Haden Keen with Circle Of Friends

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:24] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon, and today’s episode is brought to you in part by our Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Main Street warriors.org and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors, Diesel David, Inc. Please go check them out at diesel. david.com. You guys are in for a real treat this afternoon. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast Mr. Haden Keen. How are you man?

Haden Keen: [00:01:11] I am good. How are you Stone?

Stone Payton: [00:01:13] I am doing well. I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. I got a ton of questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I think a good place to start might be what you shared with me when we were visiting over at the circuit the other day. This is Autism Month or something. Yeah, talk about that.

Haden Keen: [00:01:32] Yeah, it is Autism Awareness Month. Uh, for me, uh, I have, uh, high functioning autism. Uh, I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit nervous right now. So, uh, autism is flying, like, uh, a good example of how I’m feeling right now is like Tom Cruise behind an F-14 Tomcat for the first time. Just be like, oh my gosh. Like, yeah. So, uh, yeah, it’s Autism Awareness Month. Uh, I’ve been I’m 31 years old. Uh, I’ve been dealing with high functioning autism all my life. Uh, I’ve got my mother in the studio with me. Uh, and, uh, boy, I was not an easy child. Let’s just say that, um, my mom, she basically told me she’s just like. I mean, people with autism. Um. My mom basically told me she’s just like, you’re just different from the rest. Like I always had to. I wasn’t really good at math. Um. Took me eight times to pass the math graduation test, just that portion of it, right, to get my diploma. And it was. I’ve always, um, in high school, um, I always had to have what’s called a parapro with me taking me from class to class to class. Um, and I got picked on for that, you know, I got to ride, um, in the high school realm, they call it the, uh, the sped bus or the special bus, whatever they call it now, I don’t know. Mhm. Um, but.

Stone Payton: [00:03:09] You knew or recognized that there was something different about your life and the way things worked for you than, than the other kids. You might not have had a moniker for it. Something to call it. Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:03:20] It, it got to my, it got so bad, my, uh, my being picked on in high school, it got so bad until my senior year. Um, the beginning of my senior year, I said, mom, it’s my senior year. I don’t want a paraprofessional. I don’t want someone walking to me to my classes. I want to live my life as a regular student. And she’s like, okay. Uh, so honestly, the. Pinnacle point of my, uh, high school year was my senior year. My fourth year. Huh? Um, really got to meet a lot of people. Um, because every time when I met somebody, my parapro was always with me, and they’re like, why is she always following you? It’s like it was just a barrier for me. So I was just like, I want to go on. That way I can just focus. And, uh, senior year I did good. Um, I did my classes very better than, uh, before. Yeah. Um, I was failing in a few classes.

Stone Payton: [00:04:23] All right, so there’s that. So there’s for at least for you, there was an academic challenge, at least in the area of math, maybe in some other areas. Uh, did you find it that you were drawn to some other areas of school that maybe you were at least on par with everyone else? Or. Wow, I’m really good at this. It may be better than some other folks.

Haden Keen: [00:04:40] Uh, I was really good at, um. I did a, uh, JROTC. Oh, okay. Uh, for four years in high school and that kind of. Built the courage I have. I’ll bet. And, um. So one day, uh, my colonel, um, decided to. He was just like, I’m gonna form up a rifle team. So, uh, we shot, uh, CO2 cartridge. Oh, not not.

Stone Payton: [00:05:10] Flipping the rifle. Shooting. No. Shooting the rifle. Okay. Yeah. So you’re a good shot.

Haden Keen: [00:05:14] I, I did, um, all right. Am, uh, I out shot my colonel? Um, and he’s been in Desert Storm. Uh.

Stone Payton: [00:05:24] Oh, my God, he drove. You don’t beat the customer at golf, Haden. You’re not supposed to shoot the colonel.

Haden Keen: [00:05:29] I’m not supposed to shoot the colonel. Right. But it was good, though, because he was like, I have seen. He’s like, I used to be a tank driver. I used to drive the M1 Abrams tanks, the big the big boys. And I was the gunner. So, uh, and he’s like, the amount of years that I’ve done this, uh, rifle team, I have never been out shot. Wow. Until today.

Stone Payton: [00:05:56] What a confidence builder.

Haden Keen: [00:05:57] I was just like, oh my God. She’s like, yeah, I want to I want to, um, recruit you. And I was like. And so I was like, okay, so but during that process of me getting recruited, um, I had a, uh. What would you call it? Stigmatism. Yeah, I had a disease called keratoconus. And for those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a. Retinal disease, its attacks, the vision in your retina.

Stone Payton: [00:06:29] Not good for a rifle guy.

Haden Keen: [00:06:31] Not good for a rifle guy. Um, so unfortunately, I didn’t. I’ve been dealing with that. Um, so because of it, it was during my process of getting recruited for the Army, um, I couldn’t I wasn’t eligible, I even if I did, uh, get eligible, I knew I was going to get a medical discharge anyway, because. Right, right. I have autism and the probably the psych training, or I would have been flagged for something, so it just wouldn’t have been a good fit.

Stone Payton: [00:07:08] So do you feel like those experiences, some of them clearly very negative though, may have had a little bit of a positive lining to them. And the reason I’m asking is it occurs to me you must be an incredibly resilient person at this, at this point in your life, someone who can come back from adversity and, you know, whatever it is, I can, you know, if you get a minor wreck on a on the way home, I can bounce back from this or whatever.

Haden Keen: [00:07:35] I’ve been in two wrecks.

Stone Payton: [00:07:36] Oh, okay. I just struck a chord. No, no, but some people that would just I mean, it would just crush them, you know, like. Yeah, or so, but it sounds. Is that accurate? Then you you’re resilient.

Haden Keen: [00:07:48] It has um, when I haven’t been resilient until I haven’t been really resilient until, um. I think it was. Before the first gala. I spoke about that.

Stone Payton: [00:08:07] The first gala for the Circle of Friends thing. And we’re going to talk. Yeah, we’re going to.

Haden Keen: [00:08:11] Talk about Circle of Friends in a little bit. Uh, but but the.

Stone Payton: [00:08:14] First gala was a was a turning point for you.

