48 - Scottland Little and Codeman 24/06/24

Samantha speaks with Scottland Little about Codeman, an innovative project promoting acceptance and support for individuals with autism. Scottland's journey is inspiring; driven by empathy, he saw Codeman as a way to empower those with autism to thrive and reach their full potential! Stay tuned!

Here's what to expect on the podcast:

• Scottland emphasizes acceptance and love rather than fixing autism.

• What is the story behind Codeman, and what do people expect from it?

• Overcoming challenges and finding solace in music.

• How does Scottland plan to expand Codeman?

• And much more!

About Scottland:

Scottland Little, a twenty-year-old Arizonan, emerged from the suburbs of Seattle, Washington, with an inspiring tale of conquering his autism. Now aspiring to attend ASU, he aims to unite technology and the arts in a unique way that aligns with his vision. Firm in his belief that we shape our own reality through thoughts, actions, and the power of our minds, Scottland is committed to empowering others with the same perception.

Codeman is Scottie's brainchild, a dream he has harbored since the tender age of seven. He wants to evolve the character from an ordinary being to a force that can inspire others. His vision extends beyond, as he wants Codeman to reach out and touch lives to contribute positively to the world. In Scottland Little's world, the mastery of controlling our minds holds the

key to overcoming any challenge, a philosophy he hopes to share through his story of the Codeman.

Connect with Scottland Little!

Website: https://www.codemanhero.com/

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/CodemanHero

Book: Codeman: New Beginnings https://amzn.to/4b3Rc3w

Connect with Samantha Foote!

Website: www.boisemusictherapycompany.com

Email: [email protected]

Consultation: https://letsmeet.io/boisemusictherapycompany/30-mi…

TRANSCRIPTION

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your child's unique needs? Wondering how to turn daily challenges into moments of growth? Discover answers at the Neurodiversity in Harmony, a Summit for Empowered Parenting, coming on September 13, 2024. Join us for a day filled with expert insights and real life stories from professionals and parents alike.

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Seats are limited, so don't miss out. Join our waitlist now to receive exclusive updates and registration details. Visit www. boisimusictherapycompany. com today to secure your spot. Embrace the journey of neurodiverse parenting with us. This podcast is for parents like you navigating the world of neurodiversity with love and compassion.

I'm a neurodivergent mother of three amazing neurodivergent children and a board certified music therapist. Our mission is I'm going to be talking about how to create a supportive space where you feel understood, connected, and inspired with practical tips, strategies, and resources will help you and your child thrive in your unique way.

Join us as we dive deep into the diverse world of neurodivergent individuals, exploring topics like ADHD. Autism, dyslexia, sensory processing challenges, and more. We'll cover it all to empower, educate, and uplift both neurodivergent individuals and those who walk alongside them. Together, we'll create a world where every brain is valued and celebrated.

We're excited to embark on this enlightening journey with you. We are your hosts, Samantha Foote and Lauren Ross, and this is the Every Brain is Different podcast. Welcome to the every brand is different podcast. We're here with Scotland Little and Scotland is a 20 year old Arizonan emerging from the suburbs of Seattle, Washington with an inspiring tale of conquering his autism.

Now aspiring to attend Arizona state university. He aims to unite technology and the arts in a unique way that aligns with his vision. Firm in his belief that we shape our own reality through thoughts, actions, and the power of our minds. Scotland is committed to empowering others with the same perception.

Codeman is Scotty's brainchild, a dream harbored since a tender age of seven. He wants to evolve the character from an ordinary being to a force that can inspire others. His vision extends beyond as he wants Codeman to reach out and touch lives to contribute positively to the world. In Scotland Little's world, the mastery of controlling our minds holds the key to overcoming any challenge, a philosophy he hopes to share through his story of the code man.

Scotland, we are so excited to have you on the show. Thank you for coming. for having me on here. Yeah. Can you tell us a little bit more about how you're involved in the neurodivergent community? I'm kind of, I'm kind of here to help inspire, uh, show them what is truly possible and how to deal with their emotions and show the autism doesn't need to be fixed.

It needs to be loved. I love that so much. I have worked. With people who are like, just fix my child and they don't need to be fixed. We just need to support it. Yeah. Accept it and support them and make them into the best version of themselves. They can, so they can grow up good and become, become better than what they are yesterday.

Yeah, and I think that's what everyone needs to do. Just become better than what you were yesterday. That is a great philosophy. I love it. Um, can you tell us a little more about Codeman? So it's a book that you wrote. Can you tell us about the story and the character? So the story is about this young character called Matthias, right?

That is basically, he basically is like part of this, um, He's basically like trying to save the Omniverse from this evil, malevolent force called Satan. And he's a computer programmer. That's his like basic superpower, and he has this futuristic suit to give him those abilities. Awesome. Um, and how we talked about previously that you, um, you bring the hope that.

You conquer autism through your character, Codeman, how do you do that? I show, so I basically show Codeman is very socially awkward where he can't, um, and he has kind of traits of autism, right? He has a hard time understanding people, all that sort of stuff, right? So, it's just like hard for him to understand people because when I was a kid, I had a hard time like, Finding, like, somebody I could be with or somebody that I was interested with or, you know, friends, because I couldn't understand people very well.

