Meet Cass Winter

We recently connected with Cass Winter and have shared our conversation below.

Cass, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
Part of me wants to argue that burnout is unavoidable at this point in our society. Western culture is driven by high productivity and toxic independence, and if you’re someone like me who has multiple disabilities and neurodivergences, burnout is a guarantee. My burnout lasted for over a decade. I hardly did anything that I found meaningful and it nearly killed me. Finding my way from just dreaming, to actually doing has been a long, hard, and winding road, but it’s been so, so worth it. Because there were no resources that I could find to help me, I paved my own path with something I now lovingly call “Butt In Chair Time.” Now I teach this tool, and many others, to Neurodivergent and/or Chronically Ill people from all over the globe, helping them to avoid the pitfalls that lead to burnout as well as helping them recover.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I help neurodivergent spoonies who are done feeling like a failure and a burden go from doing things the neurotypical, able-bodied, and toxic way, to mastering a toolset for genuine self-care and a bias toward action, so they can finally believe in and trust themselves enough to spend their precious time and energy the way they want.

During my decade long burnout that I’ve come to refer to as my “Groundhog Day,” I couldn’t find any resources to help me. Doctors didn’t help. Psychologists didn’t help. Traditional life coaches didn’t help. I had multiple chronic illnesses, disabilities, and (at that time undiagnosed) neurodivergences. Neither my brain nor my body were “typical.”

So I had to do it all myself.

And because I’ve been on that road, and taken all the detours and false-turns, and finally found my way, I can now give others the gift of my experience.

I can give other Neurodivergent Spoonies a map with all the shortcuts. I can be their guide, so they can arrive at their destination a hell of a lot faster than I did, and without all the false starts.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First is Radical Self Compassion. No amount of coaching, therapy, course-taking, etc. will help make positive change unless someone is able to be truly kind and compassionate with themselves. Shame-driven change can give immediate results, but it does lasting harm and the changes rarely stick. Combatting shame with compassion is one of the most profound and radical things we can focus on in this society. And don’t forget that having a disability and/or being neurodivergent is morally neutral (no matter was society or the media tries to tell you).

Next is understanding your brain. Because of our aforementioned shame-driven culture, when things are difficult we tend to assume there is something wrong with us that needs to be “fixed” or “pushed through,” instead of leading with curiosity to discover what can help us. For example, Neurodivergent minds (e.g. neurodivergent neurotypes such as Autism or ADHD, mental illnesses, personality disorders, cognitive disabilities, trauma, etc.) see the world and navigate it differently. Understanding those differences allow those affected to seek the help and support they need and deserve.

Which leads us to the last thing: accommodations. Accommodations are more than just ramps or disabled parking spots for wheelchair users, or extra time on an exam if you have dyslexia. Every single person with a disability has the right to accommodations so they can live their lives with dignity. The biggest block I see my clients have is the unwillingness to accept that they need and deserve accommodations. Once we get through that block and they get the accommodations they need, they find it’s easier to live their lives and cultivate radical self compassion.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
I picked this question because I feel like having a Neurodivergent and Chronically Ill lens placed on it could be helpful for a lot of people. Those of us with disabilities by definition have less time and/or energy than able-bodied, mentally healthy, and neurotypical people. Because of that, we have to be very purposeful with how we spend that precious time and energy.

What breaks my heart is that so many wonderful people who happen to also be disabled spend so much of their time and energy accommodating others at the expense of themselves. They try to be “less” disabled or hide their disabilities. They try to push through.

Western culture: our economies, our job cultures, our health systems… all contribute to the idea that disability is a moral failing and should be eradicated, but it’s not. Disability is morally neutral and no disabled person owes anybody anything.

Every disabled person deserves visibility.

Every disabled person deserves accommodations and dignity.

Every disabled person deserves to live.

Now to get back to the question at hand. The question of whether to focus on developing one’s strengths or improving areas they aren’t as strong in only exists because of our ableist and toxic productivity culture. The constant drive to improve ourselves stems from a system that has us competing for basic resources that should be human rights. If every person had their basic needs (food, shelter, healthcare, education) met unconditionally, the beauty that is the human mind and body could flourish in each and every one of us.

That’s the world I want to live in.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Cass Winter (subject), Robert Belcher (photographer)

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