Autism Weekly Podcast

This week, we are joined by Lisa, a dedicated autism parent who, for 12 years, experienced constant anxiety and self-doubt following her son's ASD diagnosis. As a single mom raising neurodivergent twin boys, she understands the challenges intimately. Through coaching, Lisa discovered the importance of self-care, digging deep into triggers, and creating new empowering beliefs. Today, she shares her...

This week, we are joined by Lauren Hough Williams. Lauren is the Executive Director of the Program for Inclusion and Neurodiversity Education, better known as PINE, an online platform which provides training and support to schools and districts committed to building more neuro-inclusive schools. Lauren is an autism and inclusion specialist, but first, she is an educator. She began her career as a...

This week, we are joined by Kari Lentchner. Kari is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has been working with ABS Kids for two years and serving as an Assistant Director for almost five months. Kari's journey in the field of ABA and autism started about 8 years ago while she was living in New York. In this episode, Kari shares her experience of working in the field and seeing the progress of he...

In this episode, we are thrilled to welcome back Dr. Robbie El Fattal, Founder and CEO at Maraca Learning, and a renowned expert in the field of autism therapy. Today, we'll be discussing a highly important and timely topic - private equity and its impact on the autism community. As our guest will explain, private equity firms have been investing heavily in autism therapy providers in recent years...

This week we end Pride Month with Camille "Cammie" Williams as our returning guest. Cammie’s work as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst primarily focuses on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion through her advocacy for autistic individuals. She is also a proud advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly as a Black, lesbian, cisgender woman. We are excited to welcome Cammie during Pride Mo...

This week, we are joined by Maisie the co-founder and director of the CATCH Clinic. Maisie has been working with Neurodivergent children, teens and adults for over 30 years. Her passion for supporting her client's authenticity as autistic individuals led to her mission to create a training curriculum for Neurodivergent individuals of all ages with emphasis on strength-based and person-centered app...

This week, we are joined by Dr. Aaron Blocher-Rubin, President and CEO of Arizona Autism United, and Carey Beranek, Vice President of Children & Youth Services. On today’s episode we will be discussing ABA red and green flags and how recognizing them can help offer better ABA therapy treatment. With their combined 45 years of experience in the field of autism treatment, they're uniquely positioned...

This week, we are joined by Dr. Natalie Roth, a licensed clinical psychologist with a Ph. D. in childhood neurodevelopment delays. She is responsible for ensuring the highest quality of data-driven psychological care is delivered at ABS Kids locations throughout Utah.  Dr. Roth attended the University of Utah and graduated from the American Psychological Association (APA)-approved psychology progr...

This week, we are joined by Thomas W. Frazier, Ph. D., a board member of Autism Speaks and an accomplished autism researcher. Dr. Frazier is a professor of psychology at John Carroll University and the executive vice president for virtual and clinical care at Quadrant Biosciences. With over 17 years of experience in evaluation, treatment and research of autism, Dr. Frazier has published over 130 p...

This week, we are joined by not one, but two special guests. First up, we have Dr. David Cox, VP of Data Science for Rethink. With over 45 peer-reviewed articles and three books under his belt, Dr. Cox has dedicated his career to finding innovative ways to optimize behavioral health outcomes and clinical decision-making. We're also thrilled to welcome Jamie Pagliaro, Co-founder and head of behavio...

This week, we welcome Michelle Rogers back to the podcast. For those of you who are new listeners, Michelle appeared in two of our previous episodes. In Episode 108, we talked about potty training and in Episode 112, we discussed building communication skills.  One today’s episode, Michelle is here to talk about two important topics: behavioral issues and picky eating. These topics are crucial for...

This week, we have two amazing guests joining us. Ling Ly Tan, CEO of Linggo, and Jane Button, a BCBA with a wealth of experience, are here to share their insights on innovative approaches to autism treatment. With over 18 years of experience delivering behavioral interventions for individuals with autism and developmental disabilities, Ling is a true expert in the field. Together with Jane, they...

