The Ministry Of Awe, Accessible Theatre and Exceptional Minds, Upward Bound, and Can You Drink Spaghetti and Meatballs?

A mysterious “bank” in Philadelphia where the real savings are kindness, wonder, and human values sounds like a gimmick until you step inside and realize the story is built into every floor. We’re taking you with us to the Ministry of Awe, an immersive art installation that feels like part theater, part interactive museum, and part nostalgic adventure. We talk through what makes immersive art work, how you know what you can touch, and why sound, space, and pacing can make an experience feel truly transporting.

That same day, we shift from playful discovery to public history at the President’s House site at Independence Mall, reflecting on the enslaved people who lived and worked there and why removing exhibits risks erasing the truth. From there we move into arts and accessibility, including Shakespeare and Company’s Hamlet performances designed with live captions, a sensory-friendly option, and an optional walkthrough to help audiences feel comfortable in the space.

We also share autism and entertainment headlines: Exceptional Minds and how autistic adults build careers in animation and visual effects, plus Muppet news that includes a classic April Fools twist and a new puppet web series. Then we tackle a tougher conversation sparked by a Jenna Book Club pick that raises questions about facilitated communication, assumptions about intelligence, and what real authorship looks like. 

We wrap with Autism Acceptance Month events like the Eagles Autism Challenge and a Philadelphia autistic art exhibition, plus a few Earth Day habits worth stealing.

Subscribe for more adventures and thoughtful takes, share the episode with a friend, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. What part of the conversation do you want us to dig into next?

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May your life be filled with magic!

Transcript

Welcome And What’s Ahead

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hello, welcome to the statute of Life and Telling. I'm your host, Ted Hurris. This is my costa big sister, my loving bist sister, my aggregating sister, the one, the only with the heart for y'all.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Why are you buttering me up again?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Oh, you know how I am.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

You're adorable, and you're a wonderful brother, and I love you, and I'm also very suspicious of your motives in showering praise upon me, but I guess we'll find out.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Here we in this podcast is talk about adventures, Barbara Howard News, Muppet News, What's Life Beauty. In this looking bridge, we're going to talk about our visit to Mr. All. Shakespeare Company offer open captions, history for the Hamlet shows. California Studio helps autistic adults tell creative Howard careers. The Disney read Overdillo and Path Hub Muppets Gets. And New Muppet Project Just Boing Boing. And also we have an Autism news headline, which is Author of Read with Jenna Book Club Shines Light on Autism. Should I show them again?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yes, let's begin.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

So

Inside Philadelphia’s Ministry Of Awe

SPEAKER_00 1:31

in the other day, we visited the mystery on their authority market. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

What is the Ministry of Awe?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

If you like adventure, then this is for you. If you like mystery, then this is for you. If you like like nostalgia, this is for you. If you like money management, then this is for you. If you like like art, this is for you. If you like merchant there, then this is for you. It's if the old merchant's bag would completely remodel with art delicious interactive hairs out of the description website. A new effort of only art, immersive art experience in Philadelphia, also with a 1930 bank of transport to the real world, or only currency of the spirit. Each act of order yields if it returns. Each act of order yields if it returns.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

We don't want some few.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Here are some questions that I think the folks at home might have. What's how would you describe what is an art installation?

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Art installation is where they put something in the public that's like a version of theater based. You go in, you put your coats in the rack in, then you go up various floors, up to see various art experiences. Okay, it's like a version of theater.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

An art installation is when a piece of art is is, as I understand it, as I understand it, the um an art installation is when your piece of art is too big to fit into a frame. And it's not a traditional sculpture or a traditional piece of visual art. It's something that takes up a lot of space and it inhabits the space in a particular way. Like Ted, for example, do you remember the art, the Duchamp art installations that we saw at the Philadelphia Museum of Art?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yeah. And remember, there's one that you have to walk down a long dark tunnel and look through a little peephole to see it, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Now we're not going to talk about that one. But I think part of what makes that an important art installation is that you have to sort of be in a dark space to really see it because of the light on the other side of the little peephole, so that your eye takes time to adjust, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Yeah. So that's one kind of art installation. What do you consider to be immersive art, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Earlier I saw uh experience with Norman Rockwell. It was basically it was basically like going to Norman Rockwell's world to see various statues of various. What is this? That was at the CarePrush Mall a few years ago.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

They had a Norman Rockwell immersive experience.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yeah. You get to see Norman Rockwell's.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Is that something that really happened or something?

