Autism Dadcast

First episode back after Christmas and we're catching up on everything. Andy talks about how lowering expectations made Christmas actually work this year. Gaz shares how Mish built Thomas a cardboard slide and put all his presents at the bottom so he could slide straight into them. Pot of Pringles was one of the presents and that was the win right there. Lydia's eating fried eggs now. Full runny y...

He had the house. The job. The wife. Three kids. On paper, everything was fine. But by the time his son Mason was three or four, he was falling apart. Barely sleeping. Drinking too much. Finding any excuse to stay out longer. Supermarket runs for things they didn't need. One more round at the pub. Anything to delay walking through the front door. He wasn't a bad dad. He just didn't kno...

A mainstream school put their autistic son in a converted staff room and left him there for two years. They called it support. Alan and his wife Alex fought for a specialist placement. Now Magnus is in a school with just 15 children total - five per key stage, one SEN teacher, and four teaching assistants. The transformation has been staggering. He's reading full books out loud for the first t...

She spent her childhood in detention. Locked a teacher in a cupboard. Sat in corridors alone while everyone else learned. Missed the last six months of school because nobody wanted her there. She wasn't naughty. She was undiagnosed. Charlie was finally diagnosed autistic at 32 and ADHD three weeks before this conversation. By then, she'd already closed her business to become a full-time carer for...

Steven has no autistic children. No family connection. No commercial interest. He just watched a movie and couldn't look away. In January, he was driving his van on the M1, listening to a documentary called The Spellers. It's about non-verbal autistic children who learned to communicate by pointing to letters on a board. 48 minutes in, he pulled over and cried. The children in the film all said th...

Luke has four children. Three of them are autistic. His youngest, Oscar, is non-verbal with PICA — he'll eat anything, including sand and his own faeces. For years, Luke and his wife managed. He gave up his job as an HGV driver because the phone calls from home couldn't wait two hours for him to get back from Hereford. His parents were their only support network — his dad had worked with d...

At 10 years old, during lockdown, Charlotte watched a BBC series about autism. She saw herself in it. So she did what most adults wouldn't — she researched it, gathered the evidence, and presented it to her parents. They didn't believe her at first. She didn't fit the stereotype. She wasn't a boy obsessed with trains. She was put on the pathway. She waited 3 years. She went through...

On this episode, we're joined by Sean for our first ever live Christmas special recorded in front of our community. We talk about what Christmas actually looks like with autistic kids — the pressure to make it magical, the year we realised they didn't care about presents, and why one parent picks up McDonald's on Christmas Eve to reheat the next day. Sean shares the moment his girls st...

This week we're talking about the stuff that keeps you up at night. Gaz shares the story of Thomas falling out of a window and the absolute terror of those few seconds. Andy talks about Lydia choking on a Remembrance Day pin and the chaos of trying to keep these kids safe when danger comes out of nowhere. We get into the freezing weather, the battle to get hats and gloves on kids who hate anything...

Gaz and Andy sit down for one of the most open chats they’ve ever had. It’s been a long few weeks, and with Christmas creeping up, the lads talk about the heavy stuff that comes when things finally go quiet — the late-night fears about the future, the weight of responsibility, and that nagging thought every SEND parent has but never says out loud: what happens when we’re gone? They dive into what...

It’s been a few weeks, but Gaz and Andy are back — catching up on life, work, and the chaos of raising autistic kids through the madness of Q4. Andy shares a massive update on Lydia’s first term at her new specialist school — the highs, the progress, and the tough bit where safeguarding got real . From the shock of being asked about a bruise to understanding how vital those systems actually are, t...

Gaz and Andy sit down with Jamie Jewitt, a dad of three navigating life in the public eye while raising his autistic daughter, Nora. Jamie opens up about spotting the early signs, getting the diagnosis, and how it completely changed how he sees life, parenting, and success. He talks about the pressure of being in the public eye, dealing with trolls, the emotional rollercoaster of acceptance, and w...

This week we’ve got another dad on the mic — Daniel, a Shrewsbury local with two kids, one of whom is nonverbal and highly autistic. He takes us through their journey: spotting the signs early, navigating endless assessments, fighting councils for schooling, and the daily realities of sleep battles, food quirks, stims, and meltdowns. We talk about the little wins that keep you going, why applying...

