The Big Bears Podcast: A Two-Eyed Seeing Approach To Neurodiversity

Chad "Grizzly Bear" Bunker and Keith "Polar Bear" Gelhorn
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  • Mental Health

Mission: To explore the intersection of neurodiversity through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens, blending Indigenous and Western perspectives to share 30 minute stories of challenges, resilience, and growth.  The "Two-Eyed Seeing" approach is a concept originally developed by Mi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. It refers to combining the strengths of both Indigenous knowledge (often holistic, relational, and interconnected) and Western scientific or academic knowledge (which tends to be more analytical, reductionist, and linear). In the context of neurodiversity, a Two-Eyed Seeing approach would involve integrating both traditional knowledge about neurodivergence (perhaps from Indigenous worldviews on differences in cognition, brain function, and personhood) and contemporary Western science-based understandings of conditions like ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities, and co-occurring mental health challenges. Through the power of story telling, we will be exploring how neurodiversity impacts youth and adults through their lifespan, so there will be something that everyone can relate to:  High School Students College/University Students Trades People Career Entrepreneurship Ageing Parenting Life Episode format: 2.5 minute intro 10 minutes - Invite guest to talk about a challenge they have had in their life 10 minutes - Guest talk about how they have got through or are getting through that challenge and share strategies and stories of resilience that others can learn from.  10 minutes - Guest talk about their goals and dreams for the future 2.5 minutes - We summarize the nuggets of learning and close the show

  1. Jun 2

    Facing ADHD, Fatherhood, And Forgiveness Scott MacLeans story part 1

    Send us Fan Mail Ever had your brain pitch a hundred worst-case scenarios before you even dial a number? We sit down with a comedian and construction equipment salesman who found out he had ADHD years into adulthood—and finally felt the volume drop on catastrophic thinking. That quiet gave him enough space to act: make the call, do the work, and stop losing the day to imagined disasters. Then life threw a curveball that no planner could forecast: meeting a partner and becoming a father to twins within months. What follows is a candid tour through NICU corridors, night feeds that erased memories, and the shock of parenting with someone you barely know. There’s no gloss here—just the grind of pushing a twin stroller while strangers offer small talk you’re too tired to entertain, and the math of surviving Toronto on one income while trying to keep creative dreams alive. When the relationship ends, the real reframe begins. Single fatherhood splits time and identity, turning off-weeks into a rush of distraction, dating, and distrust. If the person with the most to lose could betray you, how do you ever relax again? We unpack the tools that actually helped. Vipassana meditation to watch thoughts without biting the hook. Indigenous teachings that transform yesterday’s hurt into today’s medicine. A secular take on spirituality that treats inner life like a skill, not a slogan. Forgiveness becomes practical: not a pardon, but a choice to stop letting anger tax every room you walk into. The conversation lands on a sharp question—when does a victim of circumstance become responsible?—and works it through the lens of parenting, accountability, and the kind of model we set for our kids. If neurodiversity, co‑parenting, late diagnosis, and rebuilding trust are part of your story, you’ll find hard-won insight and steady hope here. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the moment that hit you most—we’ll read the best ones on a future show. We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    30 min

  2. May 19

    Healing Out Loud: Poetry, Trauma, And Growth joshes story

    Send us Fan Mail Two big guys on a couch talk about the soft parts most of us hide. Josh—nine years in the military and now a downtown bouncer—opens up about how childhood abuse stayed quiet until his twenties, then cracked open during COVID alongside a bad role fit, a fading relationship, and numbing habits. He describes the moment a workplace blow-up could have ended his career, and how a good leader chose mercy with a mandate: make the call and we’ll start fresh. That call led to regular counselling, steady homework, and a creative outlet that surprised him—poetry. We travel through survival mode and what comes after, when you finally have safety and all the feelings arrive at once. Josh explains rebuilding without pretending: full transparency in new relationships, amends where possible, and letting the page hold what he couldn’t yet say out loud. We get honest about porn’s design and pull, the hours it steals, and why awareness plus a replacement habit matters. The talk moves to housing costs and homelessness in Halifax, the pressure on young adults, and why small, local support—open mics, reading someone’s first draft, buying a friend’s art—can change a week. You’ll hear original poems, the story behind two published collections (from cry-for-help to Exit Wound), and plans for a collaborative anthology that spotlights diverse Canadian voices. More than anything, this conversation reframes masculinity: not as silence, but as truth-telling, asking for help, and protecting others without losing yourself. If you’ve ever felt like “just a bouncer,” “just a job title,” or “just your past,” this one invites you to claim a fuller name. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge toward help, and leave a quick review—your words help others find ours. We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    46 min

