Jimmy Clare · 57 min
Told he would never walk, talk, or lead a fulfilling life, Jimmy Clare spent years surviving bullying and institutional failure, and turned every 'no' into rocket fuel for a career advocating for autistic people worldwide.
Hear this story
Doctors told Jimmy Clare's parents he would never walk without braces, never speak clearly, and never have a fulfilling life. He proved them wrong by learning to walk chasing an ice cream vendor, graduating high school with straight A's, and building a career as an autism advocate and motivational speaker. But the path there was brutal. From fourth grade through high school, Jimmy endured systematic bullying that escalated from unanswered questions to neck-slapping attacks that left visible marks. When he reported the violence, the assistant principal claimed bullying didn't exist in his school. School staff used physical restraint on him during autism meltdowns, crossing his hands and pulling from behind, the very restraint techniques that have caused children to die. The school district wanted him deemed unfit for society.
What saved Jimmy was finding people who saw him as a person first. His seventh grade teacher forced him to tell her what was happening, got involved when administrators wouldn't listen, and stayed in his life for years after. A college public speaking professor took him under her wing across multiple semesters, asking to see his links, publications, and podcast interviews to help him grow. His family never treated him as different, joking with him and helping him solve everyday problems like signing PDFs. These people taught Jimmy something vital: that someone showing up matters more than any diagnosis or limitation.
Today Jimmy runs his own website as a business, not a hobby, because he knew treating it like a career would push him to improve every day. He co-authored two books, appeared on podcasts, and built a following on Google News after the platform rejected him saying no one would read autism content from an autistic perspective. His fuel comes from proving the naysayers wrong, and he uses that fire to advocate for others on the autism spectrum. In November, he was invited to appear on a podcast about Avatar: The Last Airbender, the show he has watched 111 times.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au • 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 737 732 · 1800respect.org.au
“I always say it's fun proving people wrong.”
“I felt safe in my seventh grade teacher's class because I knew I could come to her when I needed to.”
“I'm sorry I went through eight years of hell — I'm entitled not to forget that.”
The hero, today
Jimmy was told by doctors he wouldn't walk without braces or have a fulfilling life, but he proved them wrong by learning to walk, graduating high school with straight A's, and building his own business as a motivational speaker and autism advocate. The most difficult part of his schooling was the bullying that started in fourth grade, the school district's lack of understanding of autism, and the poor quality of the special education program, but he credits his seventh grade teacher with seeing what he needed even when he couldn't ask for help directly. Jimmy treats his writing and advocacy as a career, not a hobby, because he knew that if he didn't commit to it like a business, he would only show up whenever he felt like it and his work wouldn't improve. The people who showed up for Jimmy, his seventh grade teacher, his public speaking mentor, his professors who believed in him, and his family, knew how to see him as a person first, understood what ticked him off and what his triggers were, and stayed involved even when he didn't know how to ask for help. Jimmy's fuel to keep going comes from proving the naysayers wrong; when Google told him no one would read his autism content, he got accepted to their platform days later and now has thousands of followers, which he still uses as evidence that people want to hear from autistic voices.
Yes. Jimmy Clare is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Jimmy was told by doctors he wouldn't walk without braces or have a fulfilling life, but he proved them wrong by learning to walk, graduating high school with straight A's, and building his own business as a motivational speaker and autism advocate.
The most difficult part of his schooling was the bullying that started in fourth grade, the school district's lack of understanding of autism, and the poor quality of the special education program, but he credits his seventh grade teacher with seeing what he needed even when he couldn't ask for help directly.
Jimmy treats his writing and advocacy as a career, not a hobby, because he knew that if he didn't commit to it like a business, he would only show up whenever he felt like it and his work wouldn't improve.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 00:03
Welcome to the Kintsugi Heroes podcast, where we share inspirational stories of everyday people going through different challenges and how they overcome them. Please be aware that the story you're about to hear may have moments of deeply felt emotions and personal experiences. If anything you hear has a triggering effect, please reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. If you love this conversation, please like and share it with your so we can continue to share more inspiration and hope to as many people as possible. Now listen up for our next hero's story. And in today's episode, I met with the fabulous Jimmy Clare. Now this is a different conversation because Jimmy has lived his life with autism. So he's always been different to everybody else around him. And he shares a story that's quite heart-wrenching. As he navigated his way through his educational years, which he termed the years of hell, he found ways to see the positive or the light in everything. And every setback he had fueled him. It gave him a fire to actually overcome it and be better and prove people wrong. He spent his life proving people wrong, and now he's got his own blog, he writes, he's a motivational speaker, and he's out to show the world that nothing is going to stop him just because he's autistic. It's a fabulous conversation, and he's got a great sense of humor, and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Jimmy Cliff. Hello, here we are. It's another episode of Kintsugi Heroes. I'm here with my guest today, Jimmy Clare. Jimmy, how, how are you?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 02:00
Good, and how about you?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:03
I am very well, thank you. I'm really excited about this conversation. I have no idea what your story is about, like, I don't, I don't know what any of them are, and, um, I just want to thank you for coming along today and sharing your story with me and the audience. That means a lot.
