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00:00There are plenty of types of people in this universe besides humans.
00:07Human people need to learn to love spiders.
00:10Human people need to learn to love spiders.
00:17Yeah, Kevin, she'll be coming behind you.
00:20Through this way?
00:22Yeah, from down over there.
00:23Oh, okay.
00:26Everybody, she's on her way.
00:30Hi.
00:35You've got a big crew here.
00:37Who are they here for?
00:38You.
00:39Hi, everybody.
00:41Hello.
00:42Hi.
00:43Hello.
00:44Nice to meet you.
00:45Hello, hello.
00:46How are you here?
00:47Hi, nice to meet you.
00:48My name's Lyle.
00:49Lyle?
00:50Yes.
00:51Nice to meet you, Lyle.
00:52Nice to meet you.
00:53Did you come off the plane today to come here?
00:55I came all the way from Singapore.
00:57Oh, you're from China?
00:59From Asia.
01:00From Asia.
01:01Who was just there visiting.
01:02Oh, cool, cool.
01:03You're one of my favorite dragons on Dragon's Dam.
01:05Oh, thank you.
01:06You're now my favorite.
01:07Congrats on 20 seasons on Dragon's Dam.
01:08I know.
01:09Yeah, congratulations.
01:10Nice to meet you.
01:11Dickinson.
01:12What's your name?
01:13Name's Luca.
01:14Luca?
01:15Yes.
01:16Juliana.
01:17Hi, Juliana.
01:18Hi, Juliana.
01:19It's nice to meet you in person versus on TV.
01:21Oh, it's so nice to meet you, too.
01:23Are there more of you coming out?
01:25That's right.
01:26Yeah.
01:27Oh, wow.
01:28Wait a minute.
01:29I had no idea there were so many.
01:30Yeah.
01:31Wow.
01:32I'm a little nervous.
01:33Don't be nervous.
01:34It's okay.
01:35Okay.
01:36Perfect.
01:37Be yourself, for sure.
01:38Be yourself, yeah.
01:39Okay, everybody, I think we're ready to get started.
01:50Juliana, can you open the show for us?
01:58Welcome to the Assembly, a collective of autistic and neurodivergent interviewers.
02:05We are very delighted to have you join us today.
02:08Our rules are no subjects are out of bounds, no questions are off the table, and all might
02:16happen.
02:17Oh.
02:18Can you please tell us who you are and embrace yourself for something fun?
02:22Um, okay.
02:23Well, thank you, Juliana.
02:24I am Arlene Dickinson, and I'm going to have fun.
02:28I came all this way to have fun.
02:30So, yes, we're going to have a good time.
02:33Our first question is Lucas.
02:36Thank you so much for doing this.
02:45I know you've won the Queen Elizabeth III Platinum Jubilee Medal.
02:49Mm-hmm.
02:50Is that correct?
02:51Mm-hmm.
02:52I'm also King Charles III Coronation Medal.
02:53Oh, wow.
02:55That's amazing.
02:57I'd love to know why you got the King's Coronation Medal.
03:01My work in autism advocacy among others.
03:03Okay.
03:04Wow.
03:05Okay.
03:06Anyway, my question to you, Arlene, is for anyone in the autistic community or any community
03:09member, down on their luck, is there any advice or anything you would give to them?
03:12Because you've gone for so much in your life.
03:15So, um, I, I came from, like, when we came from South Africa, my family had, like, $50.
03:25We had no money at all.
03:26And so we lived very, very poor.
03:29We had no money for groceries.
03:31So food was a very big thing in our home.
03:33We couldn't go to the grocery store to get food whenever we wanted it, because we didn't
03:36have any money.
03:37So we couldn't just go to the store to get food.
03:39You know, we had food, but it was very, wasn't like a regular thing.
03:43We never had new clothes, but I never had a new dress until I was 13 years old.
03:48Holy.
03:49Um, and that was because I actually saved my money from babysitting to be able to buy
03:54that dress.
03:55Um, and it, it cost me, like, $12.
03:58I can remember this, like, yesterday.
03:59Um, and that was, like, a lot of money back then.
04:02Mm-hmm.
04:03And I think when you come from nothing, it can be easy to become a victim and say that you're
04:09always going to have nothing, but, but it's advocating for yourself and doing the things
04:16that are going to tell you that you can get out of the situation you're in.
04:20Absolutely.
04:21And that takes, um, courage.
04:24And I think when you're feeling down, remember that you actually are shining for somebody else,
04:29and you're making their life better.
04:31Well, I really do appreciate that, and everyone here thanks you for that.
04:35Thanks, Lucas.
04:36And next is Damon.
04:38Hello, Arlene, I'm Damon.
04:50It is lovely to have you here with us today.
04:53I am non-speaking, so we'll need a little time to type out my question.