  3. May 5

    From Standby Flights To Sunday Sesh: A Musician’s Journey Of Grit And Growth Chad turners story

    Send us Fan Mail What if the hardest chapter in your life wasn’t yours at all, but the one you watched a parent shoulder with quiet force? We open with land and lineage, then trace a son’s gratitude to a single mom who juggled basements, night school, and grit until she bought a home he would one day buy back. Living together again reframes advice as gold, not noise, and turns daily catch-up into shared rhythm. From there, the story widens. By day he keeps aircraft safe as a maintenance engineer; by night he chases sound and community across Halifax stages. A snowstorm strands his mom for 48 hours on standby, a window into the tradeoffs of airline life. Back home, competence compounds: he built a professional studio flow in months, learned cameras, audio, and simple AI pipelines that turn clear prompts into ready-to-ship video. No fluff, just repeatable process you can teach and scale. Music finds new footing after COVID reset the scene. When residencies vanished, the starting line equalized; he stepped in as a second player, learned by doing, and helped grow the Sunday Sesh into a lively variety show with comedy, games, and a seven-piece band. An album with Buckingham Drive is in the works, paced with intention rather than urgency. Alongside that, mentorship reframes ADHD as an engine for warmth, stagecraft, and leadership—proof that labels can limit you only if you let them. The thread tying it all together is community. Halifax shows, AA rooms, church fundraisers, and pickup sports knit networks that make both art and life sturdier. That same “lower the threshold” mindset drives his jiu-jitsu coaching: start one-on-one, define comfort zones, and make the doorway easy to cross. When craft, care, and curiosity overlap, a life stops feeling segmented and starts clicking—like a tight band dropping into a groove. If this conversation moved you, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a nudge to start, and leave a review telling us where you’re building your next small win. We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    25 min

  4. Apr 20

    A Survivor Shares How Community, Parenthood, And Purpose Turned Pain Into Power Maggie's story

    Send us Fan Mail A bright neon streak in a grey room—that’s how Maggie describes herself, and it fits. From being adopted and cycling through foster and group homes across Nova Scotia to regaining full custody of her kids after the system took them, she’s walked the hardest roads and still found a future worth building. We sit down to unpack the choices that kept her grounded, the community that held her together after long nights working Halifax bars, and the next chapter she’s carving in cybersecurity. Maggie opens up about school bias, racism, and the constant shape-shifting that survival demanded. Then the story pivots to purpose: with tuition waived because she grew up in care, she’s heading back to finish a cybersecurity program, determined to teach Grade 11 and 12 students how to stay safe online. She’s designing access from the start—discounts for youth in care, practical tools for parents, and a path that moves beyond awareness into action. Alongside that plan sits a promise: to foster and adopt, offering the stability she fought to build for her own family. There’s pain here too—her brother’s death in a Toronto shelter and the unanswered questions about safety, oversight, and mental health. Maggie doesn’t stop at grief; she aims her anger, pushing for policy that prevents weapons from reaching vulnerable spaces and for housing and care that meet people where they are. Between heavy turns, we trade laughs about nightlife rituals, ethical hacking, and the joy of standing out, neon hair and all. What emerges is a portrait of resilience with teeth: practical, principled, and focused on lifting others. If you care about foster care reform, mental health, shelter safety, Halifax community, cybersecurity education, or online safety for teens, you’ll find something to hold onto here. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs courage today, and leave a review telling us one change you’d make to protect youth right now. We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    25 min