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The people who showed up for Jimmy, his seventh grade teacher, his public speaking mentor, his professors who believed in him, and his family, knew how to see him as a person first, understood what ticked him off and what his triggers were, and stayed involved even when he didn't know how to ask for help.
This conversation includes the milestones that wouldn't come, ice cream and pointing at the world, the years of hell begin, restrained by the people meant to help, the assistant principal who saw nothing and a teacher who knew without being told.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 02:20
Thanks for having me. It's my favorite part of my, of what I do. Before we got started, even though I work with technology every single day, I get tired of it so much. I love, I love the, the being a guest on people's platforms. But on the backside of things, of my own platforms, it's just too much.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:47
Yeah, a lot of technology. Whereabouts are you located, Jimmy?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 02:52
I'm located in Pennsylvania.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:54
Lovely.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 02:55
And Ambler, Pennsylvania is like 20 minutes or 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia. Philadelphia.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 03:02
Philadelphia. Lovely. See, technology enables us to talk and I'm in you know, in the east coast of Australia. So that's pretty cool.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 03:10
It's crazy.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 03:12
It is. Uh, all right, let's get started. This is about stories, and stories of challenge and adversity. And I'm— I, I would love for you to take us back to where your story begins. Where does it begin, Jimmy?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 03:26
Well, my story begins when I was very young I wasn't meeting my milestones when I was growing up. I wasn't walking and talking at a certain age. My parents were concerned. My parents got me occupational therapy, physical therapy. I think there's a few other therapies. I forget the name of them since I'm And, oh, speech therapy. That's what I remembered. And they— and even that, that didn't really help me walk and talk and everything. It did a little bit here and there, but it was kind of like a hit or miss. It is in early development. And I remember my parents getting— I remember my parents telling me that the doctor said to them that Jimmy won't be able to walk without braces or crutches. And I never had any of them. And I and my parents were also told that I wasn't going to be, uh, have anything. I wouldn't be— I basically was told I wouldn't have a fulfilling life. I wouldn't accomplish anything. And these people don't even know me. They just assume, oh, he's going to be stupid. He's going to be— he's not going to do anything. I could have gave up there. But, you know, I always say it's fun proving people wrong. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I do enjoy it. I mean, I don't go out of my way just to go prove every person wrong, but to the people who say all the naysayers, I love proving them wrong. And it's really fun to watch their shocked faces. Holy crap. And like, we were wrong. And but, but it wasn't— it wasn't all about proving them wrong back then. I had to go through many, many struggles. What got me to walk was when I saw a— I think my dad And my mom and my brother went on one of his business trips. And what got me to walk was I saw a song on ice cream vendor on the street selling ice cream. And my mom was like, "So that was all you wanted was ice cream?" And it's like, "Hey, we all got our, we all have our motivations." And I was a pretty smart baby back then, to be honest. Is if I wasn't able to speak because I was partially deaf in my right ear, I pointed at everything and I called everything "baa" like a sheep, but I pointed at every object and my parents knew what I wanted. And it's like, hmm, even though I didn't know how to talk, I knew what I wanted. I knew what I needed. And And I was like, well, that's cool. Even though that would be concerning to me if I was a parent too. But I was like, okay, you want this? Okay, why not? But yeah, and I had multiple ear surgeries when I was a kid. The first 3 was to remove a cholesteatoma and I hated it going do that because I hate needles and give me a shot and everything to put me asleep was like pulling teeth because I was like, I hate needles, I hate needles. It's like, well, look away. It's like, yeah, that's really easy to tell me to do. Go look away. So my parents had to always hold me down because I kept squirming and everything. It was like, oh, you're going to make it worse. It's like, I'm good at doing that, apparently. I also was told I wouldn't be able to read higher than a second grade level. And because I'm autistic, even though they told me I was unable to read a second grade level, my seventh grade teacher— well, yeah, before I jump to that, my I just got tired of so many people telling me I wouldn't be able to do this and that. And I was in special education for most of, well, pretty much all my schooling except to a certain point in high school. And one of my, one of the things I said, one of the things I did not like about my elementary school is that they wanted to deem me, they wanted a psychologist and my psychiatrist to deem me as I was not fit for society because I admit, and I'm not like this way anymore, but Years ago, when I was really younger in elementary school, I had a lot of autism meltdowns. And what an autism meltdown is, I used to explain it like, like an atomic bomb going off. But then I got, then I thought, hmm, that doesn't, I don't really feel like that accurately describes it. It's