Ask me anything! - I am a coach to neurodivergent artists / creatives on unmasking, visibility, creative expansion...

What are your burning questions? What is currently holding you back? I will reply to every question <3

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  • @Andreane Rellou

    Part 4/4:
    Our brain wants to focus on all the reason why it won’t work, why it’s too hard and why it’s unfair. Your daily works is to redirect it towards:

    what you can do about it, on increasing your resourcefulness, on gratitude and on the doors you will open for others (and the stereotypes that you can re-write with your own visibility and story) when you succeed.

    Let the ‘no’s be your fuel, and remember that everything you do now to be more resourceful in the face of ableism will be the exact reason why you succeed. And you will.

    Let me know your thoughts?
  • @Andreane Rellou

    Part 3/4:
    My hunch is that you have already experienced rejection to have built up more resilience (the ability to feel negative emotions - eg. disappointment ) than most actors starting out. You’ve already learned to deal with rejection.

    Consider also - more than 1in 5 people are disabled/experience disability. There are people in the industry who understand, and who are willing you to succeed *because* of the barriers you face. Who are seeking actors to feature in their films who won’t be ableist towards them. Consider that you could build a whole network of folks who have decided to do what they can despite ableism (and other -isms).
  • @Andreane Rellou

    Part 2/4:
    Do you want to let that be the reason why you don’t succeed?

    What is in your control to increase the chances of your succeeding?

    What is good about this? (Directing your brain to focus on that will be a powerful exercise - can you think of 10 reasons why this can be a good thing? Not ableism- but the fact that you are facing this as a circumstance right now?)
    Who do you *get* to be and what do you get to do because of the time in which you were born, in which ableism exists?
  • @Andreane Rellou Hey Andreane, my reply in 4 parts;

    Part 1/4:

    Yes. Okay so let’s just start with acknowledging a couple of things;

    You are communicating your access needs and being yourself 🙌 Keep doing that!!

    And… Ableism is real. It sucks. But let’s accept that this a circumstance that is beyond your control right now. And focus instead on what you can control.

    So, given that ableism exists, now what?

  • @Andreane Rellou hi Andreane,
    Before I answer, a few questions;

    So you are finding that people are dismissive- is this in auditions? What do they do when they are being dismissive? Is it something they say, or do?

    What thoughts do *you* have about your ADHD traits? Are they a reason why you aren’t serious?

    What is it about being adhd that makes you a good actor?

    Let me know ☺️
  • @Nicole Valente part two:

    Second to get clear on what your relational and workplace (incl travel) access needs are - are 1:1s best? What environments suit you? Do you process speech slowly and so need a beat before you have formulated a reply, for example…

    Third, I’m curious what ideas you do have for a job that can sustain you financially for now while you build up professional photography experience in your spare time? What ideas do you already have? Tell me more about your thoughts on this?
  • @Nicole Valente hi Nicole 👋,
    Alright so I would have you do a couple of things;

    One, is to give yourself the experience of a trusting relational container; one with acceptance and trust and non-judgment. This will allow you to know in your body that you are valid and worthy, and that any experiences of social rejection or inaccessibility is not something you need to internalise (make it mean something about you).
    This can look like: finding a local/online group of folks on the spectrum that you can meet, be yourself with, experience cognitive empathy (see: Damion Milton’s double empathy problem), or working with a coach or therapist who is autistic or pro neurodivergence.

    Second is to get really clear on what your access needs are for social encounters-
  • Hi Louisa, hope all is well. I am on the spectrum and i suffer badly with social anxiety. I am a recent photography graduate struggling to find a job where the work place fits with me, id love to meet new people but just the thought of making convo with someone new turns my stomach. I just want to do the thing that I love as a job without having a panic attack every day.
  • @Beth Greenwood Great question!

    Masking is a habit formed as a self protective mechanism, so give yourself lots of grace and compassion! And know that it is also a skillset. To grow in self-defined visibility and agency, you now need a new skill set and to grow into the version of you that no longer has those same habits; eg. imagining other peoples thoughts and using that to determine how to be. New skills and habits = unknown results! Being willing to be in the discomfort of those unknowns is key. The new skill set is: deciding for yourself what YOU think and how YOU want to tell your story;

    People who differ from the fiction of normal often have a greater burden of being the catalyst experience in someone else’s awakening to their own socialised limitations.

    Allowing peoples room to have their reaction and not make it mean anything about you, means that you can embody the power to tell your story in your way, knowing that it will attract the right people, and opportunities, and most of all - replenish instead of deplete your energy through masking.

  • Hi Louisa,

    I’m multiply neurodivergent and disabled as well as a creative. I would love to know how to tell your ‘story’ without masking or falling into stereotypes?

    Thanks,
    Beth Greenwood

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