Refrigerator Moms

RFK Jr. and HHS have launched a deprescribing campaign, and the Refrigerator Moms have thoughts. Julianna and Kelley agree that psychiatric medication, especially for kids and teens, is often over prescribed. But they push back on what's actually being offered as a solution: fast-tracked psychedelic medication, while non-invasive, drug-free options like TMS go unmentioned. They dig into who's pres...

Nearly one in three autistic people are profoundly autistic: they need round-the-clock care, often cannot speak for themselves, and are rarely part of the public conversation about autism. Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen built a short paper and a wish list for this community, and this episode walks through both. They trace how the 2013 DSM-5 change folded everyone under one autism umbrella, why t...

Brittney Crabtree is raising four kids whose needs land at opposite ends of the autism spectrum, and she joins Julianna and Kelley for an honest conversation most autism content skips. Her 19-year-old son is profoundly autistic and nonspeaking, needing the round-the-clock care she calls extreme caregiving, not parenting. They get into daily safety planning, sensory and frustration-driven aggressio...

Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott turn the mic over to the other side of the partnership, welcoming their husbands, Eric and Steve, for a candid conversation about what it actually means to be the autism dad. Drawing from their research paper "Fathers as Secondary Caregivers for Autism Families," the four explore the emotional toll fathers absorb quietly, why dad-specific research is nearly nonexis...

Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott break down SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions — a therapeutic approach originally developed in the 1980s that is now being studied for autistic children and teens. Kelley noticed a growing shift in parenting communities away from radical accommodation and toward setting boundaries, and the hosts explore why that matters. Using co-sleeping a...

How do you sort real help from snake oil when you're researching autism interventions? In this episode of Refrigerator Moms, Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen share a practical checklist for evaluating any autism therapy whether you're looking at evidence-based treatments like ABA and speech therapy, or exploring options further off the beaten path like TMS, dietary protocols, or supplement. They t...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen open up the social media mailbag for one of their most popular episode formats — real questions from parents, answered with the candor and hard-won experience that Refrigerator Moms is known for. This week's questions span the full arc of the parenting journey: a parent of a nine-year-old convinced they already know the diagnosis before the psychiatrist has said a...

America has a psychiatric care crisis — and most families are living it without knowing why. Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott dig into their new Refrigerator Paper, Psyched Out: No Appointments Available , to answer one of the most common questions they hear: "Why haven't I heard of TMS?" The answer, it turns out, starts long before a patient ever walks into a clinic. With only about 60,000 practi...

ABA therapy is under fire — and autism families deserve the full story. Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott dig into the federal fraud audits targeting ABA providers, with up to $600 million in improper Medicaid payments identified by the Department of Health and Human Services. They walk through how ABA earned its status as a covered benefit, how private equity exploited that coverage, and what frau...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen sit down with Jean Mayer — Texas-based disability advocate, school board trustee, co-host of Moms Talk Autism, and mother of a 12-year-old autistic son — for a candid cross-generational conversation about what has and hasn't changed in the autism parenting journey. From the early days of dial-up internet and therapy waiting rooms to today's social media overwhelm a...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen share their candid, sometimes conflicted reactions to Netflix's Love on the Spectrum . Julianna, who watched every season, brings enthusiasm and nuance; Kelley, who watched two episodes before tapping out, brings the perspective of a parent for whom the show hits painfully close to home. Together they explore whether the show humanizes or infantilizes its cast, the...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen dig into a storyline from the hit medical drama The Pitt , where autistic character Becca is treated for a UTI and her sister Dr. Mel invokes "supported decision making." The hosts applaud the show for raising the topic — then spend the episode unpacking everything it glossed over. From the legal mechanics of conservatorship to the near-total absence of guidance ar...

Upward Bound by Woody Brown is getting major media buzz — a New York Times review, a spot on Jenna Bush Hager's Today Show book club — but Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen aren't satisfied with the surface-level conversation. They dig into what makes this debut novel both powerful and complicated: its unflinching portrait of broken adult day programs, the real systemic failures facing profoundly a...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen dig into real questions posted by autism and special needs parents on social media. They tackle a mom's hurt and embarrassment when her teen's anxiety derailed his own birthday celebration, share sport and activity ideas that blend neurotypical and autistic kids without the pressure of forced socializing, unpack the root cause behind panic attacks (fear, not just b...

Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott get personal about perfectionism — and it turns out both hosts scored high on the assessment. They unpack the difference between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, why autistic kids are especially prone to perfectionist thinking, and how rigid standards and fear of failure can quietly fuel anxiety, burnout, and even disordered eating. From Tiger Moms to Snowpl...

Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott dig into one of autism's most charged debates: language. From "nonverbal" versus "non-speaking" to the ADA's definition of disability, to person-first versus identity-first language, the hosts weigh what these distinctions actually mean in practice. They explore who benefits from these word choices, who gets left behind when semantics overshadows real advocacy, and...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen tackle a concept that hits close to home for autism families: Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) — the tendency to react negatively on emotional, cognitive, and behavioral levels to unpredictable situations. They explore how autism parenting puts this into overdrive, from diagnosis-day fears to hypervigilance and the endless "fix it" mindset. Drawing on personal stori...

Autism has long been defined by male behavior patterns — and girls have been paying the price. Julianna and Kelley dig into the research of British neurobiologist Gina Rippon, whose book Off the Spectrum: Why the Science of Autism Has Failed Women and Girls exposes how diagnostic tools normed on boys have systematically overlooked autistic females for decades. From camouflaging and masking to misd...

Food struggles are one of the most common — and emotionally charged — challenges in autism parenting. Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott break down the full spectrum of disordered eating, from picky eating to food selectivity to ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), a  DSM-5 diagnosis that affects the majority of autistic children. Drawing on their own parenting experiences, they tackle...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen break down everything that has happened since HHS Secretary RFK Jr. took office, tracking a timeline of claims, policy changes, and appointments that affect the autism community. From the WHO reaffirming no causal link between vaccines and autism, to the quiet removal of FDA web pages warning against dangerous treatments like chelation therapy, to the stacking of t...

Julianna Scott and Kelley Jensen tackle controversial parenting scenarios from autism Facebook groups, exploring real dilemmas that leave parents stumped. When a 13-year-old autistic child steals vodka to share with friends, is it a consequence problem or a safety issue? The hosts dissect problematic advice about validating risky behavior and discuss why understanding a child's developmental level...

Julianna and Kelley dissect "An Inconvenient Study," a documentary from the creators of Vaxxed that claims 54% of American children have chronic illnesses caused by vaccines. The film features Del Bigtree's undercover footage of a Henry Ford Health researcher who conducted a flawed retrospective study comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children. The hosts connect this documentary's rhetoric to...

Getting an autism diagnosis can feel like the end of a journey, but it's actually the starting line. Kelley and Julianna walk through the full diagnostic process, from the first red flags to navigating medical diagnoses versus educational evaluations, and why each step matters. They share their own early experiences, break down the difference between screening and formal evaluation, and explain wh...

Julianna and Kelley examine the "Autism Industrial Complex" through the lens of Mattel's new Autistic Barbie doll. Drawing from a 2022 book, they break down how autism has become a multi-billion dollar business driven by hope, fear, and claims of science. The hosts critique how ABA therapy, genetic research, and products like Autistic Barbie perpetuate this system while often excluding severely au...

Julianna and Kelley tackle three critical parenting challenges from social media questions. They explore practical solutions for hygiene resistance, including making bath time fun rather than punitive. The hosts address inappropriate vaccination questions directed at autism parents, discussing timing, sensitivity, and respect. They examine the growing concern around Roblox addiction, sharing evide...