kind of like a hurricane. It builds up, it starts with Category 1, and I think the highest is number 5, I believe. If I paid attention enough in science class, which I probably did not since me and science do not go together, neither does math. And one of the things I did that I shouldn't have done during autism meltdowns, I threw pencils, I tipped over desks, but the pencil, when throwing a pencil at I threw a pencil at someone when I was— and this was like, I don't know how old I was in fourth grade, I think maybe 8, maybe 7. But the pencil, I don't think I threw it at anyone. I threw it across the room. I think it hit a wall. But they was like, that's dangerous. It's dangerous if you're aiming at someone. I just threw it across the room, like literally straight across the room. And, but they said I was dangerous. You know what they did to me that was dangerous? They used restraint on me, physical restraint, and they crossed my hands in front of me and pulled from behind. And I read somewhere later on in life that many kids have died because people Schools use restraints and it's like, and they want to deem me as not fit for society. Hell, if I was a parent of some and my school did that to my kid, I'd draw the biggest lawsuit up on them whatsoever. And it's like, you know what? I'll defund the whole school. I know I talk super tough, but yeah, but it's kind of like my personality a little bit because I get on this rant and whatnot, but that's just me. But from there, I got bullied from starting in 4th grade all the way up to high school. And it was really torture. It started with a bunch of questions that I didn't have answers to, and it was like harmless questions, but I felt really stupid. I don't remember exactly what the questions were. I think it was a lot of history. I'm not a history fan either. I mean, I like them. I think I like them. I like the Middle Ages with knights and whatnot because I played all the Age of Empires games with my cousins growing up. So I like that kind of stuff. But I wouldn't say like, oh, let me go read a history book. I'll fall asleep. So But then it got into two girls on my bus kicking my chair, the backseat of my chair on the bus, which drove me nuts. My school had this program called Safeties, which was supposed to keep kids seated at all times while the bus was moving. And so me and my friend decided, hey, you know what, let's do this to have respect, but we got the opposite of respect. So what I thought was driving me nuts and me and my friends nuts on the bus, it just quadrupled and over time worse. And it's like, we actually tried to even hand in our belt and say, "All right, you can't do this. You have to get fired." "Oh, okay, thank you. Thank you for telling us. I want to get fired right now." So we literally— so me and my friend literally tried to figure out the best possible way to get fired. We still couldn't get fired. And it's like, this seems like a punishment. And it's like, why did we even sign up for this crappy program? I mean, maybe it wasn't crappy for somebody who was at least maybe had the confidence to stand up to them. But I, to be honest, I lacked confidence even though I was going to karate, but I was overweight, so I didn't feel like I was— I didn't feel good about myself. So I was like, okay, I'm trying to tell people what to do and I'm not confident at all. This really is good. The two don't match up. So fast forward a little bit. In middle school, it became kind of a battleground. And the reason why I say that, I mean, I have spinal stenosis in my neck, meaning, and it's not in the lower part, it's not in the middle part, it's in the very top part. And I was like, out of all the places I could be, it had to be there. So it makes my head hard to turn left and right, up and down. And it's always fun driving with it too. I actually have a mirror that— it's like one of those race car mirrors, but— and so it knocks out all the blind spots. I was like, why is this not standard in cars? It's like, how can we make it more safe? Well, get a freaking mirror that actually takes out the blind spots. There you go. I was like, uh, we got all this technology, but we haven't got the mirror correct yet. So basically after that, we— I— so how it became a war zone for me, this— I don't know who created this game in my middle school, but They— it was like a neck-slapping game. I don't know the rules. It was just stupid and dangerous for me. And apparently I became a target out of some— for some reason. I'm not sure why. I didn't really ask the bullies. I just wanted to get them the hell out. Go have them go. Away from me, but it got worse over the many months, I'd say. I don't know how long a school year is in middle school. It just felt like an eternity. And they might— so basically these guys slapped the back of my neck every single time they saw me. Me in the hallway. It got to the point where I was starting to leave a red mark and everything. And I was like, is the assistant principal stupid or smoking weed? I went to him multiple times and he said, it's like bullying does not exist in this school.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 17:12
Wow.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 17:13
I don't know what you're smoking, but I would like some. Because I'd like to get out of this hellhole of a school too. And they're like, "Maybe if you left your sick, like, 2x2 office, you'll see the bullying." Well, it took them like 100 times to finally do something. But it wasn't just me who had it again. I started skipping the bus because the bullies were on my bus. And so my 7th grade teacher, she kind of like forced it out of me of what's been happening and she forced me to tell her what's been going on. And so she got involved. She told the principal, the principal still didn't listen. Then my guidance counselor got involved. And it was like, oh, this guy's going to get a double tap. And it was like, hehehe. And then the head principal got involved too. And I was like, I don't think that assistant principal had his job for very long because I think he got fired, I believe, somewhere down the line. I think after I graduated. But—
