Steven Waddell: Rocks, Rails, and Revelations: A Model's Autism Story

Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World

Tony Mantor

Alternative Health, Never Give Up, Health & Fitness, Entertainment, Mental Health, Autism Acceptance, Autism, Autism Awareness, Celebrities, Special Needs, Positivity

5 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Send us a text Stephen Waddell takes us on a powerful journey of self-discovery as he shares how he uncovered his autism in adulthood after building a successful modeling career. Despite being naturally introverted and struggling with social interactions, Stephen found himself thrust into a profession that demanded social fluency – forcing him to systematically develop scripts and strategies that masked his autistic traits. A near-fatal accident on the New York subway at age 21 became...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Why Not Me the World Podcast, hosted by Tony Mayator.
0:11.6	Broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee.
0:18.0	Join us as our guests tell us their stories
0:20.9	Some will make you laugh
0:22.5	Some will make you cry
0:24.3	Real life people
0:26.9	Who will inspire
0:28.8	And show that you are not alone
0:32.5	In this world
0:34.0	Hopefully you gain more awareness
0:37.1	Acceptance and a better understanding for autism in this world. Hopefully, you gain more awareness, acceptance,
0:39.2	and a better understanding for autism around the world.
0:52.0	Hi, I'm Tony Mantor.
0:53.7	Welcome to Why Not Me the World. Joining us today is Stephen Waddell. He's a model and a blogger specializing in writing about his health and wellness. He joins us today to discuss his experiences with autism and how it has impacted his life's journey, as well as his strategies for managing it
1:13.5	and his career choices. He has a unique approach and will undoubtedly share valuable insights with us.
1:21.4	Thanks for coming on. Yeah, no, for sure, man. So if you would, give us a little information about yourself.
1:30.4	What sparked that was really my brother and my brother's wife.
1:36.2	And so she's involved with, she's getting, she's involved in getting a PhD.
1:43.4	And I hope I don't butcher it, what exactly it is. But it's one of those things where it's getting, she's involved in getting a PhD and I hope I don't butcher it and what exactly
1:45.8	it is, but it's one of those things where it's very long and very niche. But essentially,
1:51.2	it's in that world where she studies this kind of stuff. Growing up, I always knew I was maybe
1:56.5	a bit of an obduck, different, very introverted, very comfortable being alone. Then later on in life,
	...

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