Ella - Navigating Life and Education with Misophonia

Ella is a high school student in Washington State and we talk about life at school, her miso origin story, meeting Dr. Marsha Johnson, ADA accommodations and her plans for the future.
 
Shout-out to the 2020 Misophonia convention! This is the annual convention I sometimes talk about which was actually the place I thought of starting this podcast. It was going to be in Philadelphia this year but it’ll be all online now. This is the annual event where they have speakers going over all the latest research, coping strategies, legal topics about workplace accommodations, advice for families, and lots of other great topics for us. Registration is open at https://misophonia-association.org/2020-misophonia-convention/
 
Another shout-out to Andrew Crandall Design, a photographer and graphic designer, and guest #2 of the podcast. Andrew sells products with his work on them and you can. Find him on the web and Instagram. Every week I will promote another business from the Miso List, a directory of businesses owned by misophones. Submit your own there too!

Adeel [0:01]: Welcome to the Misfonia Podcast. This is Season 2, Episode 10. My name's Adeel Ahmad, and I have Misfonia. Today I'm talking with Ella. Ella is a high school student in Washington State, and we talk about life at school, her MISO origin story, meeting Dr. Marcia Johnson, ADA accommodations, and her plans for the future. This week I want to give a shout out to the 2020 Misophonia Convention. This is the annual convention I sometimes talk about, which was actually the place I thought of starting this podcast last year. This year it was going to be in Philadelphia, but it'll be all online now in early October. This is the annual event where they have speakers going over all the latest research, coping strategies, legal topics about workplace accommodations, advice for families, and lots of great topics for us. I've actually also been invited and will be giving a talk as well. But trust me, the other talks I'm sure will be far more interesting. You can get tickets at the Misophonia Association website or I'll have links in the show notes. Also, don't forget about the MisoList, which is the online directory of businesses owned by misophones. This week, I want to give a shout out to Andrew Crandall Design, a photographer and graphic designer, and also guest number two of this podcast. Andrew sells products with his work on them, and you can find them on his website and Instagram, which are in the show notes and also at misolist.com. Submit your own business there, too. Now, let's start my conversation with Ella. Well, welcome, Ella. Welcome to the podcast. Good to have you here.

Ella [1:47]: Thank you. Good to be here.

Adeel [1:49]: Yeah. So, yeah, like I said in our kind of pre-talk, I don't know much about you. Why don't you start off, maybe let me know, kind of let us know where you're located.

Ella [2:00]: Well, I'm located in Lake Stevens, Washington. I've been here for as long as I can remember. I'm a high school student. And yeah, I mean, Washington is beautiful, the scenery, the mountains. So it's pretty nice. I can't complain.

Adeel [2:16]: So, Kate, so you're a high school student. What were kind of your first memories? When did you notice that something was wrong?

Ella [2:24]: My earliest memory of misophonia is I remember being in, I think, my sixth grade math class, and the girl next to me was making one of my trigger sounds, and I just remember feeling something inside of me I had never felt before. I had no idea what was going on, and I just knew something was off. After more of those experiences, I like stumbled across a thing called misophonia and it perfectly described what I was going through. I can't tell you how happy that made me because I knew I wasn't crazy.

Adeel [2:58]: Yeah, that's something you hear a lot is that kind of relief after you find out that it has a name. And yeah, I guess around when you were kind of in sixth grade is when press articles were coming out about this online.

Ella [3:15]: Yeah.

Adeel [3:16]: Do you remember like a specific moment or was it just kind of generally in that grade year?

Ella [3:23]: um i think it was just in that first math class when i got sat next to that girl during like the first lesson and she started making one of my trigger noises and i realized what i'm feeling isn't just annoyance like this isn't normal for someone to feel yeah did you know did you know her before or was it um And I kind of felt terrible because I felt like I had this hatred towards this person that I didn't even know just because she was making certain sounds.

Adeel [3:55]: And how did you do in math class? Did you get moved or did you... I talked to my teacher and she moved me.

Ella [4:03]: And she was super nice about it. I don't think I told her that I had misophonia because I wasn't quite... sure yet i wasn't ready to come out and say i have this because i just it was so new to me in that way so she was just really nice about it and she moved me to a different table like halfway through the year gotcha and when and halfway through the year so it took you that long to kind of uh for that to happen is that is that during that period is that when you uh looked online and found out what it was or did you still not know at that point uh i i knew halfway through the year And I feel like the turning point for me was realizing that it wasn't going to go away, so I had to do something about it.

