I was working, say two to
11:27
three jobs at a time while I was going to college, struggled
11:30
through college. So I did manage to pass, but I
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didn't get the grades that I wanted to to what I wanted to
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do. The high level.
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I become a velden. I start hanging around people
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that were older ended up getting into drugs and.
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No, nobody, no one could see this in you.
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No, no one tried to intervene or.
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Nope, no, no. So you, you know, that's a
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lonely lone. I mean, I mentioned at the
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beginning because that was one thing that took away from our
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initial conversation is I, I mentioned the dark space for me.
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If you're alone and you're doing those things, then that's as
12:10
that's as dark as it gets. Really.
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Right. Yeah.
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When I first started using drugs, it was more recreational.
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It was with, it was with other friends and friends my own age
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and then stuff got bad. I ended up with quite a bad
12:31
cocaine addiction. It was so bad that I was
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hospitalized for five days and I was on an EMU ward and I met AI
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met a patient in there. He was, he was a gypsy and he,
12:48
he said to me, he said, listen, he said you need to stop what
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you do. And he said you need to move
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away from people. He said your situation is
12:54
serious, you don't realise how serious it is.
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He offered me to go and live with him and his daughters.
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He said, listen, I've got daughters your age come and stay
13:02
with me. I'll make sure that you're
13:04
you're OK. But I was discharged from
13:09
hospital. They did kind of an assessment.
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Again, no support. I went home and I just had to
13:17
move away from people, you know, and that was kind of, that was
13:20
my strength. But Jay, The funny thing was I
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was able to connect the dots at a young age because I was always
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sporty. I was always playing football, I
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was always playing netball. I was able to connect the dots
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to the traumas for this isn't me.
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This wasn't me, you know, this addiction, this drugs.
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I hated drugs, I hated smoking. So what?
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What had caused it? Yeah.
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It, it, you know, we'll, we'll talk later about like, you know,
13:47
being diagnosed and everything, but I, it's funny that well,
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it's not funny, but it's coincidental.
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That's the word to use that there always seems to be a
13:55
moment, all these stories on all of these podcasts when someone
13:58
goes I, I, I can put my finger on it.
14:01
I can understand why, you know, and so so you mentioned that
14:06
gentleman that said, you know, I want to get you away from this.
14:09
Let me get you out of this. So what was the moment when
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Laura said to herself, this has got to change.
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I am literally right at the bottom here.
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This is, you know, I'm in this dark space.
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What pushed the change? What made you think right,
14:22
Laura, we need to do something about this.
14:24
What was the moment? It was that guy speaking to that
14:27
guy that kind of really kind of made me think about stuff.
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And I did move away from people. But unfortunately if you later
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on, I did end up with another addiction that was again caused
14:40
by a huge traumatic event. And always a trigger, right?
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There's always a trigger with you that causes you to.
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Yeah, always a trigger. It's tough, but I can see like I
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like how I internalise so much as well.
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And I think that comes down to probably the, the ADHD, the
15:03
autism. But I was, I was diagnosed with
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PTSD 18 by my GP and it was just kind of like, well, there's your
15:14
diagnosis. Well, what do you do with that?
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When I was so young, I was so naive, but there was no again,
15:21
there was no and there was no support.
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Do you? I mean, if I flipped that just.
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Give you a label right, they just gave you a label saying
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you're out the door oh, you've got PTSD off you go no problems
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and at that age as well you're still a 18 you're still a baby
15:34
you're. Still a baby in my.
15:35
Opinion. Yeah, absolutely.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just said to you, I'm 53 and I
15:39
still don't think I'm an adult. It's it's really, really tough
15:42
and difficult to hear these, these stories.
15:45
And, and this is the reason I do this.
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I do this because I know for a fact, you know, and I know you,
15:50
you got really upset then a bit ago.
15:52
I know for a fact that there's there'll be somebody listening
15:55
to this story. It's making me cry now.
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I know there'll be someone listening to this story that's
15:59
right there right now. Where you where you've been and
16:03
you by telling that and you by we we're going to talk later and
16:06
we're going to reflect a bit about and we're going to look at
16:08
the the future for you and and what you're doing now.
