An Interview With Maggie Chapman - Neurodiversity Week
Maggie Chapman and Charlotte Sutton on the left, Georgie on the right at Radio Monash
We interview Maggie Chapman on her experiences with being neurodiverse, a musican, and disability advocate. Listen to the interview below, or read the transcript!
Georgie McColm
Hello everyone. Thanks for tuning in to a very special broadcast for neurodiversity week and awesome crossover between Radio Monash and D&C AKA Disabilities and Carers. I'm one of your host George McComb and I'm the current president of Ready Monash and my Co host. Today is the current D&C OB (Office Bearer) Charlotte Sutton, so today we're going to talk a little bit about neurodiversity week with a very special guest, Maggie Chapman. But before we get into who Maggie is, let's start with who D&Cis Charlotte. Do you wanna give us a small introduction about what D&C is?
Charlotte Sutton
Sure! Thank you, Georgie so much for having us. So D&C with your whole lot of different things, we run events for the community. We do a lot of advocacy projects, so that'll be. Projects that we've come up ourselves, that we were identified needs to be improved at the UNI and then we also work a lot on concerns that are raised by students. So if you have any concerns having any access issues, please reach out to us. We also have our fantastic lounge which is on the 1st floor of Campus Centre. If you go up the stairs and then turn right. It's just there. You shouldn’t need anything get in. That's really amazing place to chill out. We've got so many things in there. But yeah, if you need anything, please. Send us an email. Send us a message. Whatever works for you. And we are there to help.
Georgie McColm
It's a very cool place. Very cool place. I highly recommend it to anybody who hasn't checked it out yet. But for neurodiversity week we have a very special guest with us today. Maggie Chapman. Do you wanna introduce yourself to us Maggie? Who are you?
Maggie Chapman
Ohh, a big question. Yeah. My name is Maggie. I am a music and art student. Here at Monash. And my arts extended major is psychology. My minor is theatre and performance and I am studying popular music which is a stream here at Monash. I am a vocalist and I very neurodivergent of me. I'm interested in lots of areas of music and I have a few projects going. I really love jazz and music theatre, particularly ballads and the real like stories telling side of music. I also love writing, particularly in a jazzy pop sort of style. I'm also currently working on an experimental house project, so a few things musically in the works outside of music. I'm just really passionate about cultivating connection and um just people really. That's more that psychology side of things. And in recent years have absolutely become a fierce advocate for disability and neurodivergence.
Georgie McColm
Amazing. So how about we start with neurodiversity and what neurodiversity is? Because I know some listeners may not necessarily know too much about neurodiversity or being neurodiverse. How would you define neurodiversity for someone who hadn’t heard it before?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, absolutely. So neurodiversity you can think of it like a big umbrella. And under neurodiversity there is: It includes everyone, basically neurotypical people, and then neurodivergent people, neurodivergent people are people that think and process things a little bit differently. Um and the term, yeah neurodiversity is really about inclusion and making sure. We celebrate and acknowledge our differences, really.
Georgie McColm
Absolutely. And so with being neurodiverse and a musician, how have you found that? Like, do you find that music is something that you've fallen into before you knew about being neurodiverse? Is it a hobby? Is it something that you find really helps with managing being neurodiverse or?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, kind of all of the above really. I've been interested in music from a young age. I also just love performing. I think because of how expressive it is, and it's a great way for me to, like, safely express myself, I've also that's where I've connected to like minded individuals and I really believe in the power of music. Um it's it's like a hobby for me too um but I also really loved studying it as well. And what was the 2nd question?
Georgie McColm
Have you found you mentioned briefly that you kind of found a more like minded community, would you say that there is a lot of neurodiverse people in music?