04:59As a non-speaking individual, it often happens that people assume I don't understand the world around me.
05:14They address me as though I am an adorable little kid.
05:31Consequently, I am anxious in new situations.
05:36So, I am wondering, are there aspects of your life in which you feel insecure?
05:43Oh, Damon, such a good question.
05:48Um, I'm really insecure in places where I feel judged by my appearance.
06:00So, I almost didn't go on the TV show, Damon, because I thought people were going to judge me by the way I looked.
06:09And it was a new situation for me, and I thought they were going to think that I was either too old, or too overweight,
06:15or I had too many wrinkles, or I wasn't smart enough, or didn't know what I was doing, and that made me really anxious.
06:24So, I suffer from anxiety attacks and panic attacks, um, often.
06:30And they're scary, right?
06:32They're horrible, because you wake up in the middle of the night, and you can be really upset.
06:36But I think we need to just remember that you shouldn't care what they think about you.
06:41You should only care about how you feel about yourself.
06:43When I have anxiety attacks, I tend to, I try really hard to do breathing exercises,
06:49and, um, all the things that they tell you to do when you have anxiety attacks.
06:54So, I do all that stuff.
06:55I hope maybe that'll help you too, because it helps me.
07:16Thanks.
07:18Sorry about your panic attacks.
07:21You are exceptionally lovely, and thanks for the advice.
07:25Yeah, anxiety, it's not fun, it sucks.
07:28But don't let it get to you.
07:30You're, you're great.
07:34Okay, darling.
07:36Okay.
07:37Are you gonna give me a hug?
07:39Oh, thank you.
07:40Oh, that's all.
07:44Yeah.
07:45Yeah.
07:51Alex is next.
07:52Say, my yarn's tangled.
07:54Uh-huh.
07:55There you go.
07:57Okay.
07:58Alex, is that a snail?
07:59Yes, it is.
08:00It is a slug.
08:01I love it.
08:02Yes.
08:03Would you like to, would you like to try it out?
08:05Yeah.
08:06Let me try it out.
08:07Thank you for sharing it with me.
08:08It's a slug.
08:09There you go.
08:10This is a mini slug.
08:11They do come in larger sizes as well.
08:13I like it.
08:14I like it.
08:15I like it.
08:17Fantastic.
08:18I'm glad you like it.
08:19Okay.
08:20So my question for you today is, what is your biggest weakness in your career?
08:24My biggest weakness in my career has been probably not believing in myself enough early
08:32on.
08:33Yeah.
08:34I think when we're trying to build our lives, it's really easy to, to defeat yourself
08:40before anyone else defeats you, right?
08:42Definitely.
08:43And so to tell yourself you can't do things and to tell yourself you're not good enough.
08:47And so I think my biggest weakness has been not believing in myself early enough to be
08:54able to realize I could do more than I thought I could.
08:57That's fantastic.
08:58I started my career out like a slug, I would say.
09:01I was a little slow and I was sliding along.
09:04I needed to grow into something that was a little bit bigger and stronger.
09:07Yeah.
09:08I don't want to take this from you.
09:09So thank you for sharing it with me though.
09:11It actually helped to have it.
09:14Next is Luke.
09:19Hey Luke.
09:23Hi Arlene.
09:25Thank you for being a guest on the assembly.
09:29My question for you is, have you always had a love for people?
09:34As an introvert myself, I find extroverts interesting.
09:42That's such a good question, Luke.
09:45Oh, you made me cry.
09:50Aw.
09:51Aw.
09:52Okay.
09:53You made me cry.
09:54Go ahead.
09:56Okay.
09:58So I'm an introvert too, Luke.
10:00And people think I'm an extrovert because I'm on TV and I'm like, I'm out there as a public
10:05personality.
10:06But I think, I think introverts are just people who feel things inside, but they still, it doesn't
10:18mean that they don't like people, right?
10:20Just because you're introvert doesn't mean you don't like people.
10:23And I love people, but I like having just a few people around me at a time.
10:28The reason I'm crying is my parents taught me to love people.
10:32But I am very much an introvert, very insecure introvert.
10:37So it's, it's, it's interesting how we can see people on the outside and we can judge them for what we see.
10:44And we think they're a certain way, but we never know what people are feeling on the inside, right?
10:49Right.
10:50Right.
10:51It's a really great question, Luke.
10:53And thank you for recording it.
11:00All that, all that work on my makeup, gone.
11:02It's just natural, natural feeling.
11:06It's natural.
11:07Natural to show emotion.
11:08Yeah.
11:09It's natural to show emotion.
11:10Yeah.
11:11The kindness that makes you beautiful, actually.
11:12Not, uh, not really the makeup.
11:13Aww.
11:14Yeah.
11:15It's okay to be emotional.