Haden Keen: [00:08:18] The gala wasn’t just I’ll. I’ll jump into this story. Yeah, yeah. So, uh, it was what, 2022. Mhm. Of last year. Um, I have been for a while now I have been dealing with suicidal depression.

Stone Payton: [00:08:38] Okay.

Haden Keen: [00:08:38] And it’s been because of me being picked on through elementary middle and high. Yeah. Until my again my senior year in high school. And then even after that, um, I’ve, um, just been just people have been picking on my autism. It’s just like you’re different. You’re you’re this you can’t do this. It’s like, well, actually I can it would take me some time. And just people weren’t like that back then. They didn’t really understand it. And so they shunned me. The the whole community is shunned kind of. It’s just like. Anyway, um. So yeah, for a while I’ve been dealing with suicidal depression. Uh, to the point where. I’ve attempted to kill myself like three times. I’ve tried to take my life. Uh, you can name it. Um.

Stone Payton: [00:09:38] And do you feel like you’re surely not the only person know had those feelings for this reason? Yeah. So that is then a challenge in the autistic. It is community. It is. Wow. I guess I did not realize that it is.

Haden Keen: [00:09:53] Um, and I personally want to shout out to if you are ever going through something. Don’t ever be afraid to ask. Um, I know people nowadays think like they want to be tough, and, uh. You know, not. Um. Speak out. Uh, but seriously, speak out. Like there nowadays there are people willing to help you. There’s a hotline. There’s a suicide hotline. Uh, get that number. Um, so what was.

Stone Payton: [00:10:26] The catalyst for you? Because you mentioned the gala. Was it getting ready for the gala? Was it something that happened at the gala?

Haden Keen: [00:10:31] It was before the gala, or actually, it was after it. Um, because I. Before the gala I was in Florida. I was in a whole nother state dealing with my mental depression. Um, uh, suicidal depression. I was in like the perfect place. I was in Delray Beach in Florida. That sounds awful. I know right? Um, but they’re they did what was called, um, they did an operation or not an operation. They did a. Test theory that the FDA approved in Florida. It was called brain mapping. Okay. It was called brain mapping. And so what they did. What they did was they hooked electrodes to my brain. Right. And it I felt no shock. It wasn’t like shock therapy. Um, but it was just you’re just watching actual television or you, they say, like, watch a Netflix show and they on the screen, it shows your brain. Being remapped like all the.

Stone Payton: [00:11:41] Based on the input, based.

Haden Keen: [00:11:43] On the input of the show you’re watching. Wow. They remap your brain. And, uh, they said I was down there for three months during doing this treatment. And, uh, and.

Stone Payton: [00:11:55] So in this mapping and you may not know all this detail, but if you and I sat down and we both watched a Netflix that’s in a genre we both like, right. And would would our maps look similar? Very different. They would certainly they both respond to the stimuli, right? Yeah, they.

Haden Keen: [00:12:11] Respond to the stimuli.

Stone Payton: [00:12:12] Of course. I’m assuming I don’t have autism. I don’t know, we may find out that I do by the end of the show. Yeah. Go ahead.

Haden Keen: [00:12:18] But yeah, they did. They showed me on this computer screen of my brain and how it was active. And they were like, you see this firing neuron right here? I’m like, yeah, they’re like, that’s your active stimuli. And while you’re watching the TV, it’s going crazy, huh? And they’re like, what do you have? I said, well, I have autism. And they saw one of them was a nurse, a medical professional or a CRN. And she’s like, what’s this like indentation in your brain right here? They saw it on the screen and I’m like, that’s my autism. And they’re like, really? I’m like, yeah. And they’re like, I never knew. I’m like, physically, you would think that I don’t have autism. But if you look at my brain, it’s there.

Stone Payton: [00:13:07] Okay, so you got some education. You were informed you had an experience with people that were trying to help you get a handle on things. So that was a part of the this, uh, this switch in mindset. Yeah, it maybe it’s not fair to represent it as a switch. It occurs to me it was a switch.

Haden Keen: [00:13:23] You can say that. Yeah, it was a switch in my brain. And it didn’t really get affected until I was. It really didn’t. I really didn’t see the concept of it working until the last. The the day after the first gala we had, because I was there physically, right? But mentally I was not there mentally. My mind was still in Florida during this treatment. And so here comes the this goes into the story I’m sitting at my at. Hartsfield-jackson International Airport. Waiting on my flight to go back to Florida to finish up my treatment because I wasn’t done yet. I still had three more months to go. It was a total of six month process. So I’m so as I’m sitting in that airport at my gate waiting for to go back to Florida, it gets delayed. So I’m like, you know, nothing of it. Okay, ten minute delay. Okay. Another ten minutes goes by, gets delayed again. This happened a total of seven times stone seven.

Stone Payton: [00:14:35] Like people that would drive me nuts. Oh my God. Yeah, I’m a pretty happy go lucky resilient guy. Yeah. So did it set you on edge or did you.

Haden Keen: [00:14:43] It did. It did set me on edge. I’m like, God, I call my mom. And I said, I, I’m on the phone with her and I say, mom, my flight has been delayed seven times and at this time it’s about 7:00 at night, right? Right. My flight was supposed to leave at three, so I’m just like, there is no way I am staying at this airport overnight just to catch this flight. Yeah. And she’s like, well, just wait one more. Just, you know, I’m I’m working. I can’t drive to the airport to come get you, you know? Can you wait a little bit? I said, sure, I guess at this time I’m already pissed. Like I’m just gonna.

Stone Payton: [00:15:28] Well, seven delays would equal seven Bourbons for me, so they wouldn’t have let me on the plane. Yeah, yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:15:34] Um, but yeah. So I’m at this seventh time. Uh oh. Um, I said to her, um, I said, mom, I think it’s a sign from God saying that I’m not getting on this flight. And I said, and at that moment I had every I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t know if you’re a Christian person. I don’t know your religion. But anyway, whatever it is, I accept. But I’m just going to tell you what I experienced. I experienced the voice of God at that airport. Wow. And, um, or the voice of Jesus. Actually, he came and spoke to me and it all got quiet around me. I couldn’t hear nothing. And it was just like him and I having a conversation. Um, and, um, he was just like, what are you doing? I said, what do you mean, I’m doing? What do you think I’m doing? I’m going to Florida to finish my treatment. He’s like, you don’t need it. I said what? He’s like, you don’t need it. Granted to you. I got taken aback and he’s like, look, you don’t need it, Haden. You have a community around you. You went to an. A massive organization that your parents did for you. Mhm. Granted, you didn’t know that aspect of it. You didn’t know the general girth of it. But I’m giving you. Like. I’m giving you the gift of sight. And not through your eyes, but through my eyes. And I’m going to give you. Um, a gift. And I said, is it sight because I need it? And he’s like, yes, but also it’s going to be the gift of voice. I said, Why? I can speak pretty fine. He’s like, not through your eyes. I’m going to give you the voice to speak through mine. And. Then I it everything stopped. He left or everything stopped. And he’s like, now go home. I’m like, okay. So, uh.

