Loki’s story
Looking at things differently: Loki’s story
Loki has spent the greater part of the last two decades in and around universities. They’ve been on both sides of the classroom, as lecturer and student, and are currently completing a Master of Public Policy.
“I like thinking things and talking about things and arguing about things,” they say.
Throughout their life, Loki often felt like a square peg attempting to fit into a round hole. They tried different careers and paths and routinely found themselves at odds with how society’s systems typically operate.
They have since found a great sense of fulfilment and independence in teaching and education. For Loki, the core of great teaching is great storytelling. That starts with an understanding of what exactly their students need.
“The teacher's role is to help students see how to get from where they are to where they need to go,” they say.
Loki’s ADHD and autism diagnoses helped them to see things differently and understand their past struggles.
“Before I knew I had ADHD, I had pushed myself too hard and it got to a point where I just couldn’t function,” they reflect. “The diagnosis explained a lot of things going way back.”
They continue, “I’ve seen a lot of people with autism and we tend to be very introspective. We think about what we're thinking all the time, trying to make sense of what's happening around us when sometimes there isn't logical sense to be made from it.”
For Loki, the Disability Gateway pulls together different threads of information.
“You can make all sorts of connections between everything,” they say. “I’ve ended up doing public policy because I want to understand how stories get turned into policies.”
Loki enjoys problem-solving, and since learning about their diagnoses, has found redefining their story incredibly helpful.
“My brain is physically structured differently, and therefore, the way that it will process information is different,” they say. “I think differently because what I am understanding of the world is different.”
They continue, “By looking at any problems in new ways, we can start the process of finding common understanding and the right solutions.”
Audio Visual
| Audio | Visual |
[Background music plays] I graduated from high school, just. | A person is speaking to the camera while sitting in a library. |
| I planned to do geology. | We see a person looking thoughtfully into the distance. |
| Seemed like a great way to get out and away from people. | A person is walking up the stairs on a university campus. |
Found myself doing biology, found a job in a hospital, ended up running computers. | A person is flicking through different books in a university library. |
That led me to start doing computer science because I thought I should probably know what I'm doing. So I ran away to law school. | A person is walking around a university library. |
| Just as I was graduating from law school, I discovered that I was Autistic. | A person is speaking to the camera while sitting in a library. |
| So my name's Loki, I'm a public policy master's student. | Loki is looking into the camera while outside at their university campus. We see Loki manipulating an infinity cube fidget toy. |
Law is about telling stories. Getting people to either agree on what the story is or they have to explain it to a judge. | Loki is walking around their university campus. Loki is flipping through pieces of paper and making notes. Loki is smiling sitting in the university library. |
| It's about people, at the end, stories about people. | Loki is reading notes from a piece of paper. |
| The diagnosis came about because I had burnt out. | Loki is sitting in the university library. Loki is sitting on a bench on their university campus. |
| Explained a lot of things that I'd been trying to make sense of. | Loki is flicking through the pages of a book. |
| Computer systems are a different experience for me because I think differently. | Loki is using a computer in their university library. |
| It's not what's in my head that's necessarily the problem, it's me and what's in your head meshing. | We see the Disability Gateway website on a library computer screen. |
| Every Autistic person is different. | Loki is speaking to another person in the library. |
| I don't know what the next opportunity is going to be. | Loki is smiling sitting in the university library. |
Whatever it is, I'll probably do something weird with it. | A closing slide appears with the Disability Gateway logo and the Australian Government logo. |
Audio Visual
| Audio | Visual |
[Background music plays] I graduated from high school, just. | A person is speaking to the camera while sitting in a library. |
| I planned to do geology. | We see a person looking thoughtfully into the distance. |
| Seemed like a great way to get out and away from people. | A person is walking up the stairs on a university campus. |
Found myself doing biology, found a job in a hospital, ended up running computers. | A person is flicking through different books in a university library. |
That led me to start doing computer science because I thought I should probably know what I'm doing. So I ran away to law school. | A person is walking around a university library. |
| Just as I was graduating from law school, I discovered that I was Autistic. | A person is speaking to the camera while sitting in a library. |
| So my name's Loki, I'm a public policy master's student. | Loki is looking into the camera while outside at their university campus. We see Loki manipulating an infinity cube fidget toy. |
Law is about telling stories. Getting people to either agree on what the story is or they have to explain it to a judge. | Loki is walking around their university campus. Loki is flipping through pieces of paper and making notes. Loki is smiling sitting in the university library. |
| It's about people, at the end, stories about people. | Loki is reading notes from a piece of paper. |
| The diagnosis came about because I had burnt out. | Loki is sitting in the university library. Loki is sitting on a bench on their university campus. |
| Explained a lot of things that I'd been trying to make sense of. | Loki is flicking through the pages of a book. |
| Computer systems are a different experience for me because I think differently. | Loki is using a computer in their university library. |
| It's not what's in my head that's necessarily the problem, it's me and what's in your head meshing. | We see the Disability Gateway website on a library computer screen. |
| Every Autistic person is different. | Loki is speaking to another person in the library. |
| I don't know what the next opportunity is going to be. | Loki is smiling sitting in the university library. |
Whatever it is, I'll probably do something weird with it. | A closing slide appears with the Disability Gateway logo and the Australian Government logo. |
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Loki’s story
An Easy Read case study
 | This story is about a person with a disability called Loki. |
 | Loki uses They/Them pronouns. |
 | They are studying a master’s degree in public policy. |
 | Public policy is the study of how the government makes laws. |
 | Loki also teaches at a university. |
 | They have tried many different jobs in their life. |
 | They enjoy teaching and studying at university. |
 | Doctors helped Loki find out that they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). |
 | Finding out about their ADHD and autism helped to explain a lot of things about Loki’s life. |
 | Loki thinks the Disability Gateway has many different kinds of information. |
 | They have learned that people with autism or ADHD have a different way of thinking. |
 | Loki believes that thinking differently can be a great way to solve problems. |