Maggie Chapman
Ohh 100% the creative arts there is a lot of neurodivergent people. And I think the term neurodivergent as well like. Really like it can be a bit confusing about what that includes. And really like I didn't know I was neurodivergent till a couple of years ago and then suddenly it was. Like Oh my. Gosh, this makes so much sense and it's a really empowering term for me. I- in my case. People might not know what this is, but I have a thing called functional neurological disorder and under that comes with a - you know, wide range of symptoms and neurodivergent experiences, for example, I have ticks. And yeah, in current years I have learnt that I process things really differently and yeah, like as I've learned more about myself, I've also been able to identify in others. You know neurodiversity stuff and being like ohh. I think then you're a divergent or just really being aware of like all the different ways people learn and process and. Yeah. It's just been like, really interesting, to unpack and learn more about.
Georgie McColm
Yeah, I can imagine. How did it go for you when you did find out that ohh, I was actually neurodiverse. Was it a moment where you're like ohh I have a label and that's great. And I can now find some form of validation. Or was it scary or was it unnerving? How did you find being diagnosed?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, it's kind of, again, all of the above, it's a real - journey. I'm still going on that journey. It's not something I just have completely figured out. I'm still learning about myself and how I, you know, experience the world and how others experience the world. So constantly learning and evolving. Yeah, I think. It was. I firstly identified with the label more having a disability just because of my symptoms. And then as I started to go along my journey of like getting treatment and also working out. Yeah, it was the way I describe it is I had like a big kind of huge influx in symptoms. It was like bang suddenly had ticks, which I so it was a little bit of like acquired neuro divergences as well. What that essentially means is like I wasn't born with ticks or I didn't experience them in childhood. Like people, maybe with Tourette's. U - yeah, it happened in my early 20s. But then there's lots of as I understood that I was neurodivergent. There's lots of like patterns that I've gone. Oh my gosh, that explains that experience of being young or that explains why I couldn't complete my exams in VCE and I would have loved to know I was neurodivergent back then because I would have been able to get more support. I think in processing being neurodivergent - for me it's it's kind of like it's kind of ironic, but I don't particularly fit like a certain label of being neurodivergent, but I identify a lot of different. With a lot of different symptoms that neurodivergent people experience, if that makes sense. So like I think with neurodivergent things, there’re labels with things you know you might be someone that is autistic or ADHD or have dyslexia. And for me, I don't really fit neatly into some boxes. So a lot of it's and like mine neurodivergent brain loves to conceptualise and loves boxes. So I've had to kind of zoom out and understand that - no 2 neurodivergent experiences are the same. There's a lot of diversity in neurodivergent people, and yeah, I guess I'm just learning there's parts of it which feel really liberating and empowering in identifying as neurodivergent. Then there's other times. So I'm like, frustrated and like. Oh my gosh, I wish there was more accessibility and I wish people would just understand that some people's brains work differently. So yeah, I hope that answers the question.
Georgie McColm
Absolutely, and do you think now that I think a lot more people know about neurodiversity - and there's been a massive increase in people actually going out and seeking diagnosis and stuff.
Maggie Chapman
Yeah.
Georgie McColm
Do you think society is now starting to become more accepting of people who are neurodiverse?
Maggie Chapman
Oh 100% I think there is just in the last few years been so much more awareness. And you know, I think the thing people forget is neurodiversity is so important for everyone. Whether you're neurotypical or neurodivergent like. Having different experiences really just like enriches the world. And I do believe that workplaces and institutions and society at large are becoming more aware of it. And then, you know, being able to adapt things a bit better. I think we still have a long way to go in the realm of accessibility. But I think, yeah, we've come a long way and there's a lot more awareness, which is a great starting point.
Georgie McColm
Absolutely. And jumping on the topic of accessibility, you mentioned how in high school because I believe you said you hadn't been quite diagnosed yet then?
Maggie Chapman
No, no. I just had some even back then I didn't know, but I had more like mental health symptoms rather than like a neuro divergent. Yeah, sort of. Diagnosis. Yeah.