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Really did happen. I have the photos to probe it.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Okay. I would love to see them.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

I I will try to post some in a future date, and then I will I will say you see statues of Norman Rockwell's art, the various dioramas of Norman Rockwell's art. Okay. And you get to see various paintings of Norwell's art. The Rockwell, he loved Christmas and all that. No, you get to see things of Christmas and all that. And the last part of this, you get to see various magazine covers he did during when he worked for the Start of Eating Post.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

That's really interesting. I didn't know that that existed, but I look forward to you showing me those pictures. There was, do you remember, Ted, when we were very young, we went to Longwood Gardens and they had a Dickens Christmas experience at Longwood Gardens that you could walk through?

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

And you know who worked on that when uh their their the family's last name was Cymboli. They were artists. The parents were graphic designers and the kids were all artists, and I went to school with Sarah Cymboli. And they um they did all kinds of things like you when you enter, you're in a Victorian living room, and there's a portrait of Queen Victoria over the mantelpiece, but she's got a very serious look on her face. And at the very end, when you're exiting, it's the same living room, but now everything's all decorated for Christmas, and Father Christmas has brought all the presents, and in the portrait over the and the the stockings are full, and in the portrait over the mantelpiece, Queen Victoria was smiling. But the thing is that there are no portraits or or photographs of Queen Victoria smiling. So they had this was this was before we had things today like face, you know, like where you can just like put another face on it, like face filters on TikTok or Instagram or whatever, and uh computer software wasn't like it is now. So I don't know which family member in Sarah's family had to do it, but they had to sit there and change the smile on her face one pixel at a time, like one tiny little dot at a time. I just remember her telling me that. So that was an immersive uh experience. So

What Makes Art Feel Immersive

SPEAKER_01 6:45

what was it that made we really don't want to spoil it for anybody, but what was it that made the Ministry of Law immersive for you? Like what made you feel like you were immersed in it?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Like you were an actual bank and all that in the 19th century? It's like Bullywonka and Star Wars and money management.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Well, yeah, what was um it was definitely like a bank, except what do you think the the currency and the savings were?

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Human values and all that.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Uh how importance, how we're all special to all that.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

And and sort of feeling a sense of decency and pride. And wonder, too.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

And wonder.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Yeah. And taking care of each other, yep, and being kind to others. So some of the exhibits were things that you could listen to. Some of them were things that you could watch. Yes. How how were you able to tell what you could touch and what you couldn't touch?

SPEAKER_00 7:47

It has a green hand print, you could touch it. It has a red eye, you had to look at it.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Right. It's art that's meant to be observed, not art that's meant to be touched. And there was ambient sound through the whole place.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

And gosh, it was fun.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

It was just fun. And we got lucky because we went there I think was it the Monday or it was a it was a weekday. Monday. It wasn't a Monday. I don't think it was a Monday. It was but it was a weekday right after they opened. The official opening, I think, was March 14th. And we went there right after they opened. So what was good about our particular experience in the timing town?