Adeel [4:48]: Yeah. Did you tell your other friends like when you're kind of around at school? Or did you just keep it inside because you weren't sure what it was?

Ella [4:57]: I think I bottled it up definitely way more. I think even now, not a lot of my friends know I have this. Like I told them I was coming on this podcast and they're like, wait, what does that mean?

Adeel [5:10]: yeah gotcha okay so that was your first memory so your family your family doesn't trigger you is that correct or didn't until that point okay did they before or no uh i think they did before but that was just the first memory i really connect to for some reason but it wasn't as intense up until then Gotcha. And then during that year, as this girl was triggering you, did that start to then snowball into kind of making your family triggers worse?

Ella [5:47]: Yes, definitely. I only realized everything that was getting worse when I kind of realized everything that was inside of me wasn't normal. Because up until then, I thought, oh, this is just my family. I mean, everyone gets annoyed with their family. But up until then, I hadn't realized just the extent of all of the emotions and how it wasn't normal and that there was something actually wrong.

Adeel [6:17]: What kind of emotion, do you, can you describe what kind of emotions? I know we all kind of get it. I'm just curious. So what you, what you, you know, what you specifically you're feeling towards that, that girl, did you want to like strangle her?

Ella [6:30]: Definitely. I, I mostly felt hatred and sometimes disgust, mostly hatred and disgust. So that was really terrible. And that made me like a terrible person because she was so sweet and,

Adeel [6:46]: They usually are. Did you try to talk to her? Not about this, but was she in your social circle at all at some point during junior high?

Ella [6:57]: No. Honestly, I feel like if I didn't have misophonia, we would have been good friends because we had a lot in common. But just the fact that I knew if I hung out with her more, that I'd be around her and I'd be around those sounds, I just couldn't put myself through that.

Adeel [7:12]: And so did you just throw the glare at her during class until you moved?

Ella [7:18]: Yeah, pretty much. I kind of feel bad about that.

Adeel [7:20]: Okay, so I think we've talked about her enough. Let's move on to, so you're at home and now it's starting to trigger you during junior high. How did you deal with it with your family?

Ella [7:36]: I told my family that I thought I might have this, and in the beginning, my family, they weren't very receptive, if that makes any sense. They were saying, okay, sure, yeah, you might have this, but they weren't exactly doing anything about it. I think it's like when things got really bad is when they realized, oh, yeah, there's something wrong. um they're pretty they're really receptive they're really really nice about it my dad definitely he is my biggest supporter and he took me to see um oh i'm sorry he took me to see dr marcia johnson and yes yes i almost

Adeel [8:24]: yeah gotcha yeah she's amazing i've met her a couple times she was on she was on an uh yeah i don't know if you've heard but she was on an episode early this year the first one of this year yeah because she's right down in oregon not too far from you um what made everyone think that it got really bad like what was happening um around eighth grade i got pretty depressed

Ella [8:49]: Because of everything that was happening, I felt like I had no control. I felt like all my friends were slipping away because I was just, I couldn't control how I reacted to certain sounds. I just, I felt so alone. And when I told my parents about this, they were realizing this was because of this and that they needed to help, which was... really really helpful because i think that was the moment i realized i wasn't alone and that even though they didn't have misophonia that they still supported me in that way that's great no it's great that you that they stepped in like that with your friends were you um were you acting out against them or maybe were you just kind of uh consciously avoiding them I mostly avoided certain friends and I feel like that made them feel like they were doing something wrong when they weren't. And so I just feel bad about that.

Adeel [9:46]: So they noticed that you were, that something was wrong. Yeah. How did it affect the coming year grades in school throughout junior high?

Ella [9:54]: I've always been a pretty good student. I got straight A's, but it was harder, I think. I feel like it would have been easier if I didn't have misophonia, obviously.

Adeel [10:03]: Of course, yeah.

Ella [10:04]: But I still did get pretty good grades, so I've never really struggled with academics due to this. I feel like almost it's pushed me to be a better student in spite of my misophonia, just to show it like you don't have this power over my future.