Stone Payton: [00:17:44] And so you call mom. Look, mom, I’ve talked to Jesus, and you need to knock off work early and come get me. Uh, me and Jesus got this whole other plan. Oh, yeah, but no, you’ve got to at this point, you’ve got a new sense of purpose. Yes, yes, yes. Boy, what a powerful yes antidote purpose is to a lot of these things we’re talking about, right? Yes.

Haden Keen: [00:18:04] And he gave me the courage to speak out on this. He gave me the courage to, uh. He gave me the love to have for people. He gave me the love that I have for people he gave me. My mom and my dad who I’m just overwhelmed with joy with. So are.

Stone Payton: [00:18:24] You. You’re really you’re really trying to live into this, and you are trying to be more outspoken. You’re trying to support other people with autism. You’re talking more about it. You’re not ducking it. You’re not know as much. Woe is me. That guy’s looking at me funny because I have autism. You’re no a lot less of that, right?

Haden Keen: [00:18:39] Because of because of that. Because of that encounter, I have overcome my suicidal ideations. Uh, to this day, I have had no thoughts of suicide, no thoughts of harming myself or others. And I am completely. Changed.

Stone Payton: [00:19:00] That is fantastic, man. What a testimony.

Haden Keen: [00:19:03] Because of their their program, their brain mapping, I have.

Stone Payton: [00:19:08] Right, right.

Haden Keen: [00:19:08] And it was sitting at that airport, I had that realization to come on, be who I am today.

Stone Payton: [00:19:15] That’s a great endorsement. We’ll send them a bill. Yeah. Uh, all right, so let’s.

Haden Keen: [00:19:21] Dive into Florida Recovery group, Florida.

Stone Payton: [00:19:23] Recovery group, Florida.

Haden Keen: [00:19:24] Recovery group in Delray Beach or in Boca Raton, Florida, or no, in Delray Beach, Florida. Yeah, they they’ve helped me out. Um, I want to go back and. Seriously. Just thank them all for helping me.

Stone Payton: [00:19:40] Absolutely. All right. So let’s talk more about we. You touched on the gala, but let’s talk a little bit about Circle of Friends. I know it’s had a tremendous impact on your life.

Haden Keen: [00:19:49] Circle of friends man. Let’s let’s dive into that. Uh, circle of friends is an organization for young adults with intellectual disabilities. Um. Uh, in layman’s terms, intellectual disabilities are is basically young adults with special needs such as autism, cerebral palsy, uh, nonverbal autism. I don’t really know that technical terms, but.

Stone Payton: [00:20:14] And these folks, in my experience and help me through this, may or may not have, um, like a lower IQ than other segments of the population. In fact, they may have a standard or above standard IQ, but they may have other challenges in expressing their thoughts. Or is that accurate? Okay.

Haden Keen: [00:20:33] Yeah. That’s accurate. Okay. Um. Hold on.

Stone Payton: [00:20:36] All right. We’re sourcing our.

Haden Keen: [00:20:38] Yeah. We’re sourcing everything.

Stone Payton: [00:20:39] Do you have your personal chat GPT over. Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:20:43] Chat GPT.

Stone Payton: [00:20:44] That’s fantastic. Yeah. No. Go on. Yes.

Haden Keen: [00:20:47] Um, okay. It’s for, um, kids with intellectual disabilities and development such as cerebral palsy. Um. Down. Thank you. Down syndrome. Uh, and all that. It’s a place where they can be in the workforce. Um, uh, learn, uh, you know the job, right? The classic 9 to 5 or whatever. Your hours are, right. And get paid actual money. Like what your parents do all the time, right?

Stone Payton: [00:21:24] Right.

Haden Keen: [00:21:24] And, um, it’s a. You know, it’s a coffee shop. We we built a coffee shop. Um, so you’ll actually be in a. Uh, business system. It’s called square. And you will get a paycheck, like actual money. And you can actually put that in your bank account and save and. Be able to spend and do all that. All because of circle of friends.

Stone Payton: [00:21:53] And there again, one of the gifts. And there are many, I suspect, in becoming a part of that is you’re helping these folks gain that sense of purpose. Exactly. Yes.

Haden Keen: [00:22:06] Because like I said, people with autism can do every can do basically. Yet people with autism basically can do what you and I can. It would just take them a little bit. Some people do it in threes like I’ve, I, I’m not going to lie I, I will be honest. I was talking to a friend on another app uh, earlier today about autism and he’s like. Hey, I do things in threes. I said, well, that’s cool because, um, you know, it’s just like. And I’m like, how do you know that you have autism? He’s self-diagnosed himself. Okay. I’m just like, geez, mostly you have to have a doctor for that. But no, he did it himself. He researched what it was like. Uh, there’s a list, uh, an FDA approved list of what classifies as autism. And he looked it all up and he diagnosed himself. He’s like, dude, I keep closing the door three times. I said, well, there you go, that’s autism. And he’s like, how is that autism? I’m like, because you’re doing it in the Chronicle system of three, right? And then once you’re done with three, you can continue on with what you’re doing. Yeah. And he’s just like, wow, I never really thought of that. I’m like, yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:23:27] So when you’re at Circle of Friends, you’ve mentioned a couple of times, and not that I would know, but I suspect that you’re accurate. You’ve characterized yourself as high functioning. Yes. And that suggests to me that you are in you’re around folks that aren’t as highly functioning. It sounds like you’ve taken on some responsibility for supporting them, celebrating them, helping them feel better about themselves, helping. That’s got to that’s got to feel good, man.