SPEAKER_00 8:34

It was it was quiet.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

We went early in the day. We were early in the day. Mm-hmm. And we saw we got good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

She got there before they opened, actually, which we didn't expect.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

And what happened when we arrived?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

A woman greeted us. She saw she thought we were artists coming to see the show. And w and then she talked about the coffee house across the street.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Basically it's like a a smoky fresh cafe.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

It's like a little little Parisian cafe kind of thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Yeah. I got to have my first Americana. What it it's an Americana is like a coffee drink that artists had way easier to drink when he was writing.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah, he used to drink that when he was in Paris. It's a shot of espresso. It's two ounces of espresso with water poured out poured over it. What did you think of it, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 9:27

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yeah, and what did I get?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

You got uh cappuccino.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

It was delicious. It was one of the best cappuccinos I've ever had. And now I wish we could remember the name of the cafe, but it's right across from the Ministry of Awe. So it's on Third Street. It's around 27 Third Street, but it's on the even numbered side.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

All right.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

And it was lovely. And I had a cappuccino that was so good. My stir stood up in the foam with no signs of falling over.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

It was great. And um, so Ted, what do you think people should know before they go?

Tickets Stairs Time And Overwhelm Tips

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Get your tickets in advance. There will be a lot of going up and down the stairs to know your physical limitations.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yes, know your physical limitations.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Go ahead. You will be in there for at least two to three hours. It may get overwhelming. When you get out, you will be probably be hungry. There's a coffee shop near there, a pizza place near there, a couple sailor shops, a burger place near there. Bring money for lunch, pay for the tickets, remember get your tickets in advance. Their website is boafilly.org.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yep. So um we had a really good time, didn't we?

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

And then we have another adventure that same day. So Ted,

The President’s House And Facing Slavery

SPEAKER_01 10:50

do you want to uh take your time and slowly tell them about this adventure, which may be a little hard for some people to hear about, but go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Afterwards, we stopped at the Independence Ball and we saw the exhibit based on the foundations of the President's house where George Washington and John Adams each lived and with their households eat while each of them were president.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Now, um when when I when we say households, we mean their you know their wives and children, right? Their families.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

But who else lived in their households to have slaves. Right, people who worked for them.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

And we saw the illustrations of enslaved people who have worked there, as well as the letter P people who have met George Washington, and we saw the illustrations of enslaved people who have worked there, as well as let's be people who have met George Washington, and white people who have worked the abolition of slavery.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Right. And this is part why was this this was part of the National Park Service. Why was the President's House in the news this past year?

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Because those pictures were taken down recently and they were put back up.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Not all of them, but some of them were put back up. They were put back up because you can't erase history. Alright, I'm sorry, Ted, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

We took pictures of paintings because a lot of them had depicted the history of slavery and had been removed to some dooger politicians and parents. But they have been put back up because people have a right to know our history. Everyone should. We took pictures of paintings for fear that we might get taken down for good next time.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

The illustrations are really beautiful, aren't they, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Okay, so um one of the things that we learned when we were there was that we learned about how George Washington lived there with his household when he was doing business in Philadelphia, and then he would go back to Virginia with his household, and by moving back and forth This isn't stated in the exhibit. I think this may be some of the information that was removed. But at the time, by moving back and forth from Pennsylvania to Virginia and back, his uh the slaves in his household remained enslaved because he just kept moving them back and forth, and there was one woman named Ona Judge who knew that they would be going back to Virginia soon. So she managed to get out and escape. So they do have a picture of her, and they also have pictures of the men who cleaned up the dead bodies during the yellow fever epidemic because nobody else could do it. They were African American. And there were other people there. They had uh pictures of Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was an abolitionist. So there were some good things, but it's a reminder of some sad ways, some sad parts of American history, right, Ted? Yep.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Okay, so we're on this depressing talk.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Enough of this depressing talk, but we also had a nice walk.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yep. All right, what's next, Ted?

