Living the Sky Life - Our Autism Journey

Malinda Dalton-Cook resides in the San Diego area with her husband Chad and their almost 20-year-old daughter Paige, who is severely impacted by autism.   Malinda is the CEO/Founder of Paige's Pantry which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  The mission of Paige's Pantry is to help teach and empower teens and adults on the autism spectrum.  Giving them the opportunity to learn organizational,...

Silvia Abeloe is a Mom to a 19-year-old young man who is severely impacted by autism.  She has been married for 26 years to her husband Ken and they live in Carlsbad, CA (North San Diego County).   Silvia was a Service Director for United Airlines at Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia when she decided to leave the workforce, start a family, and move back to her home state...

Geege Taylor is an autism advocate and writer who produces and stars in LEAVE IT TO GEEGE, a reality series on The Lifetime Network (Wed 10/9c). The show celebrates autism and follows the zany adventures of her family, including her 19 year old non-speaking son, "Pootie," along with a lively cast, which features three other young adults with autism.  She makes her home in Athens, GA with her child...

Betsy Hicks-Russ is a leading autism expert with over 20 years of experience in holistic health.  Betsy is the former CEO of Green Health Wellness & author of Picky Eating Solutions (2010), a unique guidebook on the life-changing power of healthy eating habits. She has delivered lectures around the world about meal planning, special diets, and holistic health for individuals living with autism. He...

Cindy was born in Monterrey, Mexico and moved to Houston, TX with her parents and 6 siblings when she was 7. Cindy's dad was an oil & gas executive and her mom a homemaker. Cindy graduated from the University of Houston with a Hotel Management degree and met her husband Josh the year after graduation. They married in 1999 and moved to San Antonio for 1 year prior to moving to Chicago in 2000. She...

Alex Filstein is an award-winning inventor in Canada's energy sector whose innovations focus on emission-reducing technologies to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Alex is the recipient of the 2018 Oilweek/JWN Magazine Rising Star Award and the recipient of the prestige 2019 Technical Achievement Alumni Award from University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering. He lives in Cal...

Vaish [ /vIEsh/] Sarathy [/sAH rUH thEE/], Ph. D. is a Functional Nutrition Practitioner and Science Educator, and the founder of Functional Nutrition for Kids - a Functional Nutrition Practice for children, and Plum Pudding Chemistry - a science and math education practice for kids of all abilities. Her TEDx talk "Who decides how smart you are" talks about the value of Assuming Intelligence and h...

Octavia Walker is the mother of two children, her son is on the autism spectrum. Octavia left her media sales career to become the founder of Getting By Is Not Enough . Moms of children with disabilities rely on her first hand experience and strategic solutions to learn how to become the best advocate for their child, develop a strong support team, and live out their own heartfelt dreams and purpo...

Dr. Mary Barbera "fell" into the autism world in 1999 when her first-born son, Lucas was diagnosed with autism. Since then, Mary transformed from a confused and overwhelmed parent to a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst and best-selling author.  After earning a PhD, Mary launched her first online course in early 2015 and later built additional courses and a membership program to help both parents an...

My 16-year-old daughter, Kendall, is back for another sit down chat with me!  She agreed to answer some questions sent in to us by the listeners about growing up with a severely autistic older brother.  Kendall continues to amaze me daily with her maturity, honesty and selflessness.  I'm extremely proud of her for a multitude of reasons and respect how much time she's invested in working through h...

Corey and Andrea Landreth are the parents of 4 grown children. They moved to El Dorado, Kansas to begin Real Life Christian Church in 2006 where Corey is the lead pastor. Andrea is a school psychologist in the public school system. They began the Drawings by Trent business in 2015 for their son with the goals of encouraging families, educating communities and inspiring everyone through Trent's art...

Ryan LeFevers is coming up on 14 years of marriage and has been together with his wife Kristin for 20 years. They are parents to two handsome autistic boys - Parker age 5 and Dustin age 3. Ryan recently started social media pages to share a Dad's view of raising autistic children. You can follow their journey on FB: @ MyHeroesRaisingBoysontheSpectr um and on IG:  @myheroesonthespectrum ***********...

