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00:00My name is Aaron. I'm fundraising for the Highland One Stop Shop and I'm deadlifting 100kg for 500 reps.
00:08I was diagnosed with Asperger's back in 2015 and Highland One Stop Shop and the staff there have helped me a lot the past 9 years.
00:18I want to give something back to them for all the help they've given me.
00:22I was really nervous about it and I've even been dreaming about it.
00:26We've been training for this for about 6 or 7 months now. I think since about April this year we've been training for it.
00:33It's just been a very, very, very slow build up to it because Aaron obviously suffers from Asperger's which is on the autism spectrum.
00:44Everything needs to be done to the T. There's no diversion from the plans. When the plan is set, the plan is set.
00:58We set the plan back in April and we set short term goals. We set 4 week plans and we change the plan every 4 weeks.
01:07Towards the end of the training we were just really focusing on getting the volume in because there's a lot of reps.
01:16There's a lot of reps for anybody to do, let alone somebody who has that sort of neurodiversity going on as well so it's a lot for them to be taking on.
01:25It's super important for everybody to have support. Whether you're competing for bodybuilding, powerlifting, whatever, we all need that support network around us.
01:35That's why I love the Forge for that very reason. Everybody is asking Aaron how he's getting on, how his training is going, if there's anything they can do to help him which is amazing.
01:47It's just one big family when we come in here. Today, even if Aaron starts struggling, which I don't think he will, he definitely won't, I know he won't.
01:58He's very single-minded so he won't. Somebody will jump in and help him to make his target. I'm so proud of him.
02:06I've known Aaron since 2015 when he registered with us. Basically, one stop shop, we meet with autistic adults and we will offer one-to-one appointments.
02:17But we also offer a drop-in and we've got social groups and activities. Aaron's probably accessed all of those over the course of the time that he's been coming.
02:25We've done one-to-one appointments around whatever it is that he's wanted a bit of help with or what he's been challenged with.
02:32But he's also accessed the drop-ins and very much the social groups and the activities that we've got on.
02:37When he sets his mind and he's going to try and do something, he really sets his mind to it and tries.
02:42I think that's testament to what he's actually wanting to achieve today. His resilience and determination is definitely there.