Accessible Hamlet With Captions

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Oh, yeah, this is my favorite part. Broadway news, Broadway news, Broadway news.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Okay, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Shakespeare Company is putting on a special run of Hamlet with shows designed to be more accessible. The performances take place April 23rd through April 25th. There's Cole Vacation Week in Massachusetts. Some shows will include live captions on screen, so deaf and harder hearing audience members can follow along in real time. There will be a Silcery friendly performance, a calm environment with more flexibility for the audience. That can help people who are neurodivergent or anyone who feels overwhelmed in a traditional theater setting. There's also an optional walk through the theater ahead of time so people get comfortable with the space.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

We'll also have a link in the show notes. So, um, Ted, uh you and I have never been to a sensory-friendly performance before.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

What about that performance of Chris's Carolith Carter?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Well, that wasn't specifically a sensory-friendly one. Did it have ASL signers, American Sign Language signers?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

I love seeing performances that have ASL along with the show. And I think we got tickets for that just because it was Christmas Carol is always very high in demand. But what did you notice about the ASL signers?

SPEAKER_00 15:52

They were signing along with words.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

And what was going on with their faces? They were showing their expressions, they were acting out like they were emoting all of the words along with signing them. Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

I love watching the ASL performances because I feel like I get so much more out of the out of the performance than I normally would. Especially if it's a play I've seen a million times, like a Christmas Carol. But I thought you would find that interesting. So this these performances, these Shakespeare and Company accessible performances will be in Massachusetts. So if you're in that area, please uh check the link in our show notes and you can get more information about it. What's next, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Highwood

Autistic Adults Building VFX Careers

SPEAKER_00 16:42

News, Hollywood News, Hollywood News.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

A studio in California is helping authentic adults build Curse of Highwood as called Conceptual Minds of Retrace Artists and Visual Effects and Animation, graduates who award to major films include Glyer 2 and Marvel Movies. And one scene from Glyder 2, artists removed a camera crew, said showed up by mistake, helping the scene feel real.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

So what do they mean, Ted? You and I read that article. What did they mean by a camera crew showed up by mistake?

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Show up by accident.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

So they were in the shot.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

The camera crew was in the shot.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

And what did the artist from Exception Exceptional Minds do?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

He got them out of the way.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Oh how did he get them out of the way? What did he do on screen?

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Edited it out.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

The the program focuses on detailed creative work, helps students move into professional studio jobs. That matters because many adults face high unemployment, even when they have strong skills. The goal is simple to help people to be completely working in the field they choose and make space for them in the industry, working along everyone else.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Yeah, Teb, what do you think of of uh that exceptional minds program?

SPEAKER_00 18:00

I think it's pretty interesting.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

You and I used to do a lot of video editing tutorials together.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

And we should do more of that.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Yeah. What did you like about doing them?

SPEAKER_00 18:13

I like I like how how to edit the video and all that.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

One of the th the way we would do it was we would look up different YouTubers' tutorials and you would take notes in a notebook, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Then we would film some footage and plan out what we wanted to do, and then you would read the notes and edit. And you did a really good job with that, especially the three TEDs, three TEDs on a couch.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

I think we should do more of that like that.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Yeah, tell tell everybody at home what three TEDs on a couch is.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

They edited a call me into three Ted's, so it was three different TEDs of the couch. And basically I said, There's a room of this couch, I'm gonna make nachos. The second TED said, doctor's like me, third TED set, I win.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Because the third cap the third Ted got to have the whole caption himself at the end?

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Yeah. We'll put a link to that in the show notes if anybody wants to see it.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Oh, I also did another video called Can You Eat Spagami Balls.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Oh, Ted, that wasn't a filmmaking thing. That was just you doing a stunt. That was what did you tell everybody what you did. You started it. Tell everybody what you did.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Well, I did a stunt called Can You Eat Spaghetti Balls. I should be called busy. I took uh can of spaghetti balls by Chevrolet RD and put it to a blender with some water, stirred it up, poured it into a glass, and drank it down, and said, yes, you can drink spaghetti balls. Soft sorry, Lindsay. I'm in the middle of a coffee-filled sermon. You can't afford to miss this information.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Oh good. Great. Exciting. Alright, Ted, what's the next what's the next section?