Georgie McColm
So then how did you feel going from high school, where you didn't have as much support with being neurodiverse compared to university? And did you feel that you had more support now? Was that easier to manage your UNI workload?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, so I finished school back in 2016, so a while ago. Now I'm 25 and I think yeah. Accessibility and neurodivergent sort of stuff wasn't as there was nowhere near as much awareness that there is now. I think I've changed a lot as a person since then and. It's a hard question because um my - I didn't really get diagnosed with disability until 2020 with FND and from there that's when I just had like a real BOOM of symptoms. It just kind of was like - you know, I don't know how to describe it. It was just like
Georgie McColm
Was it really overwhelming at the time?
Maggie Chapman
Ohh my God, to say the least. Yeah. So I went from having, like, no ticks to suddenly. And if you don't know what ticks are, they're involuntary movements or sounds. They you can have simple ticks. More complex. In my case I have both. They've significantly reduced for me, but yeah, it was actually halfway through my degree that I started having really. You know a lot more neurodivergent and disabling symptoms, and so like, it's kind of hard to compare to high school, but um I do recognise now that a lot of my friends are neurodivergent or friends in high school, particularly were neurodivergent or like even my partner who I met in high school is Neurodivergent which makes a lot of sense cause often neurodivergent people pair up or surround - surround each other. Hang on, how do I phrase this? Haha
Georgie McColm
I get. I get - what you mean like you find like minded people
Maggie Chapman
Absolutely!
Georgie McColm
And you know then I think just as much as atypical people flock to atypical people and you know neurodiverse people flock to neurodiverse people as well - when you find your own people groups that can be really freeing. So where did you like - I know you said that in high school a lot of your friends found out later that they were neurodiverse. But now that you look back on it, you're like, that makes so much.
Maggie Chapman
Literally! It’s like a light bulb moments and I think that's such an empowering part of identifying with being neurodivergent, you're just like whoaaa, it's like opening up this whole world. But kind of linking back to the question of as well, like when what was your support like or what is it like at uni? Yeah, it was like 2020. So I was online that year. It was the end of then that-
Georgie McColm
The COVID years.
Maggie Chapman
The COVID years!! And being a music student studying online was interesting but-
Georgie McColm
To say the least.
Maggie Chapman
Hats off to our - all my incredible coordinators and head of pop music. They just did an amazing job of adapting everything.
Maggie Chapman
But yeah, like the symptoms I remember, like coming to campus 2021 at the start when we before we went into lockdown again first half of 2021 and that was when I really started identifying as having a disability. And I came to uni with a fidget toy and my mum was here to support me. And I came here on o-week. And I just felt, like, so overwhelmed, like, I hadn't really experienced as much, like my sensory issues were just like so heightened and I was just so overwhelmed by campus because it can be a really busy place sometimes. And I burst out into tears and so did my mum. And I was just like, Oh my Gosh, I really feel - like I have a disability and it was a bit of like a moment for me to acknowledge that, and I also felt so alone at that moment, so I hadn't really - yeah, I think because it was that transition from online to in-person, it was a bit of a difference and I was struggling a bit. And then I went well, I'm going to explore my options at campus on what can really like connect me in with further support and people around me. And I found DSS of course to get some extra support with study. And then I found incredible D&C. And I went to AD&CT, which was like a social event run by the disability and carers- Midi. And it was like, oh, a breath of fresh air. I went, Oh my gosh, these are my people. Like, we like, chatted all things, you know, disability and neurodiversity. And it was like, really great! I felt a sense of belonging and knowing that the lounge was there. And that there was some rest spaces that I could access on campus was really great. To you know, for me, I regulate by stimming, and if you don't know what stimming is, it is a voluntary behaviour to regulate yourself. It might be rocking, it might be twitching your leg. It might be flapping your hands. Everyone's stims actually, whether you're neurodivergent or neurotypical, it's just in varied ranges. And yeah, I would just simply go into the lounge. I'd have my sunflower lanyard on. I'd sneak into the land and then I would just let out some big stems. So it was a really safe place and I knew if anyone walked in, they'd they'd probably get it, you know, so that sense of belonging and then in terms of the music cohort, I think - Oh they, they've just been amazing and same as my teachers and lecturers, like they've just been really accommodating. And also just my peers in music were I think like creative people do get it. And I feel like like I said before, a lot of people in creative spaces are neurodivergent or, you know - I just felt like it was a really supportive environment. It was definitely. Tricky. Having ticks and navigating that because it was something I just never navigated before. So you know, I was learning on the job, yeah.
