[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.08,0:00:03.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted to share with you how my Autism helps me connect with animals...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.40,0:00:06.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's happening right now...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.97,0:00:11.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's s squirrel outside the window and he's upset...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.29,0:00:12.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.59,0:00:15.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,..an acorn.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.17,0:00:21.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, it's not THAT kind of connection....
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.59,0:00:33.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music, scribbling noises, animal calls, bird song, bees buzzing)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.36,0:00:38.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi, it's Emily from BiteSizeVegan.org, where you can find free\Nresources, eCourses, kids' content,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.56,0:00:43.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a Guided Search to help you find just what you need, \Neven if you don't know what to ask!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.36,0:00:46.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've wanted to speak on this topic for some time now,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.09,0:00:49.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I'm honestly worried I won't be able to do it justice.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.54,0:00:53.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know I won't be able to convey everything I want to convey,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.25,0:00:55.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I wanted to try, best I can.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.77,0:01:00.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I do want to be clear that I do not speak for all Autistics.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.16,0:01:03.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am sharing my own personal experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.10,0:01:05.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every Autistic person is different.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.37,0:01:08.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't know I was Autistic until my thirties.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.61,0:01:14.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looking back, I believe my Autism has been an integral \Nfactor in my connecting with non-human animals.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.32,0:01:18.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m far from the first Autistic person to draw this association.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.43,0:01:23.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps the most prominent voice on this topic\Nis animal behaviorist Temple Grandin,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.55,0:01:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who has spent decades designing slaughterhouse equipment.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.14,0:01:33.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Grandin has written extensively on how being\NAutistic allows her to put herself in the place of animals;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.55,0:01:38.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how she can understand how they think, what scares \Nthem, what makes them feel safe.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.54,0:01:42.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, how she uses that profound connection to design
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.28,0:01:47.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“better” and “friendlier” ways to systematically slaughter them.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.09,0:01:52.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I, on the other hand, arrived at a different conclusion.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.03,0:01:58.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It never once occurred to me that non-human\Nanimals don't have thoughts, emotions, desires,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.06,0:02:00.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and rich interior lives all their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.90,0:02:06.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While I didn't know it at the time, looking\Nback, I believe this was due to my own Autistic experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.42,0:02:12.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My entire life, I've felt like everyone had some manual that I’d failed to receive.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.53,0:02:16.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Human interaction and communication is utterly baffling to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.78,0:02:21.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing up, out of necessity, I became something of a child anthropologist—
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.34,0:02:27.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,observing the behavior of the people around me and \Ndoing my best to approximate what I thought was expected.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.53,0:02:32.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Navigating everyday interactions was—and is—exhausting.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.23,0:02:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was made all the more distressing by\Nthe fact that I felt everything so intensely.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.58,0:02:44.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was so much I was experiencing and wanted\Nto communicate—yet it was impossible to
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.13,0:02:46.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,translate it out to those around me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.76,0:02:52.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, just because I couldn't express everything\Nin a way others could understand, didn't mean
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.79,0:02:54.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wasn't going through it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.36,0:02:58.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I assumed this was the same for others—\Nhuman and non-human alike.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.69,0:03:04.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That just because non-human animals couldn't\Nspeak in a way humans could fully understand,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.47,0:03:08.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn't mean they weren't capable of thought,\Nemotion, or communication.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.18,0:03:11.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I was certain they were communicating.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.51,0:03:12.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just as I was.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.81,0:03:17.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was only that humans couldn't understand\Ntheir language at the level they could,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.75,0:03:20.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just as people around me couldn't understand mine.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.87,0:03:27.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I knew how profoundly frustrating, isolating\Nand demoralizing it was to be unable to convey
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.95,0:03:29.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what I wanted to convey.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.51,0:03:33.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I knew how it felt to never be truly understood.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.88,0:03:41.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it broke my heart thinking of what non-human\Nanimals were experiencing at the hands of humans;
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.56,0:03:48.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, no matter how desperately and\Nclearly they communicated their terror and pain,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.01,0:03:51.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were ignored and discounted.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.26,0:03:56.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Honestly, I think most people do connect with\Nnon-human animals in their childhood.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.28,0:04:00.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you put a piglet or chicken in front of\Na child, they will want to play with them.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.42,0:04:04.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we're taught to conditionally sever this connection.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.79,0:04:08.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This animal is okay to love, this animal is okay to eat.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.82,0:04:11.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Love Babe the pig, but eat bacon.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.16,0:04:13.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Watch Finding Nemo, but eat fish.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.71,0:04:16.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Love dogs, eat cows.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.30,0:04:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over time we separate ourselves from the most\Nfundamental truth we knew inherently as kids:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.54,0:04:27.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it's not okay to hurt others.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.23,0:04:31.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, this separation never seemed to fully take.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.12,0:04:36.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the most troubling—and, frankly offensive—theories about Autism
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.02,0:04:40.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that Autistic people are deficient or totally lacking in empathy.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.09,0:04:44.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More recent theories of Autism propose that the exact opposite is true:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.89,0:04:51.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that "rather than being oblivious, autistic people take in too much and learn too fast.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.16,0:04:55.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[That] they are actually overwhelmed not only by their own emotions,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.23,0:04:57.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but by the emotions of others."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.19,0:04:59.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is certainly the case for me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.78,0:05:04.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As odd as it may sound, I empathize to a debilitating degree.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.46,0:05:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't help but put myself in the place of others, including non-human animals.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.62,0:05:15.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing up, I assumed that others did this\Nas well, which made cruel or even simply inconsiderate