Adeel [10:22]: That's great. And did kids, were you teased at all or bullied or anything about it?

Ella [10:29]: There have been times where I've told people that I have this and they think it'd be fun to see if they could get a rise out of me by doing my certain sounds. And it's harder when you're in a building full of... kids that think other people suffering is funny and they just didn't realize the extent that they were doing it so I don't blame them because it doesn't if I'm being honest it doesn't seem like in my eyes even a real thing to them because they don't realize the extent of it so they didn't really know what they were doing and how much it impacted me so I don't blame them for that

Adeel [11:11]: Yeah, if someone isn't in our shoes, I think it is hard to understand.

Ella [11:16]: Yeah.

Adeel [11:17]: The level that, the rise that we get. And so, okay, so then, you know, your parents stepped in and your dad took you to see Dr. Johnson. Yeah, tell me about that. Obviously, that must sound like it was super emotional. What, did you just go once or kind of how, what did you get out of that?

Ella [11:41]: We went once. My whole family went. I think it was in the middle of a vacation. We were going around, then we came and we stopped on our way back. It was really nice for me because she gave me recommendations for these hearing aids that can put white noise into your ears during classes and stuff. And so it helps my reactions not be as strong because my brain is kind of more preoccupied with the noise, with the white noise rather than the trigger noise. So that's helped me a lot, definitely.

Adeel [12:18]: So you're using Widex, I think is one of the brands. So to this day, you're using those...

Ella [12:26]: I'm still using them, yeah.

Adeel [12:27]: Cool, cool, okay. And do you get them, like, tuned every... I don't know how they... I forget how they kind of work, but do they get tuned every once in a while, or is it kind of like you get them once and they're good to go?

Ella [12:40]: Mine have always been pretty good to go, but my dad, he handled, like, the ordering them and stuff, so I don't really know much about it, but I do know that it's helped me quite a lot.

Adeel [12:51]: Gotcha, okay. And... And so did it start to help immediately? Like you started high school and then everything was a little bit better. What kind of changes did you notice?

Ella [13:06]: I noticed that my reactions weren't quite as strong. And I noticed it was easier for me to stay in control because I could focus on something else that was going into my ears rather than the only thing that seemed to be occupying my mind. And so that has definitely, it hasn't made my misophonia go away. That's for sure. But it has helped.

Adeel [13:29]: Do you have them on all the time?

Ella [13:31]: Not all the time. Mostly just either in classes or in situations where I feel like I need them. I'll pull them out. I'll put them on just like discreetly.

Adeel [13:42]: Yeah, like meals maybe?

Ella [13:44]: Well, actually, no. For meals, I use these sound-blocking headphones that my parents got for me, and they're really nice because they block out all of the eating noises, and so I can actually sit down and have dinner with my family without flipping out.

Adeel [13:59]: Yeah, are they noise-canceling or just very sound-blocking?

Ella [14:03]: They're noise-canceling.

Adeel [14:05]: Gotcha. Okay. And yeah, so you can have meals with your family with those on and you're able to do school with the Widex. Okay. So you've been going through high school, so it's been quite a bit better. So did you notice that your social circles started to kind of return to normal a little bit or did that kind of like go in a different direction?

Ella [14:30]: I noticed my social circle has always been quite large because I'm in band, I'm in theater, I'm in drumline. So I've always had a lot of acquaintances. So socially, it's never really been an issue except for in eighth grade when I couldn't really handle anything. So ever since then, it's just been really nice. My friends are awesome. They support me in every way. And, yeah, I don't know what I would do without them. They're like my second family.

Adeel [15:01]: Gotcha. Okay, so these are a little bit different than the ones who are kind of confused, I guess, in junior high. These are the kind of more mature kind of high school kids, and they're super supportive. That's great. And let's back it up to kind of where you were talking about theater and band. Yeah. Theater, you know, I'm imagining like, you know, the worst case you're alone on stage and a bunch of people are, you know, in the audience triggering. Yeah. Any, I don't know, any anecdotes there?

Ella [15:33]: I honestly I love being on stage but when it's not as dark as I'd like and you see people doing physical triggers it's harder to stay in the scene but I feel like that's made me grow as an actress to be in that situation and to learn how to block out everybody else.