Georgie McColm
Especially with being diagnosed as an adult and it coming on really suddenly.
Maggie Chapman
Uh, yeah.
Georgie McColm
That must have been a huge jump in. Ohh my gosh you managing uni, managing COVID, managing new symptoms. That would have been a very much a Oh my goodness, I just have to survive this time period.
Maggie Chapman
Ohh yeah and like. Definitely have been in survival mode over the last few years. Like I'm kind of coming out of that now and really just have, like, settled a bit. It's been like, honestly, I've just had a bit of whiplash from learning and growing so much through my experiences and some pretty intense challenges along the way. Um, but yeah.
Georgie McColm
Fantastic - just because and I know I did this in the very first interview we did, but I do want to plug the DNC lounge, cause you did mention it. So let's talk about the lounge guys. The lounge is really cool. Umm, so I take it there's a lot of fidget toys in the lounge?
Maggie Chapman
Oo yeah .
Charlotte Sutton
So there is an entire box in there - you are more than welcome to take them to class. Please bring them back eventually. But there are so many in there. There are so many things. I will always be happy to talk about the lounge because we - it is run by the OBs, we put a lot of work into it. Previous years OBs have put a lot of work into it. Trying to come up with anything we can possibly think of within reason that might make someone's life a bit easier or someone's day a bit easier. There are heat packs in there, there are snacks there. Most things you can think of
Maggie Chapman
The lighting as well is really nice - if you're someone that like - overhead lighting or really bright fluorescent lighting to be like ughw, there are some lamps and a comfy couch where you can just chill out in the lounge, which is so nice.
Charlotte Sutton
And that is its whole purpose. If you just need a break from the day to find like minded people or anything like that, that is what it is there for - anytime campus centre is open it is open. If you think we're missing anything in there please get in touch and we will see what we can make happen. But yeah it is a really great space that we're really really proud of. So please use it.
Georgie McColm
Do you need a key card to access it? Do you have to register with D&C before you can use it? Like what would be the process so someone's like, I really want to use the lounge. You just walk into the space? So what would that process be?
Charlotte Sutton
Yeah. So you just need your student ID. You just tap it on the sensor next to the door. If you don't have your ID for whatever reason, and you want to use it (the room), I am in the office most days, which is just around the corner from the lounge. If I'm not in my office then please go and see SURLY at the Student Union library and they can let you into the lounge. So yeah, don't need to do anything. Don't need to be registered with DSS, it's open to anyone. You just need to use your student ID. If you don't have a student ID, we can absolutely work around that as well
Georgie McColm
Amazing. Well, sticking with D&C, I know that. Maggie, you said that when you were coming to uni and seeing your options and stuff. That's how you got involved. What did you end up doing last year at D&C?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah. So I was on the committee last year, which was amazing. Again, just connecting to like minded individuals advocating for change on campus and just discussing, you know, a wide range of topics. It was a real great space to feel empowered. And yeah, make some change.
Georgie McColm
Do you feel like you can be as open about being neurodiverse outside of the uni-sphere as you can be when you're in a D&C space.
Maggie Chapman
Hmm, not always. I'm really lucky I work at a beautiful workplace where one of our core values is belonging and I'm really able to be authentically myself there. And I work with a lot of young people, so it's great. Like I feel I that I can embody being neurodivergent and then that gives them permission to be themselves. And um - yeah, I think in my workplace, I feel, you know, I can be completely myself. And then in, in places in public, I've found it hard sometimes and again, like still learning, still gotta learn about boundaries and I'm still exploring all of that. But wearing my sunflower lanyards been a really helpful thing for me. If you don't know what that is, it's like a way to indicate you have a hidden disability. So people with all different disabilities - wear them and yeah, it may indicate you need extra support. That has been really helpful for me in feeling empowered, but yeah, some places feel safer than others. And some days I feel, you know, better unmasking and being my true self. And then other times I will - yeah, like. Mask a bit and I feel the effects of that definitely like feel really tired and exhausted. If I have been, you know, masking.