Haden Keen: [00:23:53] My gosh. Now before before I was just like, okay, I’m around a bunch of people, you know. Mhm. And but I got to meet them and talk with them and just be like. You’re freaking awesome. Like, I have this great friend at the coffee shop. Uh, if you guys are in Woodstock, shout out to our coffee shop. Um, at the circuit. Uh, come in there Monday through Friday, 8 to 1.

Stone Payton: [00:24:27] Um, at least a third of my coffee budget is dedicated to that. And, uh, and they take the credit card. So actually, it’s not coming out of my budget. It’s Holly’s credit card. And I’m very generous with that. You know, I like the two people behind me. I don’t I buy them a cup of coffee. Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:24:42] Yeah. And if I’m working, I’ll just give you a free cup. Hey. Sorry, mom. I have the owner in here. We have the owner, right, right. She’s just like, oh my God, just shut up. It’s funny. All right.

Stone Payton: [00:24:57] So let’s do let’s talk a little. You’ve touched on your journey in general. What is a day in the life of of Haden like like what are some activities in which you might engage?

Haden Keen: [00:25:08] Uh, I’m a gamer. Uh, I like to play video games. Uh, I used to be really good at it until I’ve, you know, grew up and body started. My body started saying, yeah, um, I have, uh, really? Yeah, I have Game keeper thumbs, um, because of it. Uh, well, technically it’s because I didn’t stop, suck up my thumb until I was 18.

Stone Payton: [00:25:33] And that was being a gamer. Was that a challenge, though, or was that something that came easy? That too was a challenge.

Haden Keen: [00:25:39] Because I have, um. And not only do I have autism, I have ADHD. So ADHD is like giving somebody and giving somebody an energy drink. It’s it’s basically the classic cartoon character, Speedy Gonzalez. He never just stops. He just constantly goes.

Stone Payton: [00:26:00] And some people with autism may, uh, display other characteristics, but they may not be ADHD or they may be very withdrawn. Yes. And not.

Haden Keen: [00:26:10] Some. Okay. Yeah. Some with autism, they can be like. There’s other aspects like I have. I know a friend who’s autistic, but he’s very highly OCD. Like you can give him a box of crayons and mix it all up and he will put those he’s not going to he’s not going to walk away for murder.

Stone Payton: [00:26:30] All right. So back to a day in the life of Haden. What would you do on a typical Tuesday, Thursday or whatever?

Haden Keen: [00:26:36] Uh, Tuesday, um, you would possibly find me sleeping, okay? Because, uh, Tuesday, sleeping in.

Stone Payton: [00:26:44] You don’t have to be at the coffee shop.

Haden Keen: [00:26:46] No, I have to be at the coffee shop. Oh, okay. At 745 and open it. Right. And you got you morning people like.

Stone Payton: [00:26:55] Well, Thursday morning, I know, you know, that’s that’s.

Haden Keen: [00:26:58] Thursday morning is like 10:00, 10 a.m. like sun’s shining and birds are chirping, but you.

Stone Payton: [00:27:04] Make Kyle run the register on Thursday morning.

Haden Keen: [00:27:06] Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:27:08] He’s always early on.

Haden Keen: [00:27:09] Thursday for.

Stone Payton: [00:27:09] Kyle.

Haden Keen: [00:27:10] You’re after Kyle after Kyle and Stephen. Okay. Uh, Kyle and Stephen are two, uh, employees at our coffee shop. Just fun, fun people to be around. Yeah. You got to go see them there. Uh, at Thursday from, I don’t know, their schedule, but Thursday mornings.

Stone Payton: [00:27:27] Yeah. Come to young professionals at Woodstock House. Yeah, and order some coffee. All right. So so you might go to Circle of Friends. What are some other things that you do? And I guess I’m also looking for a little insight on how your day may go differently than mine. I’m kind of semi-retired, and I do a lot of what I want to do, but I’m active.

Haden Keen: [00:27:45] I try to be very active in the community. Um, okay. Circle of friends. We have a social. We have a social group. Mhm. Uh, so it’s the first Thursday of every Thursday or the first Thursday of every month. We do a big social event. Oh, wow. Whether it’s, uh, playing board games or, uh, tossing cornhole, playing cornhole. Um, so, uh, we have a cooking class, uh, for. Yeah. Bowling.

Stone Payton: [00:28:17] Have you recently been to a cooking class?

Haden Keen: [00:28:19] I have, I’ve been to two of them, actually. We’re on our third season, uh, this year, uh, season three of young adult cooking class. What’d you cook? Uh, we’ve cooked, uh, meatloaf? Yeah, I made meatloaf for the first time. Um, we did pinwheels. Uh. We’ve done. Uh, desserts. We’ve done parfaits. We’ve done pizza. We did. We just finished, actually, last Thursday. We just had, uh, an Italian, a Italian baker, Italian chef. Come. Oh, baby. Yeah, come. And we made personal pan pizza or personal pan pizzas and. Oh, my gosh, Stone, you should have been there. They were so, so good.

Stone Payton: [00:29:08] Well, I would like very much to be there, but you know where this is heading. I’m glad you’ve had a positive experience with that. But well, mom’s going to say, look, you know how to cook. Yeah, yeah. And you don’t need me.

Haden Keen: [00:29:18] Of course.

Stone Payton: [00:29:19] Yeah. You make dinner tonight?

Haden Keen: [00:29:21] Uh, yeah, um, I do, I make dinner for myself and. Okay, I live by myself. Uh, unfortunately, I don’t live with my parents anymore. I moved, I.

Stone Payton: [00:29:31] Did not realize that, but there’s another, uh, set of challenges and opportunities for people depending on where they are on the spectrum. Is that the right is that spectrum? Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:29:43] On the spectrum.

Stone Payton: [00:29:43] So yeah, that too. That’s a whole nother set of things to be thinking about and trying to aspire toward. If it’s practical. Yeah. To, to be able to, to live on.