Adeel [15:55]: Yeah, that's very insightful. Okay. So you kind of grow as an actress, but does it also maybe use it as kind of a way to strengthen your, you know, psychological immunity to misophonia to kind of put yourself in that situation? Yeah. Okay.

Ella [16:10]: Definitely. Definitely.

Adeel [16:14]: And then in band, I guess, I mean, in band and drumline, I mean, you've got a lot of noise. So that's during a performance. I don't know, any like, you know, as people are practicing or maybe, you know, the brass instrument players are, they probably, I don't know, they might make certain sounds. Do you get bothered much during practices or is it not really? There's so much going on.

Ella [16:42]: Um, there's so much going on, especially since I'm a percussionist, which is probably the worst place for me to be, but I just, I love it. So I'm going to stay there, but there's just so much going on that I can't really hear any one specific thing. So I feel like that's really helpful in a sense.

Adeel [16:59]: Well, you probably kind of at the back, you kind of behind everybody and furthest from the audience, depending on how things are set up. Right.

Ella [17:06]: So exactly. Hiding behind all the xylophones. Yeah.

Adeel [17:11]: Right. Yeah, exactly. That's not a bad. That's kind of a nice sound to have in front of you. Cool. Okay. Wow. So, yeah, you got a lot of stuff going on there. So what about going on into the wild, cold world? How do you react to strangers who might be triggering you?

Ella [17:35]: I've never really been good at confronting strangers when they're making trigger noises. Usually I just sit there and try to deal with it. If I can't, then they're a stranger. You can just leave the situation. They won't get offended.

Adeel [17:49]: And do you ever – so it seems like you guys have taken steps to get your family life and your social life kind of under control. Is it just really, really bad then to be out in the real world many times? Yeah.

Ella [18:05]: I remember taking a trip to New York and – my family we were all going on a bus and it was my first public bus ride you know in the city i was so excited but there were so many people doing physical triggers um noise triggers and i almost had a meltdown because i couldn't tell any of them to stop without looking like a complete nutcase in this public bus with at least 30 people on it

Adeel [18:32]: So do you, and this is with the, with various, with hearing enhancements and whatnot, or is this, you're kind of on your own?

Ella [18:43]: I was kind of on my own right there because I hadn't put in the hearing aids that day.

Adeel [18:48]: yeah and do your do your parents do anything or friends do anything to help out in those situations like uh um i don't know mobilize to kind of get off the bus or something or or you just have to kind of i mean that's we all just kind of like plow through these situations yeah yeah um i feel like the person who's helped me most in those situations is my

Ella [19:11]: sister and because i have two sisters my older sister and my twin sister and my twin sister you know she's always there for me and whenever something's happening she'll try to help in any way because that's just the person she is yeah so i'm just so grateful to her for that because she'll help me in any situation if she knows i'm uncomfortable she'll try to help and she has no signs of miso herself right your twin no no

Adeel [19:38]: Okay. Okay, interesting. So, yeah, strangers can be terrible. Strangers. Yes. And so you mentioned physical triggers a couple times. Are you referring to, like, visual triggers, like music kinesia, or the movement kind of stuff? There's, like, synesthesia or whatever, but you're referring to visual triggers, right?

Ella [20:02]: Yeah, visual triggers.

Adeel [20:03]: Okay. Sorry. Tell me about that. Did that grow in parallel or did that start to build up later?

Ella [20:13]: That started to build up a bit later. I'd say a year after I discovered I had misophonia, I noticed I was reacting to people doing visual triggers the same way I was reacting to people doing noise triggers. Then I was like, oh, dang it, man. Another one.

Adeel [20:34]: Right. Yeah. That, yeah, that's, it's amazing how that kind of sneaks up on people. And so how do you, and where does that affect you the most? Is it kind of when you're sitting at school or at home, I guess you can kind of move to another room.

Ella [20:51]: Yeah, definitely when it affects me more in school because my classmates, obviously you have desks and most of the time there's tables and then the desks are facing each other. So you can't really just like put your hand in front of your eyes while you're trying to do schoolwork. It's a hard situation to navigate.

Adeel [21:12]: Without hearing, at least you can put stuff over your ears. It's, yeah, you can't just blind yourself and expect to live. Have you thought about where, you know, well, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Ella [21:30]: I want to be a chemotherapist.