Aveline Clark (Host) · 18:33
Timmy, was this a public school? School that you were going to at this time? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I thought so. Yeah.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 18:40
Yeah. Uh, public health school.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 18:44
Yeah.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 18:46
And so, and my, my, um, my mom wrote notes to my, my 7th grade teacher. And I, I really, I felt safe in my 7th grade teacher's class because I knew I could come to her when I needed to. And even though I didn't know how to express, I need help in my own way, in my own way, I told her I needed help without even saying I needed help. And she knew I needed help. And it was like, she's a great teacher. I still stay in touch with her today. And she was even one of my— she was my— what's the word I'm looking for? My tutor for my college math class. And yeah, and there was even days where I didn't even know what I was like feeling and she's like, "Jimmy, are you having a bad day?" It's like, I didn't even know I said I'm having a bad day and I'm just like, and so she just knew everything. It's like, my gosh. She was like, "Even so after these years, she still figures it out." I was like, "Is it that obvious?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 20:10
I don't know." Hey Jimmy, what would've it been like if you hadn't have had her as a 7th grade teacher? Do you think?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 20:21
Uh, probably a lot worse off because I don't— I feel like it takes like a special kind of skill for a teacher to know their students kind of like on a student level and on a personal level. I mean, I didn't like say anything. I mean, I wasn't like saying too personal things, but you knew like, oh, I know how to contact his mom or I know, I know how to, I know what ticks him off. I know what his triggers are. I know he doesn't mean this. And, but there's some teachers who are like, I didn't give a crap. And I'm not saying that all of them, I mean, there's some who— my 12th grade teacher in English class, special education teacher, been there one too many years. And she could, she didn't care about me whatsoever. She pushed me back in. Pushed me past my breaking point. I may have said a few things that I probably shouldn't have to a teacher, but my— and I told my parents what I said to her, so it's not like I hid anything. And my parents were like, "Good, you stand up for yourself." She was kind of acting like a bully too. And I called her the Wicked Witch of the West a few times. I don't know, have you ever seen the TV show Two and a Half Men? Mm-hmm. Well, I like this one episode where Charlie and Alan was going to his mother's house and he's like, "Just keep riding until you reach the gates of hell." And then there's a few episodes where he's like, "Oh, welcome to the gates of hell." And so every time I saw her, I was like, "Welcome to the gates of hell." And she hated when I said that. And it was like, but she kept on calling me lazy. And I'm not sure how I was lazy because I was getting straight A's. You know, at the near the end of semester, I mean, sorry, not semester, end of the school year, They, they had excused me from all the finals because I would have, because I had all A's and everything. It's like you would literally have to fail all the finals in order for you not to graduate.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 23:09
Wow.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 23:09
And so I was like, why bother even testing you? And it's like, thank you. And of course, when she heard that I was getting excused from all the finals, she's like, That's complete BS. And I was like, who the hell are you? And I worked my ass off for those grades. And they are, you, it was easy for you. You put me through hell. And they, it was easy for me? I reported her to the head principal. And I think out of all the people in my school district who caused me a lot of hell, The only person who apologized to me was the head principal. And that head principal was in my middle school and transferred to my high school. So she, me and her had some history, good and bad. But she knew I wasn't a troublemaker. I think she knew it was a sign of I needed help as well. And it's really funny, years later I went back a few times to visit some old teachers that I liked and I actually saw her on her last day before she retired and she's like, "Well, this figures." And I was like, "I met you in middle school and now you see me a day before I retire in high school." And it's like, it's like, I, it's like, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, or is that hell for you? He's like, I'll let you think about that. I was like, thanks.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 24:55
Nice. You certainly made an impression on, on people, um, Jimmy, which sounds lovely that you had these warm memories of these teachers who especially— I mean, there's good and bad like you said, but especially the ones that actually helped you and cared about you and respected you for who you who you were.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 25:14
