00:00Joseph, welcome to Adulting with Autism.
00:04Thank you for having me, April.
00:06And for those who don't know April and I kind of know each other, not IRL,
00:12but I had April on my show, weirdly, on April Fool's Day of all days in this year,
00:212026, to discuss autism spectrum.
00:24So it was weird having that serious conversation drop on April Fool's Day.
00:32But we had a great discussion.
00:34But I'm here to discuss ADHD OCD spectrum instead today.
00:41But it's fortuitous since today, being Monday, August the 10th,
00:49that we're recording behind the scenes for people,
00:53while the vaccine schedule was just changed,
00:56not saying that people shouldn't get vaccines,
01:00but that while we don't know they increase the risk of autism for sure,
01:08why take the chance?
01:09There's no need to take the chance till we're sure.
01:13And try to nip in the bud this continually skyrocketing autism rate.
01:22And now a dozen vaccines are recommended early on and yet spread out so that,
01:31and the other couple dozen aren't being said, you don't need them.
01:36But the risk of a young child becoming exposed to is 99.999% not realistic.
01:47So why rush them into a vaccine?
01:50They can get those later.
01:52And I think you and I both talked about that on my Christitutionalist podcast episode.
01:59I'm wearing my shirt, although the Riverside is showing it backwards.
02:04You and I discussed that, and if I recall correctly, we agreed.
02:08Why take that chance if they can wait for some of these vaxes?
02:13Neither of us are saying don't get them.
02:17It's just that you don't need them at such an early age, yes?
02:21This is true.
02:22This is what I believe, personally.
02:25Me too, personally.
02:27And until the data can catch up, why, if there's no need to take the risk,
02:34why be pushing that risk on people?
02:38It's just common sense, right?
02:41You would think.
02:43But you know where we live.
02:44Yeah.
02:45Common sense is very uncommon these days, yes.
02:50But anyway, ADHD, OCD, glad to be able to talk about that as a spectrum also,
02:59because that seems to be growing, and diagnoses of that and those things being on the rise.
03:07Like, I suffer bipolarism of the two.
03:12Sometimes I could be in the middle of an episode with someone else, and my ADHD will kick in,
03:20and I'll lose my train of thought on a question I'm answering.
03:26And other times, I know I'm going too long on this answer because my OCD is kicking in,
03:35and I'm obsessing about what otherwise would be a simple answer.
03:40What do usually people get wrong about OCD and ADHD?
03:44Well, just that, that the two are mutually exclusive.
03:48They're not!
03:50They can go together at times, and someone like me that they are bipolar in that way
03:57can really be extra nerve-wracking because, you know, at times you'll be,
04:05at times both can appear almost at the same time.
04:09One minute you'll be obsessing, trying to get to sleep, but your mind won't shut off,
04:16which led to other health issues with me.
04:19I'm on disability.
04:21I got a whole host of problems, anxiety and stress because of the ADHD, OCD.
04:28I have trouble sleeping because I have that OCD.
04:32And another part of the problem is people hear OCD, they think Howie Mandel and germophobia.
04:41I just released a recent book, Rollercoasters, The Life Kind, where character Rick suffers from OCD,
04:51so I could address that very issue.
04:55It's not just germophobia, it's indeed obtrusive compulsive disorder thoughts that won't let you be.
05:05Like, I'll be in the middle of trying to go to sleep, but my brain will obsess about an issue
05:12that's not important right now.
05:15I can put it off to another day, but my brain won't let me.
05:21But then in the middle of obsessing about that, the ADHD might kick in and make me start to obsess
05:29about something else.
05:30And it becomes such a cycle that, you know, and you can't live unless if you're someone miraculously like Trump.
05:41I so envy him in that, you know, like him, hate him, whatever.
05:45I'm not talking about his presidency.
05:47I'm just talking about him as a person and as someone who gets by on so little sleep.
05:54I envy, I wish that were the case, because I have chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome as one of my
06:04many issues.
06:05So I need 8, 10, 12, every once in a while, I need 16 hours sleep, or I can't function.
06:17So you've even written songs about it.
06:20Yes, yes, I have a whole playlist.
06:24Yeah, I've got a Christian playlist.
06:27I've got a parody songs playlist.
06:30But yes, I've got an ADHD slash OCD playlist with like a half dozen.
06:37I don't know.
06:37It might be up to a dozen songs now.
06:40On Suno, tinyurl.com slash JLD.