We’re back after a messy week. We headed to London for the Fight for Ordinary rally in Parliament Square, stood with hundreds of parents and carers, and heard a few politicians actually sound like they get it. Ed Davey included. Met loads of you too which was class. Then we get into the headline everyone’s shouting about. Trump and RFK Jr linking Tylenol in pregnancy to autism. We unpack the claim...

In this episode, Gaz and Andy dive into the Telepathy Tapes — the podcast that claims some non-verbal autistic kids can communicate telepathically. Sounds mad, but could there be something in it? The lads weigh up the hype, the hope, and the science. They also share a shocking story from the park when Andy’s daughter Lydia was cruelly targeted by strangers — and how that ties into the toxic rhetor...

In this episode, Gaz and Andy talk about the chaos and emotions of the new school term. Andy’s daughter Lydia is starting school for the first time, while Gaz’s son Thomas faces the rollercoaster of returning after six weeks off. From anxious mornings to unexpected meltdowns, the lads share what these transitions really look like at home. They also dive into your listener questions — from how to h...

In Episode 15 of Autism Dadcast, we’re joined by Michael Hibberd — former AFL premiership player turned firefighter — as he opens up for the first time about life as a dad to Sunday, his four-year-old daughter with profound autism. We chat about the early red flags, diagnosis, meltdowns in public, the emotional gut-punch of milestone checklists, and the unexpected joy in small wins (like hearing “...

This week we’re joined by Sean, dad to six-year-old twin girls Lily and Isla, who were both diagnosed as autistic last September. Sean opens up about the early signs — from their tunnel vision focus and delayed speech to sensory sensitivities and hearing loss — and how he first dismissed the idea that anything was “wrong.” He talks about the nursery teacher who first raised concerns, the emotional...

Jessie Hewitson joins us for a deep, honest convo about ADHD — what it really is, what it isn’t, and why so many kids are being let down. Jessie’s an autistic journalist, mum, and author of How to Raise a Happy Autistic Child and How to Raise a Happy ADHD Child . She’s also ADHD herself, so everything she shares is lived. We talk about executive dysfunction, rejection sensitivity, what ADHD medica...

This week Gaz and Andy finally sit down with fellow autism-dad Chris —the guest who famously got stuck in Cardiff last month. He’s juggling three children under five, a 5-year-old son (Kit) with profound autism and mosaic Patau syndrome (mosaic trisomy 13) , and the kind of sleep schedule that would scare a Navy SEAL. Expect honesty, gallows humour and a ton of practical hacks.

This week we dive head-first into the internet’s most stubborn rumour: “Do childhood vaccines cause autism?” Spoiler… they don’t — but the guilt, fear and rabbit-holes are real. In this honest, no-filter chat we cover: 0:00 – Intro & why this feels risky 2:00 – The Google spiral: how new parents meet the myth5:00 – Andrew Wakefield’s infamous 12-kid “study” (and the hidden money trail) 10:00 –...

Double digits, baby! Episode 10 is here – just the two of us this time, back to basics and diving deep into the absolute mess that's unfolding with EHCP reforms. We’re unpacking: The rumours (and real fears) around scrapping EHCPs in mainstream schools SEND units replacing legal protection for autistic kids How the government and media are playing divide and conquer MPs doing photo ops while famil...

Welcome to Episode 9.5 of the Autism Dadcast. Yeah, 9.5. Because Gaz forgot to hit record the first time. Luckily, second time was even better. This week we’ve got Ben on — pro wrestler, cancer survivor, autism dad. Ben shares: How being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at 30 changed his whole outlook on life His “miracle” son Ethan, born against the odds during COVID The brutal reality of feeling...

-Jason joins us this week to talk about fighting for his daughter's autism diagnosis – and ending up with one himself. We talk about:- The EHCP process and being that parent who won't stop calling- Navigating mainstream school with selective mutism- Figuring out what's autism and what's learned behaviour in siblings- Meltdowns at the school gate- Trying (and failing) at gymnastics, then finding jo...

In our first ever guest episode, Allan told us about his lad’s Mario Kart obsession. He’s not just watching it — he’s directing it. From character selection to track choice, he’s there whacking the corner of the telly like it’s a touchscreen. Shouting out names. Repeating catchphrases. Telling Allan exactly what to press and when. It’s not a game to him. It’s a system. A world he understands. And...