11:16It's all right.
11:17Everyone has those moments.
11:18It's okay.
11:19I don't know.
11:20You can't wait.
11:21You can't wait, I can't wait.
11:22It's just some reason.
11:23Okay, my friend.
11:24They're on the red.
11:25It's all right.
11:26It's all right.
11:27Hello, Arlene.
11:28Thanks for coming here.
11:30Um, since nothing is off the table, what led you to have an affair?
11:37Oh!
11:38Oh!
11:39Oh!
11:40Wow!
11:41wow i mean okay well
11:54hello arlene since nothing is off the table what led you to have an affair oh
12:02wow i mean okay well
12:14well what led you in having an affair what led me to have an affair
12:19my ex-husband he was nine years older than me and we got married when i was 19 years old and and i
12:26didn't i don't know like i just wasn't thinking very well i was young and i was in a hurry to get
12:31married and i was in a hurry to fall in love and i was really unhappy in my marriage and i wasn't very
12:40mature and i was looking for love in all the wrong places that's what led me to home right
12:51yeah i was very young and i was just the first person that showed me some love
12:55i thought loved me and it was exactly the wrong thing to do
12:59so i'm not very proud of that moment but that's why i did it we appreciate thank you for sharing
13:05yeah yeah you're welcome next is dylan
13:13hello arlene my question for you is you wake up and everyone thinks you are kevin o'leary
13:22what would you do would you freak out or lean in what would you do he is so different than i am we
13:35couldn't be more opposite of each other like well first of all i have hair
13:41is that a little bird and second of all i like to make people happy not tell them that they can't do
13:56something i would be doing everything i could to tell them that i was a nice version of kevin o'leary
14:02kevin o'leary 2.0 i like that yeah yeah yeah thanks dylan uh bobby you're up oh okay
14:20hey bobby is there a childhood experience that still haunts you today and how does it affect your life now
14:27um yes when my when my parents got divorced when i was 13 years old because i came from a very poor
14:41very poor upbringing and that was a really difficult time for me i had to learn to take care of myself
14:50and that i couldn't rely on anyone else to take care of me and so that was very hard sorry to hear
14:56that yeah thank you that still drives me today where i feel like um everything i have could be taken
15:02away from me tomorrow and so i'm still very driven to to to do as best as i can and take care of myself
15:10and my family and it still drives me every day yeah thanks bobby nicole you're next
15:26i've had some seizures before so i'm using a walker like that okay so due to my autism i was ostracized
15:39as a student my question for you is what was your social life like in school
15:48well i'm sad to hear you were ostracized because of your autism that's that's just wrong um i was
16:00younger in school so i i was i was i was a smart kid so i was two years younger than everybody else in my
16:08class and so when i graduated high school i was 16 years old and everybody else would have been almost
16:1418 years old and i didn't fit in i didn't fit in with the older kids and i didn't fit in with the
16:20younger kids because the younger kids were behind me in school and the older kids thought i was just
16:24a kid you know they didn't want to hang with me and i wasn't one of the cool kids like i was not a cool
16:30kid at all i was like really nerdy and i just didn't i wasn't cool i still am not a cool kid
16:36like i you know what i think it's okay like all the kids in school that were like the cool kids
16:41if you meet them today they're not as cool today so you just realize that that's their moment in
16:46time they peak early that's what i say they peak early um but i i think kids can be super mean
16:55and i and i and yeah i've seen that yeah an experience that's been my experience yeah we
17:01were all surrounded by assholes when we were kids exactly yeah yeah yeah
17:06yeah that was a great question thank you thank you sophie you're next
17:18okay so my question is uh bring up your podcast um with the title arlene is alone
17:27uh what's it like being alone at your age oh wow well i actually really like being alone
17:40because i get to do whatever i want whenever i want to do it and i actually i'm never really alone
17:47if you've watched the podcast i always have people on the show but being alone is nothing to be afraid of
17:54being alone can can be scary when it first happens to you but you can again you can be strong and
18:01just because i'm not with somebody like romantically doesn't mean i don't have friends i have lots of
18:06friends yeah yeah yeah thanks sophie luca you are next hello arlene dickinson hi i'm here to ask you
18:16question this one's gonna kind of cut a little deep so i heard you got divorced
18:25and i wonder like how did you feel um when when that divorce happened when you lost custody of children
18:36like you guys go right to the heart yeah
18:38um how i felt at the time it was devastating it was awful it was really really hard and so
18:49going through divorce when you have little kids was not easy and i felt like a failure
18:56um what kind of failure did you feel like you were on on did you feel like you were falling off a
19:02waterfall i think i felt like i was hitting a wall like i was driving into a wall because i i felt like
19:11it stopped me and and so i'd say it was more like that you know my my ex-husband is no longer alive
19:18so what i would say is you have to forgive i had to forgive him and i hope he forgave me
19:26because if you carry hate in your heart and it just makes you unhappy and and what do they say you
19:33don't want somebody living rent-free in your head understood