Adeel [21:32]: Ah, okay, cool. And obviously, I mean, there's, you know, there's many great reasons to be that, to help people. Have you thought about it? Have you thought about what you want to do from a misophonia perspective too?

Ella [21:47]: I have and I had many career options and the deciding factor for me was in my other career factor in my other career option I'd have to be around an office with a lot of people and that would be really hard and I feel like I've always wanted to help people but in chemotherapy you can kind of be either alone with the patient or alone with the patient and another doctor. And it's kind of just you and the patient. And you bond, if that makes any sense. You can bond with the patient more. So you can tell them things or you can tell them about your misophonia and stuff like that. I just don't feel like if I worked in an office, I'd be able to bond with everyone that much and share that.

Adeel [22:39]: Right. Yeah, I mean, you'd be surprised. I mean, I'm not going to sit here and try to offer you career advice. But yeah, you'd be surprised if you're in an office with people your age. You can definitely bond with people. But yeah, I mean, there's many ways you can bond with people, especially someone as kind of social as you. But no, that's great. And do you have any other kind of coping mechanisms that you're using other than kind of getting out of a situation or, you know, having these hearing the white noise?

Ella [23:20]: One of my favorite coping strategies is imitation, which is obviously a popular one.

Adeel [23:24]: Yeah, mimicry, yeah.

Ella [23:26]: It helps me when I'm making the sound or doing the visual trigger at the same time the person is. It helps me feel in control. And I know all my classmates might see that as really weird, but it helps me not to have a breakdown in the middle of class. So that's a small price to pay.

Adeel [23:42]: Is that a way for them to, do they realize that maybe they're making a sound or is it kind of like a, oh, okay, she's getting triggered, I better kind of help out?

Ella [23:50]: Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes they'll be like, is she trying to make fun of me? And I'm like, wait, no. I'm just trying to help you.

Adeel [23:58]: Did you discover that on your own or did you read about that or have Dr. Johnson tell you about mimicry?

Ella [24:05]: I can't exactly remember. I feel like I read somewhere online because obviously I was looking up coping strategies and I must have tried out a thousand trying to figure out which one worked and that one was the top.

Adeel [24:17]: And so do you do mimicry for visuals, too? I never thought about mimicking visual. Oh, yeah. I probably do, too. Okay.

Ella [24:24]: I mimic visuals all the time. That's really helpful.

Adeel [24:27]: Yeah, that's probably better than just doing something with a finger. I wish. Doing a visual trigger, yeah. I'd get distracted. Yeah, right. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And also, you know, as you've kind of, like, learned about MISO and been telling your friends about it, have you met other people with misophonia?

Ella [24:48]: I have not. My older sister's college roommate had misophonia. I never got to meet her, but I later found out it was because she didn't want to meet me because she didn't want to meet another person with misophonia because she might get their triggers if they talk about it, you know?

Adeel [25:07]: Oh, so she was kind of, okay. So she knew she had misophonia. And wow, was that sensitive. Yeah, I've heard about people having that fear. But I think most people realize, most people find that talking to somebody who has misophonia, I don't want to say bonding, but the shared experiences kind of like outweighs any potential triggers that they might get. I don't think I've picked up anybody's triggers talking to all these people. Knock on wood. That's great. Yeah.

Ella [25:41]: I was like, knock on wood.

Adeel [25:42]: Yeah. I'm going to trigger somebody. Okay, so your older sister is a college roommate. Okay, gotcha. But nobody else?

Ella [25:52]: Nobody else besides you. You're the first person I've talked to who has misophonia.

Adeel [25:57]: That's funny. Did you hear today's episode?

Ella [26:00]: I did not actually.

Adeel [26:02]: Cause there's another high school, another girl in high school in Prague though, Prague Czech Republic. And I was again, the first person she talked to. So there's, you know, people are happy. I mean, hopefully it's a good experience to kind of talk about it. So I don't know. It's helping a lot of people listening to these. So definitely that's, that's great. And are you part of any kind of kind of online like Facebook groups or I don't know, online communities or no, not really.

Ella [26:29]: I, don't like doing the whole online community thing because I feel like it's a lot more genuine if you do it in person because anyone can, like, text something that they wouldn't say in person. And I feel like that would be really helpful to have someone to talk to, but it would be nicer just to talk to them in person instead of online.

Adeel [26:50]: Talk to them in person in person?

