Meet Said Shaiye

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Said Shaiye. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Said, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

By dropping out of college. I started doing poetry open mics at night, but was failing my chemistry type classes in the day. It was the first time I struggled with classes in my life. I couldn’t understand it. My parents wanted me to become a well-paid professional in a white lab coat. All I cared about was writing. It always came easily to me. The more i struggled in life, the more writing helped me make sense of it. It also helped me understand other people, and why I was always misunderstood, no matter what I did. I would later learn I’m Autistic with ADHD & CPTSD. I recently heard that many autistic people become subject matter experts in field related to understanding humanity out of a deep desire to figure out what motivates people, and why we seem to be treated so hostilely just for being/thinking/communicating differently. Anyway, I’ve been writing ever since I dropped out in 2007. I eventually went back to school, got my BA & MFA, published a speculative memoir which was a major award finalist (ARE YOU BORG NOW?), and now work as a college writing professor. I’m grateful for the journey. I’m grateful for words.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Recently started a Creative Writing Workshop for BIPOC Neurodivergent Writers called Spectrum Ink. I use an anti-ableist approach that goes against the traditional writing workshop model (getting negative feedback from a group of strangers while you sit there unable to respond to their comments until they finish). We use a positive-feedback approach that focuses on creating healthy writing practices with disability & neurodivergence in mind. There will soon be a website (www.SpectrumInk.org) where we’ll repeat this class, but for a wider (but still Neurodivergent) audience.

My book ARE YOU BORG NOW? is being republished as a 2nd edition by NOEMI Press. It will be released on June 23rd, 2025 and you can get a copy wherever books are sold. Go to my website (www.saidshaiye.com) or the NOEMI Press website (www.noemipress.org) for more information!

My whole approach to writing and teaching is based on years of traumatic experiences in education, most of which happened before I got my disability diagnoses at age 33. I use a compassion based approach that encourages writers to follow their body’s unique rhythms; to flow with their bodies needs, instead of forcing themselves to follow traditional writing advice (which is almost aways rooted in ableism).

I’ve lived a thousand lives — from coming to this country as a child escaping the Somali Civil War & refugee camps, to overcoming serious addiction in adulthood, to moving back home for cultural repatriation, and finally getting diagnosed late in life with Autism, ADHD, and CPTSD. I’m grateful for the hardships, because they’ve taught me to be appreciative for the people who’ve helped me believe in myself. We can’t know how good sweetness is if we’ve never tasted bitterness.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Perseverance, Compassion, and Forgiveness. I’ve always had a deep desire to understand myself, because everything I was on paper never matched up with my lived experience. I now know that this was a result of my trying to live a “normal” life when I needed to be living in a way that made sense for my disabled mind/body. I’ve learned that disability doesn’t mean less-then, it just means different. And that the disabling condition is not so much the disability itself, but moreso our society’s inability to see our humanity without also ascribing pity & shame to us. It took patience to overcome many of the obstacles in my life. I used to approach life from a place of I-need-to-be-better, to try harder. All that led to was burnout and feeling not good-enough when I ultimately failed to reach goals. I’ve since learned that compassion, especially for yourself, is the real secret to life. No man is an island, it takes a village to raise a child, and every other cliche along those lines. Don’t be so focused on the end goal. Focus on the process. What good is it “to make it” if you lose yourself along the way? If your body is a shuddering pile of exhaustion after you’ve reached those goals? If you still hate yourself even with a long string of accomplishments? I posit that anyone can reach their dreams. You won’t do it alone, and it won’t be easy. But you are worth it, and you NEED to give yourself grace. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Relapse is a part of recovery. Life is a journey and, wow, I sure sound like a Hallmark card right now. What I’m trying to say is: lead with your heart and everything will eventually fall into place. You may not know how, but trust that it will.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

My dream is to build an online teaching platform (Spectrum Ink) catering to Neurodivergent folks who are interested in learning to write. Our website is nearly finished. I’m looking for people to help me run it, promote it, and make it a beautiful community. I’ve gotten such an overwhelming response from ND people after I posted about the first Spectrum Ink workshop based in Minneapolis. It let me know that there is an urgent need for us to create this space FOR US! Nothing about us is traditional, so why should we approach writing & artmaking in a traditional way?

If you have experience in education design, marketing, scaling up a platform, teaching creative writing, or anything related to what this platform/website/community would need, I want to hear from you! If you are interested in taking classes (not just from me, but from a roster of talented writers & educators I’m fortunate enough to know), then please reach out! If there’s something somewhat or maybe not at all related, and you’re neurodivergent, I still want to hear from you! I’m also interested in collaborating with artists on filmmaking, performance, museum installation pieces, writing, and so much more. My artistic interests are wide and I’m always hungry to see a new perspective. If any of this describes you, I want to meet you!

Best way to reach me is by sending an email to [email protected], or by using the contact form on my website www.saidshaiye.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.saidshaiye.com
• Instagram: @saidshaiye
• Facebook: Said Shaiye
• Other: www.spectrumink.org (in progress website / online teaching platform / we teach creative writing in a way that’s designed by and for neurodivergent writers at all stages of their journey).