Haden Keen: [00:29:54] That’s, that’s one of our uh, strands honestly, is to do a. Is to have community development. Um, for people like you, for people like me, for people like my mom or whoever, it’s. We want to be an intergenerational community. Um, that way, um, and it doesn’t have to be people with autism or special needs. Uh, it could just be regular human beings. Um, that’s basically what we are. Um, we’re not different people, right? Um, because I’m going to get historic on you. Um, because in the constitution of it, honestly, in the Declaration of Independence, it says we the people, not. You know we the non. Yeah we the non alienated people know it says we the people including people with special needs and including with people with disabilities. Right. They classify as people too. Mhm. And so. I have, we have that aspect is like people with disabilities or people with autism are people too, so why not? Put them or not really put them, why not integrate them into communities where there are people who don’t have disabilities? And see, I.

Stone Payton: [00:31:23] Think that’s a fascinating idea because as I’m not quite there yet, maybe, but but my folks are getting closer and closer. As people age, their world gets a lot smaller, right? Like, how great would it be if my mom and dad were living in proximity to a group of people that had some some of these special needs because they believe me, they have special needs and I’m sure I have special needs, but you probably do. I you know what? The more we’re talking about this, we probably all have special needs. Yeah. Uh, just maybe some of yours are more visible in the traditional society, but this. But isn’t that. That is part of the people who.

Haden Keen: [00:32:02] Load dishwashers, I swear to God, have OCD issues. Yeah. Dishwasher people. I don’t know how you guys properly load a dishwasher. I just throw my dishes in there. All right, well.

Stone Payton: [00:32:17] We kind of brushed over it, and you mentioned it as a strand. But isn’t this part of the grand plan is to create a community like you’re describing? We have.

Haden Keen: [00:32:26] Three strands. Actually, we have one that is uh, encouragement. Mhm. Uh, we have uh, social opportunities, which is our big events. Right, right. Our gala is more uh, the gala is more of our big fundraiser. Right. Um, but we have, um, every Friday. Every Friday we have what’s called cards with friends.

Stone Payton: [00:32:52] Okay, I stumbled onto this. I had a meeting with one of our main Street warriors. You know, you heard me talk about our community partner program at the circuit. And a lot of the people I recognize, some of them I didn’t because they may not actually work in the coffee shop where there was some playing. Uno. There were some. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That was on a Friday. Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:33:09] It’s it’s our game day. Sweet. Uh, and stones not lying. We’ve had we have three giant white tables filled with, uh, young adults with disabilities playing a simple game of uno. Uh huh. And it’s awesome. It is literally awesome to see. And that’s why, I mean, I don’t well, I participate sometimes, but most of the time I’m just like talking to the people around me, like, yeah, this is what we do every Friday. So if, you.

Stone Payton: [00:33:39] Know, that’s where you pulled me aside, said, hey, you know, we we ought to do an episode.

Haden Keen: [00:33:43] Yeah, we got to do an episode.

Stone Payton: [00:33:44] Just I’ll let the cat out of the bag to me and Haden. We got some designs on, uh, on actually, uh, separate show that may involve some more consistent programing around this and related topics. Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:33:57] So if you guys want to hear it, let’s don’t know. Spoiler alert. Yeah. Spoiler alert. But, uh, we have social opportunities like the gay like the we call it um, cards with friends on Friday. Mhm. Um, but I might actually change that to being like uno madness or something because it’s crazy or Haden wins. No, I don’t play. That’s why I don’t play because I win. Um, but we also have supportive employment, which is the coffee shop. Um, uh, we’re building another one in Hickory Flat.

Stone Payton: [00:34:30] I cannot wait. I know you guys have been working on this. How far out are we, you think?

Haden Keen: [00:34:34] Oh, we are. End of May. But if you want like numbers, percentages, we’re about maybe 75% of the way down. And, uh, we’re having a big work day on the 25th of April. So if you guys are listening and you guys are sitting at home thinking of what.

Stone Payton: [00:34:54] To do when you said works, I’m busy at work.

Haden Keen: [00:34:58] But for those of you who don’t in spirit. Yeah, there we go. Well, we’ll we’ll bring you in. We’ll do we’ll probably do a radio session at the location.

Stone Payton: [00:35:08] You know what? That actually is a great idea. We should do Radio day at one or both locations. That would be fun. That would be cool. All right. Put that in the hopper. We’re going to do. All right. So you got the you’ve got all these social opportunities. You’ve got supportive employment.

Haden Keen: [00:35:21] Support social opportunities tons supportive employment. And then we also have we’re trying to develop a community. We’re trying to find land whether in Hickory Flat we kind of hope we kind of want hickory flat because that’s really where it blossomed. That’s really where it started. Right? That’s kind of like our ground zero. Um, um, or we’re looking in Woodstock, where the circuit is, um, you know, the new development around in downtown Woodstock. It’s getting crazy. Um, and in this.

Stone Payton: [00:35:53] Development, would it kind of look and feel like we were talking about, uh, yes. There may be some autistic people, people with intellectual.

Haden Keen: [00:36:01] But it won’t be.

Stone Payton: [00:36:03] Exclusively.

Haden Keen: [00:36:04] It won’t be exclusive. There is a community in Roswell.

Stone Payton: [00:36:08] Right. We’re going to do what they do. But better, we’re.

Haden Keen: [00:36:10] Going to do what they do, but better. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:36:12] There you go. We are.

Haden Keen: [00:36:13] Um, we’re not going to. It’s not going to be apartment kind of outlook. It’s going to be more individual community housing. Right. Um, and uh, the community will be open to the public.

Stone Payton: [00:36:27] What a neat.

Haden Keen: [00:36:28] Idea. It’s going to be inclusive, intergenerational for all you big turn people out there. Uh, my mom is over here in the studio. She’s just texting me over her phone of the notes right now. It’s pretty comical. I wish you could see this. It’s pretty funny, but, yeah, it’s, uh, intergenerational. So that means people like you or me or my mom, whoever, um, can be in that organization with us. I love it. And the thing is, the very funny thing about people with autism is, um, some are very quiet, um, and some are very open. Uh, they just want a friend. Um, well, I’m.

Stone Payton: [00:37:13] Glad you’re going there, because what I’d like to do, you know, this is my show. Let’s talk about me for a minute. Yeah. Let’s go. No, as a as a layperson with some appreciation for and some some genuine desire to serve this constituency, this group of people. Um, I but I have questions, right? Like, okay, somehow, some way, I know the guy over there or the lady over here is autistic. What would you want me to know in general about autism or autistic people? And are there any like solid pro tips like do this, don’t do that or patience.

