Moms Talk Autism Podcast

Today, we are joined by Emily O’Laughlin, one of our community members. We discuss her family’s story, trials, and triumphs. We also discuss how they helped their son create a T-shirt company and sparked his entrepreneurial spirit! You can reach Emily here: Instagram Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data...

Depression is an appropriate response to processing any grief. It is often portrayed as unnatural, something to be fixed, or to get rid of as quickly as possible. The truth is, it would be unusual NOT to feel it. There are times and circumstances when a longer period of depression may be part of your life and having discernment to recognize and know when you are depressed is essential to your grie...

Calling all families of non-speakers or minimal speakers! Dawnmarie Gaivian and Dr. Dana Johnson discuss the amazing breakthroughs they and others have been experiencing using spelling to communicate. Is communication a motor skill or cognitive? Both? What is apraxia, and how does it affect a person? How does vision and reflex integration affect communication for nonspeakers? Biggest takeaway: Alw...

This stage usually involves feelings of guilt, whether or not those feelings are well founded. A frequent thought in this stage is the "if only" statement: "If only I would have done THIS, then THAT would have never happened," etc. Bargaining can last a while as we sort through our emotions. It can also be fleeting thoughts that come and go as we begin to process our child's di...

The topic of “siblings” is well-requested on the podcast and today we have an amazing, heartfelt episode for you! Shannon has a conversation with Amanda Owen about her relationship with her brother, Nick, who was born with a rare chromosomal abnormality. As a keynote speaker, Amanda often speaks to parents about the sibling dynamic. She shares her SEEDS acronym that she developed to help parents r...

On to the next phase of grief: Anger! Remember that grief is not linear, and just because we talk about it in stages does not mean that you will go through it stage-by-stage or even every stage. In this episode, we share all about anger and how we dealt with it. Don’t forget that anger does not necessarily mean raging on others but possibly having a level of anger towards yourself. This is an impo...

Today’s episode is with a special guest, a community member, and a fellow autism mom. Sonya Bell is a mother to four children, two of those are young Neurodivergent adults. Today she shares her story as a mother in a time where advocating was much different than it is now. Sonya shares about the beginning days of her son’s autism diagnosis and how her faith was instrumental in being hopeful. She a...

Denial. It’s the first stage of grief and a sneaky, tricky thing. Most people think of denial as being a bad thing, but the truth is... Denial is there to protect you. To give you a semblance of control you’re craving in an overwhelming situation. Today we dive into all things denial and our personal experiences with it! Don’t forget to give us a 5-star review if you love the show and give us a fo...

We are back again today with Joni Brown! We are talking ALL about her family’s decision to uproot and move from Minnesota to Colorado for more health/medical options for their daughter, Allie. (If you missed Joni’s first episode, it launched 6/17/24, go check it out HERE ) We talk about the move and how she found and created a support group around her in a new state, how Allie acclimated to her ne...

We’ve partnered up with a fellow podcast! Listen to the bonus episode of IN IT: Raising Kids Who Learn Differently. This show is for parents of children who have challenges with reading, math, focus, and other learning differences, like ADHD, autism, and dyslexia. In the following episode, Gretchen and Rachel talk with their guest about what to do when the classroom experience isn’t going well for...

Today we had the pleasure of chatting with Jessica Patay, the founder/executive director of We Are Brave Together. We talked about her personal story of her son’s diagnosis with Prader-Willi Syndrome and how she was able to create an amazing community locally, and then duplicate that to support groups all over the United States. You can learn all about We Are Brave Together and the many services t...

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Meg Raby Klinghoffer, SLP, Author of the “My Brother Otto” series, Inclusion Ambassador, and staff member at Kulture City, is back in the studio with us. This time to catch up on current developments, celebrations, and what is coming in the future. We talk Kulture Ball + the new AI speak-generated assistance feature in Kulture City’s app, called Koji. Guess what!? It is FREE! Get connected here fo...