06:46That stands for Joseph Leonard Detroit.
06:50Jay Leonard Detroit is my social media handle across most platforms.
06:56And yeah, I've got one song about the obsessive nights called Wired.
07:02And it's this, you know, spastic thrash metal techno mashup that's, you know, it's like, because that's the point.
07:15That's your brain screaming at you.
07:18Not shutting up, not shutting up, not letting go, not letting you have any peace.
07:25And in the song, I say, I pray for a moment's peace.
07:30So yeah, I'm trying to bring ADHD, OCD awareness as why I had you on the autism spectrum awareness need.
07:42So has ADHD and OCD helped in your writing and podcasting?
07:51Now, that's a good question, right?
07:54It's not all negative.
07:55Indeed, if you're an employer, you almost kind of like somebody that has OCD because you want them to be
08:05able to focus on a problem and get that problem solved, not let go of that problem till it's solved.
08:13So at times, yeah, in my IT career, it was beneficial to me.
08:19But at night when I'm trying to sleep and shut my brain off, it wasn't, which is why my body
08:27shut down and I've got all these other health issues and why I'm on disability.
08:32But yeah, if you're, let's say, mild on the OCD spectrum, that could be a benefit.
08:41And you're right, it helps with my writing.
08:45And indeed, though, I'd never really dealt with health issues in any of my books until Rollercoaster is the life
08:53kind, partly inspired by your visit on my Christitutionalist podcast talking about autism, because I had another author.
09:03I know I talked to you about it, who in one of her books, in her series, dealt with a
09:11character that had autism to present autism awareness.
09:16And after talking to her and talking to you, I thought to myself, I need to put the OCD issue
09:23in one of my books.
09:24So Rollercoaster Tycoon is an old video game I used to play.
09:39Rollercoasters, the life kind is the book title, and it's an e-book exclusive so I can keep the cost
09:46down.
09:47And no, you don't need a Kindle device to read it.
09:51Any free e-reader you can download anywhere that deals with an e-pub file, e-pub file, can read
10:01that.
10:01So I release a book, you know, at a low, if you're not doing a print copy, you don't have
10:09all those extra print costs driving up the price of the book.
10:14Excuse me, pardon me.
10:15I just had lunch a bit ago, and it's deciding to revisit me.
10:19Pardon, pardon, I beg your pardon.
10:22But it is what it is, right?
10:24Live, well, not live, we're recording, but they know what I mean.
10:28We're talking live now.
10:30The wonders of, you know, things that can happen.
10:34Anyway, see, there's a classic example.
10:39ADHD, OCD.
10:41I didn't, there was no need for me to talk about my birth, but yet my OCD wouldn't let me
10:50move on from it.
10:52See what I mean?
10:53It's a live example of how OCD can be so destructive to somebody.
11:02Something that could have just been a, it happened, move on.
11:05But no, my brain wouldn't let it be.
11:09So I wanted to address OCD, not so much ADHD, but OCD in my Roller Coasters, The Lifetime book that
11:21came out in May of this year.
11:23To touch on that, because people don't know what they don't know.
11:27And I don't want to preach to people about it.
11:31I mean, I kind of am here today.
11:34We're purposely having a session.
11:37I'm not trying to beat people over the head about the disorder in the book, but it makes the character
11:45more normal, right?
11:49He's got, everybody's got an issue.
11:53Hey, Rick does too.
11:55So let's discuss it.
11:57Let's not ignore it.
11:59Let's talk the elephant in the room, right?
12:02Let's address it.
12:03And again, I thank you so much for having me on.
12:07And again, tinyurl.com slash JLD on Suno.
12:15Check out my ADHD slash OCD playlist for those songs.
12:21And especially the Wired song that, again, it's meant to be in your face, loud and obnoxious, because that's what
12:32the damn disorder is to people who have it.
12:38Instant screaming in your head that won't let you be.
12:42So what are practical ways that you work schedules and checklists and all that?
12:49Yeah, I hate to peddle drugs, you know, but sometimes, I don't know, I don't try, I haven't tried Relaxium,
13:00right?
13:01Or Z-Quil to help you sleep.
13:05I've tried melatonin and that stuff, you know, the more natural sleep aids.
13:13And I think it helps a little, but at the same time, being on disability, I can't afford the bottles
13:21of the medication, right?
13:23So it's just something you have to learn to try to calm your mind in other ways.
13:32Other things I've got, I forget what playlist on Suno, but calm, calming.