Ella [26:52]: Yeah.

Adeel [26:53]: Yeah, I got you. Yeah, I mean, there are a bunch of Facebook groups that... they they help at first because you you know you see a lot of people's experiences but they do get uh fun they do get very noisy and ranty and it's kind of hard to keep up with what's going on yeah and some of it's just kind of like lots of anger and negativity which we all feel anyways it's like being on a group chat and you leave for five minutes and you come back wait what happened Yeah, exactly. And so so you're what are some I guess you say your dad was super helpful with you.

Ella [27:30]: when you were kind of first grappling with this was he ever like a true your parents ever big triggers um my dad went he was a really big trigger for me when he chews cereal yeah and my mom was a big visual trigger because she would always do visual triggers so they were yeah they're pretty high up there but now If I tell them, hey, can you stop for a second while I leave the room, they will. So that's really nice.

Adeel [28:03]: They cut it out. Okay, that's cool. And when you go to college, are you planning to – have you thought about, like, do you want to – where do you want to go? Like, have you done some research on good miso schools or bad miso schools? I don't know if that's even a thing, but –

Ella [28:21]: I haven't really done research on schools for misophonia. I've done research on chemotherapy schools, but I haven't really taken that into account. I think I'll cross that bridge when I get there, but I want my college experience to be something that I choose because of me, not because it'll be good for the environment or good for my environment.

Adeel [28:45]: Yeah, no, that's, yeah, I, yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't recommend going to a school just because it might have, might be a good environment. Yeah, so I guess, have you talked to, you know, your sixth grade teacher helped kind of move you around? Have you talked to any of your other teachers kind of through high school about getting accommodations?

Ella [29:10]: I have. I have a 504 plan, which basically means I get to leave the room if I'm being triggered. I can choose my seat if I'm next to someone who triggers me and all that kind of stuff. So my teachers all know I have it, but I've never really talked to any of them about it, except for my band professor, because he is my favorite teacher ever. He's definitely, he's, yeah, he's really nice.

Adeel [29:39]: And he knows about MISO and it kind of helps you out there?

Ella [29:43]: Yeah, he has done some research so he can help, which is nice of him. He's a cool teacher, definitely.

Adeel [29:49]: That's awesome. Tell me about this 504 plan. How did you go about getting that?

Ella [29:55]: I went to my counselor in the beginning of the year with a letter from Dr. Johnson saying that I had misophonia and I kind of emailed her beforehand saying, Hey, I'm going to come in and talk to you about this. So, cause I didn't want to have to go up to every teacher. Cause you know, it can be scary going up to a teacher and saying, Hey, I have this weird disorder that makes me violent towards other students. So that was just easier to just send out a paper to all of them.

Adeel [30:25]: And so you got the 504 plan. It's a piece of paper and you just make copies of it and give it to your teachers?

Ella [30:31]: Yeah.

Adeel [30:32]: Do you have to talk to them? Well, I mean, it's good to talk to them. But do you generally set up a meeting too? Or is it just something like first day? It's like before they even know your name, you're like smack it down on the desk.

Ella [30:44]: Pretty much the first day thing.

Adeel [30:46]: Yeah, okay.

Ella [30:47]: Like, here's a file about me, read it.

Adeel [30:50]: Gotcha, gotcha, okay. Interesting, okay. And you've never gotten any, like, pushback or anything? No. What the hell is this? Okay, yeah. It's legally binding, I would imagine, right?

Ella [31:01]: Yeah.

Adeel [31:02]: Yeah, okay. Is that part of the ADA? Yeah, American Disabilities Association? Or is that just a school thing? I don't think so.

Ella [31:09]: It's just a school thing, I believe.

Adeel [31:11]: It's federal, like national, or I'm just a dumb Canadian. I don't know what the laws are around here.

Ella [31:18]: I'm a dumb American. I don't really know either, but I know that my school does it. I know other schools do it. So it might be part of a bigger thing. I just don't exactly know. Gotcha.

Adeel [31:31]: Okay. Yeah, I mean, there's just a lot of young people listening who might not know about this stuff or ADA or 504. I've heard that come up once in a while, but I just never didn't get to hear a lot of the details. Yeah, I'd encourage people to just Google it, find out about it. It seems like it's, I guess you need a doctor's kind of verification or whatever, but it sounds pretty straightforward to get.