Georgie McColm
I can imagine like it's really draining. For you, do you find that your mask is really different to who you are as a person or it's very similar in some days you can't tell if it's you or if it's the mask, or how do you feel about that?
Maggie Chapman
It's kind of similar and something that comes with my experience - cause I don't have great interoception, like I'm really great at understanding other people and I can almost read other people better than I read my own self, which is kind of funny. So sometimes my mask can kind of blend and I act some act like it's been a real process to kind of untangle the two. And I'm get a bit getting better at like realising the difference, but yeah, it can be hard to tell- I think.
Georgie McColm
Ah yeah, I can imagine. So I guess, let's circle back a little bit to music.
Maggie Chapman
Yay
Georgie McColm
So I know you're in pop and you're doing vocals. Do you do any other instruments or are you mainly a vocalist?
Maggie Chapman
Mainly a vocalist, and I really love just like the performance side of things. So I do dabble a little bit in some instruments, but definitely more like a vocalist - and I call myself like a holistic performer because I love getting involved in, like, movement, acting, also a life model for art. So like, yeah, more identified as a performer and a vocalist. But yeah.
Georgie McColm
So are you mainly a soloist? Are you in a band or?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, cool. Done a bit of everything at Uni, which is great. I've been able to dip my toe in lots of different pools of things.
Georgie McColm
Love that.
Maggie Chapman
Yeah. So have been in a band we actually recently have just launched our TV show called by popular Demand. Which is where the popular music students get to showcase their original songs. And I was really lucky to, one be on the committee for that and help organise and make that happen, two, I got to actually be behind some of the cameras, which was so fun and such a great experience and I also got to perform an original with my band. Umm. Which was called Sweet nothings. If you want to access that it is channel 31 and you can type into Google CTV by popular demand and there is season one and season 2, I am on Season 2 episode 3. But it was such a great experience to yeah showcase what we do in popular music.
Georgie McColm
Absolutely. Do you ever get nervous before you do a performance? So I know you've been a musician for a while. Like, does that slowly dissipate over time, or you always feel like, Oh my gosh, it's still a performance, I'm gonna be a bit nervous.
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, I think still get nervous. I'm not gonna lie. Depends on the performance. Depends how prepared I feel, on lots of things. It was a really big milestone last year. So I've kind of finished my pop music part of my degree just finishing off a psych unit at the moment. But I had my recital, which was like, you know. In music, that's like your third year recital is a big thing. And I hadn't performed on stage like a long set of musicals. 30 minutes. Since getting, F&D and and you know experiencing a disability, so I was pretty nervous about that and how that may show up on stage, but I felt so proud of myself for getting through it and in my recital I did cover - a lot of my personal experiences and storytelling and talked about, you know, some of my experiences through music. Which was really lovely and I like, it was just a really special milestone for myself. And yeah, I think leading up to it, I was very stressed. I something I experienced that's very neurodivergent of me is overwhelmed and I think sometimes that can be a little bit misunderstood. And like that was something I did really struggle with leading up to the recital. Some people would just carry on and push through. But like I my brain can't do that. If I have an overwhelm. I do experience meltdowns or shutdowns which can just stop me doing things altogether and can be really, really debilitating. And it's interesting, this is like the first time I've really verbalised publicly that I have meltdowns and shutdowns, you know, because I'm still learning what they are. They don't - yeah, it’s still a learning journey, but that overwhelm definitely has influenced music making for me. But I'm yeah, really learning to accept it. And know what my triggers are and but I do sometimes just wish there was more understanding and I can't remember what the other half of the question was. Music getting nervous? Ohh, another thing I wanted to share, was I mentioned before that I have ticks and when I performed when my ticks were really quite prominent, there are a lot more chill these days. I would tick tick, tick, tick like have a lot of verbal ticks and then as soon as I started playing music, the ticks would go away. Which or like just stop! Which was also a really nice break for my brain. So in 2021 when I was, I did a unit and we were singing and like I'd get up on stage, have ticks, and then yeah.
