Clio Goodman’s Secret Past

“I was a really fat kid, really fat. I was also a really mean kid. I got kicked out of the Girl Scouts for punching out one of the girls. It was her fault! She insulted me.

“When I was little, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I had seizures throughout my childhood. And this isn’t really a secret, but it’s not something I actually talk about, either. And I was also diagnosed with ADHD, I was diagnosed with dyslexia, and have a disability with my math function, all that with having seizures at the same time.

“And because of that, I have horrible short-term memory, so when people think I haven’t been listening, and I’m ignoring them, I just can’t remember things. But having ADHD and whatnot helps with working in the industry, because I can multitask. But I can’t spell if my life depended on it. I can barely do math. And I won’t read out loud, ‘cause I have trouble reading.

“I stopped having seizures around fifth grade. I haven’t had them in years. I’m pretty sure I won’t have them again, but I don’t think it goes away, I think it just goes dormant. I do avoid strobe lights, and I hate driving under bridges, ‘cause that used to cause seizures.

“They would say that for every one seizure my parents would catch me having, I would have ten times that. Each one would be about 30 seconds long, and I would literally freeze like a statue, just lifeless.

“My first memory of one … I was in kindergarten, and I went to go pet my cat. And then what I thought was like a second later was my mom screaming in my face. And she goes, ‘What’s wrong?’ And I didn’t want to go to the doctor, so I said, ‘I was thinking of a ballerina,’ and I walked away. But then she saw me have one on the stairs, and that was it.”

Clio Goodman is the chef and owner of Puddin’ in NYC

Buy Clio’s cookbook Puddin’: Luscious and Unforgettable Puddings, Parfaits, Pudding Cakes, Pies, and Pops

Interview by Laurie Ulster

Photo by Battman