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.87,0:05:18.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,behavior seem all the more menacing.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.86,0:05:25.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I couldn't understand how people could knowingly\Nharm one another and other sentient beings.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.28,0:05:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I couldn’t understand how they could be so seemingly disconnected.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.98,0:05:35.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How could they not recognize the piercing\Nscreams of pigs being lowered into a gas chamber
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.64,0:05:37.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as an expression of pain.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.18,0:05:41.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How could they not recognize the cries of a mother cow in the dairy industry
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.69,0:05:47.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after her calf has been ripped from her side as an expression of grief and anguish.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.39,0:05:54.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I couldn't understand why so many people didn't\Nappear to see what seemed so clear to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.34,0:06:01.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And honestly, it hardened me some to humanity,\Nbecause I assumed it was intentional blindness
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.44,0:06:07.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, my brain doesn't filter things the way most peoples' brains do.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.36,0:06:11.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once I become aware of something, I have no way of turning it off.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.25,0:06:15.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I essentially take in everything all at once, all the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.39,0:06:19.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel everything all at once, all the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.61,0:06:23.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, everyday life is often neurologically traumatic.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.64,0:06:29.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While certainly exhausting and challenging,\NI believe this aspect of my neurology eventually
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.14,0:06:35.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,led me to a better understanding of the disconnect\Nmany people have when it comes to non-human animals.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.44,0:06:39.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As well as the resistance many people have to going vegan.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.18,0:06:48.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Truly confronting what sentient being are subjected to \Nfor our dietary choices is itself traumatic.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.44,0:06:53.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's ripping off the blinders and seeing what you can never unsee.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.42,0:06:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As someone who has no ability to filter, \NI understand how extremely painful it is to
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.49,0:07:03.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,suddenly be overwhelmed by the suffering all around you
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.46,0:07:07.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—in every glass of milk, cut of meat, and carton of eggs.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.12,0:07:12.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I understand why someone would resist that pain of awareness.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.88,0:07:19.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, eventually, rather than viewing non-vegan resistance as\Nwillful blindness, ignorance or uncaring,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.58,0:07:25.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I began to see the majority as springing from understandable self-preservation.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.44,0:07:32.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, recognizing the obvious emotionality of non-human\Nanimals is often criticized as anthropomorphizing
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.81,0:07:37.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— meaning attributing human emotions and intentions to non-human animals.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.62,0:07:44.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there is a stark difference between personifying\Nanimals and striving to see from their perspective.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.82,0:07:49.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We humans have a tendency to define everything\Nthrough our own lens of reference.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.83,0:07:54.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is understandable in many ways given\Nit's the only lens we've ever seen through.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.41,0:08:00.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, it's a highly problematic approach that \Ninvalidates the experiences of everyone unlike ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.99,0:08:05.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,An example of this within our own species\Nis the history of our understanding of Autism.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.51,0:08:09.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Autistics were—and often still are—ranked by levels of functioning,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.83,0:08:13.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with non-verbal Autistics generally labeled as "low-functioning."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.53,0:08:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a perfect illustration of assessing\Nthe Autistic person through a non-Autistic lens:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.30,0:08:23.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just because someone is non-verbal doesn't\Nmean they cannot or are not communicating.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:23.24,0:08:28.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, if a non-verbal Autistic puts things\Ninto an accepted format, like the written word,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.62,0:08:33.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,suddenly their level of functioning\Nand validity of experience is reconsidered.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.57,0:08:39.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a similar manner, we are consistently astounded\Nby non-human animals’ emotional capacities.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.28,0:08:44.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every now and again there’s a new article\Nor study expounding upon the amazing possibility
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.65,0:08:50.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that animals experience complex emotions,\Nor are far more intelligent than we once thought.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.26,0:08:56.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet somehow, despite this happening time and again, \Nwe don’t take these revelations to their ultimate conclusion:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.51,0:09:02.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that animals obviously possess multifaceted inner lives that we are not privy to.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:02.22,0:09:06.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They have been thinking and feeling long before we were able to "prove" it
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.92,0:09:09.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within our own framework of understanding.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.00,0:09:13.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same, unfortunately, holds true for pain perception.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.17,0:09:18.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Humans have long carried out horrific experiments\Nto determine if animals feel pain.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.34,0:09:24.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For the centuries that humans have been hurting\Nanimals to prove for ourselves that they could feel,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.15,0:09:27.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were feeling.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.13,0:09:30.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, why not assume that they do feel?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.22,0:09:33.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why not assume that they do emote?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.56,0:09:40.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why should they have to suffer to prove to us within our own limited understanding
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.26,0:09:42.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they are sentient beings?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.07,0:09:46.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've really struggled with putting this video together.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.13,0:09:51.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is so very much I wanted to convey that I'm simply unable to.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.10,0:09:56.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While I am verbal, the process it takes for\Nme to put things into words is extremely difficult.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.91,0:10:02.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And honestly, words can't help but fail to\Nfully capture what I'm meaning to express.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.33,0:10:07.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While I think my experience of feeling more at ease and\Nconnected with non-human animals is hardly unique,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.75,0:10:14.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I do believe that animals—in many ways—have\Nhelped me survive being Autistic in a non-Autistic world.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.32,0:10:16.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I cannot help but try to advocate for them.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.89,0:10:20.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not to be their voice, nor speak for them.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.38,0:10:22.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They have voices all their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.06,0:10:25.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They communicate quite effectively.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.81,0:10:28.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We... just don't listen.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.18,0:10:31.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While this video isn't everything I wanted it to be,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.100,0:10:36.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I hope at the very least that sharing how I see the world differently
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.62,0:10:40.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may help others begin to think differently.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.71,0:10:47.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To stay in the loop about new Bite Size Vegan content and updates, \Nplease subscribe, and sign up for the newsletter
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.50,0:10:50.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or follow the Telegram channel for the most reliable notifications.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.64,0:10:53.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now go live vegan, and I'll see you soon.