16:11
There'll be someone that, that that hopefully takes away where
16:14
you've been the moment you found that point of recovery and
16:17
thought, I need to start getting this, you know, excuse my
16:20
language, get my shit together. And, and I really hope that they
16:23
can take, take this from you, because at that age, you've got
16:28
no idea, no idea. You know, they, the amount of
16:32
people are here that they're sent out of the door with a,
16:35
with a title and we call it a label on this podcast.
16:37
You're sent out the door. There you go off you go get
16:40
your, get yourself sorted now. But you get no support to get
16:42
that, that, that, you know, I don't know, it's crazy, man.
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So you, you, you, they're diagnosed.
16:50
You got diagnosed with PTSD. What about?
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When? When?
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Did we? When did Yeah, so ADHD, autism
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as well, I believe. When, when did when did when did
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you get died? But I mean, do you realize when
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you got that label again, when they gave you the four title,
17:05
the four letters for ADHD? Easy for me to say with dyslexia
17:08
and then autism, do you think, do you think like if you don't
17:13
know that earlier it, it may have changed your journey, your
17:16
dark space or do you think you were going down that that Ave.
17:20
anyway? I think, I think quite possibly
17:21
it could have been if I'd, if I'd got the help as a teen,
17:25
absolutely. Because because of just the way
17:31
that I was, you know, I was, I was athletic, Yeah.
17:38
But I what, what had happened is that I lived with PTSD for all
17:42
these years and then by the age of 30, a load of other trauma
17:46
when I was travelling. That would be probably another
17:48
podcast for you, Jay. I ended up with complex PTSD.
17:52
So I've lived with, I'd lived with a dysregulated nervous
17:55
system for decades. Yeah.
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Unbelievable. I, I, you know, I had a feeling
18:01
when I spoke to you that that 11 podcast for Laura isn't enough.
18:06
Your story is so unbelievable, like the grief that you've gone
18:11
through and the torment that you've gone through on personal
18:14
levels and the emotions you must have gone through as a young
18:18
girl growing up. I can't even, I can't even
18:21
imagine. I mean, we've had some, we've
18:23
had some horrific stories on, on these podcasts where I've sat
18:26
back and gone, Oh my God. And after I've logged off and
18:29
finished the podcast, I've literally had to go and take
18:32
myself away and put my headphones on with some music on
18:34
for a bit because it's affected me.
18:35
But I think of everything I've ever heard in my life.
18:38
This is unbelievable. And I hate, I would really hate
18:43
and I'm sure you would as well. I would hate any other young
18:45
girl or young boy to have to go through what you've gone through
18:49
in life. I It's just unreal.
18:52
And it's it's no. Idea OK, so look, let's let's
18:55
yeah, let let's not, let's not talk about any more dark stuff.
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Let's, let's, let's, let's try and show people that there are
19:02
ways out of this. And and I want you, you, you.
19:06
When we first met, you sent me a file.
19:09
And I'm sure you remember you sent me a file of some of your,
19:11
your, your poems. And the one poem that stuck out
19:14
to me. I'm actually going to share it
19:16
in the podcast at the bottom as my favorite, as my favorite
19:20
poem, because it kind of, it kind of sums up my journey, to
19:25
be fair. And I, I haven't told you which
19:27
one it is, but you'll know when you when you see it on the
19:29
bottom of the podcast and probably laugh.
19:30
The thing I'm learning about about neuro diversity is, is
19:36
there always seems to be a focus point.
19:38
There seems to be a point when someone goes, you keep
19:41
mentioning sport and I don't even know if you've done that,
19:43
but I think you've mentioned it 345 times.
19:45
So obviously that was your your grounding.
19:48
That was your grounding area, right?
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I know I can do that and I know I'm OK with that.
19:53
That's my safe place. And they say that creativity
19:55
comes from pain. So tell me about the poetry and
19:58
tell me about our writing helped you process trauma and I guess
20:02
find you today. Find your voice to take, talk us
20:04
through it, and let's give. People some light after the
20:07
dark. So I, I just, I've just found so
20:09
much healing in writing. It's well documented, isn't it?
20:12
How, how creative writing is incredibly healing.
