Xavier DeGroat doesn’t just want awareness—he wants acceptance. Diagnosed with autism at age four, Xavier has faced bullying, misunderstanding, and judgment. But instead of retreating, he built something powerful. In this episode, we dive into Xavier’s story of persistence, courage, and advocacy. From meeting world leaders to launching the nation’s first Autism History Museum, Xavier’s journey is one of bold steps and even bolder dreams.

In this episode, we cover:

• Overcoming bullying and misunderstanding in childhood
• Building the Xavier DeGroat Autism Foundation
• Starting the first Autism History Museum in the U.S.
• Advocacy, independence, and pushing beyond limits
• Xavier’s vision for autism acceptance in the workplace and beyond

Links:

Website: https://xdafoundation.org

Tour Link: https://xdafoundation.org/museum

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xavierautismfoundation

Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/

Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichigan

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichigan

Xavier DeGroat: 00:00:00

Hey, don't underestimate me.

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: 00:00:02

I don't care.

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: 00:00:02

Just because I'm no Tom Hanks or

Albert Einstein doesn't mean that

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: 00:00:06

I won't be someone in the future.

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: 00:00:08

So you're gonna count me right now or

don't count on me for granted later

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: 00:00:13

when I say something about what you

have judged me and like of my tenacity.

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: 00:00:18

'cause autism is a God-given gift.

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: 00:00:20

It is not for you to determine

what my autism can and cannot do.

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: 00:00:25

Cliff Duvernois: Hello everyone.

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: 00:00:25

Welcome back to Total Michigan, where

we interview ordinary Michiganders

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doing extraordinary things.

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I am your host Cliff DuVernois.

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So if you may not be aware

of this, April is actually

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National Autism Awareness Month.

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And I always like to showcase people on

the show that are just doing well for that

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matter, just doing extraordinary things.

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There was one story that caught

my eye and when I saw what this

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young man was doing, I was like,

I need to get him onto the show.

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'cause he is really working hard to break

down those barriers that we all have when

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it comes to how we look at other people

or other people that may not exactly think

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like us or look like us or whatever it is.

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And so this gentleman today is

working hard to change how we

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view people who have autism.

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And with that being said, I have

Xavier DeGroat with me today,

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and he is the founder of the

Xavier DeGroat Autism Foundation,

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located in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

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Xavier, how are you?

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I'm excellent.

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How are you today?

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I am doing awesome.

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Thank you for asking.

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Why don't you tell us what is the

Xavier DeGroat Autism Foundation?

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Xavier DeGroat: The Xavier DeGroat to

Autism Foundation is dedicated to raising

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awareness until we have acceptance in

society, which awareness never ends until

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people become aware how to better socially

interact and treat people with different

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abilities such as those on the spectrum.

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So by doing so, we go out and.

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Do police training, firefighting

training, how to better behave

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towards individuals on a spectrum.

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We also help provide education to the

community out in the public while we

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host programs and seminars that are gonna

hold held right here that are going to

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help make better world of understanding

on how to properly manage what abilities

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those with autism have to help contribute

to the society we live in today.

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Cliff Duvernois: And you also have

this location here in Frankenmuth

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that people can come to and visit?

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Xavier DeGroat: Yes.

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People can come to Frankenmuth and

check out our autism history museum,

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the first of its kind here in the

whole nation, and it will help.

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I.

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Educate you and make your mind blow

up of how many people on the spectrum

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have tenacity and abilities to make

impact across the whole world, such

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as Elon Musk today who has autism.

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And it's very important that we learn our

history so we don't condemn to repeat it.

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And I wanna see people walk out more

positive if they have a children on

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the spectrum or if they're on the

spectrum themselves, feel confident

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about their own differences and not.

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Let other people judge or label you

and to stereotype your abilities

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and your strengths and confidence.

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Cliff Duvernois: This is wonderful.

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I'm gonna love this.

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So Xavier, let's go back and talk about

your backstory about you and growing up.

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So my question to you is, and growing

up, was there ever a point in time

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where you ever felt that you were

maybe different from everybody else?

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Xavier DeGroat: Yes.

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Growing up, especially in my

high school years, I was bullied

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and I felt less than others.

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I didn't feel like I could socially

cooperate with social sarcasm and nuances.

