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b"Update from 04/06/2022: The podcast is returning! Listen out for an official announcement on 14th June.\\n\\nToday's episode is voiced by John Rayment. You can find him on Twitter here.\\n\\nTranscript\\n\\nWelcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from OK to Good, and from Good to Great.\\nI am not Ariel Goodbody. I'm Ariel's friend, John. I'm recording this message for Ariel, because he's unable to speak at the moment.\\nSo here\\u2019s what Ariel has to say:\\n\\u2018Hello, everyone. Some of you may know that I\\u2019m autistic. I talked about it earlier this year, when I did the pre-intermediate version of The Little Frog with the Big Mouth.\\n\\u2018Basically, it means that my brain works a bit differently to most people\\u2019s. I am more sensitive to bright lights, loud sounds and strong smells. I don\\u2019t talk or act like most people do, so I often mask. Masking is when an autistic person \\u201cputs on a mask\\u201d, basically pretends to be like everyone else.\\n\\u2018Because of these things, being autistic can be very tiring. It\\u2019s very hard for us to just exist in the world, because the world is full of bright lights, loud sounds and strong smells, and people want us to pretend we\\u2019re different to who we actually are.\\n\\u2018So often, when things are too difficult for us, we shut down. This is when your body says, \\u201cNo more!\\u201d Sometimes, it just means being alone in a room for a long time and resting.\\n\\u2018But this year, I\\u2019ve been having more serious shutdowns. I\\u2019ve started going non-verbal\\u2014losing the ability to speak. As I\\u2019m writing this message, I\\u2019ve been non-verbal for 12 days. As well as this, I\\u2019ve also had movement difficulties, and I can\\u2019t easily do lots of things that I was able to do before, like travelling or shopping.\\n\\u2018I\\u2019m telling you all this because, obviously, if I can\\u2019t talk, I can\\u2019t record Easy Stories in English. I really hate not being able to do the podcast, but right now, my body needs to rest. I don\\u2019t know how long it will be for, and to be honest, I don\\u2019t know how reliable my voice will be in the future. I\\u2019ve done some research into what\\u2019s happening to me, and I seem to have a health problem called autistic catatonia. There isn\\u2019t much research on it, and it\\u2019s difficult to treat, but I\\u2019m trying my best.\\n\\u2018I want to thank you all for your support. I already talked about this on Patreon and in my email newsletter, and so many of you sent kind messages. I\\u2019m sorry I couldn\\u2019t respond to them all. I have found it very hard to keep up with emails.\\n\\u2018So, for now, I will have to take a break from the podcast. Hopefully, I\\u2019ll be able to start again in the new year. I hope you all have wonderful holidays, if you do celebrate holidays around this time of year.\\n\\u2018Thank you for listening, and hopefully I\\u2019ll see you soon.\\u2019\\n\\nSupport Easy Stories in English by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/easystoriesinenglish\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"