Yeah, how did you, um, what did you do to help you understand people more? I, um, I watched movies, actually, kind of, a little bit, but also So, um, I just looked at people and just used movies as kind of a way for me to kind of learn. Awesome. I love that. That's so awesome. I was just talking to someone about screen time.

And how we have to, like, think that screen time is a positive thing for people with autism and that it can help them in a lot of different ways. So, yeah, I love that you brought that up. Thank you. Of course. And, um, Is there anything else that you want to tell like parents that are raising, you know, kids with autism?

Like, what would you say to them? How can they help support their child? I think the biggest thing, like I said earlier, is accept your autistic child. Don't, don't like try to, you know, don't try to put any negative, you know, try to just let them be themselves and push them to be the best version of themselves and accept them and don't try to fix them.

That's my biggest take. Yeah, I love it. Um, so what is in the future for Codeman? Where do you see Codeman going? I see Codeman being this big video game that people can play. That's what I see. And what do you want people And I also see like a What? A comic book. A comic book? I That is so cool. I know my son loves comic books.

He loves graphic novels and all of that. So yeah, what are you trying to teach people through the video game and the comic book? I want to teach people love and acceptance. And learning to progress in life. Awesome. And so with the video game and the book and the comic book, is that for people with autism specifically, or is it just for everyone?

I would say everyone kind of, because you kind of, to get like a big, big audience to play your game and to make good money, you kind of have to kind of go for a general audience. But, Awesome. Do you feel like you're failing as a parent of a neurodivergent child? You're tired of cookie cutter advice that doesn't work for you or your child's unique needs.

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Sign up today and join a community of parents just like you who are ready to transform their challenges into strengths. Visit www. BoiseMusicTherapyCompany. com to register. It's time to feel empowered as a parent. Is there anything else you want to say about Codeman or how can people find you online?

How can they find the book? You can find me online on codemanhero. com, you know, on Facebook or, you know, TikTok and Google. Okay. And we will have the links for that in our show notes. And also we have book two also coming out too. When is book two coming out? Book two should be coming out around August.

Okay, and people can just go to your website or go on Amazon to buy it? Yep, they can go on Amazon, they can go on our site and get it from there. Okay, cool. Is there anything else that you want to share with our audience? I think I would like to share my, um, childhood experience because I think it would help a lot of people dealing with a dark time.

Yeah, what was your childhood like? And so I'll talk about eighth grade because that's when kind of like my biggest depression spiraled and I started, you know, there's this girl I really liked right and I basically did something really stupid and I basically got, um, rejected by her. Because I was very socially awkward, right?

And I didn't know how to socialize. I tried saying hi to her, but she didn't say hi back. So I kind of took that very personally and I got very, very, very upset. And I still kind of with that trauma today, to be honest. How did you help yourself through that trauma? What did you do? I, um, I played music.

That's what I did. I played music and I would play music all the time. I remember I would, this was kind of the time when I kind of like was making the code man, you know, pictures or whatever to make myself just want to live longer. I was like feeling in a really dark, dark spot in my life. I'm glad that you had music.

I teach that a lot as coping skills as a music therapist, that you can definitely use music to help yourself get through hard times. Um, did you listen to music or did you play it like on an instrument or how did you do that? I played it. I actually, so I listened to the radio, but I also, um, listened to my phone to the music that I had at the time.

Mm-Hmm. , that's what I did. All the negative emotions out. Yeah. Yeah. What kind of music did you listen to? Just kind of whatever I had, like just, you know, I think, um, some sad music, but also some like positive music to whatever I had on my iTunes at the time. Yeah. I've talked before about how, if you're feeling sad.

You're feeling angry. There's something called the ISO principle for music and you listen to the sad music or the angry music and then you go toward positive music though. You don't sit in the anger and the sadness. And I really liked that. That's what you did. Like you listen to positive music after listening to the other stuff so that you can, you know, try to be positive and, but you want to feel your feelings.

You don't want to stuff them down deep.

Yeah, I love that you brought music up, that is obviously, I love that, so. I know you do music, so that's why I brought that up. Awesome, well, thank you. Um, what would you tell someone who's going through a hard time right now? Learn to understand that, you know, not Everything in life is going to go very, no matter what, where you are in life and everything, it's going to bring you hard times and the darkness eventually will go away.

It's just going to take time. You just have to have the, you just have to have faith in the most high. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Well, thank you for sharing your story. I really appreciate you coming on the show. Um, once again, where can people find you online if they want to connect? And page, um, tick talk my, well, my name's Scotland little, it should be Scotty little or Scotland.

a little whatever it's called or you know, Google just wherever you basically go online. Okay. We also have a website called um, Codeman Hero Fan Page and that's where I'm also going to have the links and that should be where my second book is too. Awesome. Well, we will look for your second book. I'm super excited.

Congratulations. Thank you. And yeah, thank you so much for coming on the show. Yeah, of course. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode. We hope the discussion on neurodiversity has provided you with some Support, understanding, and inspiration. If you found our podcast valuable, please share it with others who may benefit from our insights and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Hit the follow button and let's keep exploring the fascinating world of neurodiversity. Click the link in our show notes to visit our website for a free download of three tips for a stronger relationship with your child.