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The Mad Hermit of Hantsport: Growing up Weird and Autistic

in Rural Nova Scotia in the 90s

Join Dr. Ben Mitchell for an insightful and personal talk about autism.

Dr. Ben Mitchell almost failed primary school. Their best friends growing up were crows, graveyards, and characters from stories and video games. They were called a "late bloomer" so many times that they learned to hate the expression. It wasn't until they found out that they were autistic that things started to make sense.

A goldenrod is not a late blooming dandelion.

In this talk Dr. Mitchell will reflect on their life as an unidentified autistic child in a neurodivergent family and how they could only understand themselves and their parents later when they were identified at the age of 33. It recontextualized what they thought were their own private joys and hardships as part of a larger shared experience, the pleasures and systematic oppression faced by autistic people.

Participants will receive a private Zoom link from library staff to join the day of the event. Please remember:

• Do not share your received zoom meeting invitation with others, as this is a closed meeting
• Encourage anyone interested in joining our program to register to receive their own meeting invitation
• Confirm sure your email address is accurate
• On day of the event, ensure you log onto Zoom with the username provided in your registration

By registering you understand that:

• Video and audio from your screen will be visible to library staff and other program participants.
• The program will not be recorded and the chat log will not be archived.

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