Muppet April Fools And New Puppets

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Muppet news, Muppet News, Muppet. Disney to edit the Armadillo Classic Muppet episodes by Joe Hens.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Joe Hennis.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Hennis.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

And this was published on toughpigs.com.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Breaking news from Muppet Studio today. After the warring success of last month's Muppet Show special, Disney is setting the stage for a new unified universe with the Special Ads Center. Our sources say there's a lot of details of works. One significant change is already being reflected across all digital platforms. In one particularly memorable scene, Seth Roger laments he's been cut from the show, pointing out that the Armadillo and Tutu made it on stage and they aren't even canon. The Muppet Studio has now decided that the Armadillo is now officially canon.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Again, let me tell you what, let me read this. Again, let me repeat, the Muppet Studio has now decided that the Armadillo is now officially canon. In a move that George Lucas would be proud of, Disney has edited classic episodes of The Muppet Show to include the Armadillo. Currently on Disney Plus, dozens of episodes feature this newly classic character. They've been added into the background, replacing other characters in memorable scenes and just generally included in the vibe. These will be the only commercially available versions of the Muppet Show from here on. When Disney commits to something, we know to just get out of the way and get used to it. Here are just a few examples of the Armadillo newly edited into the Muppet Show. And we'll cut that out. So uh Yeah, the Armadillo is now canon. So Ted, this article was published on April 3rd. I'm sorry, April 1st. This article was published on April 1st. What uh does that tell you, Ted? April Fool. Good job.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Just kidding. We love our little jokes every now and then.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Yeah, tough. Tough Pigs really did publish this, and we will link to the article for you. Um Yeah, the armadilla was in um uh the I'll Give You Anything You Want song from Muppets Most Wanted.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Yeah. Okay, so you get another story. What is new? So this article is by Shane Keating, and it was published on March 26th.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

And the article is Judge Boing Boing.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Coming soon, Judge Boing Boing, or actually he's here now. Two-fifths of the Muppet Guys Talking Cast have developed a new puppet-based web series that's that's uh it's on YouTube now. Bill Beretta and Frank Oz, yes, the Frank Oz, have created Judge Boing Boing, a new short series that will be hitting the internet, or it did hit the internet on April 1st, 2026. And I'm sure that that date makes it sound like a big joke, but even if it is, a one-time puppetry project with Frank Oz's involvement is still a pretty noteworthy thing. So you can if you look up Judge Boing Boeing on YouTube, you can see the existing episodes. Ted, have you seen them?

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

What do you think of them?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

It's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

It's pretty silly, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Yeah, pretty silly.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah. Now, I noticed that there's no credits on the YouTube videos. So you can't tell who's doing what. And I don't know what Frank Oz's involvement was, if he just said, Yeah, sure, you can put me down as a producer.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Or if he actually was in the puppet things.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Well, who knows? But I noticed some of the voices sounded familiar and some of the voices didn't. But um, I thought it was good. What do you think, Ted? All right. I thought it was fun. So anyway, okay. Next up, do you want me to read this one, Ted? Or do you I'll read it. Okay, so now what what section is next, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Autism,

Book Club Autism Story And Letterboard Questions

SPEAKER_00 23:59

autism, autism. Jenna Bush Hager of the Today Show has chosen Upward Bound for her new book club in April. It's a debut novel by Wooden Brown.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

What's his name again, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Woody Brown.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Woody Brown.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

He's an autistic writer who does speak out loud. He what? He does not speak out loud. Okay. He writes using a letterboard with support for his mother.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Well, that's how he communicates. He communicates using what they call facilitated communication.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Right? The story takes place in an adult day program that falls from group of comp characters, navigating daily life, relationships, connection. Jenna called the book powerful, and she says it offers a window into a world that is often misunderstood. Woody Brown says he helps readers will take away two things. First, that can make someone like him be a strong writer with more stories to tell. And second, that people question their assumptions. And second, that people ask questions about their assumptions about intelligence stability.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Okay, so Ted, I I have some questions about the video. You and I watched it together a couple of times.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

And can you describe the letterboard that he used for people at home?