Although you've seen & heard much less from me the last few months with my lack of blog writing and social media posts... that doesn't mean I've slowed down my advocacy for autism families!  I've been a busy bee initiating some pretty incredible projects that will have a positive impact on communities both locally and across the country, while at the same time, I remain focused on Skyler's GI heal...

Rebecca Robbins is a speech language pathologist who has spent the bulk of her career helping children, young adults, and families impacted by autism. She has worked in various settings over the course of her 16 year career including a private school for children with autism, Early Intervention & Preschool agency work, as well as a public school. She is now the proud owner of Mind ShaperSLP, LLC w...

Vidya Banerjee is the mom of a teenager on the autism spectrum with an additional diagnosis of Landau Kleffner syndrome. He is also nonverbal and uses an AAC device to communicate.   Vidya started a blog www.autismfamilystory.com in 2019 to help fellow parents with tips and strategies she learned over the years in raising her son.  Vidya also recently started the autismfamilystory podcast to as a...

JC Ellinger brings life stories and experience as an autism mom to publications such as Autism Parenting Magazine and Exceptional Needs Today. She was also recently awarded Top General Advice Writer of 2020 honored by APM.  While currently working on her first children's book geared at bringing relatability and support to other ASD children just like her amazing son, she has returned to school att...

Shelly Henley is not unlike other special needs parents who want their children to grow up to be happy, fulfilled people - living the life they want while enjoying their work & feeling validated.  So, with a lot of hope and hustle, Shelly & her husband decided to make their son's dream of becoming a chef a reality while also giving other people's children an opportunity for meaningful work as well...

Tabitha Cabrera, lives in Arizona, amongst mostly year round sunshine and cactus. She works as an Attorney and enjoys spending her time in a public service role. She shares her life with her husband Nick, five year old son Nixon, and two year old daughter Nora. Both Nixon and Nora were diagnosed with autism in 2020. She had found a passion in advocacy and paired this passion with her bother Mike B...

Lia McCabe has a Master's specialized in Human Factors Psychology and is a User Experience Researcher by trade. Inspired by her autistic children, Lia and her husband founded AutismWish, a charity initiative granting wishes to children on the spectrum. Both neurodiverse themselves, the McCabes also launched the Embracing Autism Podcast to provide parents of autistic children with tips, guidance, r...

On today's solo episode, I'm breaking down the outcome of Skyler's trip to Austin and what we've identified as the culprit of the last 6-8 months of increased aggression and weight loss! ***************************************** To purchase my book " Welcome to My Life – A Personal Parenting Journey Through Autism" click HERE or visit Amazon.com! You can easily stay connected to the Living the Sky...

Valerie Gilpeer  is an attorney who has been practicing law for forty years. She shifted her civil law practice twenty years ago in favor of representing families of disabled children trying to obtain educational services from local school districts. She has continued to focus on disability rights law through her volunteer work with several nonprofit organizations in the Los Angeles area. Emily Gr...

Crystal Jordan is the proud mother of two children.  Her 13-year-old son is on the autism spectrum.  Through her experiences with him, Crystal learned how specific foods and overall nutrition can have a dramatic impact on individuals with autism, ADHD and autoimmune disorders.  She worked tirelessly on getting the information to the masses - first through an eCourse and now into a book she authore...

Siraya Gloudemans is a mom of three with her oldest, Nolan being diagnosed with autism. Siraya runs a blog 'Stay at home zookeeper' in which she shares the true messiness of being a parent. It includes everything from autism parenting, neurotypical parenting, home updates, favorite products & life/mom hacks. She is a former early childhood teacher & is married to her high school sweetheart who wor...

Jose Rodriguez Jr. is the founder and CEO of Tasium. Jose started this business venture in his junior year of high school at the age of 16. Taking all the newly found knowledge in entrepreneurship from the NFTE (Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship) course he took, he was able to win the 2020 NFTE national business plan competition. Becoming the first person from not only Rhode Island but the ent...

Michelle O'Reilly is a native of Toronto, Canada & is a graduate of Oakwood University and Clark Atlanta University.  She enjoys living & basking in the Orlando, FL sunshine with her teenage daughter, Maya.  In addition to her past 24 years as an elementary teacher, Michelle has found herself increasingly involved in all things autism and special needs due to her precious 18-year-old son, Justin. ...