Yeah, and now I'm in college. I'm— I've had quite a good— I have many good professors. I had a professor who took me under his wing to help me better my writing skills. My first essay, even the leprechauns from the Lucky Charms commercials couldn't find the gold at the end of the rainbow because Yeah, my essay was so sloppy. I mean, I had run-on sentences. My commas were not in the right place. It was so horrible. He had so many X's and crossed out everything. It's like Captain Jack Sparrow wouldn't even be able to find the gold on the treasure map. And he's the worst pirate I've ever seen in my life. But he's— And he's— but that professor, he helped me get into writing in the first place. He told me in order to be a better writer, you have to continue writing every single day. And that kind of scared me a little bit because like, what could I possibly write about? And that's how I started my My business, I started writing it and then it grew to becoming a motivational website for everyone. Though it was geared for personal training at first, but then I ran into a professor who taught— who did not help me at all in the class. He told me, "Study part A, and if A—" And when I got to the test, A wasn't even on the test. So I was like, "Is this a trick question?" And he was like, "No." And I was like, "Well, how am I supposed to study for something that's not on the test?" He's like, "Well, you should just know the bones in your body." Well, I know the bicep, but I don't know what the actual bone is called. And he was like, well, you should just know them. Yeah, I'm Google. I can just magically know in my head all the bones in my body, program it to the exact science. What were you studying?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 27:45
What were you studying then, Jimmy?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 27:47
Back then I was studying personal training. And the funny thing is, I was like, why would any personal trainer need to know? Well, apparently, I don't know if you know this, but there's grooves on the bones in the body. And according to my school, I need to know the grooves on the bones. I was like, uh, excuse me? I was like, I'm not becoming a master surgeon, am I? And I was like, I can see like, oh, you need to know the bicep, the forearm, some, or some kind of, maybe some ligaments and whatnot. But I shouldn't need to know the grooves. All the grooves look the same to me. They're like, well, they're not the same. I'm like, he actually told me to go study with these bones in my, in the library at my school. Go study the bones, these box of bones. Well, I asked for the Box of Bones, but Box of Bones don't exist. I'm like, what the hell? So I dropped the course. I withdrew it because I was failing and I was not going to have to take an F for— and I wasn't failing because I wasn't trying. I was failing because I had an unhelpful professor and And his tests were weird. He set up bones on the table. I mean, and, and, and, and, and, and he was like, "And what bone is this?" And I was like, "I don't even know how to sign for this." I tried flashcards. I didn't know that. I tried— I even had like a model skeleton in my room. And that didn't work either. I'm like, this guy's a whack job. And apparently there's 6 people. It started at 28, it whittled down to 12, and then 6 people, including me, were failing. So, and apparently my advisor said that, like, yeah, he's not coming back next semester. Oh, he didn't get the World's Greatest Teacher Award? So, and she's like, yeah, no, he didn't. I was like, gee, I wonder why. I mean, I'm sorry to be a sarcastic tool, but he was a little bit of a tool himself. Just, and I didn't say any of this to him. Even though he was getting on my nerves, he was still pleasant. He wasn't like my 12th grade English teacher in high school where she was unpleasant. So I was like, okay, he's still nice, but he's not helpful. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna be nice, but I'm gonna be in already in the back of my mind because I didn't want to cause anyone to be pissed off and I didn't want to get written up in my college. And I was like, yeah, I'm just going to withdraw. I withdraw, I took the W, but out of all my other classes, I got A's but that class. And I was like, Okay, fine, I'll take that one W, screw it. I really don't deserve the W. I should get A for effort because that guy was a total, total tool. But I have my public speaking teacher and it was also my, I had her for 4 or 5 semesters and she's pretty much been my mentor for public speaking and he's been helping me figure out how to continue to grow my business and grow my speaking skills. And she's like, "Jimmy, anytime you need to come to me, come to my office, we'll talk." I was like, "I wanna know what's going on." Like, send me all the links you're going to, the publications, send me the podcast interviews, I was like, holy moly. I was like, I wish I had an automation tool just to send me all the updates. Oh, if only I could find that. It'd make my life so much easier. I'm not lazy, but it's just— No. I'm wearing like 7+ different hats in my own business. Like, my brain is fried. You sound—
Aveline Clark (Host) · 32:42
it sounds like you you're very busy, and you're— the way that you speak, I can tell that you've got a lot of things going on, but it's very colorful, and it's— I love the way you describe things as well, and your memories of your, your schooling and everything are very, um, you've got humor. Yeah, you've been able to see the humor in it even though it wasn't funny at the time, right?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 33:09
Yeah, my parents, my parents, I think my parents get annoyed at my humor and they get annoyed at my sarcasm. And they also get annoyed at me memorizing all this stuff from years ago. It's like, can't you forget about it? I'm sorry, I went through 12 years of hell. Okay, let me take that back. Well, I can say 12 years because kindergarten wasn't the worst, but I'm going to say 4th grade and up was hell. So how many years is that? 8. So yeah, let's go with 8 years of hell. I'm entitled not to forget that. What I mean, what I'll move past it. I mean, Not to let it ruin my days or anything, but I'm going to keep talking about it because it's my message.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 34:10