  5. Apr 6

    Know The Difference: Grit, Gratitude, And Growth Jason's story part 2

    Send us Fan Mail The conversation starts where so many secrets live: hiding use, chasing the next hit, and whispering with paranoia behind a bathroom door. Jason lays it bare— how porn corroded trust and warped intimacy, and how the endless scroll dulled imagination. What follows isn’t a miracle flip; it’s a humble blueprint for change built on daily intention, ceremony, and the courage to feel. We ground the story with a land acknowledgement and our two-eyed seeing mission, then travel through the messy middle toward something sturdier than willpower: structure, community, and purpose. Fatherhood reframes everything. Jason refuses to repeat old patterns learned from an absent parent. Instead, he shows up with time, steadiness, and gratitude for hard lessons that once hurt. ADHD and autism traits become assets when channelled with care: night-before prep, multiple plans for different outcomes, and an “organized mess” that still moves life forward. We talk boundaries that actually hold—dating outside triggers, protecting peace at home, and saying no to the lie of “just this once.” A mentor’s line echoes through: do your best and leave the rest. Some days that “best” is smaller; it still counts. Spiritual practice is the spine. A morning prayer—love myself, protect myself, be kind to myself—turns yesterday’s wounds into today’s medicine. Sweat lodge, smudging, and community reinforce sobriety without erasing the human tug of compulsion. We dig into pain literacy, the difference between emotional and physical pain, and why tears are not weakness but release. Then we face practical realities: work that pays but stalls growth, the cost of everything, and the plan to upgrade skills while staying employed. Purpose emerges in service—elevate your life, then radiate it outward. If you’ve ever asked, Why can’t I just stop? or When will the other shoe drop? this story offers honest tools you can use today: self-reflection that looks for lessons, boundaries that protect energy, attainable goals that build momentum, and people who can “supervise” your thoughts when the mind runs hot. Hit follow, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review to help more listeners find their way to calm, choice, and a life that fits. We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    47 min

  6. Mar 30

    What If Healing Starts When You Stop Hiding Jason's story part 1

    Send us Fan Mail We sit with Jason to trace the path from masking pain and addiction to a grounded life shaped by service, spirituality, and neurodiversity-aware tools. The talk moves from childhood trauma and paranoia to honest boundaries, gratitude, and the hard choice to let go of the last secret. • land acknowledgement and show mission • early masking, introversion, addictions as avoidance • childhood trauma, epilepsy, abandonment and trust • street life, paranoia, unsafe circles • first meetings, listening before speaking • service in detoxes and jails, paying debts • humour as coping, compassion and acceptance tattoos • ADHD traits reframed as strengths with structure • sweat lodges, prayer, gratitude and repetition • moderation, relapse reflections and firm boundaries • letting go of pornography, alcohol limits and growth • calmer presence, relationships, and sustained change We would appreciate it if you could listen, subscribe, engage, and share this podcast Tune in every second Tuesday at 7 a.m. Atlantic time for a new episode We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    38 min

  7. Mar 23

    Fighting For Safety And Support nickies story part 4

    Send us Fan Mail Some stories grab your nervous system before your mind can catch up. This conversation charts a mother’s path from nightly fear and shattered doors to a hard-won version of safety for her autistic son, and it doesn’t flinch. We talk about what happens when adolescence brings strength without supports, why a threat to a cop moved the system when threats to mom did not, and how a single court moment opened the door to placements that actually matched behaviour rather than a file. We walk through the maze: a short-term secure placement at Waterville, a “place of safety,” then the first staffed home that collapsed under rigid rules, and finally a private team that set clear boundaries and held the line. The result isn’t a fairy tale, but it’s real progress—high school graduation, part-time work in electronics recycling and a doggy daycare, and fewer crises. Along the way we name what families often carry alone: caregiver PTSD, the dread that lingers after the bruises fade, and the grief of loving someone who can still scare you. Woven through is ADHD—meds like Vyvanse, hyperfocus on the wrong targets, interrupted concentration—and a two-eyed seeing approach that blends Indigenous wisdom with western tools. We get practical about sleep, routine, and nervous system regulation; sensory seeking versus sensory aversion; and how dogs, woods, cold plunges, and swim training can offer lawful dopamine and grounded calm. If you’re fighting for services, you’ll hear a playbook: document everything, escalate respectfully but relentlessly, and demand placements that fit the person, not the paperwork. If you’re a professional, you’ll hear where policies fail lived reality and how to meet families with dignity and usable help. If this story resonates, share it with someone who needs proof that persistence changes outcomes. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us the one tactic you’ll try this week. Your voice helps other families find a path through. Support the show

