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