Ella [31:58]: It is.

Adeel [31:59]: Could definitely help a lot.

Ella [32:01]: It does help a lot. It's a lifesaver.

Adeel [32:04]: Have you used it anywhere else other than school? Like, I don't know, part-time jobs or anything?

Ella [32:08]: Oh, no. I just use it in my school.

Adeel [32:12]: Gotcha. Okay. Okay, cool. And speaking of, have you gotten part-time jobs or something anywhere?

Ella [32:20]: um i have a job at my church where i clean so it's pretty nice because i can just go there and clean whenever i want i have flexible hours i was planning on getting a job during the covid shutdown and i'm thinking about applying to a hardware store pretty soon so i think that'll be interesting kind of navigating that new territory but i believe it'll be fun because i love working and i love being with people as weird as that may sound

Adeel [32:48]: Yeah, no, it doesn't sound weird at all. I mean, a lot of us do. It's just this, you know, darn thing is usually in the way. And it seems like you've got this great attitude where it's like you want to get through situations and kind of put yourself in a situation and challenge yourself to get through it. yeah place like a you know retail retail store like hardware store would be great because people are always coming and going so it's not like you're stuck with something unless you're at the cash next to uh i'm not gonna discourage you from uh from getting a job you just have to uh try it out Cool. Well, yeah, I guess now we covered quite a bit. Do you, yeah, do you, you know, this is your first time talking to someone who's hearing misophonia. Do you have any like other questions or maybe you have any, maybe is there some insights that we haven't covered here that you want to, that you want to tell people maybe in high school or junior high?

Ella [33:52]: I feel like something that a lot of people don't get about kids in high school is that, especially with misophonia, whenever I tell them, they're just like, oh, you're a teenager. You're going through a phase. You think you have this, but you don't. It's an online diagnosis. But what they don't understand is that I know myself better than they do. And also, I do have a diagnosis. That's pretty cool. But it's... I feel like it's really important for today's society to respect teenagers, even if they're in high school. Like, yes, we don't know as much as other people do, but we do know the things that older generations have taught us, what they've paved the road for us to do. We know about that. And I feel like we should get a little more respect and a little more verification for the things that we feel or the things that we do.

Adeel [34:46]: I totally agree. I mean, I think you actually have access to a lot more information than definitely I did when I was your age. And so, you know, as long as you have the critical thinking skills, like I think you do, you're able to suss out, you know, information from disinformation. Yeah. And, you know, you know what's real. Obviously, you know yourself. So I totally... agree with that and and I would like to see more more people be so funny or not be taken more seriously about the conditions they identify themselves that's great well Ella thanks yeah thanks for thanks for reaching out how did you find out about the podcast again did you just listening

Ella [35:27]: My dad showed it to me, actually. He noticed it on the podcast. He was like, hey, Ella, I thought you might want to see this. And then I saw the be a guest thing. So I was like, hey, I've never been on a podcast. That'd be fun.

Adeel [35:39]: How did he hear about it?

Ella [35:41]: I don't know. He and my mom both are really supportive. I think they've researched a lot and they must have just stumbled across this.

Adeel [35:50]: Oh, cool.

Ella [35:51]: If I could hear other people's stories to help me.

Adeel [35:54]: That's great. I've never had somebody come on because their parents refer them. That's great. Well, thank your dad and your mom for that, and thank them for being so supportive of you.

Ella [36:05]: Yeah, I definitely will.

Adeel [36:07]: That's huge, and I hope that's a model for... for other parents listening. Um, cool. Uh, yeah, thanks Ella. This, this has been great. This is going to, it's going to help a lot of people. I'm, I'm honored that you came on to talk about this, um, publicly, kind of like, well, yeah, somewhat publicly, but at least for the first time, um, this has been really interesting to listen to you and, um, it's going to help a lot of people. So, so thank you.

Ella [36:31]: Thank you so much for having me. This has been great.

Adeel [36:35]: Thank you, Ella. Let me know what you think of the podcast. You can always email me, hello at misophoniapodcast.com or find us on Instagram and Facebook at Misophonia Podcast or Twitter at Misophonia Show. Music as always is by Moby and until next week, wishing you peace and quiet.

Unknown Speaker [37:21]: you