13:39I've got a couple songs in there that I wrote to try to calm the mind, that if your mind
13:47is indeed going a million miles a minute, you can listen to the calming songs.
13:53And hopefully that will help lower the heart rate and slow the brainwaves to allow you to be able to
14:02get to sleep.
14:04No one size fits all for everybody, obviously.
14:09Also, that's to be said.
14:11So, and it doesn't always even work for me, even though I'm recommending you do that, right?
14:18So, I'm not here as an expert.
14:21I'm here as a sufferer, suffering with everybody else and just trying to raise awareness.
14:27Hopefully one day they'll find a cure, as they say, but I doubt anytime soon.
14:34So, what boundaries have been non-negotiable for you, especially around your sleep, your stress, internet?
14:42Yeah, well, I spend, I've got a couple songs about that with online in the title or social media in
14:52the title.
14:53Indeed, all this obsession we've all had, the dopamine hit that we'll end up getting,
15:02and whether it's, you know, subconscious pulling us back in to be on social media all the time,
15:09chasing the likes, even though there's no real value behind any of that,
15:17other than the minor dopamine hit that doesn't last, isn't of a lasting value.
15:27So, I've got songs on that, too.
15:29So, I try to calm myself down and shut myself off of social media as bedtime draws closer
15:40to, again, try to slow down the brain and not, but I still find myself,
15:47the OCD has got me back up, you know, grabbing the keyboard.
15:52Ah!
15:54Post, post, post.
15:55Post, but yeah, that is mind over matter, I guess we're talking about here, right?
16:03And even, like, melatonin, placebo effect.
16:07If it can help, even as a placebo, that's a good thing if you can afford it.
16:14So, you just got to find what may help you at least some of the time,
16:20but not likely going to help you all of the time.
16:25What do you do when you realize your brain is spiraling or doom-scrolling?
16:33That's one of my songs, doom-scrolling.
16:36Now that you say that, Dad, indeed, that's one of my songs on Suno, doom-scrolling.
16:41You've just got to train yourself the best you can to recognize you're in the doom-scroll spiral
16:56and the need to exit it.
16:59And I know that it's easier said than done.
17:03And, again, it doesn't always work for me, even at times I may recognize it's happening,
17:10but yet there I am typing away.
17:12I can't stop.
17:14I can't let it go because my OCD brain just won't let me stop posting.
17:19And in one of my songs, one of my songs is Gone Too Far.
17:24And in the song, I apologize.
17:27I apologize.
17:29At times I know maybe I've gone too far, said something I shouldn't have.
17:35But it's not the devil that made me do it.
17:39It's my OCD made me do it.
17:41I know I should be adopting a quieter or a kinder, gentler tone,
17:50but yet the OCD is pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing like the devil on the shoulder.
17:58Spit and spew fire.
18:01More fire.
18:02More controversy means more dopamine hits.
18:07And it's not healthy.
18:10Okay, where can people find you, your podcasts, your books?
18:16The books?
18:18Well, the easiest place to find me is through Linktree, if you've heard of that.
18:24L-I-N-K-T-R dot E-E slash J Leonard Detroit.
18:31Not J the letter Leonard.
18:34It looks French.
18:35It's not Leonard.
18:36It's Leonard without an O.
18:38So, Linktree dot E-E slash J Leonard Detroit.
18:44There comes lunch again.
18:47And you'll find most of my links there.
18:50Or you can find me at my author site, JosephMLeonard.us.
18:56Or my primary bestseller book, TerrorStrikes.info.
19:01Those are the main ways to find me.
19:05Or, of course, JosephMLeonard on Amazon.
19:08But beware.
19:09I am Joseph Leonard.
19:12The middle initial.
19:13Because there is a Joseph Leonard.
19:16Spelt the same way, but without the middle initial.
19:19Who's also another author of Christian books.
19:25Like most of my books are Christian, too.
19:28So, I want you looking up me on Amazon, not him.
19:32Right?
19:32So, don't forget the middle initial F for Martin.
19:36Joseph, thank you so much for coming on to my podcast.
19:40Oh, thank you so much for having me, April.
19:43I really appreciate it.
19:45And at some point in the future, I really want, and I'm not saying it just to say it,
19:51but I want to have you back.
19:53We'll have to connect through Podmatch again.
19:56And I'll have to have you back on my show again.
19:59And we'll promote this show that I've been on your show.
20:03There.
20:03Completely.
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