YOUR questions answered on the podcast today. Topics included are: Best therapy or therapists that we have experienced in our own families How we work through our cycles of grief: what have we learned for our own personal healing and benefit Cleaning products and practices that help us tidy and disinfect our homes daily Want a list with links to some of our favorite cleaning products? Email us or...

Why would you want to see a neuropsychologist for your child? Today, we had an amazing (& positive) conversation with Drs. Fredriksen and Rothman, pediatric neuropsychologists, who run a practice in Maryland. We discussed many amazing topics, including one we are asked ALL the time: How do we discuss our child’s diagnosis with them? How do we have conversations with them, teaching them about t...

Something light and easy breezy today, we all need a break and some laughs! Topics covered in today’s episode: Favorite boxed cereals and the proper way to eat them, see also: don’t be gross Car trip snacks- the sweet, the sour, and the savory Game show nostalgia- RIP Bob Barker, we love you forever Cellphone wallpapers- they can tell you a lot about a person Our favorite podcasts and TV shows tha...

Today we talk to Michael Gold, co-founder of Future Fans, a toolkit that focuses on teaching kids and families the fundamentals of team sports in a fun and interactive way through stories, games, and toys. This method is great for all abilities, including those who learn differently than typical peers. They even won an Autism Toy Award ! We go in-depth on how the boxes work and the benefits for ki...

Today we sat down with Lisa Baskin-Wright, our favorite IEP Coach to do a refresh on some IEP tips and tricks as we roll into a new school year. If you haven’t heard the first episode we did with Lisa, make sure to listen, but this will be a quick reminder for you to get you going and not create more mental load than we already have. PLEASE be sure to check out how you can work with Lisa at the li...

Jan Stewart is a Hope ambassador and a prestigious guest on this episode.  She is a highly regarded autism, neurodiversity and mental health advocate, author, and recipient of the prestigious Mom’s Choice Award®.  Her best-selling memoir Hold on Tight:  A Parent’s Journey Raising Children with Mental Illness describes her emotional roller coaster story of parenting two children with multiple, comp...

A little bonus gift for you this week, courtesy of our friend, Danielle Bettmann, of Failing Motherhood Podcast. Danielle interviewed Shannon and Brittney on her show and was kind enough to share it with our audience too. We dive deep into the early years of diagnosis and what that looked like for each of our families: the process, the feelings, the grief, and the realizations we all came to learn...

Fellow podcaster and Parenting Coach, Danielle Bettmann, is our guest in this week’s episode. Danielle helps parents of strong-willed children meet their kids’ deepest core needs, improve behavior, and find new levels of patience. As a mom of two, Danielle is passionate about eliminating shame from parents’ vocabulary, solving power struggles, and transitioning from school to home and back again....

Recovery is necessary after going through periods of Decision and Emotional and Physical Fatigue from being a caregiver (caregiver burnout syndrome). In this episode, our “downloading” continues but we cover and wrap up the topic of the Mental Load by hitting on these few points: Personal actions you can take How Friends, Family + Community can help  Importance of Systems, processes can save and h...

Today we chat with special guest and dyslexia expert Jess Arce, managing director of 3D Learning Experts, which provides virtual tutoring services tailored to children facing brain-based learning challenges. The tutors help bridge the gap with their peers who are struggling with reading, writing, spelling, and math.  Jess also opens up about her journey and experience with her and her children’s m...

In this episode, we unpack two of three prongs to what encapsulates the “Mental Load”: Planning, Organizing + Anticipating = Cost of Cognitive Labor, Time Currency Spent + Decision Fatigue Honest Mom Moments: “I don’t like myself right now.” Reporting the moments when people around you, no matter the circumstance, don’t understand what is at play and you not even liking yourself! In “Moms Talk Aut...

We are thrilled to bring you a community story from a fellow working mama, Britta Merwin. Britta is a meteorologist by day (and by day, we mean EARLY morning) and a mom, wife, and autism advocate every minute of every day! Britta has three children, one diagnosed with autism. You can find her on FoxWeather.com , keeping us all updated on the latest weather, storm warnings, etc. We get to know abou...