SPEAKER_00 25:21

He uses a special card with letters on it that he points to the letters to.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

And his mom holds the card in front of him and he points to the letters, and then what does she do?

SPEAKER_00 25:32

She talks for him.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

So she so like if he types like if he points to the letters W I L L, what does she say? Does she say Will? Yeah. And if he points to the letters S T O P, she says stop. And if she points the letters W X P Q M N L G. Or if he points to the letters, sorry. If he points the letters W N L X Q P A A D A A B, what does she say?

SPEAKER_00 26:13

That's that's a tough thing to say.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Yeah, yeah, it is a tough thing to say. So Ted and I watched the video closely. We watched it once, and Ted thought about it. And I thought about it because also Woody Brown is also known for being the first nonverbal autistic person to graduate from UCLA. And he is the he also apparently got a MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, which is a very difficult thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

And I have an MFA from Temple, and I had some 24-hour days when I was getting my MFA. It's not easy to get an MFA in anything. So if this is a fact, it's a big accomplishment. But the second time you and I watched that video, Ted, what did we notice? What did we notice about the way he was pointing to the letters?

SPEAKER_00 27:31

He was just pointing at random.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Well, that's sure what it looked like, right? And one of the things that it was a special card that had the letters on it. Yeah. And he a lot for some of it, he wasn't even looking at the card. Facilitated communication is a very controversial topic in the autism community and in autism studies. And I thought, oh, he must be genuine because she's holding the card but not holding his hand. But after looking at it a couple times, it didn't seem right. Now you don't need facilitated communication to type on a keyboard and write a story, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:23

No.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Yeah. Because you've written lots of things using a keyboard. You wrote, remember, I think you were in your early 20s when you wrote your memoirs, you wrote a book called The Importance of Being Ted. Yep. And we just have it at home somewhere. If you have questions about facilitated communication, we will put some links in the show notes that will give you more information. But um it's not a hundred percent clear to me that Woody Brown actually wrote the book. But on the other hand, people lots of people type lots of things. So it's entirely possible.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Especially to me.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Well, yeah, I remember when we talked about it, you were actually really angry for the rest of the day.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

What was it that um made you and you really didn't want to discuss it?

SPEAKER_00 29:16

I I asked you about it a couple of times.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

You think it's what?

SPEAKER_00 29:23

AI gerated.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

What is AI generated?

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Like like the computer wrote for him a lot of things, and his mom did a lot of the heavy work.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

Well, I think we need I don't want to say anything disparaging about him because maybe he did write this on his own and do a lot of very hard work. And I read a sample of it on the Libby website. The Libby website is a library website where you can download ebooks and audiobooks, and the whole list for that book, I think there were 75 people waiting in line to read that book. And it just all seemed kind of kind of odd. So what do you think um people should do about this news story?

SPEAKER_00 30:16

I think they should check out the book and and have their opinions. If if you have questions, we welcome your comments and all that.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Yeah. If you want to uh send us any questions, you know, we'd be happy to uh consider responding to them. But don't just tell us we're jerks because we don't believe in facilitated communication.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

I know you may not agree with all the opinions and what you'll say anyway.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

Well we'll we will put a link in the show notes to more information about facilitated communication.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

All right. And

Autism Acceptance Events And Local Art Show

SPEAKER_00 30:54

now Autism News, autism news, autism news, da da da da da da da da.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

What do we have here, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 31:02

The Eagles Autism Foundation is kicking off Autism Acceptance Month. Whoa, wanna do that again? The Eagles Autism Foundation is kicking off Autism Acceptance Month with a hundred thousand dollar matching donation.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Great.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

That means every dollar people give can be doubled up to the limit. All the money goes towards autism research and community support programs. Last year, this event raised over $10 million for people all the world. The main event is the Eagles Audit and Challenge, family-friendly day with a bike ride, 5k walk and run, a short sensory friendly walk, so that also virtual options so people can join from anywhere. Can you there are also virtual options that people can join from anywhere? Uh-huh. You can learn more or sign up at Eagles Audit and Challenge.org.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Have you ever been to the Eagles Autism Challenge Day?

