My guest today is Emmett de Monterrey, a psychotherapist and author with an extraordinary story.

My guest today is Emmett de Monterrey, a psychotherape with an extraordinary story.

My guest today is Emmett de Monterrey, a psychotherapist and author with an extraordinary story.

At just 18 months old, Emmett was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and as a child of the 1980s his diagnosis and subsequent

physical challenges were not easily accommodated by the world around him.

Case in point at his school the staff refused to reschedule his classes to ground floor

classrooms and he was forced to climb stairs at huge effort to attend his lessons.

Hope was on the horizon when age 12, Emmett was chosen for a first of its kind surgery in America.

The world's media turned their attention on Emmett and his family and this potential miracle, but it wasn't the fairy tale ending Emmett was expecting.

And the sixth form college for disabled students his sexuality became an issue and he was

even told that if rumors circulating about him that he was gay were true then he could be expelled.

Being able to be authentically himself is something Emmett hasn't always felt able to do and a huge part of his journey has been reckoning with a world which views disabled people as invisible and unworthy of desire.

I always say on this podcast that it's getting to see the world through my guess eyes that I find so inspiring and I'm delighted to be learning

Emmett's life lessons today on the Emma Gunter show. Welcome to the podcast Emmett. How are you?

I'm very well thank you for that lovely introduction I'm delighted to be here. You're so so welcome and

it's such a fascinating and interesting story and let's just unpick something there

and that you were what 12 years old the world's media is focused on you this is like a miracle game

changing operation that you're going to have and you kind of you went viral back

when things didn't go viral. I did I did. Yeah it was a very very odd

situation because I was selected I was selected for this surgery as you say and

because it was a really big story and

you're a journalist yourself you know about how often the media narrative is different from the reality that is happening and the surgeons in America were quite, yeah they were quite surprised by the level of attention.

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