    39 min

  8. Mar 10

    When School, Systems, And Safety Nets Fail A Neurodivergent Child nickies story part 3

    Send us Fan Mail Start with the truth too many families hide: when a child’s nervous system is on fire, the world reads smoke as misbehaviour. We open with a land acknowledgement and a commitment to a two‑eyed seeing lens, then walk through a mother’s unvarnished account of raising an autistic son who was first mislabeled, then excluded, and too often restrained instead of supported. From the first gut feelings in infancy—constant crying, early aggression, fierce rigidity—to the gauntlet of daycare expulsions and chaotic bus rides, the story shows how quickly home, work, and safety can unravel when systems chase compliance over care. School becomes a rotating door of suspensions and blame, until relentless advocacy pries open an individualized classroom with a full‑time assistant. Even then, the approach centres on behaviour management rather than the drivers beneath it: anxiety, sensory overload, and profound dysregulation. A six‑month residential program promises structure but delivers seclusion rooms and sedatives, deepening trauma and eroding trust. Only years later does a formal diagnosis of autism with conduct disorder land—an explanation that arrives long after opportunities for earlier, gentler help. Along the way, medication trials stack up while caregiver insight about anxiety and depression is dismissed, highlighting how narrowly clinical pathways can operate. This conversation doesn’t tidy its edges. Toileting stays unresolved, friendships remain rare, and the teen years magnify danger as bodies grow and empathy lags beyond the circle of home. Yet there are anchors: a caregiver named Mary who meets the child where he is and quietly reduces crises; a new career that rebuilds confidence and stability; a son whose empathy with family and animals hints at hard‑won growth. We name the real fixes: neuroaffirming classrooms, rapid diagnostic access, crisis teams trained for autism, trauma‑informed care, and respite that respects families. If you’ve ever felt trapped in the loop of mobile crisis, police, and “try a sticker chart,” this story will feel like someone finally saying it out loud. If this resonates, subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review with one change you’d make to your local support system—what’s the first fix you’d fight for? We'd like to thank our sponsor...The Big Bears Podcast is sponsored by ADDvocacy ADHD & Executive Function Coaching and TrainingDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

    37 min
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About

Mission: To explore the intersection of neurodiversity through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens, blending Indigenous and Western perspectives to share 30 minute stories of challenges, resilience, and growth.  The "Two-Eyed Seeing" approach is a concept originally developed by Mi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. It refers to combining the strengths of both Indigenous knowledge (often holistic, relational, and interconnected) and Western scientific or academic knowledge (which tends to be more analytical, reductionist, and linear). In the context of neurodiversity, a Two-Eyed Seeing approach would involve integrating both traditional knowledge about neurodivergence (perhaps from Indigenous worldviews on differences in cognition, brain function, and personhood) and contemporary Western science-based understandings of conditions like ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities, and co-occurring mental health challenges. Through the power of story telling, we will be exploring how neurodiversity impacts youth and adults through their lifespan, so there will be something that everyone can relate to:  High School Students College/University Students Trades People Career Entrepreneurship Ageing Parenting Life Episode format: 2.5 minute intro 10 minutes - Invite guest to talk about a challenge they have had in their life 10 minutes - Guest talk about how they have got through or are getting through that challenge and share strategies and stories of resilience that others can learn from.  10 minutes - Guest talk about their goals and dreams for the future 2.5 minutes - We summarize the nuggets of learning and close the show

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