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

You did? When was it? When did you go?

SPEAKER_00 32:07

That was t to 2017.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

2017? Who took you?

SPEAKER_00 32:12

That was James, I think.

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Okay, we might uh I I I don't think you were working with James in 2017, Ted.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

That was with Gene Dadica.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Okay. What did you do at the Eagles Autism Challenge?

SPEAKER_00 32:28

I just watched.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Yeah. What were people doing?

SPEAKER_00 32:32

They were running around the tracks and all that, doing doing heavy stuff.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

They led to the bike ride.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Okay. And what is what else do we have here?

SPEAKER_00 32:44

We saved the best for last. The eighth art exhibition of the Autistic Art College of Philadelphia is on April 25th, from 1 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at Robert Center at for Pediatric Research, Hope to the Center for Autism Research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. And I have a P in the show.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

Yes, you do. And we're very excited about it. So that's going to be on April 25th. And we will put a link in the show notes so that you can get more information and find out about it. I believe attendance is free, but you do have to register so that they have a headcount.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Yep. So that's going to be exciting, Ted.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Yeah. And

Earth Day Habits And Closing Notes

SPEAKER_01 33:31

spring is here.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

Spring is here.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

Yes. And we had a good how was he how do you think Easter was, Ted?

SPEAKER_00 33:39

I think it was pretty good. Um the bunny was helpful.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

The bunny was helpful? What did the bunny help you with?

SPEAKER_00 33:44

The bunny was friendly.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

The bunny was friendly. Was the bunny generous?

SPEAKER_00 33:48

I often think it's often funny. The eggs were hidden by a bunny. Last night worked for Dust the Dawn, high eggs inside the wand. Pink eggs, yellow eggs, green eggs, blue. I found red one inside my shoe.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

So we had candy and we had Vince cooked us a nice a nice Easter dinner.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

Ham, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Yep. And it rained for most of the day.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

And I saw Jesus Christ Superstar in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Was that on YouTube? That was on YouTube.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

It was also a very streaming services.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Okay. Well, that sounds pretty good, Teb. What else do you want to talk about now?

SPEAKER_00 34:27

Well, I think we should talk about more vegetable I have. Um, it's almost our Earth Day episode, so we will probably do a show at the Philadelphia Zoo where.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

Yeah, I don't think that's really going to happen. Let's say Earth Day's coming up.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

Earth Day's coming up. We're going to spread the word about recycling and all that.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

And taking good care of our planet.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 34:51

Mm-hmm. And picking up trash.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

And uh maybe using a bike instead of driving your car.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Or using public transportation.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

And what are some other things that people can do for Earth Day?

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Turn out the lights when you leave.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

So I think we should wrap this up now. We hope to do some more adventures and all that. Some more fun stuff.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

Yes. I am looking forward to going to the Calder Museum. I know we talked about that one before. And what are some other I want to go to the Ministry of Law again.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Yep. So that's our show. If you want to learn more about us, you can find my videos on YouTube for Search Puppets. You also learn much more about 663Production.com. You can write to us at info at 663production.com. If you like this show, you can write some review at ApplePodchaser.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Did you say Apple Pod Chaser Ted?

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Apple Podcaster Podchaser. If you have set clips you want to share with us, say this art, tell the joke, get it to us. If you have art or quite a share, get it to us, and you will put our blog. Just give it our good taste. So that's our show for all the show for now. Thanks for listening. Bye for now. Stay tuned for life in the headline. Bye. Bye. Life in the Ted Lane is written and hosted by me, Ted Harris. My co-host is Lizzie Harris Freel, edited by Ted Harris. Music of post performed by Vincent Freel. For more information, visit our website at 663productions.com.