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When people joke, I didn't take their

jokes as a joke when they would say,

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Hey, oh, look how cool you are, Xavier.

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Oh, you're gonna one day do

this, you're gonna do that.

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Okay.

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Well, thank you.

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I had too much serious stuff going on

at the moment that I was focused on

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taking care of rather than worrying

about other people's thoughts towards me.

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And a lot of it was more the negative

social interactions I faced being

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harassed and bullied when kids

would tell me, Hey, go do this.

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Go do that.

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And it would turn me into

being mis disciplined and

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mistreated by the principals.

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And so that told my family, we need to

go stand up and share that our son has

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way more strengths in what you're seeing.

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And it's not for them to

judge what my strengths are.

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It's for me to go forward

with my art and creativity.

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In order to be heard properly,

you have to be patient.

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And later on in life, I learned that

some people are more patient and found

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to become mentors of my life, such

as Jamie Furbush here in Frankenmuth.

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And also Henry Kissinger and even, the

di lama has taught me how to meditate and

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live a life in a more peace of mind way.

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Cliff Duvernois: So you're dropping

some pretty big names there.

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And I wanna go back and

explore that for a second.

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But let's go back to high school.

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'cause you, you were talking before

about how people would say things

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to you in a joking manner, and you

were always taken a very seriously.

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How did that make you feel when

you were going through all that?

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Xavier DeGroat: It made

me feel less, not equal.

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Because I didn't understand and

interpret the gray language that

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they were talking and joking about.

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I was very cut and dry and black

and white about the world and

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more like, am I gonna be okay?

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What's going on in this world?

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I don't understand.

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Dad and mom.

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My mom and dad would be always my central

dispatch of me wanting to ask what

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they mean, what the kids were saying.

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So I just felt, instead of trying to

waste my time, figuring them out, let me

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figure myself out and go on with my own

heart and not be judged by other people's

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Cliff Duvernois: minds.

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You were sharing before our microphones

actually went hot about how your

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dad was actually pushing you to

become more independent, that if

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you did not like your circumstances

to go out there and change 'em.

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Talk to us about that.

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Xavier DeGroat: I, had to go outta

my comfort zone at the house.

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And I always wanted to be in

my sensory room, I call it.

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living in my own room and doing my

own research and enjoying books.

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I collected a lot of

books, studied history.

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I was a history buff and science buff, and

I loved Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking.

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There you go.

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I wanted to one day meet the two,

and my father had said, Hey, you

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need to get outta your comfort zone

before I let you do that son, and

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go out to the library, take a bike.

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Ride over there and get yourself some

exposure so your brain becomes stronger.

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'cause the brain is a muscle.

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And I've proved my dad right when

I called Arnold Schwarzenegger

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and he said, no pain, no gain.

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The my brain is totally a muscle.

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And if you don't get yourself exposed,

you'll never have a full solid mindset

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that can go out and change the world.

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And therefore my dad took me on a

journey and made me travel around

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the whole country and get exposed.

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And I got to meet Stephen Hawking.

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My dad paid for, and my dad was

my number one financier in life.

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And I call him my JP Morgan.

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And I was individually, my own

Thomas Edison trying to innovate.

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And experiment with things in this world.

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So I can figure out the definition

of my D duty and effort to build a

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better society for those with autism.

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Cliff Duvernois: So you dropped a lot

of names here and I want to kind of

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circle back on this, 'cause before

you mention Henry Kissinger, you just

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dropped Arnold Schwarzenegger, right?

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You're talking about working

with, uh, Jamie Furbish.

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And I know it's not easy to

get on her schedule as well.

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But, and now you've

mentioned Stephen Hawking.

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How in the world did you reach

out and connect with these people?

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Because you're talking about

having conversations with them.

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It's not just you watched a video

online, but you're saying you

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have conversations with them.

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You had a chance to meet them.

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Xavier DeGroat: Yes.

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I persisted.

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I called the secretary assistant

of many of them and said,

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Hey, don't underestimate me.

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I don't care.

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Just because I'm no Tom Hanks or

Albert Einstein doesn't mean that

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I won't be someone in the future.

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So you're gonna count me right now or

don't count on me for granted later

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when I say something about what you

have judged me and like of my tenacity.

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'cause autism is a God-given gift.

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It is not for you to determine

what my autism can and cannot do.