20:17
And you look at artists, you know, a lot of their work comes
20:19
from pain and suffering. And sometimes you can find I
20:26
have a lot of stuff going on in my head, especially previously.
20:30
And just for me to kind of enable me to kind of process
20:34
what's going on, I just write. And last year I discovered that
20:40
I could write poetry. It just came out of nowhere.
20:42
I moved. I moved to incredible home.
20:46
I'm out in nature. I'm surrounded by trees.
20:49
And just in that environment, something just happened inside
20:53
of me, Jay. Do you?
20:55
Do you obviously taking yourself away into an area of tranquility
21:02
and and and peace While you're looking around, you see nature.
21:05
Do you think if you'd have stayed in a city environment?
21:08
So let's just say you you stayed in a major city.
21:10
Do you think you'd be writing in a major city, poetry or not?
21:13
No, no, absolutely. And it's interesting because I
21:16
don't know, I don't know if I told you about previous work
21:18
that I did when I was in leadership roles in children's
21:22
sexual exploitation services. And I noticed them.
21:26
Yeah, So I noticed them. We were living in most, a lot of
21:30
the time I was practically living at work, but we had these
21:33
fantastic homes that we were, we were running for children with
21:39
newer human neurodivergent and they were literally in the
21:41
middle of nowhere. And I remember just kind of
21:46
analysing how I felt being in those environments, you know,
21:49
being surrounded by fields of nature and trees and kind of
21:54
watching these young people grow in these environments.
21:57
Obviously there was a lot of therapeutic input that we were
21:59
putting in with these young people and they were removed
22:03
from their environment, you know, because you can't heal in
22:07
the same environment that hurt you, unfortunately.
22:10
So I remember making that connection then.
22:12
Well, actually I think this is where I need to be.
22:14
I need to be out of nature, which thankfully I am.
22:18
I am now. Listen, I, I, I struggle to
22:23
write anything I rely on. I rely on technology to help me.
22:27
It's been my my saving grace. I don't know how people before
22:32
my generation cope with technology because they must
22:35
have just the world must have just sucked them in and spat
22:38
them out. Absolutely.
22:39
What's your starting? What's your starting point for
22:42
for writing? I mean, again, I'm not going to
22:44
give my poem away that I I love so much, but I'd love to know
22:47
how you wrote that one. But so give me a where when you
22:50
when you sat outside and how, how does it become?
22:53
How how did you know? You mentioned, like I realised I
22:56
could write poems. How did, how did that happen?
22:57
What, what, what? What triggered it?
23:01
It was funny because I just one day, all of a sudden I started
23:06
just talking to my friend. And he called it verbal, verbal,
23:11
dark, verbal, poetic diarrhea. And he was like, you need to
23:15
write this down. And I was like, what?
23:18
So I started writing all this stuff down.
23:20
And then, yeah, the more stuff was coming, the more stuff was
23:23
coming. And so then I put together, I
23:26
wrote six books last year, which I've published.
23:30
I'm in the process of trying to finalise in another one.
23:33
But it was literally just all this, all this in it was like
23:36
downloads of information and creativity.
23:40
One minute I was writing about love, next minute
23:42
neurodivergency, next minute it was about travel.
23:46
And I was kind of flickering between all six because that's
23:51
kind of what my brain does. And it used to do that when I
23:53
painted. So, for instance, when I used to
23:55
paint, because I studied art, I wouldn't just paint one
23:59
painting. I'd get a surge of creativity
24:02
and I'd have to put it down somewhere else and then I'd have
24:04
to come back to it. We, we, we, we, we in our
24:07
community, we, we talk about superpowers and you know, your
24:11
kryptonite and this that and the other.
24:12
So do you think, do you think you're an artist at heart?
24:14
Because obviously poetry, writing, painting, you think
24:18
that's deep down that's your superpower.
24:22
Yeah, or is. It something else.
24:25
I think working with people definitely is it me, I've got
24:28
over 20 years experience of working with people, children's,
24:32
vulnerable people, children, families, adults.
24:36
So that is, I would say that's definitely a big part of who I
24:39
am. But the creativity, strangely
24:44
enough, I always wanted to be an artist when I was a child,
24:46
that's all I wanted to do. And I was told you won't make
24:49
enough money. You won't make enough money.