This week, we are joined by two board members from BABA, Black Applied Behavior Analysts. Dr. danyelle beal is a Clinical Psychologist whose dissertation research focused on resiliency factors in Black women who have survived trauma in their youth. She obtained her undergraduate degree at CSU Long Beach in Child Development and Psychology with a minor in Communicative Disorders and went on to obta...

This week, we welcome Dr. Denise Ross-Page and Dr. Douglas Greer to the podcast to talk about the importance of supporting the literacy development of children with autism. Reading comprehension is a critical building block for effective early literacy development. Many students with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate difficulties in reading comprehension. Our guests will share their expertise i...

This week, we welcome Dr. Lerman who is currently a Professor of Behavior Analysis at the University of Houston - Clear Lake, where she directs a master’s program in behavior analysis and serves as Director of the UHCL Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Lerman has published more than 80 research articles and chapters, served as Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of Applied Behavior...

This week, we welcome Dr. Ellie Kazemi, Chief Science Officer of the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE). Dr. Kazemi is a tenured professor at California State University, Northridge where she teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in behavior analysis, organizational behavior management, and research methodology. Dr. Kazemi joins us today to discuss quality management in the aut...

This week, we welcome autism advocate and author Sam Farmer BACK to the podcast for another appearance to talk to us about what he would tell his younger, not yet diagnosed autistic self. We hope sharing experiences from autistic voices can be empowering to listeners and maybe even offer a window into the experience of a loved one. The more diverse autistic experiences we are all exposed to, the m...

This week we welcome Dr. Adithyan Rajaraman to the podcast to talk about compassionate care in the ABA field. This is a crucial ABA therapy subject, because ABA therapy is a type of care and caring is based on compassion. We know compassion can foster trust, leading to better communication between a patient and their provider, improving care quality. For 14 years Dr. Rajaraman has taught, interact...

Pablo Juárez, the co-director of TRIAD, the autism institute at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, joins us this week. In later episodes, Pablo will return as a guest, but this week, the topic is time-limited care. To aid and encourage access in our community, these clinical issues must be discussed. In his current position, Pablo focuses on autism and works within state systems to ensure that autisti...

This week, we welcome Clara Garcia, Director of Programs and Melissa Cardona Senior Resource Specialist at the Autism Society of Inland Empire. ABS Kids has been able to partner with the organization for several years on programs for the community. They reach a wide network of families (19,000 individuals, 60,000 family members & professionals who serve them) in their area with autism support, edu...

Now Trending is back with another episode on Autism Weekly, and Dr. Robbie El Fattal is our guest. We want to talk about current issues affecting the autism community and various solutions being undertaken to improve accessibility for everyone. Robbie is the Founder and CEO at Maraca Learning, a clinician-led autism therapy provider headquartered in Boise Idaho, as well as a PhD BCBA. Today we are...

This week, we would like to welcome Jessica Wilbur, a mother of 2 children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and a Behavior Technician recruiter for ABS Kids. Her sons Chris and Alex are now 10 and 6 years old. Jessica navigated the diagnosis of her boys, retiring from the Air Force and relocating from Louisiana to Michigan all while researching the best supports for her family such as therapies...

This week we welcome Aaron Smith, who is a young man with autism. Since he was 5 years old, his favorite musical artist has been Elvis Presley. He decided to create a live tribute to Elvis and has made a career impersonating him on stage. Today we are going to talk about coping with his autism and pursuing one's dreams no matter what! Download the latest episode to learn more. Social Media links:...

This week, Michelle Rogers is back on the podcast. She appeared in Episode 108 to speak about potty training. On this episode we'll talk about how to help parents of autistic children in developing communication skills with nonverbal children. Communication skills are important for autistic children’s development. They help with behavior, learning and socializing. Autistic children need support to...

This week we welcome Crisann Black, the founder of the club Zeus for people with disabilities. It is quite challenging for people who have disabilities to adjust to an unaccommodating world. Many institutions, entertainment areas, and other public locations lack the accessibility features needed to assist individuals with disabilities. Crisann took action after growing weary of witnessing how diff...