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Cliff Duvernois: Oh man, I

love this gift of autism.

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That's beautiful.

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And now your dad's pushing

you out of your comfort zone.

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And apparently, 'cause I know most

people out there, if they would

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ever say, oh well this, person like

Arnold Schwarzenegger, they're my

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hero, would never reach out to him.

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'cause they're gonna say, there's no

way I could ever get him on the phone.

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You seem to be a bundle of courage.

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When it comes to do that,

talk to us about like really

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stepping outta your comfort zone.

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What did that feel like for you?

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Xavier DeGroat: I had to stay persistent

and not let anyone define me and put me

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beli belittle me like I'm less than them.

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I had to go up and just step right in

front of them and confront and say, Hey

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can I please speak to your boss please?

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I'm asking please.

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I don't want you to ask me why

it's not for me to explain my

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autism or my abilities to you.

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It is for you to let me understand

myself and be accommodated through

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the ADA law to provide my service in

order to reach my true depiction, you

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have to let me speak directly in order

to be qualified with the perspective

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that I have meeting this person.

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And that was, Hey, by meeting these

people, I can break barriers to help raise

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awareness at a more acceleration rate.

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And build, um, the whole nation into

a more brighter shininess towards

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autism rather than looking at autism

as someone that is weak or someone

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that is less and not persistent enough.

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I was totally persistent and

that is a gift I have, and as I

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did so I was consistent as well.

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And I kept going that some

people said, you're a pest.

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One in every 10 people would say

that to me, but every one in nine

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would tell me, you are terrific.

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You're amazing.

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I'm proud of you.

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One, one in every three would tell me

that you are someone that needs to go out.

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And stand up and not let anyone

tell you what you can and cannot

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do and get, you got my words.

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George Lopez told me when I went

to a comedy club, another new drop

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down in Detroit, and George Lopez

mentioned me up on stage and he

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said, come back and see me after.

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Xavier, I'd like you to meet my, me

and my daughter is a special needs

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service provider here in Chicago,

going to University of Chicago,

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and George Lopez told me some jokes

and I didn't understand the jokes.

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Sarcasm was one of my number one

things that I would have challenge

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understanding in life, and he taught

me how to be jokey and get interactable

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with people and not feel like I can't

joke just because I'm different.

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Oh, that's beautiful.

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Cliff Duvernois: And now.

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On your story here, because obviously

getting outta your comfort zone

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right is not a problem for you.

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And I see right before we, we press the

camera right here, former White House

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intern opens autism museum in Michigan.

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You went to the White House.

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Xavier DeGroat: I just not only

went to the White House, I almost

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snuck at the White House and Rudy

Giuliani told Secret Service and,

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um, that, Hey, Xavier's with me.

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Rudy Giuliani brought me to the

White House in the Oval Office.

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Another name dropped.

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Yes.

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And everywhere I went.

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It's through a network of another

profile prior to that, and that

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Rudy Giuliani met me when I spoke

in: 2016

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At Ernie ELs Autism Foundation.

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The pro golfer Ernie ELs, supports

autism awareness, and Rudy happened

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to be in a crowd, 'cause I guess he

was on a committee of the foundation

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with Jet Nicholas and other officials.

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So Rudy came up to me

after I spoke and said.

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Let me get your number.

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You're awesome, man.

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I'll, I'll tell President Trump if

he gets elected in: 2016

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elected and then they said, okay, we'll

persist him to meet you in old office.

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And it took a couple years to make

a half hour of his time become

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available, and Rudy made it happen.

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And shortly thereafter, it took me

less than a half year to be accepted

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as an intern at the White House.

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Cliff Duvernois: Man, this, this story

just gets better and better as we go.

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Let's circle back to something.

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You were talking about how you were giving

a presentation and how, so I, I, the

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question I need to ask you then is with

all the skills and all the talents that

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you have, why is it that you started to

become an advocate for people with autism?

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Xavier DeGroat: Because of my own

injustices and endurances of experiencing

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labeling the R word as a kid frequently

often made me gaslighted and want to

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like discourage myself because kids

were telling me in the hallways and

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schools that you can't play with us.

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I guess you're too weak then, man.

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I'm sorry, but.

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It's just you and I would go up to

my special ed IEP program and ask

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for the sympathy of understanding

what is these kids trying to tell me?