So why not? Yeah. What would you say was the most challenging aspect of all your school years?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 34:22
The bullying, school district's lack of understanding of autism. And the lack of their special education program. And you know what's funny? When we first moved to Pennsylvania, and I'm not sure if I should say this, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'm not naming them by name, but they had a few lawsuits against them when we moved to the area. And I was like, I asked my mom, I was like, "And that didn't occur to you that I should go to a different school?" And I was like, that would be the first red flag I would think of. "Oh, why do you have $6 million lawsuit?" I mean, it wasn't $6 million, but I'm just throwing a number. I was like, "Why do you have 3 lawsuits against you?" Like, just that series of suspicions. But I have to be honest, I don't blame my parents for that because, you know, I met my best friend Adam, who I've been friends with since 3rd grade, maybe 2nd grade. I'm still friends with him today. So like 20+ years. And I got to be a part of his wedding. I was one of his groomsmen and my other friend Alex, I've been friends with him since same time. He was my next door neighbor and I did a reading at his wedding too. So I was like, okay, you know, even though I hated the school that I went to, I would never met my 7th grade teacher. I would never met my friend Adam. And so I was like, okay, you know, for all it's worth, 8 years of hell, I'll take it, but I'm going to give it back to them.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 36:30
Give them back the hell. That's right. And you keep the good bits. Yeah, exactly.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 36:35
I'll give them hell too. I'm still right around the corner from them too.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 36:44
Is part of your fuel and motivation, does that come from the years of hell that you had?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 36:52
I probably shouldn't tell you this, but yes. One of my colleagues is also on the autism spectrum and an advocate. Not going to name any names because I don't have her permission. I have my friend's permission, as long as I only name them by the first name. But she told me, "You shouldn't use this as your motivation because it will run out." I was like, "It's been fueling me for years." And it's like, "Yeah, it's not going to run out anytime soon." And it's not even like motivation. Like it's my fuel. Yeah. And like I wake up like, and like, like, hmm, what am I like, what am I going to do to improve upon this? Or who do I prove wrong next? Funny story about proving wrong. I extended my platform on, I wanted to be on Google News. Just to reach more people and more readers. Google actually told me that, and I quote word for word, they said to me, "No one will read your content on our platform and no one will find it interesting." And it's like, our readers are looking for news headlines. And it's like, we all, we have all the data out there about autism. And I said to them, it's like, That's true. You have the data, but how many people are talking about autism from an autistic point of view? And I said things like, but then it's like, but here I thought you would want to make your platform unique. And with that being said, a few days later I got an email. They said I'm accepted. And what's funny, Few years later, I got 2.4K followers on Google News and I was like, yeah, nobody's going to read my content. I hope you see that number, Google. And like, I actually tweeted that number exactly to them on the other day on Twitter and say, I'll always remember you saying no one will read my content. No one answered, of course. No, I was like, I just like to shove it in their face. I mean, trust me, I'm not a jerkish kind of person, but when— because it was Google, I really just had to do it because they're a billion-dollar company. And I was like, just stick it. Just a little. I didn't say the word stick it, but I was like, so apparently Google doesn't know everything after all.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 39:43
You know, Jimmy, it's— what's really clear to me is that you've had a lifetime of people telling you what you can't achieve and what you can't do. And somewhere obviously inside of you, from that very young age, part of you just went, that's not true. You didn't believe it, or you— there was something that made you decide to prove that person wrong. And look at you today, and it's amazing.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 40:12
Yeah. And you know Like one of my— I also forgot to mention this, and I really like this story. My mom's friend's husband, he was going to get chemotherapy because he had cancer back then before he died. He said to my mom, he was like, "Don't worry about Jimmy not talking because one day he'll never shut up." It's true. I haven't shut up since. It's beautiful.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 40:48
And now you're a voice for others. You're a voice for people like you. You, you obviously speak on behalf of people with autism and share, you know, what it's like to, to be autistic. And you've probably got so many new friends since you started speaking. Is that right?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 41:05