Georgie McColm
Is it a moment for you when you can finally feel a bit relaxed? In a sense, like it has a very calming effect.
Maggie Chapman
Yeah. I mean, yes and no. Like, I still get really nervous and focus on the task at hand, like focus on performing, but the flow state side of things, if you know the term flow state is when you're just like really engrossed in a task and you know it's something a lot of people experience, especially neurodivergent people. When you have like a special interest or something, you're really passionate about. And I definitely experience that. So it is. Like a really enjoyable activity for me. But yeah, if it's a performance, there will be some nerves mixed in there too.
Georgie McColm
I can imagine, and I know that you said that you were still kind of learning about managing ticks and stuff, but how have you found developing coping mechanisms or learning that it's ok to have these moments where you do breakdown? Cause I know a lot of people can sometimes go. Ohh no, this is happening again and start getting frustrated. How have you dealt with coming to accept that and learn that you need to instil coping mechanisms to get through them?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, such a good question. I think for me the word that just really comes to mind is acceptance and it has taken me a long time to you know, accept these experiences. In terms of coping mechanisms, they're different for every neurodivergent people. Some things - yeah, for me, it's just being like reminding myself that it's ok to be myself and to be authentic. And, you know, on all these experiences, I think also with neurodivergent stuff like when we're talking about society before I think there is some symptoms or things that are a little bit more like inverted commas, socially acceptable or kind of half understood. But I think there's some deeper on this. Like below the surface that are still misunderstood or stigmatised. So I think even just understanding that's really important. And like I said, it will be different for each person, but I think my coping strategies has just been also like resting, knowing my sensory needs has been huge for me. So like you know, as a neurodivergent person, I was really starting to explore that. Built kind of my own sensory profile. So each sense like it's kind of ironic, but noises can be really like a lot for me, which is funny cause I'm a musician. So I love noise but like so it's quite funny. Like working out what noises trigger me. What don't. How can I best support that. Like recently got pair of loop earplugs - they're great! If you don't know what they are, I highly recommend checking them out. Noise cancelling headphones. I also - yeah, I think the sensory profile thing, you know, knowing what works for you: stimming, fidget toys, rest. You know, that kind of thing. And then just like, honestly talking about it too, like sometimes I just name, it can be really scary and like depending on your environment and like how you're feeling on the day. But sometimes I just, you know, name how I'm feeling and like say it or like- in music, I've never found really a great way to be like to explain to a new class that I have ticks. And but I always felt like that was something I needed to do for myself, to feel a little bit more comfortable and settle in the class, because they often do happen in class when I'm trying to concentrate. So, like, you know, I would just name it sometimes it's a little awkward, sometimes it was smoother, but I just like, hey, everyone, I have ticks. What that means is dot dot dot just letting you know. So like even just naming it naming or hey, could you repeat that again or hey, I'm actually a visual learner, so would you mind supplying some photos or maybe like some visual language to describe that? Like I think the main coping mechanisms to summarise is acceptance - maybe learning your sensory profiles and also communication. And yeah, just exploring what feels good. For you, yeah.
Georgie McColm
Absolutely think there's some are some great tips that I'm sure a lot of people will find really valuable. Speaking of more tips, as someone who's been in uni for a bit, if you had to go back in time to your young self where you were just coming into uni, very nervous and exploring your options, what would be the one thing you'd say to your younger self that hopefully other new uni students can learn from.