19:40that was fun
20:04that was fun great okay everybody is back kevin you are next hello arlene welcome and congrats
20:21on 20 seasons of dragon's den so i'd like to congratulate thank you so my question is um
20:26when you got your first divorce you were kicked out of the mormon church how did that feel
20:30how do you feel about the church now wow yeah um i did get kicked out of the church and it at the
20:40time it felt like it was devastating but you know to me religion is only good if it teaches you
20:48how to be a better human not if it teaches you to divide and to think that other people aren't
20:55are good enough and and the church actually gave me a lot of good foundational teachings that i
21:01take with me still today um so i don't i don't hold it against the church that they excommunicated me
21:11in some ways they set me free to be who i am so yeah like when the door closes and the door opens
21:17that's right yeah similar to that yeah just because they didn't want me doesn't mean somebody else
21:21like yeah yeah yeah as long as you feel happy now it doesn't yeah exactly yeah and i do feel happy
21:27now yeah excellent thank you kevin thanks kevin okay uh next is juliana
21:39when writing your book persuasion what was the biggest thing that it forced you to admit to yourself
21:46that you hadn't said out loud before you know yeah that first book was really hard because
21:54when you write a book you have to really be prepared to say things that you haven't said to
21:59everybody before so that you can be really honest and transparent and so for me it was admitting all of
22:06the things that i doubted about myself it was very difficult to admit out loud you know things that i
22:15wasn't sure about and and didn't hadn't done right um in particular you know like the divorce i'd gone
22:21through and having to raise my four children and all of these very personal things that i now was
22:27sharing with complete strangers because they were going to read a book about it but when you share
22:33things that are really personal and hard for you to share it actually makes you stronger not weaker
22:39right being vulnerable actually makes you a stronger human thank you thank you juliana devin is next
22:51hey devin uh adam haring my question for you is i worry about professor what starting
23:05how do you feel about professor how do i feel about the future yeah um i'm worried about the future because
23:28i think people are kind of gotten a little bit
23:30how do you feel about it out there right now and the world can be feeling a little bit like it's
23:36spinning too fast if that makes sense you know do you ever get the sense that things are going too
23:40fast yeah i think things aren't in control right yeah i feel that way about the world right now
23:46um but i think the future is going to be better i think people are going to hopefully figure out how to
23:51hold hands and get along and i really want to believe that people are going to sort it out i hope that
23:58technology doesn't replace this what i love about this is it's people talking to people
24:04what i hate about technology is that we're looking at our phones or looking at our computers and we're
24:09not talking to each other anymore so i really like i hope the future is more human interaction
24:17great thank you devin
24:18thanks devin thank you julia is next hey arlene hey and first of all i know that when someone else
24:29tells you this it doesn't mean anything all the time um but i think you're gorgeous oh thank you
24:35oh thank you i'm sorry you feel that way about yourself i get that way too yeah yeah who in your life do you think
24:44sees you as you see yourself oh wow i don't think anybody sees us as we see ourselves i i actually
24:56think we we how we think we are is generally not how other people see us how we think we're showing
25:03up might not be how other people are receiving us because of where they're at in their lives
25:07i don't even think my kids see me for as i am i don't think anybody does i think i see myself for
25:14who i think i am but i'm not sure how i show up always so it's interesting but thank you for saying
25:21what you said like the beginning that means a lot it's true you're beautiful too thank you yeah
25:30thank thank you for coming here all right everybody nicole is going to close the show for us
25:37so how was this experience for you it was probably the best tv experience i've ever had and i've had
25:58lots of tv experience so it was amazing was it hard or easy it was harder than i thought because you asked
26:06really good personal tough questions and it was easier than i thought because you're all so kind and
26:14easy to get along with did you learn anything yeah i learned that we can be really quick to judge we can
26:23be too fast to assume that people you know can't do things because of their either their physical
26:29appearance or their you know their challenges like we all have and i've learned to again remember to be
26:37understanding and patient and to help other people succeed is really what i care about so i've learned
26:43a lot yeah thank you for joining us thank you so much thank you everybody
26:49nice to meet you guys nice to meet you nice to meet you
27:05something i don't know what did i say okay everyone everyone come on okay i'll go
27:11i'll stand beside you how's that yeah thank you you're welcome get big heart
27:18yeah yeah that's a little laugh time everybody say love
27:30bye everybody thank you nice to meet you
27:33hi carly thank you they're like amazing you could just i could just talk to them for the hours
27:41they're questions are like hard questions
27:54you
27:57you
27:59you
28:01you
28:03you
28:05you
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