Yeah, I met a lot of people. I have people who helped me get into on the billboard in New York City, Times Square. I also got co-authored two books. They're not out yet. One of them is still being— two of them are still being edited. The only thing I know about one of them is that it's a transformational book with transformational quotes. And meanings of that quote. I don't know anything. I don't know the title of the book because I was just part of a one page of the book and I didn't arrange any of it. So it's not like I have it in front of me and I know all the details because I know skilly squat. And the other co-authored book, I got a chapter in it. It's going to be an autism resource guide, sort of. I mean, not sort of, but an autism resource guide for people on the autism spectrum and for people, parents of individual autism, et cetera. I don't know the title of that. That's still being edited and everything. I don't know when the transformational request— I think it's supposed to be coming out either this month or next month, and that's honestly all I know about that. I'm not hiding anything because, uh, well, actually I'm hiding one thing, but I I cannot say.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 42:53
It's okay.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 42:54
You don't have to share all of your secrets with me. I mean, the co-author books, I'm not hiding anything on that, but I do have a personal project I'm working on. Ooh. But I'm not going to say anything about that. Okay. Because I know some people who will ask me, are you done with this yet? And I'm like, "Oh, why, why?" And so I didn't tell that person about it 'cause I actually read that person's friend's book and they asked me every single day, "Did you read it yet? Did you read it yet? Did you read it yet? Did you read it yet?" And then I read it and it's like, "But did you leave a review yet? Did you leave a review yet?" And I'm like, No, you should just record yourself so you don't strain your voice. It might be easier for you. So you can just play on replay each and every single time. I didn't say that, but—
Aveline Clark (Host) · 43:53
No, that's, that's fine. It's very exciting that you're going to be published. Well done. Um, I'd love to ask you quickly about your family. You said you had a brother and your parents, obviously. How, how do they see you today? Like, what do they think about Jimmy Clare today?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 44:14
Uh, from my parents' point of view, I'm a pain in the ass still.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 44:20
Uh, but yeah, apart from that, how do they feel about you today? They must be proud, right?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 44:28
They must be. Yeah, they are. Yeah, they're proud. They're My family, my, my immediate family and my extended family, they never treated me like I'm, they never treat me like I'm different. They treat me part of the family. They joke with me. I got in trouble with them. I got in trouble because of them. My brother, my brother, mess with me, I mean, joke with me, mess with me, play pranks with me. I got him back, of course. And I also got in fights with them, but that's what brothers do. But, you know, he's helpful to me. Like, you know, for instance, I had to sign this one document for this podcast I'm going to be on. In 2 weeks. And I had to sign this PDF and I hate PDFs, especially because there's so many tools out there to sign it. But there was like, "Oh, give us a free trial." I just need to sign this one document. I don't need 1,000 signatures. Just give me one. Just one. I don't need— I don't want to pay for another thing. If I was using PDS every single day, which I'm not, I'll pay for it, but just give me one free thing. But so I asked my brother, I say, hey, do you know how to sign PDS? Because even though I know a lot about technology, I think I know a little bit more than he does about it inside and out. I'm more of an application kind of person than what's inside the computers. But PDFs were just like, "Oh, I hate PDFs." And I used to use this free PDF tool that I use, but then it became more stingy. It's like you have to upgrade in order to sign PDFs. Really? I have to upgrade? Yeah, well, sorry. Well, here, I'll delete my account instead for you. So I was like, well, that's— I'm never using this tool ever again. So he helped me. He told me what software to use and I was able to finally sign in. Oh, what a pain in the ass. I mean, I have a— let's just say I have a love-hate relationship with technology. I love it when it works. I hate it when it doesn't. Because when it doesn't work, I was like, whoever invented this tool is not very friendly. I can't even make a duplicate copy. I'm like, what? I can duplicate everything else, but I can't make a duplicate copy of a PDF.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 47:41
Yeah, crazy evil. Tell me, Jimmy, um, how are you helping others? I mean, you've got your blog that you've mentioned. What else are you doing? Because you've got such a big heart and such a massive drive and fire inside of you, I can only imagine you've got a few things that you're doing. What lights you up? How are you— how are you using your energy and your that you're passionate about?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 48:09
Well, I'm an autism advocate. Even though I feel like I could be doing more, sometimes I'm not always actively active on social media. I mean, I have an active presence on social media. I book schedules sharing stuff out on healthy living and motivational stuff. Through my social media accounts. But then, and sometimes I feel like, oh, I'm neglecting this. But then I remind myself, well, I'm still doing stuff through my podcast and my writing on my website. And I don't really consider it, even though the page is called a blog, I consider it as articles because I never liked the term blogging because it's like, oh, that's a great hobby. Well, if I'm going to be in it for the long haul, it's my career. And since I'm going to be one day a published author, I'm an author and I write. And so it's like pretty much a blog is like a whole ongoing book, so to speak. I mean, yes and no, so to speak, but there's like just breaking up in shorter increments instead of a chapter of like 20 or 30 pages and it's one post. And yeah, I mean, some people like to use the word blogging, but it's like when I share