Haden Keen: [00:37:51] Patience. Patience is key. All right. Um, you have people who stutter and who get very excited very easily. So, um, my piece of advice for people who want to know how to deal with somebody with autism is patience. Just give it time. Like, everyone’s so like, rush rush rush rush rush, like on the on the go. Um. That’s okay. Like, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but just patience when you’re trying to talk to somebody who has autism. Tell them it’s okay. You’re in a safe space because here at the studio, I mean, I know now I’m in a safe space, but before I was very nervous, like, I came on the show. I said, I’m not going to lie to you guys. I’m like, Tom cruise first in first in that f f 14 Tomcat, you know, in Top Gun like that thing can book. But now I’m just relaxed. I’m calm, I’m chilled. Because I know I’m in a safe space and all. It was because of patience, you know? We could have had this done in like 20 minutes. But no, we just we’re just sitting here relaxing, chilling, talking. That’s all. That’s that’s basically what autism is all about. Just sit down, have a conversation with somebody and open your mind. Really. Don’t be like all questionI just let it flow. Like they’ll talk to you. They want to talk to you. We want to talk to you. We want to. Be informed. So patience, that’s one thing. And then let them know that they’re safe. To be around you.

Stone Payton: [00:39:37] Back to earlier parts of the conversation. Some of these folks have lived through some external pressures, like you talked about. Maybe they’ve been bullied, maybe they’ve felt bad about themselves. Maybe they’ve been in states of depression and recognize there’s a story behind all these people that goes perhaps, well, maybe adjacent to but well beyond just the fact that they have this right challenge. Right?

Haden Keen: [00:40:01] Right, right. Yeah. Um, you spoke about trauma. Um, um, I have, you know, I suffered with suicidal depression. Uh, there are people who go through, um, PTSD, childhood trauma, um, and, uh, you know, just even talking to somebody who’s been, uh. Say like abuse since they were a child. I’m going to go down this route. Um, they want someone who is very kind, very loving and very understanding, and they want them to know that. You need to tell them that. Like if you want to talk to them, be like, hey, you’re in a safe place. It’s okay. I am not going to judge you. I’m not going to discriminate you. I’m going to hear and I’m going to listen. And so tell me your story. And that’s what brought me here today. Honestly, I, I me being the social butterfly I am, um, my mom can tell me. It’s like he didn’t talk. He didn’t use to talk until he was like ten. Now he just doesn’t shut up. Five? Yeah. It’s like he didn’t used to talk until he was five. Now he never shuts up like that’s true. I don’t know when to start talking, but because of that, I. I use it to my advantage. I’ll be like. You know, I’ve always had no problem talking to people. I could go up to a random stranger and have a ten minute conversation with them.

Stone Payton: [00:41:36] Well, you have started to use it to your advantage, but you also have some real designs on using it to other people’s advantage. You’ve shared with me, and if it’s okay with you, I’ll. I’ll share with our listening audience. You have some real desire to continue to give, uh, this group of people a voice. Yes. And to comfort them and give them a safe space to share their stories. So we we’ve already mentioned we’re talking about possibly a radio show concept really dedicated to this set of topics. But you also mentioned, uh, maybe wanting to be on the on the speaking circuit. You would like to go out to groups. Want to go.

Haden Keen: [00:42:17] Out? Yeah. Um, I will be honest with you, uh, Stone, I have been, uh, trying to honestly get what’s called a Ted, a Ted talk. It’s now a Ted x. I think it is. Um, because every time I see it, it’s like Ted. And.

Stone Payton: [00:42:32] Yeah, they stole that from us. Business RadioX Ted.

Haden Keen: [00:42:35] Business RadioX with the big giant X. Um, but, yeah, I’ve been wanting to do Ted talks. Um, okay.

Stone Payton: [00:42:42] So it’s an unfair question, but I’m going to ask it anyway because I think you’re up for it. If you had to do a Ted talk tomorrow, that’s not how the process works. I’m a little bit familiar with it, but if you had to do a Ted talk tomorrow, uh, that I believe, uh, what? What are a couple of topics that you might want to make sure you cover? Uh, in that talk tomorrow morning.

Haden Keen: [00:43:01] I definitely want to cover autism and just be like, look, guys, you’re not alone. Like, I have autism, and I’m 31 years old. You know, my life, um, I was I was born in a country called Romania, in Bucharest, Romania. I did not.

Stone Payton: [00:43:19] Realize.

Haden Keen: [00:43:20] That I am adopted. Um, I came over here on, uh, not by boat, by most people. Um, I came here by plane. Um, uh, I was two years old when I got adopted here. Didn’t know anything. Not even a lick of English. And now look at me. Now I’m just talking on the radio. Um, I didn’t know who my parents were. Um, my adopted parents. My mom was sitting with me in the studio right now. Uh. I didn’t know her, so I bit her. Um, yeah. I’m going to be playing honest with you. Got off.

Stone Payton: [00:43:59] On the wrong foot there.

Haden Keen: [00:43:59] Buddy. Yeah. Um, and then for for all of that, like, just. You know, all of that. I mean, I was just a nightmare to take around. I, my mom can basically classify it as I was the Tasmanian devil. Like, I was nice, but, uh. You know, I was just. Havoc everywhere I go.

Stone Payton: [00:44:27] I started so you would tell this group about that. You’d give them your backstory all the way back to to day one Romania, as much as you can recreate for them, and you would share that with them. But but why? Why, what is it you’re wanting them to walk away from that, to.

Haden Keen: [00:44:42] Know that, to know that even you, even if you have autism and even if you have a disability, no matter what it is, you can overcome it. Or if not overcome it, you can learn to live with it. And that’s what I think a lot of people don’t understand. Yeah, is. Living with your disability. Most people are discriminated because of it.

Stone Payton: [00:45:07] Mhm.

Haden Keen: [00:45:08] But look at look at people in history. Look at Albert Einstein. He had autism. Did he really. He did. And he created one of the most deadliest weapons of all the atom bomb.

Stone Payton: [00:45:21] He wasn’t great with the hair.

Haden Keen: [00:45:22] He wasn’t great with the hair. Right? No, I think he stuck a little too many forks in electricity outlets.

