Brooke is joined by special guest, Lydia, to discuss her journey as an autistic individual and author, shedding light on the challenges faced by disabled individuals in society. She talks about her experience with multiple disabilities, including autism and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on her health. Lydia shares insights on the lack of understanding and support for hidden disabilities, emphasising the need for inclusive and accessible resources. She delves into the creation of her Autism Friendly Cookbook, highlighting the importance of making cooking accessible for individuals with diverse needs, and touches on the complexities of inclusivity and the limitations of trying to cater to every aspect of neurodiversity.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Everything has an opposite, and the opposite of inclusion is exclusion. Despite efforts to be inclusive, there will always be someone left out. The cookbook "Autism Friendly Cookbook" addresses the lack of accessibility in traditional cookbooks for individuals with hidden disabilities, making cooking more accessible. The decision to focus on autism in the cookbook rather than a broader neurodiversity approach was influenced by commercial viability and the need for a cohesive and targeted message. Acknowledging the limitations of inclusivity and the need for targeted solutions rather than trying to cater to every possible individual, recognising that not everyone will fit the bill. BEST MOMENTS "Disabled people are not your free resource. we don't it's just this idea of I still have people who come up to me complete strangers who go oh what happened to you because they don't they don't have the language to talk with nuance."  "Everything has an opposite. So the opposite of inclusion is exclusion."  "It was published in November 2022. It's since won two awards at the Gore, I think it's pronounced the Gorman Awards. It's gone viral on TikTok. It's now a pilot course that I'm teaching down in Sussex."  VALUABLE RESOURCES https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disabled-and-proud/id1621152878 HOST BIO Disabled and Proud is the show that brings listeners a different perspective on disability. Each week this podcast highlights an awesome disabled guest speaking about their own disability; why they are proud to be disabled and why they are proud to be themselves.  The conversations in this show will look at what challenges these amazing people face socially, mentally, physically and life in general. This show is raw, open, honest, funny, welcoming and educational.  Disabled & Proud does exactly what it says on the tin! And whilst we are creating this space for disabled people to be unashamedly themselves, without the need to conform to society, this is also not about toxic positivity. This show will be shining a big, bright light on disability without it being “Paralympic or pity”.  As you will hear disability is WHOLE, COMPLETE & PERFECT and whilst the topic of disability can be quite heavy - and we definitely don't shy away from the bad days - this podcast is also about having fun too! Our aim is to play a part in reclaiming the word disability - turning it from inadequacy to perfection!INSTAGRAM! https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en: https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en