it with people, I was like, yeah, I have one of my my own business, my own website, etc. As a brand, as a business, I consider it a business because if I don't, it's just going to be a hobby and I'll just show up whenever I feel like it. And I knew if I only wanted to get my writing to be better, I'm going to have to treat it like a business. So even though I have a TV right beside me, I was like, No TV until the weekend. Though I admit I've been letting myself some cheats here and there because I'll give you— because of the podcast I mentioned that I'm going on in 2 weeks. Are you familiar with the show Avatar: The Last Airbender? No, I'm not. Well, it's a— it used to be a a show on Nickelodeon. And if you ever have a chance, you should go watch it. It's on Netflix still. And what— I'm not going to like spoil the whole show for you, but the show has a podcast called Braving the Elements and I reached out to the two hosts, and there's one called Legend of Korra. Well, I reached out to the host, the two hosts of the podcast, and one of the hosts actually got back to me. And I told them I'm such a big fan of the podcast and a big fan of the show. I watched the show 111 times. Currently, I'm watching it for my 112th time. And I told him this and I was like, hey, can I be a guest on your show? And he was like, here, reach out to our schedule agent, see if you could ever have a guest appearance on there. So I got an email back a few months later. I wasn't expecting anything. I was just kind of shocked that the host actually reached out to me on Twitter because The hosts are actually voice celebrities of the show. So I was like, who would think a celebrity actually would get back to me? I mean, not saying that like being rude or anything to any other celebrities, but like, usually they'd be ignored or whatnot because they get too many messages. So I was like, somebody answered me and So basically, long story short, they reach out to me and they say, "Jimmy, we want you on our guest appearance." They had it to reschedule the first time, but now they have a pinpoint date of November 21st. And I was like, "Hell yeah, I'm gonna be on the show." I get to, and one of the characters in the show, In the original show, his name is Zuko. I mean, the character, he's played by Dante Basco, and I may actually get to meet him live on the screen too. And it's like, oh my goodness, I get to meet Zuko for my— and it's like, I've watched the show, I watched it all the way through 111 times. I'm gonna watch it 112 times. And it's like, I'm gonna order my stuff my own Avatar shirt too. I was like, I mean, I'm such a big fan. I know my autistic brain. I can remember from every— if you quiz me on any of the episodes, I can literally tell you from the start to the beginning of what happens in each of the episodes. And I was like, they probably will— what? They probably would have thrown me off the air by the time they were done with me.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 53:48
That's going to be so fun, Jimmy. I hope you have a ball. Um, as we draw this to a close, I, I just want to thank you for sharing your heart and spirit and joy and your story. Um, I, I know as I was listening to your story and what, what you went through, I was trying to place myself in your shoes, and it's really hard, you know, unless you've actually gone through it and I know that this happens every day. I know there's bullying every day. I know my kids have experienced bullying, certainly not to the extent that you've experienced it, and especially from teachers. You know, when you have people in authority that don't like you or don't respect you and don't even care to understand you, it can make life really difficult. And you've shown me and, and the world and yourself that, that that you can overcome all of that. So I just want to acknowledge you for that and thank you for being so brave and sharing your story. Um, if, if there is someone listening to this, Jimmy, who is experiencing anything that you've gone through— it could be an autistic person who's struggling— um, what would you like to say to them, if there are some words that you could give them?
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 55:06
Don't give up. Don't let the naysayers win. And just know that one day those people who told them, told you that you're going to be like a, maybe not the best term to use, freak show, so to speak, because that's what my school felt like. I felt like they treated me like a freak show, like I'm some kind of like infested human beings, like, "Oh, he has the plague. He's been plagued with autism." You can't get autism. Sorry. It's not a disease. And but just realize that it's not a disease. It's— you're not a freak show. And there's people one day is going to be looking at you later on in life and say, But I am totally wrong. I'm going to kick myself in my own ass.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 56:08
Brilliant. That's just beautiful. Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you so much for coming. I hope you've enjoyed our time together. I certainly have. It's been fabulous.
Jimmy Clare (Guest) · 56:20
Definitely. I always love sharing my story with everyone. I'm always, uh, I'm always happy to come back and everything else.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 56:32
Great. You're, you're an inspiration, and thank you for doing what you're doing. And, uh, yeah, have a, have a great day. You too. Thank you. Thanks. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes. Please like and share the show to your friends so we can get this out to even more people. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, please reach out using the contact details below. Join us next week for our next hero story. Until then, keep being you, and remember that we are all heroes in our own unique way.
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