Stone Payton: [00:45:27] I did not realize.

Haden Keen: [00:45:28] He was a child, but. Yeah. Look at, um. Uh, who else but.

Stone Payton: [00:45:34] You know, 50 years from now, somebody is going to be on a holographic version of this show, and they’re going to say Haden Keene was autistic. You’d never know it. But that guy that did all those Ted talks, Haden Keene, was autistic. They’re going to say the same thing. Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:45:47] Um, and then you look at, um, just. Um, even, uh. Even people, even Hollywood stars who have disabilities. You look at, um. Uh, who’s a good example? Adam Sandler. He has bipolar. And he’s the funniest guy you will ever see.

Stone Payton: [00:46:10] Um, no. He’s built a tremendous, tremendous career. The talk you just described, and particularly if you could figure out how it begins and lands on that thought of living with it and maybe even more than living with it, leveraging it to serve other people.

Haden Keen: [00:46:26] Understanding it to. Okay, for me, it’s been a really hard, hard, um. And I’m just embracing it really. Just be like, okay, not not giving it a just a blow off a shirt, a blow off the shoulder. It’s a burden to live with autism. And I’m not saying that in a bad way. I’m not saying people with autism are this, that, that left, right and center. No. Learn to live with your autism or learn to live with your disability. I have tons of people. There’s a girl named Zoe. She’s bound to a wheelchair. But you look at her, she is the brightest uppity thing we were. We had a basketball event. Um, you know, some people can’t play basketball. Okay. Zoe is. I think. I think 100% disabled. She can’t speak. She. I don’t know about eating, but she can’t speak. She is completely bound to a wheelchair. She has 100% cerebral palsy. But when you see her, she has the brightest smile and she loves it. Why? Because she’s in a safe community like circle of friends. And we don’t discriminate. We don’t be like, oh no, you have this. No, you have this.

Stone Payton: [00:47:51] No, no. Or you don’t have enough of this, or.

Haden Keen: [00:47:53] You don’t have enough of this. You can’t shoot a basketball. Really? No. We accommodate for you. And that’s one thing that I think a lot of people don’t do is they don’t accommodate to people with different.

Stone Payton: [00:48:06] Well, I’m excited for your future, man. I see you speaking. I see you writing. I see you using all kinds of platforms to to to help people. Yeah, just.

Haden Keen: [00:48:18] Honestly, um, it’s it’s the little things that are the. It’s the little drops in the ocean that, uh, start. The wave. It’s not you. It’s. It’s just. Well, it is you. But I think if people. Really. Tune in on their aspects and enjoy. What? Pretty much God gave them, you’re going to live a better life. And I want to jump on this too, like the classic 9 to 5. You know, everybody wants that 9 to 5 job. Everybody wants that job.

Stone Payton: [00:48:59] Well not everybody.

Haden Keen: [00:48:59] Well, not everybody. But there are some people, but there are some people who are not happy, who are not satisfied with what they have. They want more. Yeah. They think, oh, I’m not you know, I have, you know, a car from like 2004. It still takes me to A and B, but I want that Lamborghini. Right. It’s like, yeah, we all want that Lamborghini. We all want to be that person. But learn to be humble with what you have, with what you have in your life. So far. Most people want bigger houses. Most people want. If you guys discriminate me, okay? Most people say they want a better wife. They want a better life. Why not just be humble with what you got? You have a house. You have a job you’re providing. Whether it’s for you, your partner or your family. Why do you want more?

Stone Payton: [00:49:55] I think you’re going to be a marvelous speaker. And I think you’re going to reach not only people that are experiencing the challenges that you’re directly relating to them, but I think people who don’t have those challenges are going to be, uh, more appreciative of what they do have and more inspired to work through whatever their bag of hammers is. You know, I think it was Michael J. Fox who said, everybody’s got their own bag of hammers. Yep. That they’re that they’re toting around.

Haden Keen: [00:50:20] Uh, a good, um, good example is, um, I live on my own. I don’t live with my parents no more.

Stone Payton: [00:50:29] Um, how clean is the place, Haden?

Haden Keen: [00:50:32] Uh, it it actually is pretty clean. Is it all right? Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:50:35] Again. What, are your OCD friends over there? Yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:50:37] No, it was just me.

Stone Payton: [00:50:39] There are advantages in in knowing people in the community.

Haden Keen: [00:50:41] Yes, yes. And knowing this community, you’d be like, hey, can you clean my house? I’ll pay you. I don’t want to clean it. But no.

Stone Payton: [00:50:48] You live on. You live on your own.

Haden Keen: [00:50:50] I live on my own. Mhm. Um, I live in Holly Springs. Uh, I have a. Uh, facilitator. I have a support person. Mhm. Um, who comes every, uh, Wednesday and, uh, takes me out in the community. Uh, I’m going to tell everybody I’m about to go bowling today. Like, sweet. I was, uh, I had a, a basketball injury. I tore a muscle in my leg so I couldn’t, you know, bowl as great.

Stone Payton: [00:51:22] Well, you got past that. Just like I got past my first.

Haden Keen: [00:51:25] My first time bowling in a long time. I bowled a 140. That in the bowling world, that’s pretty good. It’s not a 200 or 300, but it’s pretty good for a kid with autism at 31. Bowling 140. Let’s go. Um, and that gives me the drive. That gives me the power to do better. It’s like, okay, I bowl a 140. How about I bowl a 145? You know, let’s try to bowl 145. Right. And that’s well.

Stone Payton: [00:51:54] You touched on this a minute ago. It’s um, I think sometimes we, we hear conversations like this, and if anything, from wanting to do something for me personally to better my own situation or to try to help this group of people that were learning about, I think sometimes the initial reaction is, I’ve got to make this big grand gesture, but but you really don’t.

Haden Keen: [00:52:18] You really don’t. You could like people like nowadays. I think now there is more of a mood. There is more of a movement now, I think because of. You know. I mean, because of Covid. Now everybody. Is just trying to get like. I’m going to be honest with you, Stone. People are trying to get money like really fast. Mhm. And you have the government did the stimulus checks. Mhm. And I think people I personally believe um I’m on the fence with those honestly. I mean yes they were a good idea sending it out to people who really need it. Mhm. And then there were and then I think it was a bad thing because. You sent it out to everyone, and which was a good thing. You know, people used it wisely. And then there are people out there who used it not wisely. Like. You know, you get $1,400 to help with bills. Rent. Uh, groceries. And then there were people. It was all of it was just.