Maggie Chapman
Ohh great question. I think, one is explore the communities that exist here at Monash, you know Radio Monash for example, or D&C, WholeFoods like - there's so many little communities of acceptance and that can really generate a sense of belonging. So I think I would just tell myself, hey, Maggie, you know, like explore this a bit more. And get in touch, you know, send a DM, send an email. Like, talk to your peers to be like also going to things alone. I've been doing that at uni like I don't think I've ever been to o-week like, really - with someone else like. I'd just like go on my own and explore it. And like, that's OK. So I think just giving yourself permission to like, explore and- I just tell myself, like, just be you, you know, because that's what makes the uni experience like interesting is that you meet people from all walks of life. And that's that's really what neurodiversity is as well, you know.
Georgie McColm
100% and I guess as the final question for today, what would you tell atypical people, something that you think they really should know about neurodiversity cause whilst I think there's a lot more awareness and there is a lot more knowledge these days, I think there are still quite a few atypical people who don't really know how to necessarily interact with neurodiverse people? Yeah. So what would you say that neurotypical people need to know?
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, great question. I think a sense of openness and curiosity is really important. So coming from a place of like, not judging, but really just being curious about other people's experiences, you know, hop on Google, ask questions, listen to podcasts of different experiences other than your own. Like, I just think that's a great thing to do as a human. Is just explore be curious like I'll ask questions so that and also like have an understanding of like that awareness piece that not everyone thinks the same way as you do, so it's really important to be curious and open to maybe some modifications. So you're doing a group assignment, for example, and someone's, you know, you might get the sense someones neurodivergent, or they might say they are just say hey, is there anything I can do to best support you through this process or? Anything you need from me, just be like you know, I think neurotypical people and atypical people need to do like put a little bit of a foot first if you don't, and if you don't always get it right, that's also okay. Like I think there's this like ohh I wanna tiptoe around these things and I wanna get it wrong and I wanna be cancelled. I think just giving things a go is really important and try to understand that would be my hot tips.
Georgie McColm
And that is a great hot tips. Thank you so much for coming on today, Maggie. Really appreciate your time. Where can people find you? Do you have any gigs coming up? Do you have some socials? Do you have some songs out? Where can people learn more?
Maggie Chapman
Oh. Thank you so much for having me. By the way, I've had such a great time chatting. To you both. I will just get my Instagram handles up. I'm gonna get them up so I don't. I get them right.
Georgie McColm
Don't worry.I forget mine all the time. I had to misspell mine the other day.
Maggie Chapman
Yeah, my main one is Maggie Dot Chapman, and that's where I do share a bit about my experiences of having a disability and being neurodivergent, but also just a bit of life stuff. And then my music profile is Maggie - so Maggiecsea.creative, bit of a mouthful there, but they're my two accounts. Like please drop in and say hi. I love chatting with people. Like I said, I'm really passionate about cultivating connections. So just. You know. Have a chat with like come chat with me. I love getting to know new people and yeah, amazing.
Georgie McColm
Thank you so much. And I can't finish off this interview without plugging Radio Monash and D&C haha, if you're looking for a space full of neurodivergent people, we're probably like half and half at the moment on the committee. We all work really well together. It's a great space. If you're looking for a cool space to get involved in, we've got a music studio. We've got a broadcast studio. We're really welcoming. Come say hi. 2nd floor. Campus centre. Right next to Sir John. And Charlotte, please plug D&C again.
Charlotte Sutton
Yes, our Instagram is MSA.disabilities, email is the same, just a dash (-) instead of a dot (.) and then @ monash. Following on from what Maggie said, we completely yeah. Welcome all questions. You're not going to get in trouble for asking things we if anything, we just ask people to ask the questions. If you're not sure about something, ask, how else do you learn? So yeah, we would really encourage. Anyone follow the Instagram, follow our Facebook. There's lots of info there or just reach out and ask us things.
Georgie McColm
Absolutely. So thank you both so much for your time today. I hope everyone at home has enjoyed listening and if you want to listen again, do not worry. There will be the episode uploaded on Apple and Spotify with transcripts that are coming out later in the week. If you need that. But once again, thank you so much. Have a wonderful neurodiversity week and we'll see you around.