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And they would not tell me

stuff 'cause they're saying we

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weren't part of the conversation,

Xavier, so we can't tell you.

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So I felt that, okay, if you can answer

my question, I guess I'll answer myself.

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For myself and my dad taught me how to

do that, and my mother taught me how

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to stand up for myself and manage to

believe, make my own opinion in life.

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So how I did so is by going to

the library in the school, all

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the way from middle school on up.

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Libraries were my my therapy

because they gave me freedom to.

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Take a journey through words of other

people in history and I read the

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autobiography of Mahamas Gandhi and

the nonviolence movement of his Give

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me the ability to feel, as long as

I have peace of mind of myself and

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Nonviolently explain myself to people.

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I don't feel like I owe

anybody any more than what.

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I can share that is coming

from my heart naturally.

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I'm not here to share what

you wanna hear from me.

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I'm here to share what my

heart is naturally to you.

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And therefore if you don't

understand me, good for you.

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I'm not gonna try to make

you understand me anymore.

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It's not for you to understand

me, it's for me to be accepted by

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you and for to understand us all.

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'cause we're all equal and his children

and my dad is very, um, spiritual.

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And so is my mother and I met

thereafter, Hey, can dad I, what

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if I called Billy Graham and

Franklin Graham met me, the son?

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'cause while his dad was going

through Parkinson's disease,

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Franklin came to Lansing and I.

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I had to backstage time with me and

prayed and give me a solemnly statement

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saying that, Hey, as long as you

keep praying and stand up for your

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abilities, that's all that matters.

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You're not here to be less or judged and

by other people, humans are half sins.

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And that's the way of looking at me,

and accepting me as a different person.

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However, it does not make you have

the right to tell me what I think.

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Differently is a sin or any sort

of different, strength that you

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can figure out automatically.

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You have to live my life and walk

in my shoes in order to fully

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understand how I think in pictures.

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And another autistic genius, that

I've met in my life, was Grandin.

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And Tempo.

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Grandin had described thinking

and pictures as one of the top

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three levels of thinking that

people on the spectrum carry.

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And it's not because they can't learn,

um, the same as other people as long

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as they have pictures in front of 'em

and they can think on their own and

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get a minute to go outside and breathe.

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That breathing outside gives them

a fresh perception, mobility to

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quicker catch up on what's being said.

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Sure.

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Cliff Duvernois: In school, I.

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For our audience, we're gonna take a

quick break and thank our sponsors.

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When we come back, we're gonna be

asking Xavier a lot of questions about

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why he started his foundation and

why the museum here is so important.

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: 00:15:50

And with that being said,

my name is Cliff DuVernois.

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This is Total Michigan, and once

again, I'm with Xavier DeGroat

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from the Xavier DeGroat Autism

Foundation located in Frankenmuth.

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And we will see you after the break.

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Are you enjoying this episode?

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Well, I can tell you

there's a lot more to come.

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Jump over to TotalMichigan.

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Hello everyone.

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Welcome back to Total Michigan, where

we interview ordinary Michiganders

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doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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: 00:16:30

I'm your host Cliff DuVernois.

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Today we are sitting with Xavier DeGroat

of the Xavier DeGroat Autism Foundation,

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located in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

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: 00:16:40

Xavier, before the break, we had dropped

a comment a couple of times about

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how you've started your foundation.

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You have this museum that

is here in Frankenmuth.

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The big question I have for you

is why, why start a foundation?

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Why start a museum?

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Xavier DeGroat: I started the foundation

in: 2018

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facing challenges as a child with autism.

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I was diagnosed at age four, and

it started, in Lansing, Michigan.

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And the Museum of Autism History

that you're here at today started

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in 2022 down in Meridian Township

at the Meridian Mall, and we began

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: 00:17:15

there with only 20th century history.

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And here we go all the way.

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To the Italian Renaissance, to the present

air, and I started it ultimately to help

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fight for autism inclusion and acceptance

in order to provide better feedback to

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people in a neurotypical world on how to

better understand and learn the talents

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: 00:17:35

and creativity that Autistics have.

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: 00:17:37

So they hire them and include

them with their, um, systems

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: 00:17:41

that exist in this world.

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: 00:17:43

And Frankenmuth here we're at right

now is one of my original hometowns.

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: 00:17:48

Visiting when I was a baby all

the way up to my 12th year age.

