Podcast Episode Details

Episode 70: Kristian Mikhel

Episode 70

Welcome to episode #70 We’re thrilled to be joined by Kristian Mikhel today. 

Kristian is a co-founder of Paper and Pain, a creative collective for good, a PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania, and an accessibility designer. He's been sharing his experience living and working with ADHD, advocating for equal digital rights and inclusive experiences, and helping products that benefit humans and communities.

Welcome to the show Kristian!

Questions

1. JN: Can you tell us about your experience with neurodiversity?
   1. When did you realize that you weren’t neurotypical? 
      1. Diagnosed in 2023, but has struggled with concentration, focused work, and motivation since junior school.
         1. Initially, he wasn’t aware of the condition.
         2. His level of acceptance was a lot lower when he was growing up
            1. It was thought to be a kids-only condition.
   2. What challenges did you face? 
      1. Trying to calm myself down, feeling agitated and nervous constantly for no good reason, leaving tasks incomplete, and getting bored.
         1. Family wouldn’t understand
            1. Sitting in one place for an hour was really difficult
               1. Would want to split a task up.
         2. Initially, he thought his inability to complete tasks was depression.
         3. A feeling of rolling in the fog before diagnosis.
         4. Defense mechanism
            1. Against feeling of
               1. Not being “motivated enough.”
   3. What changes have come post-diagnosis?
      1. Just knowing that you’ve got ADHD and having a diagnosis that explains that it’s not you, it’s your disability, helps a lot
         1. It’s like putting on glasses and now your vision is better.
            1. When you know what your dealing with, it’s sometimes as good as half the solution.
            2. Feeling well supported.
   4. What challenges do you still face now?
      1. The feeling of guilt for not being productive enough, constantly trying to find new things to keep me excited, access to medication (hello, Australian healthcare)
      2. The rushing mentioned below can be tough to manage.
         1. It’s like driving really fast and then braking hard over and over again.
   5. What neuro-exceptional strengths are you leaning into now?
      1. I don’t think I would call them “strengths”, but I’ve learned to complete things very fast to avoid getting bored, so sometimes, I would finish a massive project in a few hours and have the rest of the time to myself (well, I end up filling it with other projects, so that’s barely a win).
      2. Self-awareness of attention span
         1. Need to get a task done in 20 minutes otherwise, he’s going to get bored.
         2. The analogy of a match being lit needs to get stuff done before the match burns out.
2. JC: What "work" projects are you concentrating on? 
   1. PhD
      1. Focus on improving communication about air quality
   2. building a design agency
      1. Help out non-profits and well-being orgs with design
   3. writing articles
      1. Publish where?
   4. host a podcast (Paper and Pain)
   5. write a newsletter (The Accessibility Apprentice)
   6. Questions:
      1. How do you balance PhD with the other commitments?
         1. Understanding that there is life beyond work and commitments
         2. Logistically:
            1. Still trying to work it out
               1. Trying not to stick too rigidly to a routine.
                  1. Loosely
                     1. A few hours of fun in the morning
                        1. Coffee
                        2. Make breakfast
                        3. Watch TV
                     2. While in a cheerful mood
                        1. Solving the biggest problems
                        2. Literature reviews
                     3. Later on
                        1. Focus timers
                        2. 
                           
      2. Where did the name

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         Published on 1 year ago