Stone Payton: [00:53:39] Are you suggesting some people didn’t spend that on. Yes. Groceries?

Haden Keen: [00:53:42] Yes. I’m suggesting because there are, there have.

Stone Payton: [00:53:46] But yeah, where I was headed with that with that comment is that you really don’t have to make this grand gesture in your own life. You know, just change up one little habit, you know, do one little thing. Or if you’re trying to serve somebody, you don’t need to write them this great big no check. We don’t slide by and have a conversation with some one, you know, back up a coffee.

Haden Keen: [00:54:05] Exactly. I have I have a friend, I have a friend. He is my best friend. And he told me one day he said, Haden, you want to know what the problem is with this world? I said, oh my God.

Stone Payton: [00:54:19] You said, no, I really don’t know.

Haden Keen: [00:54:20] No, I really don’t. But he’s like, no, no, no no no no, listen, listen, understand me? I’m like, okay. So I took a deep breath and I listened to him. He said, Haden, the biggest problem with this world is, is that nobody is willing to sit down and talk. They always want to get the next best thing. They always want to get the next big jump. Or everything.

Speaker4: [00:54:43] Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:54:44] Well, that’s definitely something to think about there. Look at your.

Haden Keen: [00:54:47] Friends. I guarantee you, if I will. My mom’s tapping me here. She’s like, talk about your girlfriend. I’m like, I will, I’ll get there. Um, but the biggest thing is. Sit. Look at your friends list. Look on Facebook. I guarantee you, nowadays people have 1000 or 3.5 K followers on Facebook, right? Do you really know all of them?

Stone Payton: [00:55:16] I certainly know.

Haden Keen: [00:55:17] All of your friends know. I don’t. I think I have like 135 on my Facebook, and the reason why I’m not into the thousands or into the K’s is because I don’t want to. I have my I have my.

Stone Payton: [00:55:32] In real life and real genuine in real.

Haden Keen: [00:55:35] Life. I wish I had more friends, I do, but I’m happy. I’m humble. If I get friends, cool. All right. If I don’t, then okay.

Stone Payton: [00:55:44] Before we wrap, let’s talk about one last friend because I think mom wanted you to mention.

Haden Keen: [00:55:48] Oh, yeah, my my girlfriend. Speaking of friends, I have a girlfriend. Yeah. Her name is Lily. Okay. He is the most wonderful thing I have ever met in my life.

Stone Payton: [00:55:58] Oh, shout out to Lily.

Haden Keen: [00:55:59] Yes. Hi, honey. Um. She came to me when I was in my darkest and I said, look, I am not what you want right now. I am broken, I am hurt. I’ve been through in relationships where people have taken advantage of me. Most mostly it’s been money or. Um, when I do have the money and I do want to spend my time with you, it’s either I’ve been stood up on dates. Mhm. And all that.

Stone Payton: [00:56:34] And you had the presence of mind to tell her, look, yeah.

Haden Keen: [00:56:38] I had the present. Yeah. I said, look, this is not the right time for me. I don’t want a girlfriend. She’s like, I don’t want to be your girlfriend. I want you to be my boyfriend. I said, well, first of all, I’m not even boyfriend material. I haven’t even got my shit together. I’m still living with my mom. And she’s like, that’s okay. I want you for you. I don’t want you for what you can become. And I said. Can I, can I think about it? She’s like, yeah, you can think about it. Stone ice thought real hard for three days if I wanted to be in this relationship with her. And the thing that made me jump to her, like within the snap of a finger is because when I said, can I have three days to think about it during those three days, Stone, she she she texted me, she’s like, hey. Are you okay? Are you okay? I didn’t she knew that I was going through stuff, but she put it upon herself to say, hey, are you okay? I am with you through this step, through this journey you are going through, I am here.

Stone Payton: [00:57:48] That is fantastic. Hey, listen, we’re going to continue this conversation. Maybe, ah, maybe on the Haden Kean Show or whatever you decide to call it. But for right now, let’s leave our listeners with a way to get in touch with you or to learn more about Circle of Friends, whatever you think is appropriate, a website or whatever.

Haden Keen: [00:58:05] If you’re one of those people that if you’re a website person, um, I don’t have a website up for me at least. But I do have a Facebook. It’s, uh. Haden. That’s h a d e n. Uh, Kean. Um, Kean. Like the shoe brand. Kean. Um, I think those are Kean’s with the s, but. No. Is it? It is. Kean k e n. Yeah or circle of Friends inc.org. Fantastic. Or you can go onto Google and type in Circle of Friends. Um Cherokee County we’re there. Or if you want to get me directly and like, okay, maybe not. They’re all saying no, no, no, no in the booth, whatever. Um, if you want to find me, uh, find me on Facebook at Haden Keene. Uh, I have a what’s my profile? Oh, you’re.

Stone Payton: [00:59:07] Going to be so easy to find. Now you’re a rock star. You’ve been on the Business RadioX network, man, I know all I gotta do is Google you.

Haden Keen: [00:59:12] It’s, uh, me and a Kennesaw sweatshirt. Um, my cover picture is me and my girlfriend on the cover photo as soon as you pop it up. Uh, so, yeah, I hope to hear from you again.

Stone Payton: [00:59:25] Well, I got to tell you, man, it’s been a real pleasure having you in the studio today. We are going to continue the conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your story, your insight, your perspective. Uh, this has been great fun, man.

Haden Keen: [00:59:39] It all started with you. You were the one who said yes.

Stone Payton: [00:59:42] My pleasure.

Haden Keen: [00:59:43] But thank you. I want to from me personally. Thank you, Stone, for doing everything that you’ve done for Circle of Friends. Like you hosted our, uh. Uh, cornhole tournament. Like from me. I want to say thank you for hosting it, because people probably would never have heard of us if you didn’t talk about us on your radio station.

Stone Payton: [01:00:05] Well, you are welcome, sir. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. All right, until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Haden keen by. And everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you again on Cherokee Business Radio.