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: 00:17:53

And that was because we

are from Saginaw, Michigan.

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: 00:17:56

Cliff Duvernois: And you were mentioning

this term before neuro divergent.

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: 00:18:01

Talk to us about that.

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: 00:18:02

I.

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: 00:18:03

Xavier DeGroat: Yes, as a

neurodivergent, we don't see enough

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: 00:18:06

companies or nonprofits, especially

those that are about autism, founded

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: 00:18:10

by an individual on the spectrum.

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: 00:18:13

I've seen autism, self-advocacy was

founded by an autistic that is the top one

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: 00:18:18

here that is well known in the country.

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: 00:18:20

And I've met the founder of that.

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: 00:18:22

His name is Ari, and a great advocate

for self civil rights and individual

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: 00:18:28

rights to become provided to those with

autism throughout government and beyond.

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: 00:18:32

But however, as I founded the

Xavier DeGroat to Autism Foundation,

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: 00:18:36

it was due to my own experiences

being a neurodivergent, and we

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: 00:18:41

need more awareness on that.

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: 00:18:43

Cliff Duvernois: And so that's really.

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: 00:18:45

The starting point for having a museum,

like you were just saying there, you

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: 00:18:50

were sharing about how you used to be

20th century, but now you've gone back

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: 00:18:54

even further into the Renaissance.

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: 00:18:58

Why is that important?

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: 00:18:59

I.

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: 00:19:00

Xavier DeGroat: Because autism is

not limited to the 20th century,

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: 00:19:03

just because it was documented better

through the CDC being founded in the

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: 00:19:07

20th century and diagnostic centers.

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: 00:19:10

We didn't have all those

in the 18 hundreds and 17

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: 00:19:13

hundreds all the way through.

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: 00:19:14

the Italian Renaissance though however,

is one of the most modern, innovative

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: 00:19:19

time periods that we still live

based in benefit of today's world.

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: 00:19:23

Such as technology innovated by Leonardo

da Vinci, who would be on the Asperger

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: 00:19:28

syndrome part of the spectrum, and

Isaac Newton would have autism as well.

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: 00:19:33

And this has been researched by many

scientists at Oxford all the way to

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: 00:19:36

Harvard, and Temple GRS has said that.

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: 00:19:39

So as.

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: 00:19:39

Stephen Hawking and whatnot, and

it's important that we learned

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: 00:19:43

that history is not limited to

just documentation it there.

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: 00:19:48

That's what archeology is trying

to research for, and that's the

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: 00:19:52

purpose of us understanding.

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: 00:19:54

Art and creativity from different minds.

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: 00:19:56

And how you can judge that is by the

mechanics of how their behavior was.

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: 00:20:02

you can base on how they

researched and studied.

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: 00:20:05

Isaac Newton, for instance,

did not like social attention.

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: 00:20:08

He always wanted a room with dim lights

'cause he was sensitive to bright light.

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: 00:20:13

He also wanted, um, to have

no one, Interfere with him.

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: 00:20:16

He would have a tantrum and

meltdown if you would tell

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: 00:20:19

him what he is doing is wrong.

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: 00:20:21

Let me continue with my

research on light theory.

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: 00:20:24

Where does light come from?

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: 00:20:25

And he discovered the

rainbow through the prism.

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: 00:20:28

Having white light shine

through it made a rainbow.

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: 00:20:30

And what got him curious about that was

also probably 'cause of his sensitivity.

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: 00:20:35

So light, so that motive hit it.

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: 00:20:37

Motivated him to dig.

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: 00:20:38

When people on the spectrum are very,

nervous or curious about something,

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: 00:20:42

they don't stop asking questions.

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: 00:20:44

They're skeptics and called savants.

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: 00:20:48

Cliff Duvernois: This is incredible.

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: 00:20:49

I have learned so much in this last

20 minutes, so thank you for that.

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: 00:20:52

First off, now we're, if we're

talking about building this museum

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: 00:20:56

where we're capturing all of this

rich history, like you were just

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: 00:20:58

talking about, sir Isaac Newton.

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: 00:21:01

Not only is this a museum, a

testament to what people with autism

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: 00:21:07

have accomplished and what they've

contributed to our society as well.

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: 00:21:10

But I don't wanna lose sight

of the fact that you are

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literally starting with nothing.