24:53
So any parent that's listening to this, if your child has a
24:58
dream, please don't put your own beliefs in your own condition.
25:01
Allow your child to follow their dream, to follow their passion.
25:05
That's beautiful. I couldn't have put that down
25:07
myself, you know, You know, we get parents on and we get
25:11
parents reaching out straight after the podcast asking for to
25:14
reach out to the people that have been on there is OK if I
25:17
contact them directly. You know, we had a lady come on
25:19
about her daughter. I totally agree with you.
25:22
I, I think that if you can spot it, if you can spot a, this is
25:27
my daughter Laura, and she's obviously good at drawing or
25:30
she's obviously good at art or she's obviously good at telling
25:33
a story. I think you need to, you need to
25:35
run with it, you know, because you look what you went through
25:39
and I think your poetry, some of your poems reflect on, I can, I
25:43
can feel pain in some of your poems and I can feel love in
25:46
some of your poems as well, for sure.
25:49
But I think, I think they tell a story, they tell a story of how
25:52
you've changed as a person, how you've matured and grown up
25:55
through life. And you know, we, we talked a
25:58
bit about it ago. If you'd have known prior that
26:00
you were ADHD and you know, there was, would it, would it
26:04
have shaped you and moulded you differently?
26:07
And you said possibly. Well, you're dead, right?
26:10
I think anybody with a child, if they can already see that
26:14
they're good at something, let them run with it.
26:16
Because you talked about sport, you've talked about art, you've
26:19
talked about poetry. They're your focus points,
26:22
right? That you focus on them because
26:24
that's either a relief, a release, something you want to
26:28
do, You help people, you talk to people, you've talked about
26:30
helping people. They're all focus points for
26:32
you. Well, like that child, the
26:35
parent may not realize, but that may be that child's focus point.
26:38
And I think you spot on. I think you need to let them be
26:41
creative and let them do what makes them feel in that safe
26:44
place where they're happy. Absolutely.
26:47
It's funny, Jay, because with talking about would it a change
26:50
things? So for instance, like I look
26:54
back and I wonder if I was diagnosed with the dyslexic
26:57
school, the autism and the ADHD that could have prevented me
27:02
also as well. So I don't know if I told you
27:05
I've lived in Brazil, I've travelled the world mainly solo
27:07
on my own. I've competed in triathlons,
27:10
I've won one races, you know, I've and I do wonder if I'd give
27:15
been given those labels a young age, would that have mentally
27:19
made me feel even more different and prevented me from actually
27:22
living? Because I've lived in a really
27:24
extraordinary life, considering I know.
27:27
You're a proper free spirit. I think if I had to describe you
27:30
in the title, I'd give. And you know, I think we'll do a
27:32
poll actually for this. If anybody would like to hear a
27:38
second part to this podcast, because I know the I know the
27:41
stuff that we haven't even touched on, right?
27:43
Some really cool stuff you've done.
27:45
You mentioned the travelling there.
27:46
So we'll do a pulse. If anyone would like to hear a
27:48
second part to this podcast, let me know.
27:51
I'll put a poll in in the link. And let's get Laura back on to
27:54
tell the rest of the stuff, because I don't mind 2 podcasts.
27:58
This could be a flip in a season, to be fair.
28:03
You can have your own channel with me, Jay, quite easily.
28:08
OK, so here's a question. There's two questions I ask
28:11
everybody that comes on this podcast.
28:13
The first question we know, which is the music question.
28:16
And the second question, I this is the bit really where you get
28:19
your say the podcast is called Thick No More.
28:24
After everything you've been through and lived through, what
28:27
does Thick No More mean to you, Laura?
28:28
So Thick no more means to me is breaking free from a label that
28:34
was never mine to carry. For too long, people with
28:37
dyslexia, ADHD, autism have been dismissed as slow, lazy or
28:41
incapable when in reality we're wired differently and that
28:45
difference is a source of strength.
28:47
So somebody who is neurodivergent and now works as
28:50
a coach of therapist, author with business owners in
28:53
supporting other vulnerable people.
28:56
I know first hand how dangerous a fit label can feel.