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: 00:21:15

I.

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: 00:21:16

But the sitting behind me is your board

of sponsors, where you've got people

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: 00:21:20

like Meyer and you've got Saginaw Spirit,

and Frankenmuth is listed up there.

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: 00:21:25

And this is literally a collection of

really established successful business

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: 00:21:30

throughout Michigan that not only believe

in you, but they believe in your mission.

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: 00:21:38

How did you get all

these people to say yes?

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: 00:21:40

Xavier DeGroat: I was persistent

and consistent and, um, and I I

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: 00:21:44

started with a down on the earth

grassroots with lower, end first like

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: 00:21:50

local branches of, Chevy dealers.

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: 00:21:53

When I got to one local Chevy dealer,

known as Garber Chevy and Grass at Road, I

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: 00:21:58

eventually, made my way up to Dick Garber.

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: 00:22:00

And that was thankful by Michael

Wing Klowski, who is a general

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: 00:22:04

manager at Garber Chevy Saginaw.

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: 00:22:06

And he got me a hold of Dick

Garber and that's from there

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: 00:22:09

where you see Sagna spirit.

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: 00:22:11

'cause he owns that.

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: 00:22:12

And I'm proud to support them and have

their support and it's all gonna go

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: 00:22:17

forward as we keep skyrocketing with.

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: 00:22:20

More and more, and you network

by, once you have one, restaurant

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: 00:22:24

sponsoring you, you're probably

gonna have another restaurant.

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: 00:22:26

Once you have one bank sponsoring you,

you're gonna probably have another

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: 00:22:28

bank, because there's competition

of like, ooh, who's gonna do better?

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: 00:22:32

Who's gonna do better?

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: 00:22:34

That's just how the world works.

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: 00:22:35

I learned when it comes to philanthropy.

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: 00:22:38

Cliff Duvernois: Yeah.

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: 00:22:39

Competition is good.

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: 00:22:40

Xavier DeGroat: Yeah.

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: 00:22:40

Cliff Duvernois: So tell me

something with, with this.

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: 00:22:43

You know, museum, you've gotten

all these wonderful sponsorships.

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: 00:22:46

The community is just really embracing

everything that you're doing here.

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: 00:22:50

what is your dream?

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: 00:22:51

What is your ultimate

vision for all of this?

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: 00:22:54

Xavier DeGroat: My dream is to see,

people on the spectrum become their

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own engineers in life by researching

what they are curious of and coming

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: 00:23:03

up with new visions and, art of

how the world they see differently.

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: 00:23:08

So the neurotypical people see that

there's talent in those with autism and.

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: 00:23:13

By seeing that they will be more

encouraged to hire them and they will

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: 00:23:18

be more motivated to accept them and

not judge them by their disability.

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: 00:23:24

But look at how much abilities

a personal autism can have.

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: 00:23:27

That's called knowing.

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: 00:23:29

Sometimes as a savant like Rain

Man, and you cannot tell me that

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: 00:23:33

I can't count and figure this out.

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: 00:23:34

Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman,

this is, I'm not ready for you.

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: 00:23:38

I'm doing my research, but later on.

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: 00:23:39

Now you wanna brag about me, huh?

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: 00:23:42

Just because I can remember all these

numbers and count like a mathematician

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: 00:23:45

statistician, like they did in a Rainman.

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: 00:23:48

That's somehow how sometimes it goes

on in real life with those with autism.

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: 00:23:52

Others a little bit of drama

and, and that, sure, that's not

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: 00:23:55

all the way accurate, but yeah.

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: 00:23:57

Cliff Duvernois: You've been

sharing throughout this interview

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: 00:24:00

just how much your parents.

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: 00:24:02

Have supported you, how they really

pushed you out of your comfort zone,

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: 00:24:05

and you made a comment before about your

dad being your equivalent of JP Morgan

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: 00:24:09

to help, finance getting you out and

helping you get out of your comfort zone.

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: 00:24:14

What do they think of all

that you've accomplished here?

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: 00:24:17

Xavier DeGroat: They are proud, but

they are more concerned about the future

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: 00:24:21

of me also being independent in life.

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: 00:24:24

I'm independent at the very low end still.

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: 00:24:27

I'm still trying to grow a route to

become a full-time public speaker

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: 00:24:31

through the Speakers Bureau.

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: 00:24:33

I.

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: 00:24:33

And when I do, so that will end up making

me an exterior, um, to the foundation.

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: 00:24:39

And I would be happy to one day

be my own Tim Tebow Foundation.

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: 00:24:43

Tim Tebow, and be a motivator speaker

for anti-human trafficking like Tim does.

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: 00:24:48

I wanna do that for autism acceptance.

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: 00:24:51

And I will be proud when it happens

as my parents are searching for that

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: 00:24:55

to take place sometime in my life.

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: 00:24:57

But they're still proud that I'm

trying endlessly hard and it's all a

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: 00:25:01

matter of how society will adapt to

that in order to make it go forward.

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: 00:25:07

Cliff Duvernois: You've really come a

long way since your journey has started.

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: 00:25:10

'cause we were talking before about

how you really didn't want to go out.

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: 00:25:14

You had your century room, I think

is what you called it at home.

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: 00:25:18

Yes.

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: 00:25:19

Yes.

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: 00:25:20

And now you're talking about

becoming a public speaker.

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: 00:25:23

That is quite a huge step.

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: 00:25:25

Do you ever look back on your life and

think, wow, I've really come a long way?

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: 00:25:30

I.

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: 00:25:30

Xavier DeGroat: I do.

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: 00:25:31

I'm always critical of myself, like

we all kind of are ourselves at times.

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: 00:25:36

But I'm also very honored and I'm blessed

to say that I have come a long ways.

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: 00:25:42

Just in the last five years, I've

learned a lot more skills on how people

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: 00:25:47

are with behavior and how to determine

whether they're happy or not happy,

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: 00:25:52

just by their gesture and nonverbal

abilities and learn how to joke.

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: 00:25:57

And make people happy.

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: 00:25:59

'cause people sometimes wanna escape work

zone and enjoy life and talk funny stuff.

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: 00:26:05

And sports for instance, 'cause

that keeps people, occupied better.

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: 00:26:10

And I don't see, um, that the

neurotypical people, often times,

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: 00:26:14

hear enough jokes from those with

autism because they can't figure the

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: 00:26:18

person with autism out generally.

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: 00:26:20

Because their way of joking might be

more like, Ooh, look at the fan spinning.

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: 00:26:24

Ooh, ooh.

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: 00:26:25

And the repetitive behavior of the fan.

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: 00:26:28

That's maybe their way of

showing joy and talking.

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: 00:26:31

But they're also very curious people.

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: 00:26:33

People on the spectrum generally are

due to, they're always wanna know

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: 00:26:37

what's behind that, what's behind that.

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: 00:26:39

In fact, the puzzles on the, logos of

autism generally, are made to depict that

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: 00:26:46

there's always something in the brain

that's going on that is trying to bond

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: 00:26:50

up with the same color or match up with

the same piece of the puzzle in order

501

: 00:26:54

to occupy the full, dis instinct that

personal autism has when they're carrying

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: 00:27:00

out their talent and conscientiousness.

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: 00:27:04

Cliff Duvernois: Xavier, if somebody

is listening to this and they wanna

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: 00:27:07

come and check out the foundation,

the museum for that matter.

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: 00:27:12

How can they do that?

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: 00:27:13

How can they connect with you?

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: 00:27:15

Xavier DeGroat: Yeah, visit

our website, xda foundation.org

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: 00:27:19

and go to the click on the

museum link on the top and it

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: 00:27:22

says, sign up to get a tour.

510

: 00:27:24

'Cause we're in and out.

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: 00:27:26

We're not here all day, every day.

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: 00:27:27

But we're always available to

take requests to come and check it

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: 00:27:30

out and we'll fit you in somehow.

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: 00:27:33

Cliff Duvernois: Xavier, thank you so much

for taking time to chat with us today.

515

: 00:27:36

I know personally I've learned a lot

today, so thank you so much for that.

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: 00:27:40

Thank you.

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: 00:27:42

And for our audience, you can always

roll on over to Total Michigan.com,

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: 00:27:45

click on Xavier's interview and you'll

get the link that he mentioned above.

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: 00:27:49

We'll see you next time when we

talk to another Michigander, doing

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: 00:27:52

some pretty extraordinary things.

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: 00:27:53

We'll see you then.