28:59
It chips away at confidence, highest potential and silence is
29:02
brilliance. So Thick No More is a
29:04
declaration, it's reclaiming the truth.
29:07
Dyslexia often means seeing patterns, creativity and big
29:10
picture ideas others miss. ADHD brings energy, innovation,
29:15
strength and courage to think outside of the box.
29:17
Autism carries depth, focus and unique perspectives that can
29:21
transport systems and communities.
29:24
So Thick No More is about refusing shame and looking self
29:27
belief and own own the strengths that come with neurodivergence.
29:31
It's not about being fixed or fitting in, it's about thriving
29:35
as we are, unapologetically. And for me, it's also a reminder
29:39
of my mission to help others from internalized stigma to self
29:43
acceptance, empowerment and success.
29:45
Because every so-called weakness can be turned into a strength
29:49
and building upon the strengths that we already have.
29:52
So there are so many and there are so many world class and
29:55
entrepreneurs in the world that all have the above.
29:58
So what? And particularly when I work
29:59
with children, I encourage them to do their research on the
30:02
likes of, say, Richard Braxton, Elon Musk, because they get
30:06
given these labels and they just think that they're not going to
30:08
achieve anything. But actually, if you show
30:10
youngsters and particularly people that are doing
30:12
extraordinary things with the same disabilities as them, that
30:15
can change their own perspective.
30:19
Yeah. Thick no more pardon.
30:22
For you when we cry mate. Honestly, I've got tears rolling
30:25
down the face here. So think no more means stepping
30:28
up with shame and breaking egg labels and owning our brilliance
30:32
because something that I've been kind of playing with as well,
30:36
Jay, I think I might, I've mentioned this this to you.
30:38
So we've been given these labels to make us feeling different and
30:42
stupid. Well, actually, we are highly
30:45
creative. We're innovators.
30:47
So to give us a label that makes us feel less.
30:50
Yeah, yeah. Could that be potentially?
30:54
You know, my, my, my, my, my son, my eldest son is really
30:58
into his Marvel stuff, right? And this, this the X-Men.
31:04
So the X-Men are, are, are frowned upon.
31:07
However, the X-Men are the people that save everybody.
31:10
They're the people with the superpowers.
31:11
They're the people that can do things that non Euro divergent
31:15
can't do right. And that what you've just said
31:18
there about we're given a label and automatically when you're
31:23
given that label, it's like a passport on your head.
31:25
You're stuck with it and oh, you know, oh, I didn't realize you
31:29
were dyslexic. Oh, I didn't realize you were
31:31
ADHD. Well, yeah, you're not ADHD,
31:34
you're not dyslexic. Sometimes I agree with you.
31:37
This kind of feels like a battle.
31:39
It almost feels like you're put in a box, the lids put on the
31:43
box. We're going to stick you in that
31:44
corner over there because that's where you need to be.
31:46
If you can find something that suits you, that works for you,
31:49
that you can do, then great. Thumbs up.
31:52
All good for you. If you can't, we're just going
31:53
to leave you there. That statement you've just said
31:56
was unbelievable, honestly. Thank you so much.
32:03
It's spot on everything you've just said.
32:05
Thank you. I, I, I, I want to thank you
32:08
personally because I know how difficult that was.
32:13
And the fact that you've been so open and honest is unbelievable.
32:17
And what it does do for me is shows that anyone that's
32:21
listening right now, even in the darkest of times, there is hope,
32:25
there's creativity, and there is the possibility to change.
32:28
Listen to this story. Listen to Laura's story.
32:31
I'm going to put Laura's details in the bottom of the podcast.
32:35
And Laura will happily, because she has with me, she'll happily
32:38
talk to you. I think the most important thing
32:45
to remember from days, from today's conversation is if it
32:48
has resonated with you and you know somebody that needs to hear
32:53
it, please share it. Laura's just absolutely nailed
32:58
this on the head. No one's alone, right?
33:01
We are thick no more. Laura, thank you so much.
33:05
You're a beautiful individual and this has been an absolute
33:08
honour to talk to you. Thank you, Jay.
33:10
You're very welcome. And likewise, you're also a very
33:13
beautiful human.